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Founder & Your Host
Community Support Team Chat Leader
Member Since May 2001
Location: Greater Boston, MA
Posts: 13,645
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#1
I now understand that the trials and tribulations of people who suffer from treatment resistant depression can be a unique and debilitating journey.
We offer this new forum in hopes of helping such folks exchange ideas, experiences and emotional support for this concern. Best, DocJohn __________________ Don't throw away your shot. |
growlycat, herethennow, Mundane Gryphon, Onward2wards, Rohag, shezbut, Silent Void, tigerlily84, vonmoxie, waterknob1234
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Elder
Member Since Feb 2014
Location: Michigan
Posts: 5,481
10 |
#2
Thank you. That would be me. Apparently some people view it as a defeatist attitude to say you are treatment resistant. I see it as reality for me. 20 years of treatment of all kinds backs it up.
__________________ The "paradox" is only a conflict between reality and your feeling of what reality "ought to be." -- Richard Feynman Major Depressive Disorder Anxiety Disorder with some paranoid delusions thrown in for fun. Recovering Alcoholic and Addict Possibly on low end of bi polar spectrum...trying to decide. Male, 50 Fetzima 80mg Lamictal 100mg Remeron 30mg for sleep Klonopin .5mg twice a day, cutting this back |
KeepingPace, ToeJam
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KeepingPace
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Out of Order
Member Since Feb 2014
Location: England
Posts: 15,856
(SuperPoster!)
10 17.5k hugs
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#3
I don't know whether I'm treatment resistant, I've only had a partial response to meds this time around, despite having tried 7 different antidepressants in three years (2 poop outs, 1 allergy and 2 with unmanageable side effects). I've responded well to meds in the past, so I'm really discouraged that this time nothing seems to work. It certainly adds to the hopelessness that's for sure.
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KeepingPace, ToeJam, waterknob1234
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Onward2wards
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Elder
Member Since Feb 2014
Location: Michigan
Posts: 5,481
10 |
#4
I am not sure of the exact definition. If it has only to do with meds or with meds and therapy and other treatments. I can say all of the above. Not that things have never worked or haven't helped me it is just that the depression keeps returning and even worse in recent years.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ The "paradox" is only a conflict between reality and your feeling of what reality "ought to be." -- Richard Feynman Major Depressive Disorder Anxiety Disorder with some paranoid delusions thrown in for fun. Recovering Alcoholic and Addict Possibly on low end of bi polar spectrum...trying to decide. Male, 50 Fetzima 80mg Lamictal 100mg Remeron 30mg for sleep Klonopin .5mg twice a day, cutting this back |
Grand Poohbah
Member Since Feb 2014
Location: in school
Posts: 1,773
10 1,308 hugs
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#5
As far as meds go, I have been on five different meds in one year. I am still basically depressed. Most of these meds did not work so well. Effexor may have worked but it made me sleep all the time. Buspar, which is supposed to be for anxiety, gave me anxiety and made my heart race. Wellbutrin seems to be working the best so far but I still have days when I feel down and hopeless. I could not afford a therapist, though that would probably be helpful. Now I just try to manage one day at a time. I don't know what else to do. Thanks for this forum.
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SeekerOfLife
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deus ex machina
Member Since Jul 2014
Location: Ticket-taking at the cartesian theater.
Posts: 2,379
10 399 hugs
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#6
I think a clear definition would be helpful, because there does seem to be some confusion around the term. Here's what I've found to be of note:
1. The term "treatment-resistant" specifically describes major depressive disorder that has not been relieved by full cycle use of at least two different anti-depressants. That's actually the entire definition. (Source.)I had never thought about it that much to look into the definition further until I came to this forum, and heard people saying it about themselves and one another in a way that didn't make sense to me, as however consumed we may be by our condition at times: we are not our condition. __________________ “We use our minds not to discover facts but to hide them. One of things the screen hides most effectively is the body, our own body, by which I mean, the ins and outs of it, its interiors. Like a veil thrown over the skin to secure its modesty, the screen partially removes from the mind the inner states of the body, those that constitute the flow of life as it wanders in the journey of each day.” — Antonio R. Damasio, “The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness” (p.28) Last edited by vonmoxie; Sep 16, 2014 at 09:00 PM.. Reason: clerical |
growlycat, Mundane Gryphon, TheOriginalMe, unaluna
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Member
Member Since Sep 2014
Location: North central US
Posts: 25
10 |
#7
I'm so grateful for this new forum. It's sometimes hard to make any progress discussing depression issues in a "regular" depression setting when someone suggests a medication or a modality that I've tried multiple times, starting 15 years ago. Just like with breaking in new MH professionals, so much energy is expended explaining what has already been tried that there is little left to talk about anything current. It will be nice to have a place where that kind of orientation is unnecessary.
