Depression Question

[nightflight]

My doctor wrote "major depression" on my diagnosis/prescription sheet. I'm on my fifth day of Wellbutrin. Everyday I wake up tired, really tired. I was diagnosed with mild apnea, and I'm treated for that. But I'm still tired. My question is, does depression cause a lot of fatigue?

 

[alexier]

Not only does Depression have the symptom of tiredness but some drugs also cause drowsiness so try not to worry too much about that, I'm guessing the Doc will continue to check your symptoms and any side effects. Wellbutrin does have a history of causing fatigue but it's probably a mix of the two esp if you have been diagnosed with mild Apnea. I shall keep you in my prayers too for the Apnea and Fatigue.

(My Parents are in Psychiatry and I've struggled with depression)

 

[nightflight]

Not only does Depression have the symptom of tiredness but some drugs also cause drowsiness so try not to worry too much about that, I'm guessing the Doc will continue to check your symptoms and any side effects. Wellbutrin does have a history of causing fatigue but it's probably a mix of the two esp if you have been diagnosed with mild Apnea. I shall keep you in my prayers too for the Apnea and Fatigue.

(My Parents are in Psychiatry and I've struggled with depression)

I was told that Wellbutrin gave a lift. If its going to make things worse I'll just stop taking it.

 

[alexier]

NO I seriously wouldn't stop taking meds...they take on average about 2/3 weeks to kick in - and if you come off them it could set you back again. If you're unsure go back to the Doctors and tell him that it doesn't appear to be working, however I will say you NEED to give it some more time. Some people find Wellbutrin have bursts of energy but others don't find that to be the case, and remember a symptom of depression is fatigue. :0)

 

[Tempura]

Yes. When my depression was at its worst, I found it hard to get out of bed. No energy, no motivation either. It's very common with depression, so don't fret. God bless.

 

[Jeshu]

My doctor wrote "major depression" on my diagnosis/prescription sheet. I'm on my fifth day of Wellbutrin. Everyday I wake up tired, really tired. I was diagnosed with mild apnea, and I'm treated for that. But I'm still tired. My question is, does depression cause a lot of fatigue?

Absolutely, depression brings fatigue by the truck loads!!! The worse the depression the less energy I have. When depression is at its worst then I lay in bed curled up in the fetus position - for some reason that feels best - and it feels like my body is all heavy and unresponsive/unable, like my mind and my emotions are. Heavy, dark, loveless and very painfully be cast down by the greatest desolation know to life.

However psych medication often make this drowsiness even worse, especially at first, sometimes that clears up after a few weeks, sometimes it takes a lot longer, and sometimes feeling drained and tired stays all the time.

Generally when the psych meds increased your depression, when we take it at first, it is not going to be one that is going to help us in the long run. I found that helpful medications begin to make us feel better, or equip us with more energy or mental ability to resist to darkness of depression, within a very short time. And then over a longer period of time reaches maximum benefit and stabilizes us on that level. Days to a week to begin to notice some benefits, not weeks, months or years as some psychiatrist have us believe. However feeling drowsy from the meds may last much longer and should not be confused with feeling more depressed. It is best to keep a symptom sheet that has all your symptoms on it, and is filled in three times a day by yourself, (rate each symptom 1 to 10.) Keep an eye on that to see how things are going, please don't rely on your depressed mind to honestly keep track how you are going. Depressive minds have real problems knowing what is going on within them as they are often in darkness.

However please don't stop taking medications without your doctor monitoring your mental health and putting you on something that will work. Going of (or on) psych meds can be very tricky, especially if you have been on them for a little while. Going of meds my destabilize you and make things even worse than it has been.

It took many years before the doctor found something that truly benefited me, instead of made my depression worse, it was however still worth the search, for once I was on meds for a few years I calmed down enough to make some fundamental changes in how I process my inner information.

Meds do really help a lot of us here when things are bad, and most of here thank God for them. Only when we see that we have been healed do we attempt to free ourselves from psych medications.

Hope you will be able to overcome your depression.

 

[nightflight]

My problem is really just sleep. I would be a lot less depressed if I wasn't tired all the time.

 

[Tempura]

Sleeping badly is also common for depression, and some meds can make it even worse (I am not against meds, don't take it that way. some meds can improve sleep too). I don't know what these are called in the US, but when I was taking Mirtazapin/Remeron, that made me really tired and out of it. It was supposed to be an anti-depressant with some help for sleeping, but it just put me in a waking coma. Just like many anti-psychotics did. Benzos helped me though. After long use one might get addicted, but they do work. And they didn't make me feel more crazy, like some pills did. Quite natural.

