Do you have depression with your Epilepsy, if yes, which one?

[Billyboyboo]

Just curious.
Thanks.

[Crystalblue]

I have had severe, treatment resistant, clinical depression since my teens. As for how it relates to my possible epilepsy it's sort of a chicken or the egg thing. I did have a neurologist tell me once that refractory depression is linked to temporal lobe epilepsy. Incidentally, the temporal lobe is where one of my first EEG's showed an abnormality. Co-incidnece? Probably not

[Mike]

No Depression because I get Nerofeedback treatments that help me recognize depression symtoms and make me not want to be depressed even more. Theres alot we can do for our depression on our own without taking antidepressants. Like exercise which increase indorphens in our brain.

[valeriedl]

I'm not depressed at all. I can't work and drive. Many of my friends live at least an hour away and have kids so it's hard to get together. If I want to go somewhere I have to have someone take me so I really don't have any "me" time.

I don't care, I have friends and family that I can talk to and vent about things and they seem to understand and give advice when they can. I don't sit around the house and feel sorry for myself, there are better things to do.

[Mike]

I agree that there are better things to do, like give thanks for all that we have.

[Endless]

Topamax made me mega-depressed. Not good. So my doc took me off. My moods are fine on the Trileptal. It's practically the only thing that IS fine on the Trileptal. Lol...

[Loopy Lou]

I don't sit around the house and feel sorry for myself, there are better things to do.

Quite often it's not a case of feeling sorry for one's self. People who are depressed tend to feel guilty that they feel that way, which makes it worse.

I'm prone to sinking into depression, and it's not an easy thing to "snap out of"

Don't get me wrong. I'm thankful for all the good things in my life and most of the time i can push the bad stuff to the back of my mind until i'm on my own. I allow myself the odd day of wallowing when i'm feeling particularly bad, and then it makes me feel a bit better the next day, knowing that i've got some of it out of my system.

[Cint]

I'm more prone to sink into a deep depression, too, and don't "snap out of it" either. After trying many anti-depressants to no avail, the dr. sent me to a shrink who diagnosed me as Bipolar II. I've had a good life, been able to travel some, have two wonderful children and am thankful to be alive, exercise to increase the endorphins, but all that sometimes does not take the depression away. The same as seizures begin in the brain, so does the depression and "one shoe doesn't fit all."

[Mike]

Im the guy who cant take antidepressants they make me even more depressed! The Doctors wont give them to me because they work against me. Nerofeedback cured my depression, I can say that without doubt!!

[Billyboyboo]

I'm one to have the deep depression, I just can't snap out of it, it passes someway...

[Mike]

I must sound like a broken record, Nerofeedback changed my life. It made me so aware of my all my stuff! It makes me determined to stay healthy.

[matchu]

my depression is also about feeling guilty about me having things others don't that why do I deserve this or that. Not material things tho. It is how your mind control what you hear, how it is interpreted, what you say and how it sounds to others. You know something is wrong, but can't do anything to fix, or fixing it drains all your energy.

[Mike]

Depression is about me! The best way to fight depression is count your blessings and pray for the needs of others. If you have a blessing in your life and you turn it into somthing good for someone else you will always have that blessing! The best blessing I can think of is seizure freedom for us all.

[Cint]

Depression is about me!

Not necessarily. For some of us, depression is about neurotransmitters in the brain.

From http://www.brainexplorer.org/depress...etiologi.shtml

Depression

It is important to appreciate that very few physicians would accept that depression is purely a biochemical phenomenon. Many other factors are thought to contribute; biological and genetic factors as well as personality traits and life events may all contribute. In addition, there are a number of psychological theories about the aetiology of depression. Perhaps the greatest areas of agreement about depression are that:

the condition is complex
there is no one explanation of its cause
there is no single treatment that will be effective in all cases.

What Happens in the Brain

The areas of the brain implicated in depression are the forebrain and the limbic system .

Many structures of the forebrain appear to be involved in depression, although it is not certain if a disturbance to these brain areas causes depression, or if they are simply affected in the course of the disease. The brain areas involved include the frontal and temporal lobes of the forebrain, the basal nuclei , and parts of the limbic system including the hippocampus , amygdala and the cingulate gyrus . The cerebral cortex controls thinking and it is likely that abnormalities in this part of the forebrain are responsible for the negative thoughts that are typical of depression.

The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland may also play a role in depression, as they are involved in hormonal control, and increased levels of some hormones may play a role in maintaining a depressed state.

If the body is placed under stress, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis becomes activated. The hypothalamus produces corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) which is hypothesised to play a role in the precipitation of certain forms of depression. CRF stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone, which in turn stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol. Cortisol depresses mood and approximately 50% of people with severe depression have raised cortisol levels.

In the brainstem , the raphe nuclei and the locus coeruleus are involved in the transmission of signals to other parts of the brain, and are likely to be involved in depression. An imbalance or deficiency of the neurotransmitters , serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine are implicated in depression, although it may be a change in receptor function, and not neurotransmitter concentration, that causes depression.

The best way to fight depression is count your blessings and pray for the needs of others. If you have a blessing in your life and you turn it into somthing good for someone else you will always have that blessing! The best blessing I can think of is seizure freedom for us all.

I do count my blessings day by day and each time I visit my neurologist's or endocrinologist's office, I see some in worse condition than myself.

[Mike]

Sorry to have spoke my mind,but if we dont share our views then how do we learn from each other? Im hear for the information yous all share with me. Just trying to do my part by telling what works for me. 407 days seizure free today. I wish everyone who has a seizure disorder could experince this.

[Shelley]

I seem to be depressed all the time.
It's not the fear of having a seizure, it's the agony of people who enjoy making fun of me, no matter what.
I never had a supportive family, have a few friends which are terrific.
My depression is not medically, nor chemically induced. Just psycho-social.

[gigi]

The horse of many colors. Comes in all shapes and sizes. I was anxious as a child, genetically predisposed. Comes from my Fathers side. My 1st seizure was at age 11. My 1st panic attack at age 19. Anxiety has been my constant companion, and turns itself into depression at some point. A vicous circle. I am 52, and I have tried to break the cycle with therapy, medication, self help. I am back to the start. Now with hormones screwing with me, the pattern has changed some what. Now I am angry, and tired of it.
I am seeing a neurologist. next month and I am going to inquire about the neurofeedback. I am not up for going back to therapy and talking about it, I want to do something!!

[NicoleLake]

Now I have clinical depression, but when I was younger it was caused as a side-effect of my medication.

[Ori]

Depression, bi-polar disorder, and other "mood disorders" are biochemical disorders of the brain, just as epilepsy is. Like epilepsy, they can be triggered by emotional stress. Clinical depression is truly terrible, painful beyond words, and many many leagues separate from just sitting around moping.

[Billyboyboo]

I had a tonic clonic today and before this I was very depressed, and my nerves were all over the place... I wonder if the depression was my aura this go around... I'm so tired now and my body aches especially in my legs, like the muscles just can't stop burning.
Billy