Posted by Christ_empowered on July 31, 2010, at 11:38:37
In reply to Re: What steps should I take?, posted by europerep on July 31, 2010, at 11:28:35
describe your problems, and follow the instructions carefully. I know that sounds like the dumbest, most obvious advice ever, but I was once a 19 year old with problems (not the same as yours, though), and that advice is both basic and hard to follow when you're that young.
You might not benefit from antidepressants. I'm not a doctor, but some people don't; maybe its a brain chemistry thing, who knows, but maybe you should try something else.
Have you tried an anticonvulsant? Lamictal helps bipolar depression, but it can also help out with unipolar depression. Lamictal is pretty "clean" in terms of cognitive side effects, so it shouldn't dumb you down like some other drugs could.
Have you been prescribed a benzo? A lot of docs don't prescribe benzos at all, especially to younger patients (and if you have drug/alcohol abuse issues, say no to benzos, at least for now), but they can help a lot, especially if you can keep your use minimal and only use them a couple times weekly--that helps avoid full-blown dependence.
Sorry about your experience with Abilify. Maybe its for the best? I mean, I take Abilify, but I have a psychotic component to my illness. For me, the benefits outweigh the risks because untreated psychosis can ruin your life. If you're not psychotic, severely bipolar, or prone to intense agitation, I personally think you might want to steer clear of the antipsychotics, if you can.
BuSpar wasn't on your list of meds. I personally am not a big fan, but when you add Buspar to an antidepressant, sometimes good things happen in terms of both the effect on depression and an anti-anxiety action. So, if you decide to try another antidepressant, I'd see about taking Buspar with it.
Good luck to you; this is a rough situation, but with the proper help, you should come out of this soon enough.
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:956554
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100731/msgs/956560.html