6 ms·

I've long suspected that my depression & OCD were caused by some immune response. It all started very suddenly when I had a very bad illness. Unfortunately I ha

I've long suspected that my depression & OCD were caused by some immune response. It all started very suddenly when I had a very bad illness. Unfortunately I have yet to find a doctor that believes me and is willing to do anything other than giving me the standard medications.

denerio-a 8y ago
If you haven’t tried the Wim Hof method, please give it a go. It might not work for you as well as it has for others, but it won’t cost you anything to try it.
- thevagrant 8y ago
  I found it quite helpful if practiced regularly.
- ssijak 8y ago
  To heal depression or OCD or both?
  - denerio-a 8y ago
    Personally I believe it’s helpful for both. I don’t know what the mechanism is, but it has been effective for me. It feels something like distilled meditation (vipassana) ...
Nasrudith 8y ago
Technically mental trauma could have done so as well - which you probably heard dozens of times. Even if a doctor believed you I am not sure what they could do that wouldn't be extremely ill advised. Immunosuppressants would be tough to justify even if it was a certain cure instead of a highly tentative one. I know it is a frustrating situation to be in. Like I know that oral general anesthesia would help me for bloodwork given a severe phobia (multiple panic attacks while maxed oral dose and too tranqed to walk normally bad) but even without asthma and weight the risk would be too off-kilter to do without qualifying as malpractice. Let alone insurance and expenses. Unfortunately the field seems to select for people who see it as a nonissue.
- Jugglerofworlds 8y ago
  Yes, there are likely multiple factors here, both physical and learned behaviors. I've had some access to cutting edge treatments since I live in Boston, which is probably the #1 place in the world for psychiatry research. Over the years I've cobbled together a regimen that sort of works, but it's basically a band-aid solution and I can tell that it's not 100% effective. Nowadays I feel normal ish about 15% of the time, meh about 50%, and somewhat depressed 35%. I've tried multiple medications from pretty much every category of medications, including many off-label treatments.
WalterSear 8y ago
I treat my treatment resistant depression by inducing 101+ fever for half an hour each day. I started when I had to stop an allergy to the EMSAM patch. There are also medications that you might not have heard of. If you want, I can write more when I'm not on mobile.
- solveit 8y ago
  How do you induce a fever?
  - Something1234 8y ago
    I'm guessing he uses a sauna.
    - WalterSear 8y ago
      Pretty much. I use IR lights and a pair of space heaters in an enclosed space. The IR lights do most of the job. Going to a sauna with a thermometer would probably be the easiest route for many who want to try this. It was easier for me to buy a bunch of lights on amazon and do it at home. Cheaper, too.
  - DoreenMichele 8y ago
    You can easily induce a 102 degree fever with a very hot bath.
    - WalterSear 8y ago
      Not for half an hour, unless you have someone patient with a kettle. I have seen one journal abstract where that that was used, but I don't know the details. There are better methods though, if you have the budget of a hospital or research center, such as IR lights filtered through water. There's also a article outlining various methods of inducing hyperthermia.
      - DoreenMichele 8y ago
loceng 8y ago
Have a way to contact you directly?
- Jugglerofworlds 8y ago
  Sure, you can email me at jugglerofworlds123@gmail.com
Arete31415 8y ago
Another one person data point: I've had OCD since childhood, and even when I was a kid I noticed that sometimes my symptoms would flare up for a few days, right before I came down with the flu. As an adult, I contracted Lyme Disease, and one lingering symptom was that my OCD got a lot worse. After 1 month of IV antibiotics (rocephin), my OCD went from a "10" down to maybe a 7 in severity.
baccheion 8y ago
There is an autoimmune theory of schizophrenia. Excess histamine can also cause OCD-like symptoms. Look into megadose vitamin D3 (+ K2 MK-4 + magnesium). Memantine + selank. Lowering inflammation.
- Jugglerofworlds 8y ago
  I tried prescription memantine, both the generic and XR formulations. The brain fog startup side effect never went away for me, so I had to quit. I've never found a supplement that has actually done anything.
  - baccheion 8y ago
    Did you taper 2.5 mg at a time every 3-4 days until taking 5-10 mg? Also add selank. Have you ever tried chelated/TRAACS magnesium? What else have you tried? Do you have any nutrient deficiencies? Ever looked into nutrient tests like NutrEval? A comprehensive hormone panel? Thyroid panel? Genetic testing?
    - com2kid 8y ago
      I also tried Memantine, my verbal fluency took a serious nose dive, I was unable to follow simple instructions. I slowly tapered up, much slower than 2.5 mg at a time. It helped in some other areas, but not being able to do simple tasks nixed it for me.
- perl4ever 8y ago
  I don't know enough to evaluate this advice, but the word "histamine" caught my eye. There are antidepressants that, as I understand it, are antihistamines. For example, imipramine. I wonder what it means if you have an adverse reaction to such a drug, and something resembling schizophrenia as well.
raincom 8y ago
You need to find a doctor like late Oliver Sacks and Ramachandran. Basically, a research oriented doctor.
erentz 8y ago
There’s an illness called PANDAS in children that is very much like that, a key symptom is the OCD. The Cunningham panel test is used for diagnosis and can also be used by adults although there are no established diagnosis from this in adults. The test costs about $900. Treatment in children requires a smart doctor who is aware of the illness and who will get IVIG and/or plasmapheresis for the child. Both are incredibly expensive treatments. There are also a number of very expensive autoimmune panels from Quest and Mayo Clinic for neurological stuff which can be worth running through, but only do these if your insurance will cover them, they’re up to 10k each, and the results aren’t necessarily going to help you in any way. Diseases such as Lyme and mononucleosis are also known to cause a number of different autoimmune problems. Unfortunately doctors aren’t very good at recognizing this and it can take a long stressful odyssey to get properly diagnoses. For some types of autoimmune illness there are some options such as Low Dose Naltrexone which work well for some people, but not others. In cases like Lyme, properly treating the illness and clearing the Lyme can eventually lead to the autoimmunity going away also. (Note: in your case LDN has a big warning that in some people it can cause depression, I tried LDN and the depression it triggered was no joke, but it came on fairly shortly after starting and passed after stopping thankfully, and when I tried it again the same happened so it was clear what was happening. I just say this so if you do try it you are very aware and monitor yourself.)
- Jugglerofworlds 8y ago
  Actually I already take naltrexone, but in ultra low doses. I'm combining it with low dose buprenorphine, which is basically the only medication that has done anything for my depression. I will see if I can get an appointment with a specialist about PANDAs. I have known about PANDAs for a while, but it was dismissed very early since I'm an adult. Now that I've failed pretty much every treatment it might be worth it to take a second look.
thevagrant 8y ago
Curious. Was it Epstein Barr virus? I never felt quite right since my mid 20's. Mononucleosis (glandular fever) and then a couple incidents of really bad food poisoning. On occasion, when I get the flu my cognition temporarily gets better.
DoreenMichele 8y ago
I used to participate in an alternative medicine community. Their explanation would be your illness "settled in the brain" and has never been fully cleared.

