The Patients Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression
INTRODUCTION
Everybody has a story. My story is the one I know best and can write about. It is not a memoir of chemical dependency or self-abuse. Those subjects have been written about many times. This is a story of my winning battle against depression and the vagus nerve stimulation treatment that saved my life by bringing me Out of the Black Hole. And, this is the first book to be published about winning the battle with a medical implant procedure called VNS Therapy?.
Personally, I don't believe the stigma associated with depression has changed one bit in the past century, so I was apprehensive about sharing my story. After all, I had spent the majority of my life hiding my depression from family, friends, and business associates--and now I was writing a tell-all book.
I wrote the main part of this book as if I were having a conversation with my closest friend who was looking for guidance with his or her debilitating chronic depression. I discuss the misery I experienced, the seemingly unending search for answers, the vagus nerve implant procedure itself, and my subsequent recovery from the grip of depression. The last part, the appendices, contains technical information about depression; the VNS Therapy System?; and Cyberonics, the manufacturer of the vagus nerve stimulator.
I hope my journey and the treatment I chose helps readers with their depression treatment plans; especially when they consider whether or not to undergo vagus nerve stimulation therapy. When I decided to participate in the investigational trial there wasn't any information available to me. I just signed an eleven-page consent agreement and hoped for the best.
On June 15, 2004, the FDA's Medical Device Advisory Panel recommended approval of vagus nerve stimulation as an adjunctive long-term treatment for chronic depression. Cyberonics, the manufacturer of the VNS Therapy System?, is in the process of providing the FDA additional information required for the FDA to render a final decision consistent with the Panel's recommendation. Currently VNS Therapy for the treatment of chronic depression is available in Canada and Europe.
I also wrote Out of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression for the loved ones of people who suffer from depression. When a patient reaches the severe, chronic level of this disease, often it is their family members who are making the medical decisions. At the other extreme, the family members may be in the dark about what is going on between the doctor and the patient, or they don't trust the information that they're receiving from their loved ones. One thing is for certain, the lack of knowledge about this disease and not knowing the best way to help and interact with the suffering loved one complicates everything.
.
I have been fortunate throughout my life because I have always had access to the best medical care available (for any illness), and I have a close and supportive family. I don't know how people survive severe depression if they don't have access to good doctors, the latest pharmaceutical drugs, psychologists, psychiatrists, and a strong support group. Many depressed patients have none of the above, yet they still endure. Their stories, in many ways, are more remarkable than mine.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a book titledIt Takes a Village. It's about how we can shape our society into the kind of village that enables children to grow into able, caring, resilient adults; physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. If my family wrote a similar book about the past ten years of my life, it would be titled It Took Heaven and Earth. So, I've also written this book for them. Let's get started.
Visit www.VagusNerveStimulator.com for more information on the book. Charles Donovan was a patient in the clinical trial for the investigation of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic depression.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Get Rid Of Depression Once And For All
Depression is something that will occur in many people's
lives, for various reasons. But the "normal" occurrence of
a plunge in mood due to stressful events in your life,
usually doesn't last very long, before a person's natural
resilience responds to the environment of friends and
family.
Fighting Depression by Restoring Your Routines
When we have depression, one of the things we drop from our lives is a routine. Most humans need routine as it adds structure to our lives. During bouts of depression we find it hard to go about our daily lives with a sense of purpose and direction. Restoring your routines will help to counteract this problem.
Cure Against Depression and Low Self Confidence
Depression strikes most of us and it can make us paralysed.
It is essential that we do not let it get too much
influence on our lives.
Major Depression and Manic Depression ? Any Difference?
Countless number of patients and their family members have asked me about manic?depression and major depression. "Is there any difference?" "Are they one and the same?" "Is the treatment the same?" And so on. Each time I encounter a chorus of questions like these, I am enthused to provide answers.
New Treatment for Chronic Depression
Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Chronic Treatment-Resistant Depression
St Johns Wort and Depression
The bright yellow flower of the St Johns Wort (hypericum perforatum) with it's
ray-like petals, represents the power of the sun that forces away the darkness.
This already points to the anti-depressant effects of the St Johns Wort which
are highly respected, even in conventional medicine.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression
Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Chronic or Treatment-Resistant Depression
Change Your Life Forever with New Medical Breakthrough Treatment for Depression
With the next few weeks, the FDA is expected to issue its final approval of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic or recurrent depression. The approval of vagus nerve stimulation will be the first ever FDA approved long-term treatment option for the four million desperate Americans( and their families) who have not had an adequate response to traditional anti-depressants.
New Treatment for Depression to be FDA Approved by Late June
With the next few weeks, the FDA is expected to issue its final approval of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic or recurrent depression. The approval of vagus nerve stimulation will be the first ever FDA approved long-term treatment option for the four million desperate Americans( and their families) who have not had an adequate response to traditional anti-depressants.
Depression in Long Term Care Heart Patients Often Goes Untreated
Cardiologists, other doctors and long term care
staff might be missing the big picture as one survey suggests
that only a third of heart disease patients with serious
symptoms of depression or anxiety get any treatment.
