Posted by sly on January 30, 2003, at 13:12:15
In reply to EFFEXOR - The good, the bad and the ugly, posted by bballcoach43837 on January 26, 2003, at 21:55:18
I read your message and felt I had to respond - you yourself say you had years of no success on other meds and then Effexor was wonderful - so why would you ever criticize yourself or anyone else for "taking it in the first"?
I understand it makes you numb, what do you expect? When you're depressed you can't handle getting out of bed never mind the barage of things that bombard you during the day making life unbearable. You need to be numbed a little to keep you from being overwhelmed by life and help you focus back on yourself.
A year ago I was miserable and couldn't think about anything except that today might be the day I feel good enough to kill myself - that was all I looked forward to.
Thank goodness for this medication - I had the benefit of a good therapist as well, but I know the miraculous results I achieved wouldn't have been possible without some medicinal aid. Before going on Effexor I wondered why anyone would allow themselves to be drugged up instead of fighting it naturally, and why would anyone stay on it seemingly forever. But one day a friend said to me, "if you were diabetic would you try to do it on your own, and would you criticize someone for taking insulin". The answer of course is NO! So why would I think that this disease is any less debilitating and less worthy of medication. There is no answer except that depression is still not as fully recoginized as many other well-known diseases and there's "shame" associated with accepting help (i.e. medication).
If this drug is keeping you alive than it's worth it, and it's worth the painful withdrawal I'm experiencing now. You might not be enjoying life to the extent you are now had you not had anything to compare it to, and you might not be here to compare it to without Effexor.
Just a thought.
poster:sly
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030130/msgs/138364.html