Head Injury Resulting in....?

[iza1142]

Hello. I currently suffer from major depression and anxiety. I have had it for about 3 years, and have been on meds for over a year, and am still trying to figure out which meds and dosage will help me get over it. My question has to do with the cause of my depression. All of these things happened freshman year of college, or about 3 years ago.

1) In college, I didn't make any friends and was put on academic probation after my grades dropped. I was under a lot of stress and had horrible social anxiety. I've always had anxiety issues, but it got really bad then. During college, I would stay up all night and sleep all day.

2) My only friend and I went over a friends house. It was just the 3 of us, and so I thought it would be okay to drink. I'm not sure if I really did drink that much, or if the guy put something in my drink. That night, I hit my head many times on concrete steps and the road. The worst was a fall that from the steps onto the concrete road, where my head hit hard. Apparently when my friend and the guy found me waiting at the door I was throwing up and crying. I had no memory whatsoever of what happened within a time span. Apparently they had helped me take a shower, and then put me in the bed. While still intoxicated and injured, the male "friend" took advantage of me. The next day, I had a huge bump on the side of my head which was painful. Another thing I noticed, was that when I ate food (chewing), I would feel a clicking sensation in the spot where I hit my head. Almost like something popping out of place slightly each time I chewed for about a week. Eventually, the bump went away and I don't have the clicking sensation. 3 years later, I still feel tenderness/soreness in the spot where I hit my head. Do I need to be worried about any underlying dormant bleeding, etc?

3) Although I have no opinion about it, I know some people think this next thing could lead to depression. I took Accutane twice. Once as a sophmore in high school. It went well with no side effects. Freshman year of college, my acne was back and I went on Accutane again. This time, I had several symptoms. The worst probably being extreme hair loss. I couldn't brush my hair because huge clumps would fall out. I continued on the medicene (I told the doc about the symptoms but they didnt seem worried) and completed it. My symptoms subsided and I returned back to normal....I just wonder if perhaps the Accutane could have something to do with my depression.


And my final question is perhaps the most important to me.....If my depression was a cause of something I did to physically or chemically alter my body, will I ever be able to recover from it? If the head injury was the cause of my depression (or contributing factor), will I always be on antidepressants because my brain was damaged? Thanks so much.

[iza1142]

Hello! Thanks for your response. I don't think it's related to the Accutane either. I havent really tried talking to a counselor. I did have my doctor take my bloodwork to check for any abnormalities, and it came back fine.

Im taking 200 mg of zoloft right now. my depression is better, but not close to gone. I still have a lot of trouble with fatigue. I sleep so much, and I don't even do anything during the day. I also am having trouble with my motivation still. I can't even read a glamour magazine most of the time, let alone clean or do anything productive.

I have always been a pessimistic/realist person. But I would consider myself normal before college. I had more anxiety than others, but depression wasn't a problem for me.
It took me over a year to realize I was even suffering from depression! I thought I had mono, or low thyroid, or low iron, lack of vitamins, etc. I didn't realize I could even be depressed because its just something that never crossed my mind. Growing up, I had everything given to me, and basically got everything that I wanted. To me, I had no reason to be depressed, since others that are appeared to have it much worse then me. It also took me alot of courage to tell anyone. I kind of had a stigma attached to depression; like people would think I was weird and messed up. My boyfriend was the first one. He was very supportive and continues to help me through it. I told my mother, but she was kind of weirded out by it I think. She didn't think (and still doesnt) I should be taking antidperessants, but that if I prayed hard enough to God that he would answer my prayer.
Well, after 2 years of praying, I wasnt getting better...only worse. So I decided to do something for myself and go to the doctor to get on meds.
First I tried Lexapro, but it didn't work and gave me some side effects.
Now I'm on my current meds. I'm at my max dose, so it kind of worries me that I'm not seeing a great improvement (although I def see some).
Ive tried exercising, but it really doesn't do that much for me. I just hate working out haha.

But yeah, sorry for the rant. I just wish I could be better already!

[flipper336]

I know you would like a definitive answer to your questions but the simple truth  of the matter is no one can say for sure. Doctors still do not know everything that it can do. But if you go to:

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/drug-6661-Accutane+Oral.aspx?drugid=6661&drugname=Accutane+Oral&pagenumber=6

it can tell you what side effect can happen while you are taking Accutane. Me personally I don't think it is related to the Accutane, just because it has been over 3 years. Have you tried talking to a counselor to see if it is from another underlying condition?