Low mood

[Tilly56]

I've been living with Parkinson's for four years now, the one thing I can't deal with is depression and being feeling down and so low every day,does anyone have ideas what I can take to improve my mood and mental health,I'm currrenrtly taking 45 mg of mirtazapine which don't do anything for me

[Hidden]

Omega3 and tocopherol is an option.

"Another double-blind, placebo-controlled study analyzed the effect of fish oil supplementation in parkinsonian patients with depression measured using Montgomery–Asberg rating scale (MADRS), the clinical global impressions scale (CGI) and Beck depression inventory (BDI) [44]. After three months, the supplementation with four capsules of omega-3 from fish oil (each capsule containing 180 mg EPA, 120 mg DHA and tocopherol) showed a significant decrease in MADRS and CGI-depression scores while there was no difference among treated and control groups in BDI [44]. Moreover, Parkinson’s symptoms, measured by Hoehn and Yahr scale, did not show significant variation during the three months of supplementation in all groups observed [44]."

[october61]

Get on your bike and ride. It’s very helpful to me, when I am cycling my mind switches off.

[Tilly56 in reply to october61]

I can't cycle I have osteoarthritis in my knee I'm waiting for a operation on it

[october61 in reply to Tilly56]

Can you do any other type of exercise?

[AaronS in reply to october61]

Agreed, movement/exercise will far outweigh any thing else, great comment

[Andrew-54]

Sorry you feel this way.

“Dizziness, drowsiness, lightheadedness, increased appetite, weight gain, dry mouth, or constipation may occur. If any of these effects persist or worsen, tell your doctor or pharmacist promptly.”

webmd.com › drugs › details

Mirtazapine Oral : Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings ...

I was on Mirtazapine for a while. Didn’t feel good. And most of the side effects like :

Dizziness, drowsiness, lightheadedness

I was already coping with the, from Parkinson’s itself and the Dopamine Agonist.

I was much better off on any of the SSRI’s class of antidepressants (Prozac, Citalopram, etc...) or Bupropion than Mirtazapine.

My suggestion is to speak to your GP/ consultant and as advised above, exercise, fish oils etc...good luck!

[LAJ12345]

45 mg of mirtazapine sounds a lot. It gave my husband such bad apathy at 30 mg that I feel like it caused his PD symptoms. When he cut it back very gradually over months he got his face use back and became less apathetic but he is still very anxious.

He had good results with hardys daily essential nutrients for quite a while for mood and seemed almost back to normal mood wise but has gone to pieces since the covid lockdown stopped his social interactions at bridge and has not recovered from that. It now seems more like social anxiety.

Try this hardynutritionals.com/produ...

You will have to go through you doctor to get sign off that they will monitor your antidepressants as it can be so effective you become over medicated.

The other thing is to try and get as much social interaction as you can. It seems to help if it is possible where you are.

[jeffmayer]

i would agree i am very sorry you feel depressed but the best cure is any sort of movement or exerise will be nothing but beneficial and will lift your mood significantly this disgusting condition will drag you down if you allow it to and rule your dont let it all the best

[Dragona]

I give my husband lithium orotate 10mg twice daily doesn’t get any side effects but then he doesn’t take doctors medication

[LAJ12345 in reply to Dragona]

Lithium orotate. Spell checker doesn't like orotate😆

[Lala57]

I use citalopram, mirtazapine didn’t also had a good match. But I use citalopram and 7,5 mirtazapine for sleeping. This is for me a good one. Citalopram

[gginto]

Try herb Rhodiola or Ashwagandha first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. This has always been good to lift depression.. but some form of REGULAR exercse is #1.

[gwendolinej]

When my husband was first diagnosed, the Neupro patch lifted him out of severe apathy and depression. Madapar didn't seem to do anything for him.

Recently, when the patch stopped working (after 6 years), we tried mannitol, as mentioned on this site. It did the same thing. He is a different person and he is still improving. (See my post re mannitol).

The thing is, when you have depression and apathy, you don't feel like exercising. When the Neupro Patch lifted my husband's depression and apathy, he then felt like exercising. The same thing happened with the mannitol.

There will be something that works for you.

[Tilly56 in reply to gwendolinej]

Is neopro patch available in the UK

[gwendolinej in reply to Tilly56]

I would think it's available ( through your neurologist). It, like everything, has possible side effects. It can cause addictions, as in gambling etc. Our neurologist has had to take one patient off it, so of course, these things do need to be monitored.

Should you decide to try the mannitol, members here have said you can get it in the UK from Blackburn Distributors.

Good luck.

PsThe Neupro patch did take a few weeks to kick in, so you need to be patient.

[Zardoz]

If mirtazapine does nothing for you, then there's no point in taking it, unless it requires some time to kick in.

When I mentioned that I had been feeling depressed to my neurologist at the time, he only offered Lexapro. It's like they listen for key words and want to write another prescription . I didn't want to add another drug so I rejected the prescription.

I second what others have already suggested here: exercise, lithium & ashwagandha. Also the B vitamins and inositol, but not B-6 with carbidopa/levadopa.

[Bunty2]

Have you checked out the literature on PBM? Try the articles on Apathy in redlightsonthebrain.blog

[Eliza-Jane]

I'm sorry you're feeling low, I understand totally. As you can't exercise, could you take a long walk through a book on beautiful gardens. I have a couple of lovely big books, and sometimes I pour myself a cool drink, get comfy in a chair and browse slowly. As everything is on the internet now, secondhand shops are full of books. Perhaps you could trace some flowers and colour them in? If this doesn't hit the right spot, it might lead you to an idea that would please you. I hope you can find something to help lift your spirits soon.