The findings are significant because psychological problems have
been linked to poorer health and higher death rates in heart
disease patients. Unfortunately, long term care residents and
other heart patients just aren't being screened because
physicians are just focused on the heart disease and don't think
about other factors that could contribute to the condition.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation Should be Used Early in Treatment when Traditional Antidepressants Fail
Lifetime Prevalence of Depression and the Age-of-Onset Report Distributions of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM) in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication
5 Ways to Transform Your Struggles Into Victories
Have you read the famous quote, "Every struggle is a victory"? It was stated by an extraordinary person who overcome great challneges and achieved greatness - her name was Helen Keller.
Depression in Teenagers: Now What Can We Do?
No doubt you have seen the recent news headlines about a federal panel that recommended to the FDA that anti-depressant medications carry the strongest possible warning label for use in children and teenagers. This recommendation to the FDA shook the medical community, especially those who work with depressed young people. The biggest problem from the treatment community's point of view was not the recommendation for the warning label, but the way that the media protrayed the panel's recommendation.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome And Depression Are Not The Same Thing!
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a very misunderstood illness and this is perhaps why there are so many myths about it. Perhaps the most common myth about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is that it is effectively a mental condition, and another name for depression.
But these two conditions are very different!
And when you label a condition incorrectly it can cause no end of problems when trying to diagnose and treat it. So it's extremely important to make the distinction between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and depression - because they are completely different illnesses.
For one, depression can be a symptom of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but there are many Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers out there who do not suffer from depression at all.
Second, research has shown that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers have an abnormality in their 'deep sleep' brainwave patterns. In contrast, depression sufferers do not have this abnormality.
In addition, depression sufferers tend to feel tired all the time, whereas Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers' exhaustion increases notably after mental or physical exertion.
There are also symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that are not shared by depression sufferers. Nasty flu-like symptoms, headaches, reversal of sleeping patterns, painful muscles and joints, Restless Legs Syndrome, and an increase in colds and viruses all are just a few symptoms that can play a part in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
These are just a few of the differences between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and depression!
Another myth about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is that all Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers need to do is to 'pull themselves together' - and they'd be cured...
... if only it were that simple!
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is actually a bio-physical condition and was (finally) accepted as such by the UK government in 2001. But no cure has yet been found.
Unfortunately there are still many people out there (including some medical professionals) who still think that the condition is 'all in the sufferer's head'.
It is because of this misunderstanding that the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome community has fought so hard against Chronic Fatigue Syndrome being wrongly labelled as a mental illness. And it is perhaps because of this battle that depression amongst Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferers has often sadly been overlooked...
Yet for many, depression can be a very real symptom of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. If you suffer from depression as a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferer, then it's vital that you take it very seriously and that you try to address it as soon as possible.
If you don't deal with your depression, you are unlikely to be able to recover from any chronic illness...
...and recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is no exception.
It is possible to recover from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. So if you do experience depression as a symptom of your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, make it a priority to deal with it. Only that way can you get yourself on the road to recovery.
Depression Series: Why Don?t I Respond to Medications? (Part 1)
Maria has been feeling depressed for at least two and a half years. About three years ago, her husband of 20 years left her for another woman. Devastated, she became despondent and tearful almost daily.
Anxiety and Depression - Why Depression Drugs May Not Be Necessary - Fight Depression Naturally
Millions of people, especially in the United States, are currently suffering the symptoms of depression, and have even gone as far as taking prescription antidepressants that may have harmful side effects and dampen the quality of their life in other ways in the hopes it will just go away.
Are the Benefits Worth the Costs?
Schizophrenia suffers around the world have benefitted greatly with the discoveries of modern medicine. Certain medications have been found to regulate and balance brain chemistry giving an individual suffering from schizophrenia a seemingly normal life. If an individual is taking Zyprexa to control their schizophrenia, they should be alerted that many dangerous side effects are showing up with this drug. These Zyprexa side effects have caught the watchful eye of the FDA. In recent years the FDA asked the maker of Zyprexa to start issuing warnings about their medication. This was done in an attempt to alert all consumers of this drug to the potential dangerous Zyprexa side effects. These include but are not limited to the following: Hyperglycemia, Hyperglycemic Coma, Diabetes, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, and Pancreatitis.
FDA Deems Vagus Nerve Therapy Approvable as a Treatment for Depression
On February 3, 2005 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified the manufacturer of the vagus nerve stimulator (Cyberonics, Inc.) that it had deemed its VNS Therapy System approvable as a long-term adjunctive treatment for patients over the age of 18 with chronic or recurrent treatment-resistant depression in a major depressive episode that has not responded to at least four adequate antidepressant treatments. In the approvable letter received today by Cyberonics, FDA indicated that final approval was conditional on final labeling, final protocols for a post-approval dosing optimization study and patient registry.
Reclaiming Your Life From Anxiety Symptoms
Only somebody who has lived with anxiety ? as either a sufferer or a carer ? knows how devastating it can be. The affect can be seen and felt across every aspect of your life for years and years.
5 Tips to Reduce Depression
While war and poor economic conditions begin to affect people all over the world, more and more people suffer with depression. The more we focus on news events and the business climate, the more we are depressed. Whatever the reason you feel is the cause of your depression, the following five simple tips guarantee you reduce it significantly.
|