I have been a bad sleeper all my life. Mostly the rhythm is weird for me: it's natural for me to be tired during the day, and active at night. I don't know why. But when I was quite depressed for years, my sleeping became even more messed up. I either slept too much, too little (sometimes 48+ hours without) or the quality of the sleep was horrible, no matter if I slept enough or not. And indeed, being tired all the time, even if I did get to sleep well, was infuriating.

I hope you can trudge through it. If you decide to get medication for your sleep, don't get discouraged if you don't get the right kind first. It can be a crapshoot. Also, professional counseling - not just meds - in general wouldn't hurt. Even if many people have to try a couple of times to find the right people with this as well. Perhaps some therapy? I'm sure most of them are well aware of the importance of sleep and lack of energy that comes with depression.

 

[Hieronymus]

My doctor wrote "major depression" on my diagnosis/prescription sheet. I'm on my fifth day of Wellbutrin. Everyday I wake up tired, really tired. I was diagnosed with mild apnea, and I'm treated for that. But I'm still tired. My question is, does depression cause a lot of fatigue?

Yes it does...

 

[Hieronymus]

I was told that Wellbutrin gave a lift. If its going to make things worse I'll just stop taking it.

Iḿ not familiar with that particular medicine, but i have used seroxat and iḿ on citalopram plus mirtazapine now, and they all seem to have a lag of about 2 weeks.
So you should probably use them for at least 2 weeks to see what it does for you.

 

[nightflight]

Its been two weeks and I don't see any difference fatigue wise or depression wise.

 

[nightflight]

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[Press On]

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I would give it a little more time. It will vary with the individual. Perhaps give it one more week.

 

[dysert]

My doctor wrote "major depression" on my diagnosis/prescription sheet. I'm on my fifth day of Wellbutrin. Everyday I wake up tired, really tired. I was diagnosed with mild apnea, and I'm treated for that. But I'm still tired. My question is, does depression cause a lot of fatigue?

I would echo what others have said here. One of the symptoms of depression is constant fatigue. Many anti-depressants can also cause fatigue (which is why for some you're told to take them at night). My experience is that it takes at least 3 weeks for an anti-depressant to start working -- if it's going to work at all. Work closely with your psychiatrist in these early months. S/he'll probably try different meds and/or combinations of meds until hitting on something that works. Unfortunately, though, even if you find a combination that helps with the depression your sleep problem may persist. (I've had sleep problems for years, including apnea.) You can get through it, though. You just have to be patient and open to being a guinea pig for a while.

 

[nightflight]

I would echo what others have said here. One of the symptoms of depression is constant fatigue. Many anti-depressants can also cause fatigue (which is why for some you're told to take them at night). My experience is that it takes at least 3 weeks for an anti-depressant to start working -- if it's going to work at all. Work closely with your psychiatrist in these early months. S/he'll probably try different meds and/or combinations of meds until hitting on something that works. Unfortunately, though, even if you find a combination that helps with the depression your sleep problem may persist. (I've had sleep problems for years, including apnea.) You can get through it, though. You just have to be patient and open to being a guinea pig for a while.

I don't have insurance, so if this doesn't work that's it. So far it hasn't and its been 24 days.

 

[MehGuy]

My doctor wrote "major depression" on my diagnosis/prescription sheet. I'm on my fifth day of Wellbutrin. Everyday I wake up tired, really tired. I was diagnosed with mild apnea, and I'm treated for that. But I'm still tired. My question is, does depression cause a lot of fatigue?

Yeah.

I suffer from severe depression too, and I'm always tired. You can get get blurred vision too.

 

[nightflight]

Is it okay to quit cold turkey? I've only been on it for a little over three weeks.

 

[nightflight]

Yeah.

I suffer from severe depression too, and I'm always tired. You can get get blurred vision too.

Blurred vision? Bad enough to need glasses?

 

[MehGuy]

Blurred vision? Bad enough to need glasses?

No. Hard to explain. You can see clearly if you concentrate, but for most of the day the vision is blurred. Mind blurred too.. everything blurred.

 

[nightflight]

No. Hard to explain. You can see clearly if you concentrate, but for most of the day the vision is blurred. Mind blurred too.. everything blurred.

About nine years ago I was very upset about a situation, and every time I saw it my vision would blur, like I was trying to block the thing out.