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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by KRISSY on February 11, 2003, at 0:01:24
I have attempted suicide 7 times over the past 5 years. Three times in the past 9 months. I have been diagnoised with severe depression, anxiety, and borderline personality. Believe me, I've been on just about every med. available! Feel like a guinea pig! Have been in, too many to count, treatment facilities, psy. dr's, medical dr's, and 30 day high dollar treatment clinics. I am so frustrated with "Mental Health" care in this country! I have continously received the same treatment and advice, obviously, it is not successful. Please, does any one have any other suggestions? Brain Mapping? Your input would be greatly appreciated!
Barely Here,
Krissy
Posted by Katia on February 11, 2003, at 2:57:07
In reply to Treatment for suicide, posted by KRISSY on February 11, 2003, at 0:01:24
Have been in therapy in conjunction with meds? What have you been on? And for how long? How old are you? Do you have supportive friends and/or family?
> I have attempted suicide 7 times over the past 5 years. Three times in the past 9 months. I have been diagnoised with severe depression, anxiety, and borderline personality. Believe me, I've been on just about every med. available! Feel like a guinea pig! Have been in, too many to count, treatment facilities, psy. dr's, medical dr's, and 30 day high dollar treatment clinics. I am so frustrated with "Mental Health" care in this country! I have continously received the same treatment and advice, obviously, it is not successful. Please, does any one have any other suggestions? Brain Mapping? Your input would be greatly appreciated!
> Barely Here,
> Krissy
Posted by KRISSY on February 11, 2003, at 6:55:03
In reply to Re: Treatment for suicide, posted by Katia on February 11, 2003, at 2:57:07
> Have been in therapy in conjunction with meds? What have you been on? And for how long? How old are you? Do you have supportive friends and/or family?
>
>
> > I have attempted suicide 7 times over the past 5 years. Three times in the past 9 months. I have been diagnoised with severe depression, anxiety, and borderline personality. Believe me, I've been on just about every med. available! Feel like a guinea pig! Have been in, too many to count, treatment facilities, psy. dr's, medical dr's, and 30 day high dollar treatment clinics. I am so frustrated with "Mental Health" care in this country! I have continously received the same treatment and advice, obviously, it is not successful. Please, does any one have any other suggestions? Brain Mapping? Your input would be greatly appreciated!
> > Barely Here,
> > Krissy
>
> Yes, I have been on med. in conjunction w/ therapy. I am 20 years old. Have been on every antidepressant out there. Right now, I'm on Neurontin w/ Lexapro. Have tried Zyprexa,Topamax, Depakote. There are others , can't remember. I have much support from family. Still live @ home. Did not graduate from HS. Started having major prob. 5 years ago. Seems like I'm stuck. Medical field just suggest the same treatment, over and over.
Posted by cubbybear on February 11, 2003, at 9:55:44
In reply to Treatment for suicide, posted by KRISSY on February 11, 2003, at 0:01:24
Do you recall if you ever tried an MAOI anti-depressant such as Parnate or Nardil? If not, one of these might be your salvation. I suggest you use the internet to get info about them, don't get scared off by all the warnings because the drug companies are supposed to provide them, and be strong and find a doctor who will prescribe an MAOI for you.
That's the best advice I can offer.
Posted by SLS on February 11, 2003, at 10:24:21
In reply to Re: Treatment for suicide, posted by KRISSY on February 11, 2003, at 6:55:03
Hi.
Treat the anxiety immediately!
I'm not sure I have anything helpful to say, but I'll try anyway. What I describe here are things that work for me, and are not components of any prescribed therapeutic method, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt.
People seem to be most likely to become suicidal when they are experiencing anxiety. Is this true of you? If so, perhaps it makes sense to aggressively treat the anxiety separately while you continue to pursue treatments appropriate for your disorder. Benzodiazepines (Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin, etc.)might be the best choice to build a bridge until an effective antidepressant treatment is found. An antidepressant response will most likely act to reduce the anxiety should anxiety be a component integral to the depressive disorder itself.