denerio-a 8y ago

If you haven’t tried the Wim Hof method, please give it a go. It might not work for you as well as it has for others, but it won’t cost you anything to try it.

thevagrant 8y ago
I found it quite helpful if practiced regularly.
ssijak 8y ago
To heal depression or OCD or both?
- denerio-a 8y ago
  Personally I believe it’s helpful for both. I don’t know what the mechanism is, but it has been effective for me. It feels something like distilled meditation (vipassana) ...

Nasrudith 8y ago

Technically mental trauma could have done so as well - which you probably heard dozens of times. Even if a doctor believed you I am not sure what they could do that wouldn't be extremely ill advised. Immunosuppressants would be tough to justify even if it was a certain cure instead of a highly tentative one. I know it is a frustrating situation to be in. Like I know that oral general anesthesia would help me for bloodwork given a severe phobia (multiple panic attacks while maxed oral dose and too tranqed to walk normally bad) but even without asthma and weight the risk would be too off-kilter to do without qualifying as malpractice. Let alone insurance and expenses. Unfortunately the field seems to select for people who see it as a nonissue.

Jugglerofworlds 8y ago
Yes, there are likely multiple factors here, both physical and learned behaviors. I've had some access to cutting edge treatments since I live in Boston, which is probably the #1 place in the world for psychiatry research. Over the years I've cobbled together a regimen that sort of works, but it's basically a band-aid solution and I can tell that it's not 100% effective. Nowadays I feel normal ish about 15% of the time, meh about 50%, and somewhat depressed 35%. I've tried multiple medications from pretty much every category of medications, including many off-label treatments.

