50 years of annual bouts of depressional

[huam77]

following the birth of my last child (47 years ago!) i had several months of severe depression which went undianosed for 3 years. when it was finally correctly diagnosed was given a series of shock treatments and regular dosage of elavil( mayube this is not the first anti-depressant that the psychiatrist tried but the one that i remember best because of the relief i got, first right away from the electri-shock series and then the elavil(i think).
every year since that time i become depressed for 5-6 months-usually from mid fall to midspring.
i have been to all kinds of pysychiatrists in 3 different cities where we've lived, but nothing has worked to prevent the annual depression, sometimes extremely severe.
i do not have extreme manic episodes, but i've described my condition as " when i feel good i feel very very good and when i feel bad i feel horrible."
i would appreciate hearing from others who may have experienced a similar set of events.
for the past 10-12 years i have been under the care of the best doctor i've ever had. he is a psychopharmacologist , psychiatrist and analyst. but i STILL have the annual depressive episodes. i've tried many anti-depressants
with varying degrees of effectiveness , lithium, and combinations of anti-depressants as well as about 5 series of depressions. i've been hospitalized 3-5 times because i was so severely depressed.
but enough about me-i'd like to hear from others.

[waves]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forum here :) I personally am a different variant of bipolar than you... but i know about about various kinds, done lots of reading, etc. Especially in the early years i was a webworm, and still am when i have the energy. i am not in a great state right now. came off a mania and still dealing with weird head-junk / mixed depression that ensued. listless seems to be my middle name tho i have better, worse, and weirder moments. but that is just me, in the now.

but now, to address your question as to whether there be a way to prevent seasonal depression? in your case... there quite possibly is.

i become depressed for 5-6 months-usually from mid fall to midspring.that is incredibly predictable... and basically falls within the winter months, or the lower-light times of the year. that is sometimes described as SAD (how a propos, eh :rolleyes: ) - but i'm quite serious, it is called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a pattern that can occur in bipolar cycles. Your very very good goods sound like hypomania, so yes, that would be bipolar, which can follow this pattern of SAD.

One thing that has been found very effective with SAD is light therapy. There are specific kinds of lights that you can get.

Here is a Wikipedia article on SAD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder)
... just so you can bone up on some basic information.

Of course, talk to your doctor about this, he will surely know of SAD and light therapy, and will best be able to advise you with respect to your specific needs. I'm a bit surprised that with such a distinct seasonal pattern, no-one has suggested this before. You might also check with your pharmacy to see what lights they may have available. You could probably get something via web, maybe cheaper too, but I'm not big about buying medical equipment that way... that's me of course ... I think i'd want to see the thing in action in a store first, pick and choose in person. But now i'm jumping fences more than giving you feedback. :rolleyes: oops.

Post-partum depression can bring on the onset of unipolar or bipolar disorder. I'm sorry you've had such bad episodes as have led to shock treatments; hopefully your side effects were not too bad.

I hope you are getting better around now that spring has sprung, clocks and all. Wish me well too... unlike you, feb/march are when i've had baaaaaad depressive onsets, as opposed to the darker months. However i am not seasonally predictable overall, and in this case it did not hit me out of the blue, i think it was more of a "fall" from the mania and my pdoc was really quick about upping my antidepressant.

again welcome and post to let us know how you are doing and what you make of this.

~ waves ~ from across the ocean

[markpilnick]

Even though you live in the Sunshine State(as did I; Miami-23 years), I've heard of SAD occuring in a sunny environment. Also, ask your GP or internist to check your vitamin D level. Low vitamin D3 level has been implicated in SAD as well as hypothyroid disorder. And, yes, get a full thyroid panel even though the depression is seasonal.(I have hypothyroidism) Sometimes light therapy is all you need. I have it and the light box keeps me at a low level of functioning but winter is quite difficult for me. Don't give up and if a doctor disses you, dump him or her. I won't tolerate a doctor that won't listen to me. Wish I was back in FLA.

Mark