[sunshine1alb]

I'm thinking about going to a psychiatrist to get on an antidepressant. I am tired and never feel like doing anything but laying around on the couch. Actually it is hard to get motivated to do anything at this point. I think it has gotten worse after the sixth month anniversary of my injury in September.. Has antidepressants helped in your situations?

Amy

[jackie66]

Antidepressant drugs make one feel so very ill with the side effects. It is only when you stop taking them that you actually feel better. Whether they actually cure depression is very debatable. Changing one's lifestyle may do more good

[Mark in Idaho]

I would make sure your nutrition is up to par for a person who suffered a severe concussion. Your brain needs extra nutrients to heal and just get to a normal state.

I need extra B vitamins, especially B-6 and B-12. Treat your brain like it is under stress. The vitamin industry has already marketed products for stress. You probably need twice the amount they recommend.

Have you had any blood work done?

B-12
Folate
T3
T4
TSH
Hormones, including DHEA

all can be brain stress and tiredness related

As a brain injury survivor, you will need to always keep your nutrition up so you brain can function properly.

Hope this helps.

It will take a while for nutritional changes to improve your condition, so get going.

Hi Amy,

Lack of motivation can indicate a low production of dopamine. You may want to talk a doctor or any health care practitioner about getting on a dopamine supplement, such as L-Dopa.

I would also recommend staying clear of antidepressants unless you absolutely need to go on them. The side effects are horrible and the withdrawal symptoms are worse. If you feel that you could use a pick me up in your mood, you could also talk to your doctor about getting on tryptophan.

You could also look into neurofeedback. Just google 'neurofeedback' and 'your city' and you should find some therapists in your area. Make sure they have experience dealing with head injuries.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by sunshine1alb

I'm thinking about going to a psychiatrist to get on an antidepressant. I am tired and never feel like doing anything but laying around on the couch. Actually it is hard to get motivated to do anything at this point. I think it has gotten worse after the sixth month anniversary of my injury in September.. Has antidepressants helped in your situations?

Amy

[Mark in Idaho]

The dopamine and tryptophan comments are valid. You need to find a doctor who has specific knowledge and experience with them. The L-Dopa needs to be used with caution. Messing with your dopamine can be problematic.

[sunshine1alb]

Thanks Mark and MRH The nutrition aspect makes a lot of sense to me right now. A couple of months ago I was diligently taking a multivitamin as well as a b complex supplement, and I didn't feel this way. I was also eating a lot better and I was exercising. In the beginning of August I had exacerbated symptoms for a couple of weeks after going to the beach (sunlight does me in) and took some time off from the gym, then my diet regimen fell apart as well. I did have some bloodwork done at the doctor. Everything was normal (including thyroid levels) except the vitamin D levels which were low. A retest after 3 monhts showed that my level is now normal.
I really hate taking pills, so I will try the diet/vitamins/exercise route before asking the doctor about any other medication.. Thanks for the advice

[Mark in Idaho]

Did your blood work include the B-12? You want to be at the top of the normal scale for B-12 and Folate.

I take 2 B-50 complex tablets plus an additional 200 mg of B-6 and 250 mcg of B-12 and 400 mcg of Folate. I am 180 pounds. With all of that, I am just above the top of the recommended scale.

A multi-vitamin will have very small amounts of B's. Be sure to get a good supplement of anti-oxidants, too.

Sounds like you need to get back on the nutrition wagon. There are some liquid forms of these nutrients. They are just more expensive. I know how hard B-50 can be to take. They are horse pills. I have decades experience at taking pills so they are not a problem.

I find that it is sometimes easier to take large pills with a lightly carbonated beverage. I add some 7-UP to my cran-raspberry juice. With that, I can take about 6 horse pills at once. I like to get it over with.

I have been dealing with Post Concussion Syndrome for over 30 years. I have fallen off the wagon a bunch of times. Now, my wife has learned how to notice my behavior changes and get on my case to get back on the wagon.

[mrsD]

This link has new information about how amitriptyline works on neurons.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...=amitriptyline

This drug has always been a first choice for peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain patients...now we see some indication of how it works.

Read the whole thread, because there is discussion on the potential cardiac effects of this drug.

[gershonb]

Dear Sunshine

I went through a whole raft of severe concussions that ended with me getting hit by a car at age 15. Since my first bad concussion was at 11 months old, along with skull fracture, I never experienced *not* being depressed. There were other reasons for that I won't go into here. My point is that antidepressants were a godsend, starting with Prozac which I started when it first came out. I found that their effectiveness decreased over the years, and tried different ones. Now I take Cymbalta, which works "okay," and somewhat addresses the chronic pain syndromes I have. I have *not* found any particular dietary supplement to be that great, other than making sure I'm loaded up on the B complexes found in the "Stress" tabs, etc. Another good one is Melatonin, because concsussion syndrome really fouls up sleep, with something called Central Apnea. That's when your brain forgets to tell you to breathe at night.
Melatonin helps to regulate sleep rhythm. My son as Asperger's syndrome and swears by it.

hope this helps

gershonb

[Hockey]

The only large scale clinical study of anti-depressants and TBI, not funded by the drug companies themselves, indicated that SSRIs didn't help TBI depression, and in some cases, made it worse.

The study was done at Toronto's Sunnybrooke Hospital. After I showed it to my psychologist all suggestions that I consider SSRIs stopped immediately.