[fatmad]

What other treatments are some people doing to manage depression and weight issues?
Anyone have a pharmaco-genomic study done to see what med would work best? I was meeting with several health insurance industry types yesterday, and they were all talking about it. They were saying that the big, and difficult thing is finding the right drug for the right person, and that although the study itself was expensive, it saved time, and in the long run money since people got the right med sooner. I was thinking about asking for that. I don't feel bad on the wellbutrin, but nothing great happening here.

I am also starting CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and EMDR. I have lots of issues to work on with this, but that includes food obsession. I thought i was doing a lot better lately, since I have been doing IF, but last night at the grocery store with all the Hallowe'en candy around, I could smell it through the whole store, and I had to hurry out, do one of my CBT exercises to calm down, and again had issues all evening at home. While the 5 things exercise helped, I did it a few times, and its frustrating to have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head all night when I am not eating anything. I wonder if thinking about food so intently raises blood insulin levels or anything.

Interested in thoughts around all types of treatments and what people have found helpful for both mental health and food issues.

[Becky Quilts]

Disclosure: I am not a doctor.
To me, depression is a multifaceted condition and is treated best with a multifaceted approach.

CBT was helpful to me. Talk therapy is up there (just plain someone to listen!) and is clinically proven.

Non-Pharm: vitamin B complex, saffron has good marks and I think it helped (although it was hard to tell with the saffron because it was summer and mine has a SAD component to it). 30 minutes of exercise - to where I am breathing heavy and sweating - gives a lovely boost. It is my own emergency button of sorts (if I can get my tail to do it!) Omega 3s help. A sunlamp takes me 4-7 days to feel the boost - but it is there (10,000 Lux, 30 min).

All these - to me - are little helps, little tips toward the right direction. It can seem like a lot of balls to keep moving... The good news is when I have everything going in the right direction, if I have a few days where I ,say, miss the sunlamp, my world doesn't come crashing down. Sometimes my world becomes a terrible place for no reason at all. Shrug. We walk onward.

Meditation I think could be quite powerful for you. I am a Christian and find mediation can be non-religious. Mindfulness meditation is my favorite. Google it if you like... but if you can become more practiced and stronger at peacefully letting go of a thought and choosing to focus on the picture of a candle in your head (or a sunset, or a beach) then it would seem it might help get you away from the sugar plums and into a calm frame of mind. I also wonder if a hobby where your hands have to be busy would help?

Sounds like you are looking for a longer term "lets find some normalcy" solutions. Medication certainly has a place - I am on one that isn't quite right currently so still on that road - but I think you're heading in the right direction looking for a group of things to add to and be your solution.

[fatmad]

I am working to accept that I will likely need to stay on medication for depression and anxiety. When I am off for a while, even with other treatments, I start to have symptoms again. I have gone of 3 times, and always need it again within a couple of years. If staying on the meds keeps me more stable, and doesn't have serious side effects, I will stick with it I think. I went off the SSRI's due to the urinary retention issues, with repeated UTi's and difficult to treat UTI's. wellbutrin is not an SSRI, and does not have this side effect. SO far no noticeable side effects.
SO fat the wellbutrin seems ok, if not as quickly and obviously effective. I would say things have improved since June when i started, but time will tell. I also started IF in May, have been losing weight very effectively with that, so at least the Wellbutrin isn't impairing weight loss. and I am unsure if its helping of course.
Here's hoping that both issues will continue to improve, weight and depression