1979: Tedral Related Depression?

I wrote about my experience with Tedral and Tedral Side Effects. I have come up with another side effect that I think might have been related to Tedral: Depression.

I remember the first time I experienced it was in 1976 when my grandpa Howard died. He was my Great Grandfather, and he was 82-years-old. I did not know him very well, although I did visit him a few times with grandma at the nursing home, and maybe the occasional Christmas party at grandma's house.

So, in November of 1976, he died. And I remember getting severely depressed. It lasted for quite some time. I remember feeling like I wanted to cry even in the days leading up to, and the days following the funeral.

In fact, I remember the class singing "You Light Up My Life" in music, and I had to work hard not to cry.

The same thing happened in 1977. It happened again in 1978. My Aunt Mary worked at K-Mart. They had a special "Blue Light Special" day where those who worked at K-Mart could invite their friends and relatives to this special day where they would have all sorts of deals.

I remember being severely depressed every year this happened. And one year I won a radio. And that sort of ended the depression for a little while. But then it came back.

I learned to dread November. I learned to dread the day of the K-Mart special party because I knew I'd get depressed.

And then, one year, I think it was 1983 or 1984, the depression didn't come. I kept thinking it would, and it didn't. I remember concentrating on not letting the depression come, and it didn't. I prayed. I was so happy when it stopped.

I have, to the best of my knowledge, not been depressed in November ever since.

Mom said that when I was a kid I used to pace the living room for hours. She said she knew I was depressed. I do not ever remember her acknowledging it. I don't ever remember being treated for it until 1985 when I was at the asthma hospital.

Recently, however, as I was thinking about this, and about Tedral, a thought occurred to me: what if I was going through withdrawal symptoms?

I only took Tedral during allergy season, and then I was told (or my mom was told) to stop taking it or to have me quit. See? I probably became addicted to it over the summer. And when they took me off, probably near the end of October or early November, I went through withdrawal symptoms.

No one ever noticed.

Tedral contained theophylline, which is a xanthine just like caffeine. Like caffeine, you can develop both a psychological and a physical addiction to it.

I think it ended because my asthma got so bad that I ended up taking theophylline year round. My doctor switched me to Theovent at some point. I probably only took it in the summer at first. But, by 1984, my asthma was so bad he just kept me on it year round.

So, the depressions ended. They ended because my body developed a tolerance to it. My body expected it to always be there. It expected me to continue putting it into my body. And when I quit, my body had to readjust, hence the withdrawal symptoms; hence the depression.

I know that when I forgot to take my theophylline over the years, it resulted in severe asthma episodes. So, I never experienced depression because, I think, asthma hit before the depression ever did.

Anyway, this is just me thinking here. I could be wrong. There's really no way of knowing.