Depression and epilepsy

[Stephanie86]

Hi. I haven't been here in awhile.

I've had depression since I was 13. It gets very severe sometimes and causes major distress in my life. I don't have the mental or physical energy to interact with my kids, I can hardly clean my house, I have no drive to do anything.

I have epilepsy that's been controlled for a couple of years. My question is, is depression common in people with epilepsy? If so, when seizures are controlled, shouldn't the depression go away?

[epileric]

Excellent question Stephanie.

I spent most of my childhood depressed & didn't even realize it because it was just what was normal for me.

It seemed to have lessened a lot around the time I hit 30 years old. I don't know if it was less or if I just knew how to deal with it better by that age.

I am also curious if controlling the seizures would help the depression as well.

[Aubrey]

Stephanie -

I don't have any particular advice, but I do understand. I am a mom, too, and I have had long spans of time when I do not feel I have the strength to interact with my kids or clean house. The latter is sometimes very hard for other people to understand. Maybe the particular medication you are on is leaving you feeling this way? Trileptal made me feel quite tired, as did Tegretol. I would say that whatever you do, don't feel bad about yourself for it - yes I think it is related either to the condition itself or to the medication. You probably need more R&R than some other people do, and that's ok.

[Cint]

Hi Stephanie,

I've had epilepsy for 30 years and suffered depression for about 20 years, also. Sometimes the depression was so bad for me to I wanted to end it all, but I had two children and they are what kept me going. I was seeing a neuropsychiatrist who worked alongside my neurologist to control the depression/seizures. Sometimes for women hormones can play a huge role and sometimes it's seizures/drugs that cause depression.
My psychiatrist said that for some if the epilepsy is controlled, then the depression gets worse as the seizures act as ECT therapy.....(I had a hard time accepting that philosophy).
Anyway, I hope you get better. Definitely mention it to your doctor and check out this website: http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/beh...onalitychanges

[Stephanie86]

Thank you all for the support.

I'm not sure what to try, I've been on 11 different antidepressants and 9 different antipsychotics, I've tried electroconvulsive therapy (before they knew about the epilepsy) and nothing seems to help. I've been in the hospital for it 5 times. I'm only 25.

When I was dx'd with epilepsy, I was hoping that was the cause of my problems. But here I am 3 years later, and the depression is still here.

[epileric]

A few years ago I started working out. It took over 6 months of going 4 times a week but I found it really helped my depression & seizures as well as my energy levels.

I was just lucky to have the time.

[survivor]

When I was going through the phase, when i had lots of seizures, i had bad days before seizure...................very irritated and depressed, but after the seizure, I felt relieved! But now when that phase of lots of seizures is over........................I feel depressed and irritated and anxiety + fear is a usual routine. But I try hard to deal with them. try yoga, meditation and chant hymns. So that way I am spending my life. Yes! there was a time I used to clean up the house PROPERLY, but now its done just for the sake of doing. My baby is very naughty and I scold her too much some times.....then i hug her say sorry and weap for a while.......... she asks mom-'i have been scolded, i should cry, why are u crying?' And can never tell her that baby ur mistake was not THAT BIG.
Seizures may end but depression, anxiety, fear and irritation is there to stay!!!!

[Cint]

When I was dx'd with epilepsy, I was hoping that was the cause of my problems. But here I am 3 years later, and the depression is still here.

Sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time after trying so many treatments. Are you seeing an epileptologist and a psychiatrist who knows how to deal with seizure disorders + depressive disorders? My dr. had tried me on many anti-depressants and several anti-psychotics, to no avail. One thing about anti-psychotics, tho, for some people, they can/do cause Diabetes, so beware. That's what did it for me, adding more fuel to the fire.

[jyearta]

I have had depression for the last few years, I couldn't understand what it was with me.

My seizures are under control the most their have EVER been in my life, I'm so thankful.

I have been prec. for the depression, couldn't handle for one reason or the other.

