Depression | Arthritis Information

 

I was wondering for those who suffer both RA and depression whether they find that their depression is more an ongoing symptom of RA or does it have tendency to be more an exacerbation of dealing with their chronic illness. Was it concurrent with one's diagnosis of RA or did it develop later?

And is it a symptom/illness that anyone feels they are cured of or does it just hang on like the rest of their chronic RA symptoms to make you miserable.

my depression did not start immediately,  if they get your pain under control usually you can live without antidepressants.  i have tried most all of them ,wellbuterin worked well on pain and kept me from eating too much but it made me nervous in the afternoon and evening.  most of the other traditional ones did not help.  right now i have weaned myself off them but i will go back on them if i cannot break this funk i am in right now.

wonderwoman2008-03-12 20:21:58I've suffered from chronic depression on-and-off for many years long before chronic illness came alone (first Fibro, then RA), so I may not be the best person to respond.  However, I think it is fairly normal to feel depressed when receiving a diagnosis of a chronic illness, as there is often a grieving process over how our lives may change.  I think in time this goes away, but could be replaced by depression caused by meds (especially pain meds), caused by the pain itself, or difficulty adjusting. 

 

For me, I find it comes and goes, but I take SAM-e supplements regularly to help which also help your liver and joints (note: there is 1 study that suggests it interferes with mtx, which I'm not taking).  And there are many anti-depressants that have the benefit of helping with pain...unfortunately they don't work well for me or I get side effects.

 

I also believe that most everyone can benefit from therapy, and those with chronic illnesses even more so.  It doesn't have to be with a psychiatrist--licensed counsellors, psychologists, clergy and other types of people can be very beneficial (and less expensive).

I once battled depression years ago myself which is why I am trying to see how it goes with some of you. I'd like not to have to deal with that on top of chronic illness if that's what my diagnosis reveals. It's hard enough to get out of bed lately without not wanting to do it at all.

Maybe I'm just trying to be brave. The symptoms are scary and, yes, depressing all by themselves.

  I wouldn't say I'm clinically depressed- but I have periods of depression on & off over what I feel I have lost because of this disease.I did one of the self tests and I'm clearly not depressed. Thank God! I think I will do that monitoring along with the physical HAQ monitoring as seems warranted. If you do get depressed it tends to make one sicker because you don't take care of yourself as well. 
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