Food and Wine | Main | Yummy, yum, yum
September 28, 2004
Depression
I thought I was depressed and had been depressed for a long time. It's been harder and harder for me to get my ass out of bed and to work and sweet, lovely, wonderful John has been picking up a lot of my slack around the house and at the barn, etc.
This morning, I was in a rush to get to work. I forgot to take the blood pressure pills I was on.
Oh. My. God.
For the first time in 3 years, I was not dizzy and light headed when walking from the car to the office. I did not feel like I was going to fall asleep at 1:00 this afternoon. I was in a genuinely good mood at work. I felt .. could it be .. normal?
So I looked up the 3 drugs I take and found that the side effects for 2 of them are ..... depression!!!!!
Yes, I know I need to take them, but now I can go to the doctor with data in hand and see if there aren't alternatives.
I had my blood pressure taken today and it was normal. But I know it might not be tomorrow.
I have gained a lot of weight in the past few years - it's probably a cause of the high blood pressure that I never had before in my life - but the pills that keep my pressure down also make me exhausted and depressed - with no energy to exercise. And when I say no energy, I mean the energy to put one foot in front of the other when just walking to the car some mornings.
So, the moral is - look at how you feel - check to see what side effects are likely with drugs you are taking and then - go see your doctor.
I will try to get in tomorrow - I'm too young (even if I'm 51) to feel tired and depressed all the time.
Posted by Beth at September 28, 2004 6:58 PM
Comments
Yay!!! Good for you!!!! I can't tell you how many people I know who either don't trust their bodies or their doctors enough to ask about it when they don't feel right.
Be sure you tell the Dr. about the dizzyness, pooping out, etc, because that could indicate that your dosage is off or that the HBP pills are throwing off your electrolyte balance.
If your Dr. gives you the run around or won't work with you, look somewhere else. There is NO reason to feel like you have been at ANY age.
Good luck :)
Posted by: caltechgirl at September 28, 2004 7:17 PM
Yay for you! It's so hard to know if you feel bad because you feel bad or if the medicine you're on is making you feel bad. My in-laws are always checking out their meds (and those of their relatives) to make sure they're as safe as possible. Good luck with the doc.
Posted by: Angela at September 28, 2004 7:41 PM
Hope you get your meds straightened out, Beth... depression in itself is crippling, and can lead to other consequences... which the doctors should know!
Sometimes I wonder about 'modern' medicine...
Good luck!!
Posted by: pam at September 28, 2004 7:58 PM
Scary story, it does make me wonder how many people out there never figure out what their meds side effects are and how it all ties in with how their feeling.
Once they sink down low with depression the focus is off what could be causing it.
Sure am glad that you missed your meds one morning or maybe you never would of found out what was causing the depression. Scary thought isn't it?
You did a good public service with this post.
Posted by: BeeBee at September 28, 2004 8:57 PM
What? You're 51? No way!
Posted by: John of Argghhh! at September 28, 2004 10:08 PM
My Dad played with his bp meds until they got them right. It took awhile. I figure I'll start playing that game w/in 5 - 10 years. It runs in our family big time at a young age like you are.
If your doc won't listen to you, there's something wrong with HIM/HER! Switch docs if they won't help you. Life is too short to feel like that all the time!
Posted by: Boudicca at September 28, 2004 10:56 PM
Take those pills into the doc and demand something else. Do what you need to do to feel better!
Heh. I'd hate to be the doctor who says no to you.
Posted by: Da Goddess at September 28, 2004 11:17 PM
Well, actually, I already switched 'health care providers' this summer. The new doc is a real doc instead of just a physician's assistant, and I do like him.
The PA had me on anti-depressants - probably to offset the depression that I got from the HBP pills. Those had a zillion bad side effects.
Posted by: Beth Donovan at September 29, 2004 5:51 AM
With any luck you'll be able to either reduce the dosages or get other medication. The fewer drugs, the better. (And if you have more energy without, maybe exercise can bring down your BP too!)
Posted by: B. Durbin at September 29, 2004 3:38 PM
I'm taking something called Avalide for blood pressure; it's pricey (still under patent), but it does the job and it has the fewest side effects of anything I've tried. (Sister drug Avapro doesn't contain a diuretic but is otherwise essentially identical.)
Posted by: CGHill at October 1, 2004 1:52 PM