I was advise last week to take more fish oil. This helped me better than any precs. medic.

---This is what I have found to help me, so far no side effects.--

[Eve]

I started to have nocturnal seizures in my early 20s' however it took almost 10 years to get a proper diagnosis. Anyway about 6 months after they figured out that I had these nocturnal simple seizures they told me I had an anxiety disorder. (?) I ve been on Zoloft for a while and I just went off of it. I tried 5-HTP ( a natural supplement) that is supposed to help for depression and I just stopped that cause it made me feel weird and I think it gave me a seizure. Now I am going to try a super anti stress vitamin that I just ordered from Amazon. I waiting to get so I can try it.

Everytime I go to the Doctor they either tell that I have high anxiety or high stress and one time he told me that he thinks that ....I think too much.

[jyearta]

I' ve been on Zoloft for a while and I I started to have nocturnal seizures in my early 20s' however it took almost 10 years to get a proper diagnosis.

I tried 5-HTP ( a natural supplement) that is supposed to help for depression and I just stopped that cause it made me feel weird and I think it gave me a seizure. Now I am going to try a super anti stress vitamin that I just ordered from Amazon. I waiting to get so I can try it.

Everytime I go to the Doctor they either tell that I have high anxiety or high stress and one time he told me that he thinks that ....I think too much.

I was put on Zoloft also at one time, this caused me to have seizures. My Dr. said that it does happen to some E. patients and then does OK for others.

This just how it is with E.

When I first started the fish oil, I was so desperate and foolishlythat I started with 8 gel tablets a day right at the beginning. Then after thinking about what I was doing, I cut the dose all at once to 4 gel tabl. a day. Two days later, around 7:30PM I started going into the depression again.
When I got home, I took 1 fish oil and soon I could feel the depression lifting.
I'm trying to find that balance that is right for me.

I'm saying all this, just to say with vitamins and supplements add on slowly, and add only 1 new medic./vit. at a time.

[Nakamova]

Neurofeedback may help with depression as well as with seizures. If you can find an affordable, knowledgeable practitioner (big "ifs", of course), it might be worth a try. Compared to meds, the side effects (if any) tend to be minimal.

[survivor]

Naka can u please suggest me some sites which give info about neurofeedback!?

[Eve]

Does Fish Oil help with depression? I wonder why it works? How much of it do you take and what brand?

[jyearta]

I have taken 1 tablet every AM for many years, but didn't know it help with depression. Dr. never told me this, I guess they would ready to give-up on me, I seem to react to every medic. they presc. or I couldn't afford it.

Anyway one day when I was where I thought I couldn't go on. I went to a nutrition store, the owner would not advise me on something for depression. She told me to try fish oil.

I'm taking the same one I got at Wal-Mart (Nature Made) this bottle has 1200mg. I now taking 6 tablets a day.

This is just what worked for me, you might want to ask you dr. first.

I did find many websites on this, one of these sites will explain it better than me.

Hope this is of some help to you.

[Cint]

Now I am going to try a super anti stress vitamin that I just ordered from Amazon. I waiting to get so I can try it.

Some can do more harm than good. Make sure you tell all your docs about all your medications/supplements as there could be an interaction.

http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=Aige6vWQUF...-26888716.html

[epileric]

I agree with Cint. These to articles were in the news today.

Study links vitamins to higher death rates in women


Vitamin E might raise risk of prostate cancer

[Nakamova]

Here's more info about neurofeedback for those who are interested:

EEG Neurofeedback
http://www.eeginfo.com/research/depression_main.html
http://www.neurofeedbackclinic.ca/jo...ion/(2-3)2.pdf

[Aubrey]

I agree with Cint. These to articles were in the news today.

Study links vitamins to higher death rates in women

Yes DO do your research. And another thing to do - do read the article - and not just the headline.

[epileric]

Yes DO do your research. And another thing to do - do read the article - and not just the headline.

Good Point!

I did read the article. I hope I didn't miss something.