Are there any known ways to counteract the health detriments of prolonged major depression?
Indeed, antidepressants, but studies show they can affect REM-sleep - and that is exactly what I seemed to experience.
Thanks
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful and insightful response, Mike. Appreciate it tremendously! I should perhaps have mentioned that there is a clear cause for this depression of the past years (dating from a period years before I started taking Rx meds). I did not suffer from depression prior to that.
As I’ve not been able to ‘tackle’ the problems that caused the depression, I’m worried about the health-effects of such longterm, severe depression. Certainly seeing the studies over the past years indicating detrimental health effects. I’m going to take a closer look at the things you suggested in your post and read the articles you posted in the upcoming days. As I’m sure there are suggestions in your post that I could put to use - thanks so much!
The article you posted about CES is very interesting also. It reminds me of an article a friend sent me a while ago: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study | News Center | Stanford Medicine
Definitely interesting, and I have considered seeing if I could try to find a doctor in my country that may be willing to try a similar protocol. But apparently patients were treated for half a day, once per month, so I think it would be very difficult to set that in motion here until it is a more accepted treatment. Not to mention I’m not sure if I may be a candidate, given the fact there is a clear cause for the depression.
I think Dr. Axe did a pretty good job on this one too. Two of the 13 ways to beat depression involve getting more sunlight. I think the UVB from a Sperti lamp does the job for me. I thought it years ago after I started using it and would have to quit for a long time to prove it and have never wanted to know that bad. They’re $500, which kills me, but it should work forever at 5 minutes/day.
Exercise is obvious and works but also hard sometimes. When I do it too much I have injuries.
I’m dying to know what prescription drug causes long term depression. If you don’t want to tell everybody, send me a message.
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Really? SSRI’s are great drugs helping millions of people.
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mike666, which CES would you recommend of the ones you’ve tried?
Plenty of other explanations for violence. Maybe the underlying disease for which SSRI’s were prescribed? Maybe withdrawal symptoms?
Your alternative suggestion included St John’s wort which doesn’t do much but is a weak SSRI.
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Ah I’m sorry, my post must not have been clear. It was not a prescription drug that caused the depression. It was an invasive event that brought up longterm depression - long before I started these Rx meds. So with that in mind I doubt the Rx meds that I started taking only last year (Rapa + Empagliflozin) would have anything to do with it.
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the exercise + sunlight recommendation. Great advice, and it helped previously to combat this severe depression. In fact, I’ve started to push myself again to do an hour of outdoors exercise every day, also in darkness and rain. I tried using my NIR/red light panel, but without much effects on mood it seems. I may consider buying a Sperti lamp (I had heard of them), but I’m also looking into the option of not waiting longer and leaving a.s.a.p. for a place with more sun for a while.
Thanks so much, Mike. I’m also going to look into the CES units. This is an area I know very little about. The magnetic stimulation in the study I cited, I believe were such high doses that you’d not really be able to do it at home - makes me wonder a bit about safety also admittedly.
Nope, you were clear. I re-read and see I got it wrong, sorry.
I typically avoid referral links, because I don’t want to be part of commercial marketing, but if you’re thinking of getting a Sperti Vitamin D Sun Lamp anyway (I have one, and it’s a good brand), this link gives you a 10% discount (and yes kicks something back to me, too, but that’s not why I’m posting):
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