I've mentioned this many times of this site in different places. I have suffered with Major Depressive Disorder all my live (I'm 53, now) and finally nailed the problem down when I was 20 and started treatment.

Now, my 83 year old mother is in about the 6th of 7 stages. This is my death sentence. I'm desperately looking for someone who has suffered from biological depression or bipolar depression long prior to a diagnosis of AD.

How are the two diseases going to mesh? What's going to happen?

Leah JN,
I'm a little confused. Do you think you have AD Also? Or, are you asking about how you, as a person with depression, will handle your Mom's illness?

Leah, my understanding is that biological depression and bipolar disorder are 2 different illnesses? Very different! Or you considered bipolar2 ??

Perhaps if you can tell us a little more we can help you?

Please, try.

I am NOT bipolar. I don't have manic periods. I do have to take antidepressants to manage the "biological depression." The "biological depression" is much less volitile and easier to manage than bipolar.


What I'm saying is that I have had "biological depression" for the past 33 years. I believe the chances are very high that I will get AD in the future due to the fact that my mother has AD now and a person with a prior history of depression may have a 4x chance of getting AD.

I don't have AD now, but I suspect the chances are high that I will due to the damage or condition of my brain because of the long history of depression. My psychiatrist thinks that my chances are much lower because the depression has been treated over the past 33 years.

I need someone to understand that there are millions of people who suffer from depression that do NOT have AD. My question is: What is their chance of getting depression later in life?

I'm not talking about the depression associated with AD. I really don't understand why this is so hard to understand.

quote:

I really don't understand why this is so hard to understand.

That's a great step, admitting that. Lots of writers forget that with the vast internal processes that produce a simple sentence, the readers don't know about the internal process, we just see the words.

Your responses to comments make me wonder if there isn't a lot of anxiety, too?

I'm not aware of any solid evidence connecting mood disorders to dementia. There are so many people with clinical depression though, it's inevitable that some of them will also develop Alzheimer's disease.

I look forward to continuing the discussion, Leah.

Leah,
Alan has said it better than I can. I apologize that before I just didn't understand your question.

As Alan said, there are a lot of people diagnosed with clinical depression. Some of those people will be diagnosed with AD. I think what your doctor is saying is that because you have been TREATED for 30 something years, your risk would be less.

Good Luck. I'm sorry to hear about your Mom.

Thank you, Alan and Lisa. You give me more hope. My mother has an appointment with a neurologist is July and I run this theory by him. I really respect this nurse practitioner I see, but I would like to talk to the psychiatrist directly.

I assumed that my mother would die of a stroke or heart trouble, but with drugs like Plavix, those two problems are not a prevalent as in the past. As people live longer, there will be more people with AD, I was just hoping I wouldn't be one of them. My father and grandparents died rather quickly and without a lot of suffering, I was hoping I would, too. It's early to start worrying about this, but depression has been a dirty little secret so much of my life that it almost seems logical that part 2 of the dirty little secret would be AD.

Thanks again and good luck to both of you.

Leah

quote:

Originally posted by Leah JN:

What I'm saying is that I have had "biological depression" for the past 33 years. I believe the chances are very high that I will get AD in the future due to the fact that my mother has AD now and a person with a prior history of depression may have a 4x chance of getting AD.

I don't have AD now, but I suspect the chances are high that I will due to the damage or condition of my brain because of the long history of depression. My psychiatrist thinks that my chances are much lower because the depression has been treated over the past 33 years.

I need someone to understand that there are millions of people who suffer from depression that do NOT have AD. My question is: What is their chance of getting depression later in life?

I'm not talking about the depression associated with AD. I really don't understand why this is so hard to understand.

Dear Leah,
Your question is very interesting, Are anti-depressants protective against developing Alzheimer's Disease? To answer this question definitively would require a scientific study, more than anecdotal reports.

I wonder how many people on this board who are diagnosed with EOAD or AD previously had been treated for years with antidepressants?

Iris L.

Hi Leah

I'm not a physician but, my primary told me that depression will hinder the brain. I was also told that with the antidepressants I was given at time of diagnosis,(the meds) would help me adjust to the diagnosis and the everlasting changes I would be going thru emotionally.

Frankly, if it were me, I'd insist on a gene test. I believe you stated that Alzheimer's runs in your family? In my case, Alzheimer's runs on both sides of my family. I was the lucky sibling who got both APOE 3-4 genes!

Could be worse, at least I'm still young enough to care and try to make a change in our medical system for awareness.

M

quote:

Originally posted by Advocation/Mary:
Hi Leah

Frankly, if it were me, I'd insist on a gene test. I believe you stated that Alzheimer's runs in your family? In my case, Alzheimer's runs on both sides of my family. I was the lucky sibling who got both APOE 3-4 genes!
M

I think when everything settles down after my mother is gone, I will have some genetic testing done. Since I'm totally alone, I need to know as much as possible the need for NH, etc.