If you can, take note of what thoughts or issues are associated with your worst anxieties. It is all to easy to focus on a painful past and anticipate a doomed future while in a depressed state. Even if the anxiety you experience is 100% of biological origin and integral to your depressive disorder, it can still affect the way you think and feel, so as to provoke increases in depressive and catastrophic thinking and feelings of gloom and doom. Things get dangerous very quickly: depression makes anxiety worse which, in turn, makes depression worse, which, in turn, makes anxiety worse... etc. It is a cycle of escalating symptoms.
(depressive thoughts ->) anxiety -> depressive thoughts -> more anxiety -> more severe depressive thoughts and feelings of helplessness -> paralyzing anxiety and feelings of being trapped or doomed -> suicidal ideation, isolation -> anxiety, frustration, anger, hopelessness -> suicide
In summary, it is crucial for you to reduce your level of anxiety in order to avoid becoming suicidal and giving medications every chance of working. Stress, depression, and anxiety become a burden on the system and produces resistance against the processes that improve brain function. You can try to address the anxiety by mitigating it with medication and/or using psychotherapeutic resources and coping tools specific to reducing negative and depressive thinking. Accomplishing either should help break or minimize the cycle of symptom escalation.
Psychotherapy might offer an effective method to reduce depression and anxiety enough so that it allows you to move forward and perhaps foster some mood stability. Given the frequency with you become suicidal, I would urge you to seek counseling as soon as possible to help you get through this difficult period. The treatment of depression still involves to a large extent trial-and-error. It might take some time to find a treatment you respond to.
Good luck.
- Scott
Posted by SLS on February 11, 2003, at 10:26:38
In reply to Re: Treatment for suicide, posted by cubbybear on February 11, 2003, at 9:55:44
> Do you recall if you ever tried an MAOI anti-depressant such as Parnate or Nardil? If not, one of these might be your salvation. I suggest you use the internet to get info about them, don't get scared off by all the warnings because the drug companies are supposed to provide them, and be strong and find a doctor who will prescribe an MAOI for you.
> That's the best advice I can offer.
It is good advice.
- Scott
Posted by cosis on February 11, 2003, at 11:52:37
In reply to Re: Treatment for suicide, posted by SLS on February 11, 2003, at 10:26:38
> > Do you recall if you ever tried an MAOI anti-depressant such as Parnate or Nardil? If not, one of these might be your salvation. I suggest you use the internet to get info about them, don't get scared off by all the warnings because the drug companies are supposed to provide them, and be strong and find a doctor who will prescribe an MAOI for you.
> > That's the best advice I can offer.
>
>
> It is good advice.
>
>
> - Scott
>
>
>I 2nd that :)
Nick
Posted by Katia on February 11, 2003, at 17:12:03
In reply to Re: Treatment for suicide, posted by KRISSY on February 11, 2003, at 6:55:03
It is sooo hard to find peace, I know. Hopefully you can get relief soon. A big key piece is patience to find the right med and to really give each a try. And by all means in conjunction with therapy. (after trial and error of finding the right therapist for you). And then to stay with the med and the therapist for a good long time. Do you do any arts? I find that helps a lot for expression of something that can't be verbal. Yoga, exericise? I know these are simply supplemental and complementary things that you can do, but if they help, why not?
that's really all the advice I have.
good luck.
Katia> > Have been in therapy in conjunction with meds? What have you been on? And for how long? How old are you? Do you have supportive friends and/or family?
> >
> >
> > > I have attempted suicide 7 times over the past 5 years. Three times in the past 9 months. I have been diagnoised with severe depression, anxiety, and borderline personality. Believe me, I've been on just about every med. available! Feel like a guinea pig! Have been in, too many to count, treatment facilities, psy. dr's, medical dr's, and 30 day high dollar treatment clinics. I am so frustrated with "Mental Health" care in this country! I have continously received the same treatment and advice, obviously, it is not successful. Please, does any one have any other suggestions? Brain Mapping? Your input would be greatly appreciated!