I've been treated for depression on and off since I was in my late teens, almost 40 years . My most recent episode has been virtually unrelenting for over 20 years. I am completely disabled. Like most of us, I have a number of other diagnoses, including PTSD, GAD, social phobia, and panic disorder with agoraphobia. I fit solidly into vonmoxie's first category, having attempted (and sometimes barely survived) scores of medication trials, a devastating course of ECT, and year upon year of assorted talk therapies. I think vonmoxie's second point is really important for all of us to remember. One of my doctors once told me that the real problem is not that I'm doing something wrong, it's just that science hasn't caught up to me. Sometimes that's the only thought that keeps me going. |
Amedot11, KeepingPace
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KeepingPace, Lesaria-Belt, vonmoxie, waterknob1234
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Grand Magnate
Member Since Feb 2012
Location: Oregon, USA
Posts: 3,387
12 244 hugs
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#8
I guess I might be treatment resistant.
I've tried Celexa, Lexapro, wellbutrin, and also seroquel and Risperdal. Just started taking Lamictal in April but I'm not at "therapeutic" levels yet, only at 100mg currently, so it's too early to tell. Just started taking buspar last week, also to early to tell. The former meds have all ethier made me extremely suicidal, were ineffective, or made my anxiety sky rocket. __________________ Invictus it matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. William Ernest Henley |
KeepingPace
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KeepingPace
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Grand Poohbah
Member Since Jan 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 1,853
11 58 hugs
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#9
After 20 yrs and dozens of meds, I would say I'm "treatment resistant".
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KeepingPace
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JadeAmethyst
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Elder
Member Since Feb 2014
Location: Michigan
Posts: 5,481
10 |
#10
Quote:
Am I treatment resistant? I have been on many anti depressants over the last 20 years most of which have been totally ineffective. That would make me treatment resistant. However a couple have worked. Effexor with a low dose of Celexa worked pretty good for a long time. Effexor has been the best one for me but long ago pooped out. So we tried Pristiq and it didn't do anything. The latest one is Fetzima and it has been more effective than anything ever by far. It seems to be pooping already though. I have had to raise the dose once already and feel like I need to again and it has only been six months. So am I treatment resistant or not? I have no doubt that my recurrent cyclical depression will return fetzima or no fetzima like it always does. This is why I think in the big picture I am treatment resistant- Most meds don't work and the ones that do poop out. (thats a small part) I have gone to much therapy and group therapy over the years. Always been 100% honest in therapy and in group. I learned CBT in therapy and practice it everyday. Started therapy again with someone who incorporates all the forms, CBT, DBT, and so on. I practice mindfulness everyday. Have very consistently meditated over the last twenty years. Self help books and work books. Spiritual books and practices. Long time member of AA and practice its twelve steps and principles. Very similar to therapy with the added spiritual dimension. It is very focused on personal growth, changing thinking and behaviour, and spiritual growth. Have done my fair share of searching and fearless moral inventories and shared it all with someone. Alanon, ACOA A good support network. A good fulfilling career. Tons of exercise at work. I am in no way perfect in these things but I have worked very hard at it. They have helped me immensely in daily living and in personal relationships and so on. I am not depressed all the time and it is when I am not depressed that they help. I am totally all for all those practices and they have helped me in general a ton......... BUT I still get regular recurrent cyclical depression like I always have. it has gotten worse in recent years despite all these things that you would think would help alleviate it. When I am in the middle of a severe depression none of those things work even if I am able to practice them. I can be in the middle of working, getting lots of exercise, and everything is great and the depression will hit me like a ton of bricks out of the blue. It usually has to run its course and it always does. The length of time varies and it always returns. When it hits it is very severe. Suicidal, can't get out of bed, don't shower for weeks, severe. What am I to do? Whether that is treatment resistant I do not know. To me it is. It leads me to believe that in my case it is very genetically and biologically ingrained in me. it follows seasonal cycles. Not SAD but three or four times a year that I can set the calender by. There is also a family history that would back this up. __________________ The "paradox" is only a conflict between reality and your feeling of what reality "ought to be." -- Richard Feynman Major Depressive Disorder Anxiety Disorder with some paranoid delusions thrown in for fun. Recovering Alcoholic and Addict Possibly on low end of bi polar spectrum...trying to decide. Male, 50 Fetzima 80mg Lamictal 100mg Remeron 30mg for sleep Klonopin .5mg twice a day, cutting this back |
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notalone11
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dfwsteph, notalone11, vonmoxie
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deus ex machina
Member Since Jul 2014
Location: Ticket-taking at the cartesian theater.
