Most anhedonic people I know are telling me they have lost every emotion. I experience something else. I can cry, be angry and have fears. What‘s the difference between these two types? The one without emotional numbness is depression related?
In the past, my emotions were so severe and bad for years long that the stress took a real toll on my brain. I‘m on my ~16th antidepressant and I believe there is no way out if one has suffered for so long. Can you give me an advice for fixing severe anhedonia?
Last year, while I took 150 to 200mg Zoloft for months, feeling emotional + genital numbness and very much decreased pleasure as well for months. For a long time I was afraid getting depressed again if I taper it down so that was the reasoning behind it.
Although, after quitting it then completely the same symptoms remain until this day; no pleasure, emotionally flat, no libido, no sexual interests.
I blame myself for taking it for too long and I feel like it did impact epigenetics or did damage my body somehow. This condition is called PSSD and I don‘t wish it to my worst enemy.
I constantly blame myself for taking Zoloft for months although it blunted me completely. I had fear of relapsing into depression so I took a high dose 150mg+ for months until I tapered down and still have severe anhedonia + genital and orgasm numbness after 1 year of withdrawl.
Hello Dr Willpowers, I hope you can sonehow in any way help me. Since i am ~14yo I‘m suffering from Anhedonia, probably depression also. The situation turned worse when I got diagnosed with Crohn‘s disease with 16. Anhedonia got worse and it led me into depression (cause how can you live a fullfilling life without much enjoyment, pleasure etc.+social anxiety). I felt anhedonic in ways where almost nothing was fun to me anymore and the things that I still enjoyed weren‘t as pleasurable and as fun anymore. This combined with moderate fatigue & depression I was years just existing and not living life & had no will to live because no antidepressant could help me any longer than weeks. On top of it while still taking Zoloft I experienced PSSD for the first time.
I also tried more than five Crohn‘s medications but none of them really moved the needle in terms of fatigue or anhedonia. They gave me relief from pain and diarrhea, but that‘s all they did.
Last year, Crohn‘s symptoms got bad so I took Prednisolone again. It was a high dose of 50mg and I reduced it by 5mg per week. I noticed it from the beginning and it set something free I wasn‘t aware this could be possible. I felt as if my existence made sense for the first time in years. I actually wanted to do or try things. I wasn‘t the socially anxious person anymore I was before, I felt my brain was functioning again and especially my memory did so. It made click. I even had a lot of energy to go to a festival which I could‘ve never done before.
But as I tapered down the effect faded and on a dose of 10mg I returned to the previous state.
How is this possible? Yes, it could be hypomania but life felt meaningful for the first time in years. I wasn‘t euphoric all of the time. Why do I need cortisone to experience life like everyone else does?
Price seems too high although she has good reviews on jameda and Google…
I‘ve written with her and she told me she uses timewaver and NLS for measuring HRV with frequencies. I don‘t think this is worth it.
Hi
Da ich schon jahrelang unter mehr oder weniger chronischen Depressionen leide, will ich mal hier nachfragen, was man noch bei einer schwer behandelbaren Depression versuchen kann, die vor allem durch Anhedonie&Erschöpfung getrieben ist. Exogene Gründe gibt es bei mir kaum, die diese Schwere begründen könnten. Probiert habe ich KVT, VA und verschiedene SNRI,SSRI,Neuroleptika,MAOI, Ketamin und rTMS.
Mein nächster Schritt wäre mich nach einer Uniklinik vorzustellen und neurobiologische Ursachen/Erkrankungen auszuschließen und eine andere Behandlung zu versuchen.
Daher wäre meine Frage, ob ihr dort schonmal vorstellig gewesen seid und welche Erfahrung ihr dort gemacht habt.
Fatigue and chronic stress led to Depression which caused the common Anhedonia in depression. While taking Zoloft my emotions were at some point completely gone and any positive emotion and pleasure was cut. I quit Zoloft because it felt unbearable, but the state continued for about a year and now shifted back to depression&exessive stress without experiencing any single piece of pleasure.
Are there any cases where relief from high grades of prolonged stress brought back joy, contentment, pleasure in their life again?
What I‘m trying is to slow down every day, walking, helping friends/family, reduce screen time & eating healthy
Thankfully I can say, although my markers are always high, I don‘t have many symptoms. One symptom is constant pressure and it‘s from gas building up and feels uncomfortable. After the release it comes back quickly.
So, is it just a normal symptom with Crohn‘s I shouldn‘t worry about and how do you handle it?