WalterSear 8y ago

I treat my treatment resistant depression by inducing 101+ fever for half an hour each day. I started when I had to stop an allergy to the EMSAM patch. There are also medications that you might not have heard of. If you want, I can write more when I'm not on mobile.

solveit 8y ago
How do you induce a fever?
- Something1234 8y ago
  I'm guessing he uses a sauna.
  - WalterSear 8y ago
    Pretty much. I use IR lights and a pair of space heaters in an enclosed space. The IR lights do most of the job. Going to a sauna with a thermometer would probably be the easiest route for many who want to try this. It was easier for me to buy a bunch of lights on amazon and do it at home. Cheaper, too.
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  You can easily induce a 102 degree fever with a very hot bath.
  - WalterSear 8y ago
    Not for half an hour, unless you have someone patient with a kettle. I have seen one journal abstract where that that was used, but I don't know the details. There are better methods though, if you have the budget of a hospital or research center, such as IR lights filtered through water. There's also a article outlining various methods of inducing hyperthermia.
    - DoreenMichele 8y ago

loceng 8y ago

Have a way to contact you directly?

Jugglerofworlds 8y ago
Sure, you can email me at jugglerofworlds123@gmail.com

Arete31415 8y ago

Another one person data point: I've had OCD since childhood, and even when I was a kid I noticed that sometimes my symptoms would flare up for a few days, right before I came down with the flu. As an adult, I contracted Lyme Disease, and one lingering symptom was that my OCD got a lot worse. After 1 month of IV antibiotics (rocephin), my OCD went from a "10" down to maybe a 7 in severity.

baccheion 8y ago

There is an autoimmune theory of schizophrenia. Excess histamine can also cause OCD-like symptoms. Look into megadose vitamin D3 (+ K2 MK-4 + magnesium). Memantine + selank. Lowering inflammation.

Jugglerofworlds 8y ago
I tried prescription memantine, both the generic and XR formulations. The brain fog startup side effect never went away for me, so I had to quit. I've never found a supplement that has actually done anything.
- baccheion 8y ago
  Did you taper 2.5 mg at a time every 3-4 days until taking 5-10 mg? Also add selank. Have you ever tried chelated/TRAACS magnesium? What else have you tried? Do you have any nutrient deficiencies? Ever looked into nutrient tests like NutrEval? A comprehensive hormone panel? Thyroid panel? Genetic testing?
  - com2kid 8y ago
    I also tried Memantine, my verbal fluency took a serious nose dive, I was unable to follow simple instructions. I slowly tapered up, much slower than 2.5 mg at a time. It helped in some other areas, but not being able to do simple tasks nixed it for me.
perl4ever 8y ago
I don't know enough to evaluate this advice, but the word "histamine" caught my eye. There are antidepressants that, as I understand it, are antihistamines. For example, imipramine. I wonder what it means if you have an adverse reaction to such a drug, and something resembling schizophrenia as well.

raincom 8y ago

You need to find a doctor like late Oliver Sacks and Ramachandran. Basically, a research oriented doctor.

erentz 8y ago

There’s an illness called PANDAS in children that is very much like that, a key symptom is the OCD. The Cunningham panel test is used for diagnosis and can also be used by adults although there are no established diagnosis from this in adults. The test costs about $900. Treatment in children requires a smart doctor who is aware of the illness and who will get IVIG and/or plasmapheresis for the child. Both are incredibly expensive treatments. There are also a number of very expensive autoimmune panels from Quest and Mayo Clinic for neurological stuff which can be worth running through, but only do these if your insurance will cover them, they’re up to 10k each, and the results aren’t necessarily going to help you in any way. Diseases such as Lyme and mononucleosis are also known to cause a number of different autoimmune problems. Unfortunately doctors aren’t very good at recognizing this and it can take a long stressful odyssey to get properly diagnoses. For some types of autoimmune illness there are some options such as Low Dose Naltrexone which work well for some people, but not others. In cases like Lyme, properly treating the illness and clearing the Lyme can eventually lead to the autoimmunity going away also. (Note: in your case LDN has a big warning that in some people it can cause depression, I tried LDN and the depression it triggered was no joke, but it came on fairly shortly after starting and passed after stopping thankfully, and when I tried it again the same happened so it was clear what was happening. I just say this so if you do try it you are very aware and monitor yourself.)

Jugglerofworlds 8y ago
Actually I already take naltrexone, but in ultra low doses. I'm combining it with low dose buprenorphine, which is basically the only medication that has done anything for my depression. I will see if I can get an appointment with a specialist about PANDAs. I have known about PANDAs for a while, but it was dismissed very early since I'm an adult. Now that I've failed pretty much every treatment it might be worth it to take a second look.

thevagrant 8y ago

Curious. Was it Epstein Barr virus? I never felt quite right since my mid 20's. Mononucleosis (glandular fever) and then a couple incidents of really bad food poisoning. On occasion, when I get the flu my cognition temporarily gets better.

DoreenMichele 8y ago

I used to participate in an alternative medicine community. Their explanation would be your illness "settled in the brain" and has never been fully cleared.