Posts: 2,379
10 399 hugs
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#11
Quote:
I daresay that anyone whose depression could be considered treatment-resistant does not consider anti-depressants particularly magical. (50% success rate doesn't much speak to that either.) I understand that the terminology doesn't encompass everything that one might prefer to catalog as treatments that don't consistently work, but since the actual definition does only refer to the efficacy of anti-depressants it seems as though re-purposing the terminology in conversation to carry variant definitions could be cause for some misunderstanding, and about what can only be a sensitive topic for all of us. Treatment-resistant depressionI'm not suggesting that those of us with treatment-resistant depression not talk about all the things that do (ha) and don't work for us. I am suggesting there's an inherent value in knowing and utilizing the meaning of already established terminology. I don't myself much want to be described with words that were only ever meant to describe my condition's resistance to a family of drugs that only has 50% efficacy anyway. Depressed as I am, I'm better than that. __________________ “We use our minds not to discover facts but to hide them. One of things the screen hides most effectively is the body, our own body, by which I mean, the ins and outs of it, its interiors. Like a veil thrown over the skin to secure its modesty, the screen partially removes from the mind the inner states of the body, those that constitute the flow of life as it wanders in the journey of each day.” — Antonio R. Damasio, “The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness” (p.28) |
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Guest
Posts: n/a
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#12
I would say I'm treatment resistant. Am on my 6th antidepressant since August 2013 and am now hopeful to start ECT for my severe depression on Monday.
BTW, thanks for this new forum. Helpful for us folks are struggling to find a treatment that works. |
waterknob1234
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Grand Poohbah
Member Since Feb 2014
Location: in school
Posts: 1,773
10 1,308 hugs
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#13
By the definition of treatment resistant depression meaning having been thru more than 2 different meds in one year that did not work, that definition would apply to me. I am in a state now where I am not really happy, I guess I just don't care anymore. Too tired to care. I have days like today when I have some work related anxiety, but even that is slipping into the "I don't care anymore" state.
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Onward2wards, TheOriginalMe
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Magnate
Member Since Nov 2010
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2,439
13 25 hugs
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#14
My depression has been considered treatment-resistant for a long time now. I have tried 35+ different medications, in every class of drug imaginable.
I even tried ECT (which did nothing but cause me severe memory loss issues). I was on an almost lethal combination of meds at one point due to an incompetent psychiatrist. I'm still going to therapy and doing everything I can to fight it, but the depression fights hard to win. |
shezbut, waterknob1234
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Member Since Feb 2013
Location: -
Posts: 3,115
11 |
#15
I have tried everything out there over the last 21 years. No joy.
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shezbut
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Elder
Member Since Feb 2014
Location: Michigan
Posts: 5,481
10 |
#16
Quote:
Quote:
My post was more about a rant/diatribe on the protracted nature of my depression and pouring out my frustrations with it. I was initially struck with the first paragraph of this thread by DocJohn. Quote:
__________________ The "paradox" is only a conflict between reality and your feeling of what reality "ought to be." -- Richard Feynman Major Depressive Disorder Anxiety Disorder with some paranoid delusions thrown in for fun. Recovering Alcoholic and Addict Possibly on low end of bi polar spectrum...trying to decide. Male, 50 Fetzima 80mg Lamictal 100mg Remeron 30mg for sleep Klonopin .5mg twice a day, cutting this back |
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Founder & Your Host
Community Support Team Chat Leader
Member Since May 2001
Location: Greater Boston, MA
Posts: 13,645
23 182 hugs
given |
#17
Sorry, I didn't mean to leave a debate open about exactly what "treatment resistant depression" means.
To me, and in this context, it means you've tried multiple treatment options -- whether it be psychotherapy, meds, ECT, TMS, whatever -- over a period of years and despite your (and your professionals') best efforts and multiple tries on different treatments (whether it be with different therapists, therapies, meds, etc.), very little has touched your depression. You are still depressed. It doesn't seem to have responded much to anything. That's my definition. I'm going to close this thread to encourage you all to start new threads here on the topics of the most interest to you... Thanks! Best, DocJohn __________________ Don't throw away your shot. |
shezbut
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Founder & Your Host
Community Support Team Chat Leader
Member Since May 2001
Location: Greater Boston, MA
Posts: 13,645
23 182 hugs
given |
#18
I also moved some posts that weren't about the definition of TRD into their own thread so those members may continue their discussion there if they would like.
__________________ Don't throw away your shot. |
unaluna
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Closed Thread |
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