Depression

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Hello people

sorry to jump back in just to ask for advice / information. I was a regular here in 2013 when I had MS symptoms. Ended up being CIS - a lesion on my spinal cord. Very few symptoms since then, just a little throwback tingling now and again.

I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about MS depression? From what I’ve read it sounds like depression associated with MS is reactive I.e. In response to the diagnosis. That obviously can’t be my case but I am struggling a bit at the moment, and I just wondered if it could be related? Does anyone know if it’s a symptom in its own right as it were, or is it ‘just’ a (reasonable) reaction to an MS diagnosis? I haven’t been fretting about getting MS, most of the time I never think of it.

2

hi clare

how does the depression manifest itself?

is it like a bad case of the blues?

do you cry a lot?

i think i’ve only cried once (mega tough eh?) but that melancholy feeling which i associate with feeling a bit blue, i get fairly often.

my gp at the time was marvellous and put me on citalopram before diagnosis.

maybe a chat with your doctor could help you.

meanwhile practice smiling because at one point my face forgot how to do it.

if you smile, people smile back and that makes you feel good.

if you look miserable, people talk about their own problems, which can irritate the pants off you and bore you to tears.

good luck

carole x

3

Thanks Carole, yes I might talk to my GP. I have a lot going on, serious relationship trouble, needy parents, mother with dementia, 3 kids, difficult job. I’m normally a pull myself together type, and I can still do that most days so I know I don’t have proper depression. I expect I’m just reacting normally to a bunch of mid-life shit tbh. It’s just that sometimes the urge to weep all day is hard to shake off.

4

hi clare

ah you are one of those people who find themselves as the filling in a sandwich.

stuck between the demands of 3 kids and parents who need help too.

your gp will be well aware of those difficulties.

i hope you get help from your doctor.

carole x

5

Sorry. Clare, you have just listed the big problem: serious relationship trouble.
That, more than any of the other things on your list of things going on, is the biggest single cause of depression.

Any serious “life event” has an impact, but that is the real biggie.
Second is that you are female.
Look up The Camberwell Collaborative Depression Study which goes back to the mid/late 1970s, but be prepareed to be even more depressed. On the other hand, an explanation may help you feel better about things, and may give you a few clues as to how you could improve things.

Geoff.

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