> > > Barely Here,
> > > Krissy
> >
> > Yes, I have been on med. in conjunction w/ therapy. I am 20 years old. Have been on every antidepressant out there. Right now, I'm on Neurontin w/ Lexapro. Have tried Zyprexa,Topamax, Depakote. There are others , can't remember. I have much support from family. Still live @ home. Did not graduate from HS. Started having major prob. 5 years ago. Seems like I'm stuck. Medical field just suggest the same treatment, over and over.
>
>
>
Posted by sl on February 11, 2003, at 23:12:54
In reply to Treatment for suicide, posted by KRISSY on February 11, 2003, at 0:01:24
I agree with the others. It sounds like a MAOI is a good idea.
There is also, when all else fails, ECT. The Electro Convulsive Therapy of today is not supposed to be unpleasant at all, you go to sleep, they shock you, you wake up a little disoriented and possibly with some missing memories.
But I've seen testimonials where the person said they'd almost given up hope and now were so much better, and they were so glad they'd endured. :) (On the other hand, if you're suicidal, you could always try ECT with the hope that something goes horribly awry.... :P)
Another thought is exercise and nutrition. One of my friends is in prison (long story) and he swears by his workouts, he says they make such a difference, and are keeping him from being horribly depressed about his situation. Personally I've found cutting drastically back on sugar and white flour to be incredibly helpful. :)Good luck, and hang in there, I'm sure you'll find help just when you least expect it. ;)
sl
(not SLS)
Posted by LUKA62 on February 11, 2003, at 23:59:30
In reply to Re: Treatment for suicide, posted by sl on February 11, 2003, at 23:12:54
I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the MAOI, in combination with very intensive therapy, and other meds. It took what seemed forever and I wanted to give up, almost successfully; but I learned over a loong period of time how to manage the feelings and impulses causing the suicidal thoughts and behavior. Nardil does enjoy a good reputation with those who have been on it, and for depression that doesn't respond to other meds it's a good bet.
Keep hanging in there! You've invested a lot in trying to overcome this. Good luck to you.
Posted by brender on February 12, 2003, at 0:15:39
In reply to Treatment for suicide, posted by KRISSY on February 11, 2003, at 0:01:24
There is a story in Scientific American this month on suicide and the neurobiology of people prone to attempt this.
The sidebar article mentions lithium as a wonder drug for suicide prevention and says "increasingly...it is also offered to people with depression" (as well as manic-depression).
I'm bipolar, and even a small amount of lithium as an add-on has prevented the suicidal impulses that in the past were coming every few minutes. Now they are rare and not very compelling. Life is much better without them. My doctor claims that even a sub-therapeutic bloodlevel of lithium can have substantial effects and he seems to be right in my case. You might want to ask your doctor about it.
Here's the sidebar:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0000FC95-7826-1E1C-8B3B809EC588EEDFBest of luck.
Posted by kara lynne on February 12, 2003, at 3:49:44
In reply to Re: Treatment for suicide, posted by SLS on February 11, 2003, at 10:26:38
If I weren't so burned out from trying countless medications and incurring the wrath of their side effects, I would be giving Nardil a greater chance than I'm going to. Yes you've done quite a few meds (I've lost track of how many I've tried), but maybe you still have a good fight left in you (if you end up needing it--you may not) for something that seems to yield dramatic relief when you make it to the other side. I just get so physically sick; yesterday was my second day trying Nardil and I haven't been right yet-- nausea, headace, yadda yadda. But like I said, if I hadn't spent so much time in the hell of adjusting to meds that barely or never worked, I would give it a better shot. I may try again later. Had I known what I know now, I would have stopped at Paxil (my first try) and gone to Nardil (with honest feedback about what I might expect, a few days off work, a good book and someone to feed me!) I guess I'm encouraging you to go for it--it sounds like you need something more powerful than the ssri's with augmentation. Thankfully there are still many good meds you have left to try, and many good people who care about you.
This is the end of the thread.
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