Posted by Janelle on April 11, 2003, at 18:09:30
In reply to Looking for perspective, posted by ladylight57 on April 11, 2003, at 17:10:13
I and I'm sure others, understand how you feel.
I was also on EffexorXR and it did some horrible things to me (in terms of side effects) before I finally got off it. So I can relate to your problems with that particular a-d.
As for your pdoc's *final* recommendation of either Remeron or Serzone, since you have tried many SSRI's and not been able to tolerate the side effects, well those are NOT your final choices (I'll get into that a bit more below).
I'm wondering - why did she suggest that you NOT try Paxil or Lexapro? (I had quite a few very good years on Paxil until it made me hypomanic and then pooped out).
I'm currently doing fairly well (KNOCK ON WOOD) on Celexa - have you tried that one?
Given the two a-d's that you mentioned above as being your pdoc's final recommendations, I can understand your feeling incapable of making a decision. In fact, for awhile, I had it in my mind that those were the only two I thought I had as options. My pdoc had not even mentioned either of them to me!
Why does Serzone "scare" you - cuz it is sedating? You could take it at night for sleeping.
Have you considered some of the *older* meds, like the tricyclics? I know people on them with succes. These meds can have a lot of side effects, but I was on one and the side effects DO GO COMPLETELY AWAY fairly shortly and the meds tend to kick in a bit faster than the SSRI's.
Also, what about an MAOI? You just have to watch certain things you eat with these. The two main MAOI's are Nardil and Parnate that I have heard of.
If you do not like this third pdoc, so what if she's the third - KEEP ON GOING UNTIL YOU FIND A FIT FOR YOU, for YOU! You are #1 here, not the pdoc, in my opinion.
I know firsthand what it feels like NOT to be heard; it is so frustrating. You have to advocate for yourself which can be so hard when you feel so bad.
I hope I have been able to give you some perspective and some support.
Good luck and let me know if you want me to expand on anything I might have said here.
poster:Janelle
thread:218584
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030411/msgs/218595.html