Posted by jujube on October 26, 2004, at 16:35:25
My problem with medication is probably insignificant and petty compared to most, but I am struggling and need some medication advice nonetheless.
Since last fall, I have been on four ADs (Paxil, which I had been on before for a number of years, but didn't seem to help second time around; Prozac, which made me crazy for two weeks; Effexor, which wasn't too bad, but left me extremely apathetic and apprehensive and gave me really bad night sweats; and now Celexa for the past seven weeks). Nothing seems to be helping, and I am starting to get discouraged and even more depressed. This, in turn, is making me even more anxious than I already am. I don't even want to go out, see people or do anything. I was only ever like this once before (when I quit drinking), and even then I still cared about things. Nothing seems to matter now. The past few weeks, I just keep thinking it would be so nice if I just had a heart attack or a massive stroke or something to put me out of my misery.
Anyways, I have an appointment with the pdoc that is taking take of my medication next Monday and I wanted to be able to discuss medication options with him. Since I live in Canada, Lexapro and Cymbalta are out (not yet available here). Can anybody give me some suggestions that would be good for both depression and GAD?
Another question. I had heard that Paxil and other SSRIs are not as effective or effective at all the second time around. Is this true? I had been on Paxil for a number of years (the last of which was at a very small maintenance dose), and it had worked extremely well for me. When I tried it again in the fall, it didn't work (but I was also severely iron deficient, so maybe no AD would have helped).
Sorry to sound like such a whiner. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
Tamara
poster:jujube
thread:407567
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041024/msgs/407567.html