Hereditary depression has a cure?

Ohh those surgeries are a major hormone disruption for sure! It seems so many of us gain weight after menopause and yours was brought on prematurely with the loss of your uterus and ovaries. It’s a constant battle isn’t it?
I see from your last reply that you’re 63. I’m 67 and experience the same lack of satiety with eating! Sadly, it’s another one of those little indignities foisted on us with our “coming of age”…the signal that lets us know when we’re full malfunctions.
The only thing I’ve found that works so I don’t overeat is to actually portion out food on my plate and don’t allow myself to reach for seconds. With only my husband and I eating together, it’s easier to just push away from the table and get busy to stash the dishes and such. Changing focus helps me forget that I don’t feel full. I finish afterwards with a small fix of chocolate.
If I sit at the table, I’m likely to keep ‘dibba-dabbing’ at whatever’s in front of me until I’m ready to burst. Then about 15 minutes later, my food-alert alarm goes off in my gut alerting me that it’s NOT Thanksgiving you fool and I feel like a stuffed turkey for hours.

Pushing away from the table along with avoiding extra carbs really helped me lose 10 pounds a couple years ago. I didn’t stop carbs altogether. Just ate one slice of bread made into a half sandwich for lunch, tossed maybe 5 potato chips, half an apple and a pickle on my plate. Once I got a roll and actually saw a pound less on the scales, it motivated me to keep going. I ate smaller meals and had little healthy snacks of protein during the day. Also I upped my water intake. That helped me feel full. Modifying my behaviors really made the difference.

But, let me tell you from experience having a few extra pounds as we age is not a bad thing! It gives us a safe reserve in the possibility of a severe or catastrophic illness. I only wanted to lose 10 pounds and was a happy camper. Clothes felt better and I felt better about myself. But a few months later I was diagnosed with leukemia and had a stem cell transplant. 2 years ago, I lost 40! It was an awkward challenge to gain back 20 pounds. Those extra pounds on my bones really saved me!

You exercise and walk daily. That’s has an impact with burning the calories and supporting your great mental attitude.
How’s your overall health? Do you have any hobbies or activities which can help distract you from food?
Were you able to find weight loss conversations to help with your goal? Have you looked into the Intermittent Fasting group?
Here’s a link to the discussions. Many members are finding this beneficial to weight loss and over all health.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/lchf-living-intermittent-fasting/

Wow! I’m glad you responded well to the Ketamine. I (also depressed) have tried just about everything in the book. According to a DNA test I had done, won’t respond to the usual SSRI’s or NSRI’s, so I did 2 or 3 Ketamine treatments. I didn’t really like it & it didn’t help me. I hoped it’d be much more.

Speak with your doctor about Wellbutrin. It is an atypical antidepressant that increases your dopamine level. I find it much more effective and I have not found it to poop out like SSRIs and SNRIs...

I’ve tried Wellbutrin & everything else…I’m going to holistic. Dr’s treat everybody the same. Everybody is different & respond differently to all things. I had an endocrinologist tell me, after looking at my dna report, (it is a pharmacological DNA report) “I’m a Dr., we know what we’re doing. Then put my report in the trash.

I believe it’s possible to need them for the rest of your life. Case in point I was recently hospitalized for complications from surgery so I could keep anything down. No meds for two days. I decided to go down 50mg on the restart. I was struggling a bit but never gave the depression medication a thought. I was at my Psychiatrist’s office yesterday and she said something was off. She could tell from my conversation. She said I think we need to adjust/change your medication. When I told her about the decrease she was relieved and said you need to go back to the full dose. Case in point I need medication for the rest of my life I realize that now.

That’s terrible!

You sound very much like myself. I have had 6 ketamine treatments and I feel like my depression is better but my anxiety level has increased. I plan to go over medications with provider to see if changes might help. My k treatments will end up being twice a week for four weeks and then I will start once per week for awhile. I am so hopeful that this will work with meds change. Depression sucks (sorry, best word I can think of). I am glad to hear it has helped you. Distractions do help at times. Good suggestion.

Could you tell me what the SNP/link it is on the DNA?

In my experience Doctors tell you a year to see how you do and also a year later it is easier to break it to you if they think you need to be on it longer or most likely for the rest of your life. Think about it…what state were you in the 1 year before? Probably not a very good state if they are putting you on meds. Hearing & thinking about it being life long is something hard to accept & takes time. Everyone is so different. Just take one day at a time & when you have the energy try different avenues. How many times (likely without meds) have you had depression in your life? Have you had it a couple of times? If so it is likely you will not be able to bounce back this time if you have had it a couple of times. This is just all info from personal experience. I am 65 & had it since teenage years. I would suggest looking into ketamine treatment. It’s a bit odd but they have had some success with it. This is the only thing I have heard of that has given “some” people relief for a good while or for some permanent relief and get off meds. For myself it DID relieve me of the “bad self talk” (continually putting your self down) but sadly did NOT lift or “cure” the depression. I was not one of my doctor’s success stories but just getting rid of the bad self talk was worth it. Best of luck to you. It will be a journey. God never wastes a bad experience if you let him use it.

Sorry your doctor responded in that way! I suspect the doctor had no idea what to do with the DNA report. DNA testing for medication selection (with the exception of cancer treatment) is fairly new.

And sadly, there is an unfounded "belief" in the medical community that low serotonin is the cause of depression. This "belief" has been promoted by the pharmaceutical companies, because "when you have a hammer, everything needs a nail" - ok, that is not the correct quote - but you get my point. So pretty much everything in most doctor's list of possible antidepressants addresses serotonin. So in essence, your report suggested that the doctor has nothing to offer...

I suggested Wellbutrin because it acts on dopamine levels. A very smart (flexible and self assured) doctor at a teaching hospital was willing to try an "atypical" (ie not targeting serotonin) antidepressant, since I had failed to respond to SSRIs and SNRIs. Perhaps my DNA report would look the same as yours? Whatever your choose - I wish you relief!