I was diagnosed 9-2014…I was diagnosed with depression a few months before that…I’m now suffering from depression and anxiety…I am taking cymbalta but don’t feel it’s working any suggestions on what I can ask my rhumy is not very supportive…
Psychiatric drug management really needs to be done with a psychiatrist- he specializes in the right combinations of therapy to be effective.
I also have had depression and anxiety. I was diagnosed in 2013 with lupus. I now believe lupus cause depression like symptoms. I guess either way antidepressants are helpful. I see a psychiatrist for medicine management I take Lexapro for depression and Xanax for anxiety. I am attempting to keep this as simple as possible as this topic is of great interest to me. Also I have learned with a lot of experience when trying a new drug start with a small dosage. I believe so many side effects are caused by too much too fast. The body can not adjust to s high dose. I personally started at 2 1/2 mg of lexapro if that goes good meaning no major side effects then in s month increase to 5 mgs and so on. My doctors have agreed to this ALWAYS be sure to work with your doctor.
I know everyone is different and this might be hard to believe, but I’ve had freakishly good luck fighting depression (probably mostly reactive from crummy health stuff and other stressors) using the following vitamins: D3 (4000 units daily), fish oil, B complex and multi. I take others, but these are the ones that that really REALLY have helped me in that department. I also take extra B 12, the Methyl. type and I suspect that has been helpful too. I have suggested this to others and it has helped them too. I also went to therapy during a particularly bad rough patch. If your doctor is uncaring, you might want to consider seeing another. I would give it a little time though. He or she just might not feel qualified to deal with depression and since your depressed it might be hard to gauge it all. But if you continue to feel a lack of rapport, by all means, ask around for a more caring physician. I hope you feel better asap. Blessings
You really should see a psychiatrist for depression/anxiety meds. I am sensitive to most meds and my Internist tried at first to prescribe, but I had to see the psychiatrist to get true help. I am on Pristique and it has helped a lot. I took Cymbalta for . A couple years. It quit working. I have Xanax for anxiety attacks. I take it only when needed, which now is rare. Do not want thAt addiction. I have battled depression since I was a teenager; I am now 56. I did not get help until 10 years ago. See the expert for this disorder, you will be glad you did.
I take celebrex, but I had never suffered depression before. I think I got depressed from lupus, but maybe cell cept. My rheumy fixed it. I agree strongly that taking too much of a new med is bad, I think depression needs a psychiatrist if something the rheumy tries doesn’twork. He is a specialist, and depression isn 't his specialty, depression is serious.
I have found, with my rheumatologist, that he cares a lot. But he breezes by the stuff he can’t fix. If I give him a litany of complaints, he hears one. If I stop and say “I’m really worried about my depression. What would you suggest I do about it, I really need help,” he will get right on it. They are focused on lupus, and they can’t fix a lot of lupus, really. Like the tiredness. We worked on that for a while, and the solutions were worse than the tiredness. I hope this helps with the doctor.
Not sure if you can take it with Cymbalta but if you can Ihave had some success with Saint Johns wart. Hope you feel better soon. God Bless Julie
Hmmm how long have you been on Cymbalta for? These medications can take at least 8 weeks for any effect to be felt. If you're having depression and anxiety issues, Effexor is an anti-depressant that is quite effective with both. But a psychiatrist or your even your GP would be better to go to for this kind of a matter than your rheumatologist.
That being said, to a degree, having a chronic condition like Lupus IS very anxiety provoking and it can be depressing and it seems to me like your diagnosis is still relatively new and to a big degree there's a mourning process involved in which feelings of depression and anxiety are even to be expected and have to be worked through. Medication is helpful and gives your body that extra support that it needs, but often medication alone is not enough and counselling in combo is really a more comprehensive kind of treatment plan for these things... Were you diagnosed with Lupus this past September or was that the depression? When did the depression start to become a problem? How bad are your symptoms (of both)?
If you'd like to private message me to talk more feel free, I'm a social worker and most of my work has been done in the field of mental health and I'm diagnosed with Lupus too!
Thank you all for the info…I’m waiting for an appointment with a Psychiatrist! God bless you All!!
Find a good psychiatrist. You may need a "cocktail". I take 40 mg of celexa, 200 mg of wellbeing and .5 mg of kingpin. Klonopin is as needed, the others are daily. Also 200 mg plaquenil. Helps tremendously to manage depression, anxiety, lupus and fibro flares.
make sure you find a good behavioral psychologist, not psychiatrist! The behavioral psychologist needs to have a specialty in dealing w chronic health conditions or disabilities. Combination of cymbalta and behavioral psychologist is a very good combination to combat depression and anxiety
Be sure to run all your meds by the pharmacist too sometimes drug interactions can cause anxiety and depression and trigger a flare.
I Have tried everything and don’t forget everyone responds differently to different meds. I’m now taking welbutrin 300 mg every morning. it bas helped do much! I had given up on finding Ann anti depressant that soul help them tried this and it won’t me write up. that’s just my experience.
Bende yaklasık 1,5 sene oldu depresyon tedavisi görüyorum.Psikiyatrist dr um Sabah 150 mg efexor + 100 mg Modıodal ve Akşam 75 mg efexor + 50 mg desyrel ilaçlarım.
I would really like to take that "wellbeing" you take!! {Sorry, but I think your automatic spellchecker goofed!} just teasing...
pfkpgh said:
Find a good psychiatrist. You may need a "cocktail". I take 40 mg of celexa, 200 mg of wellbeing and .5 mg of kingpin. Klonopin is as needed, the others are daily. Also 200 mg plaquenil. Helps tremendously to manage depression, anxiety, lupus and fibro flares.
Hello, when I feel stressed or anxious, I try to use mindfulness exercises to help. With a lot of practice, I have found this to be very effective personally. Here are a couple of links to mindfulness sites that are pretty easy to follow. http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/exercises.htm
http://www.thementalhealthblog.com/2011/06/mindfulness-exercises-for-anxiety/
I hope it helps and you feel better soon. Please keep us updated on how you are doing. Hugs.