@reganripple Still no relief! How frustrating.

Back in 2003, I started feeling off, so I talked with my pcp, and told him that what I was feeling could be depression, but I wanted to rule out any possible organic problems. Over the next year, I saw different specialists and found that I had sleep apnea - a cpap machine made a huge improvement. I wasn't totally tired all the time. But I still felt off. A test showed that my gall bladder had less than 10% function, and I felt better after it was removed. So I was back to depression again. It took 2 years to find an antidepressant that helped. I don't know how many I tried, but you have to take them for 6 weeks to tell if they work. I finally landed on Wellbutrin, and I've been taking it since the beginning of 2006.

I have neuropathy, with one symptom being dizzy, along with several other things. It's no fun to live with non-stop issues.

We moved in 2006 - had to retire because I was so deeply depressed and suicidal, and was not able to function at work or anything else. Since then I've had one pcp, and I've been seeing a pain specialist for more than 5 years, trying to find something that to help with my neuropathy pain in my feet and ankles. I wrote that to say that I'm thinking about finding a new doctor who might have a fresh look at how to treat me. My neurologist thought that would be a good idea when I talked with him this week, especially a new pain physician.

So, have you been seen by an endocrinologist or an ENT? Has a doctor ruled out menieres disease? I had those tests long ago, but everything was negative. The crystals in the ears sounds kind of weird, but they actually are there, and can mess with balance. Have you noticed any changes since you wrote about your symptoms last April?

Antidepressants are prescribed for things other than depression. My neurologist started me on Cymbalta a couple of months ago for my neuropathy pain. I think it's helping a little, but I noticed that I have a lot more motivation to do things that I've put off doing for years. I'm much more productive since I started taking it. So, if you do the six week trial of antidepressants, you might find that one of them will treat the nausea and dizziness. My experience has been that when I'm having a lot of pain it affects my mood. Pain and illness tend to work in a vicious circle with depression. So, if you can just find out the cause, I suspect that depression will lessen or disappear, especially because it wasn't a pre-existing condition when you stopped doing drugs.

Has a doctor referred you to Mayo Clinic? That might make the difference in getting them to see you. Keep on advocating for yourself. We'll hope to hear soon that you've diagnosed and are being treated.

Jim

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