An antidepressant helped Patty Hall relieve both her depression and her pain.
(PATTY HALL)
The relationship between pain and depression—how one affects the other—isn't always clear. Though both may be treated with one antidepressant drug, they need separate but equal attention. A depressed patient has a reduced chance of successful pain management.
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Antidepressant drugs tend to work best for pain associated with nerve damage. This includes pain caused by diabetes, shingles, strokes, and sciatica. They may also be taken to treat fibromyalgia and to prevent painful migraines.
The challenge of using a drug with two roles
Because antidepressants play a dual role, they can be tricky to use. Take the case of Patty Hall, 46, of Caledonia, Mich.
Hall was just starting her nursing career when a patient experiencing drug-induced psychosis threw her against the wall, injuring her back and hip. After surgery she developed chronic back and hip pain. For the next six years her pain was manageable and she was able to work as a pediatric nurse.
But then things took a turn for the worse. "I started to fall down and couldn't feel my legs; I was afraid I'd drop the babies," says Hall, who was then 29 years old. Eventually she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and nerve damage and was forced to give up a career she loved. She soon fell into depression.
At the time, Hall's doctor prescribed Elavil, a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) for her nerve pain and depression. It went well: "I went from not being able to get the mail, to becoming active again," says Hall.
