Are these physical symptoms of depression?

Sannah · 03-01-2007, 02:29 PM

Hi guys, I have my friend here who just started battling her first bout of depression ever (she is 42). She wants to know if these symptoms are from her depression - dry mouth, shaking, racing heart, feeling "bad all over".

firenice · 03-01-2007, 06:21 PM

Hi Sannah,
To me it sounds more like an anxiety reaction to the depression. But, if she is dealing with her first bout of depression at 42, what has brought it on?

Dakota_Skye · 03-01-2007, 08:29 PM

anxiety often (more often than not) comes hand in hand with depression, or it manifests the depression itself sometimes. that's what i've learned when i visited my first pdoc ever. this is also stated in many books, if you study about the topic in general. but you know sannah, the first rule of thumb, for any kind of "mental" issue, is to first rule out any kind of physical one. lots of physical probs, like hyperthyroidism have some of the same symptoms as anxiety. that's why many times pdocs first want you to have a total check-up done, including a hormone check, especially a thyroid check.

i hope i've been of some help. but yes, it can be both, depression and anxiety, with depression underlying the anxious symptoms.

if your friend has been taking any meds for other types of physical probs. (i.e, high blood pressure)--look into that as well--they may be side effects of those meds.

p.s. missed you today, sannah!

p.p.s. some women go through perimenopause, or early menopause....i don't mean to insult your friend at all and please forgive me if i do, but depending on the severity, duration, and frequency of these symptoms that she goes through (and then how they--of if they--actually subside), is also another clue to what may be going on.

Sannah · 03-02-2007, 10:47 AM

Hey Dakota and Firenice, thanks for the replies. Well, she didn't tell me for a few months! We are not really close friends but she lives here in the subdivision and I see her at parties and gatherings. She is one of the nicest people that I have ever met and I have always wanted to get together with her more but she has 4 kids and seems really busy. Anyway, I have only been talking with her about this for about a week and a half. I have known her for almost 3 years and I have always taken mental notes. From our discussions it seems as though giving and giving and giving to her 4 children has really dragged her down (4 - 14 yrs, plus her husband is a UPS pilot so he is gone 1/3 the time). It seems that she has never even thought of her own needs at all. She grew up in a single mother home (divorced) and she tells me that she was always the peace maker and that today she admits to doing too much for her kids. Her 4 yr. old frequently doesn't have limits enforced on her and has too much control over her parents (she told me it was just easier to give in to her - wrong! In the end it is not easier!). My friend admitted that if she changed this problem that it would make a huge difference in her day. She was also diagnosed with arthritis in December and has pain. She agreed that this was probably the straw that broke the camels back but that she has been going down hill over the last year because she just gives too much to her children. She takes them to a lot of activities and she said that over the last year she would look at the calendar and be overcome with anxiety.

Your anxiety explanation is really helpful because she is complaining of anxiety too. I am sure she will feel better knowing which symptoms belong to which problem. She has tried 3 antidepressants all ready and has had to stop all of them due to the side effects. Of course you know my opinion - skip the meds and solve the problems that caused the depression. What do you all think? Will she have side effects with all antidepressants? If she tried 3, how many are left? She is going to her first therapy appt. this AM. After we have talked and after she has failed the meds, she says now that she wishes that she had gone to therapy in December. When I first started talking to her, her opinion was just give me a pill and she never considered therapy. After she started talking to me - you all know what I told her! Anyway, she would feel better after talking to me so this convinced her that she needed to resolve this with therapy.

Dakota_Skye · 03-02-2007, 11:30 AM

dear sannah,

wowoo..the woman has definitely neglected her needs. i'm with you on that one!! dang, i'm becoming you, pretty soon, i'll be talking about boundaries, and people will be saying things about me....lol

you're a super-trooper...i knew when you weren't on here yesterday that you were talking to your friend there, and she was not going to escape the "therapy" thing

nobody who talks to you would!!! and i do agree! completely. therapy in any case. most of the time it's therapy combined with meds that works the best in moderate to severe cases of depression and anxiety. at least that's what i've read, and that's what i've experienced.

now, if she tried 3 AD's and they didn't work for her--there are lots and lots more left out there....i don't know which ones she tried, but there are specific AD's that also work on the anxiety part. there's buspar (it's mildly sedating) and it works on the anxiety part rather well for some people; there are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: the ones pple have been talking about that have the least side effects and are supposed to reduce anxietya as well include zoloft, celexa, and lexapro. there're also luvox, paxil, and prozac. then there are the ssnri's (inhibit not only serotonin but norepinephrine too): effexor--good for depression and panic, generalized anxiety disorder, and OCD; trazodone/Desyrel (works on depression, and generalized anxiety); Anafranil (works on panic, OCD, depression); and imipramine/Tofranil (works on panic, depression, generalized anxiety). the last three are the older ones, the trycyclics--but sometimes they work better than the new ones (especially when the new ones don't work at all), although they may have more side effects than the news ones, at least that's what's being said about them. sometimes, i'd rather go with the tried and true.

they also use beta blockers (what musicians and artists use many times to get rid of the symptoms of anxiety when performing on stage--that's what one of my shrinks told me once): propranolol (Inderal), and atenolol (Tenormin). then there are the benzos, as you well know.

from my experience sannah, i've found that for real, genuine anxiety, an AD is not enough (even the effexor wasn't enough for me!!!!!!), i need a benzo in additinon to it. klonopin and ativan have longer half lives (they take longer to leave the body than xanax lets say, although xanax works quicker, but one will have to take more of the drug during the day to have the effects last.

i don't know what else to say. maybe your friend won't need to stay on any meds (if she chooses to be placed on one or two, that is) for a long time. some people may only need it to get over the "stump" in their way. others, unfortunately need it for their whole lives.