I know it's cliché but does this sound like depression?

[FrankDrebin]

Hello all. Thank you in advance for any input you may be able to give me. I'm going to do my best to tell my whole story but keep it short. My main concern is that I am wondering if what I have been dealing with is actually coming from depression/anxiety as my doc suggests, or possibly something else.

I'm a 33 y/o male. Last Summer around July I went through what I call a "lazy spell". Sleeping a lot and not very motivated to do any sort of work. I had lazy spells before and usually came out of them and would become active and be working hard again on projects. Moving forward on the timeline I became very very tired and developed almost a dizziness/vertigo/brain fog type of feeling accompanied by tinnitus. Not extremely over-powering but definitely noticeable and enough to keep me from being as active as I'd like to be. Around this same time I also noticed my neck became very stiff, I had head pressure like sensations on the back of my head where the neck meets the head. Constant Tension Headache?  I began to let these feelings sort of sink in and it made my anxiety/brain fog worse. I just did not feel like myself and I felt rather disconnected from reality.

Went to a doc and she saw a middle ear infection and thought that was what was causing my problems. Went on a 10 day antibiotic and the supposed infection went away but my symptoms did not. Went to an ENT shortly thereafter and he gave me a clean bill of ear health. He did not think my symptoms were inner ear related.

Along with all of this I also experienced eye perception differences. Sort of a lazy stained eye feeling with both eyes. Not blurry vision or anything but very sensitive to light and a general sense that my sharp vision was not as sharp as it was before. Hard to explain.

Forward again, now I get my thyroid tested. TSH was a 4.2. Slightly hypo. Went on hormone treatment. Levels normalized but my symptoms did not subside. Still on treatment and not feeling much different.

Went to GP multiple times regarding thyroid as possible cause of symptoms but after he saw that I had been level for a while he suggested that thyroid was not my problem and that I was depressed given my mood/symptoms. Been seeing a really great dietician now for about 6 weeks and she too believes that thyroid is not my problem. As I have been eating an extremely healthy diet and been taking supplements such as 5htp and st johns wort for about a month, I have noticed some small glimmers of hope that I am going to come out of whatever this thing is but generally I still feel as though my symptoms are lingering and not improving much if any at all. I guess I could be making progress that is hard for me to see.

So basically, could this be depression? I have wondered of some other things. I did have a CT scan of my head and came back normal. I have wondered about a neck problem. Haven't been to a chiro yet but planning on it. Thought about Lyme, doc ruled it out, I don't really live in a lyme area. I really don't think its that.

Just curious if anybody else has had a bout with depression that sounds anything like this. And if so, what did you do to beat it and how long did it take?

Thanks again for your time in reading this. I appreciate any advice or suggestions.

[Crystal413]

It sounds like you have a lot of areas covered. That's great. Keep doing what your doing, it can only help. I know it's hard to believe that physical pain can be due to depression but I know it's real because it happens to me. I ice, heat ant stretch the areas of pain and over time it just goes away. Pops back up when depression gets worse. I take ibuprofen too at these times.

Did the dr recommend a med to help you? Have you thought about going to Therapy? Sometimes people don't realize things are bothering them so much until they talk to someone.

Any form of exercising, even walking will help you feel better. If you don't feel like it, tell yourself you need to, to help you feel better. Yoga and meditation help too if you would like to try this sort of thing. Just think of things that can help you.

At least now you know the depression and anxiety is what your dealing with since everything else was ruled out. Narrowing it down is a relief on it's own.
Things will take time so hang in there. Crystal

[FrankDrebin]

Thanks, Crystal.

Yes I did have a list and after a few visits he came to the conclusion that it must be depression/anxiety.

I have been gluten, dairy, sugar, and caffeine free for over about 6 weeks so far. I'm taking many supplements  suggested by my dietician including b's, magnesium, and many more. So I'm doing the right things diet-wise or dang close. Had CBC came back normal. CT scan of head came back normal.

But yes, the neck is stiff and I get a lot of tension on the back of my head and top neck area. The feeling that my vision is some how affected or lazy. Went to eye doc and got clean bill of health. 20/20 vision.

It must be anxiety and depression. I just never thought those things would affect me in such an acute way. Never thought it would manifest itself in such a way that completely affects my activity level and life, and feels physical in so many ways. I find myself in denial and think surely something must be wrong physically but I can't find anything haha. But it has been absolutely miserable at times for sure. I haven't felt care free joy in many months.

[Crystal413]

I know you said you were tired with low motivation. Do you feel depressed too? Did you have a list of everything you were feeling and that's how the dr came to that conclusion?

Some things to try....Gluten Free Diet, have your iron, vit b's, vit d, l-mythlfolate, folic acid, glutamate and a CBC bloodwork. These things can effect the way you feel if you are deficient. I would also go to an eye dr.

As for your neck. Depression can come out in many ways just like stress. When I was depressed at times my back hurt and other times my neck would hurt. I did not injure then. I can't explain that's just what happens to me. Hope this helps. Crystal

[FrankDrebin]

Thank you. Yes, good call. I need to get some allergy testing done. Thyroid levels on my most recent test were tsh .75 (.36-3.6) and FT4 1.22 (.76-1.46). These were taken about 6 weeks ago. The test before that had good levels also, slightly high FT3 though.

Odd thing is that the diet I have been eating for the last 6 weeks should be eliminating any possible common allergies. You bring up a good point though. I've been meaning to get allergy tested.

Anyone else have anything to add? My main question was if anyone had a bout with depression that sounds anything like my story above.

[remar]

I would recommend having some allery tests done. Having allergies can make you tired, give you headaches and make you feel awful.
What are your thyroid levels? Even though yours are in the "normal" range, they may not be normal for you.