Posted by JohnL on July 31, 2001, at 4:13:09
In reply to Does anyone feel normal???, posted by Poppy on July 28, 2001, at 2:34:31
> Does anyone, or has anyone ever felt normal, or ok, stable for a period of time. I last about three days, then it stops, I love those days and try to keep them but theres nothing I can do, im on 375mg efffexor xr, just increased to that about a a month-2 months ago.
> Is this as good as I should expect, or should I aim for feeling ok everyday?? what can I doAfter ten years of trying different drugs, I do now feel what I would consider 98% normal. I have regained interests, motivation, pleasure. But like normal people, I also have down days sometimes when something happens that is truly a reason to be down, such as a money problem, a quarrel with a lover, etc. Thankfully my good normal days far outnumber the bad ones. I can go weeks without any bad days. When I do stumble into a down time, it usually resolves after one to three days.
If your high dose of Effexor is not doing the trick, then it is my guess that it is not the correct drug for you. It may be affecting the wrong chemistries, or affecting them from the wrong angles, or Effexor simply might be a poor molecular binding match for your unique genes. And based on what I've seen at this board over the years, antidepressants in general are often the wrong drugs. Just because someone is depressed should not automatically mean they need an antidepressant. The symptoms could likely be caused by a different malfunction in brain chemistry, totally unrelated to antidepressants.
With that in mind, you might want to try adding Zyprexa, Risperdal, Ritalin, Adderall, Adrafinil, to your ongoing Effexor. And possibly reduce the Effexor dose at the same time. Limit your drug trials to just those drugs. I believe the highest potential for success exists within that short list. Mileage varies, and they could all be failures, but I believe that in this hit-and-miss game, they hold the highest potential and the highest odds for success.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:72198
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010731/msgs/72697.html