Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 52241

Shown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?

Posted by Racer on January 22, 2001, at 14:09:49

OK, I'm so depressed, and see no hope ahead of me. Death seems the kindest option, since I can't see any hope for anything better coming along. I've been suicidal before, but this is much calmer, and therefore more frightening to me.

I just lost my job, after a terrible experience working for the company for mere weeks. My confidence is totally blown, and I can't imagine anyone ever hiring me to do anything again. My home life is pretty unhappy, due to circumstances beyond my control. (My SO is about to lose his visa, so it's either marry in haste -- and in Reno -- or he's deported. We'd marry sooner or later anyway, but he's unhappy not to be able to decide for himself when he's ready.) My horse had to be put down. I'm fatter than I've ever been. Etc. Etc.

So, what else? I'm sweaty all the time, my mouth is always dry, and I can't sleep. I cry alot, I go from OK to totally desponant in under ten seconds, and I just can't seem to get a grip on myself.

Is this acceptable situational distress from being in a really rotten situation? (BTW, if my SO is deported, I'm unable to support myself in the area we moved to together.) Is this normal grief over so many losses in a short time? Should Effexor be able to help me through this by offering a lifeline? Or is the Effexor simply not working anymore?

Oh, did I mention the part about not having insurance?

 

about the visa...

Posted by NikkiT2 on January 22, 2001, at 15:30:24

In reply to Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?, posted by Racer on January 22, 2001, at 14:09:49

Just an idea... A male friend of mine went through this about 18 months ago. he wasn't sure he was ready for marriage, but knew that he desperately didn't want to lose his girlfriend. So, what they did was have a very small civil wedding with just closest friends there, and classed this as their engagement.

A year later they decided that yes, marriage was for them, and then had a big catholic wedding with all the trimmings, and classed this as their real marriage. It has worked out really weel, and he was able to stay with his girlfriend in the same country.

Good luck. Wish I could help with everythinge else, but I'm coming off effexor and havinga rough old time of it, so a bit short on the advice front right now.

Speak to your doc and get their thoughts (even if it's not a pdoc) on whether its a short term thing caused by your circumstances, or effexor poop out.

Nikkix

 

Re: Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?

Posted by quilter on January 22, 2001, at 22:28:46

In reply to Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?, posted by Racer on January 22, 2001, at 14:09:49

Oh dear, Racer, that's an awful lot the deal with! I wish life wasn't so hard for you right now. I do find your calmness worrisome. It has preceeded my last two attempts. The feeling of inevitability of death can be so strong when so much else has happened in a short period of time.

I think that whatever the cause, you need to at least add to your current meds to get yourself over the hump. I know that you have had bad luck in the past with public health care providers, but it seems to me you should give the ones where you live now a shot. Even a visit to the E.R. might serve to get you hooked up with a pdoc, social worker, etc.

I also think that getting some of this off your chest with a therapist of some kind would be essential. Sometimes it helps with the trapped feeling I get to lay it out in front of someone else. Explaining it all so it makes sense to someone else helps me to see it more clearly even if they don't have answers for me.

You have many gifts and a good, caring heart. Your sense of humor has made PB a better place and I would miss you. Yours is one of the names I look for when choosing which posts to struggle through. Please do what you can to stay with us. This Too, Will Pass.

Quilter

 

Re: Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?

Posted by JohnL on January 23, 2001, at 3:01:25

In reply to Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?, posted by Racer on January 22, 2001, at 14:09:49

Hi Racer,
It sounds like a very rough period for you. I am very sorry about that. Are you still taking Effexor+Prozac, or just Effexor? I remember you were doing well with the combo. Just curious.

If you read my posts at all then you know which two drugs I favor for situations just like yours. Sometimes I just think the antidepressant route is not the right way to go. In your case they haven't been reliable. That tends to make me think drugs from other classes would work a lot better. You need something that works, easy and cheap to buy, and can help you lose some weight. The two drugs I favor fit that profile.

Until you decide what to do, please hang in there. You know these bad times don't last. Sunny days will reappear. If we were neighbors, I would share some of my two favorite meds with you, because I think have a high probability of working fast and you would like them.
John


 

Re: Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?

Posted by mars on January 23, 2001, at 4:39:48

In reply to Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?, posted by Racer on January 22, 2001, at 14:09:49

Hi Racer ~

I'm new here, but hope my experience might help. i think i've definitely had feelings at least akin to yours.

i was diagnosed bipolar II in late '93 after i got married and moved from oklahoma to seattle. i was unable to work. i was put on lithium & an AD and told that it might take a year to work. in march '95 i woke up and felt really odd ~ couldn't put my finger on it at first, but then i realized that i wasn't depressed. i wasn't manic. i could just do things. it was the synthroid, effexor & lithium that had done it. it was prob'ly the first time in 20 years that i'd really felt that way (no exaggeration).

three weeks later my mom died, very unexpectedly. my family is really messed up, and all hell broke loose. it totally broke my meds. things were so, so bleak, and i'd been there so often before. i know that calm feeling, where death seems like the rational choice, as if some spreadsheet had tallied up my life and spit out the recommendation.

six months later i was able to go back to work.

i just want to say that your posts are one of the things that kept drawing me back to PB after i first ran into it. you're so funny and gifted and have such a heart. i know when you're feeling down the "things will get better" responses don't usually mean a whole heck of a lot, so i'm not sure what to say, except this:

don't go.

best,

mary

> OK, I'm so depressed, and see no hope ahead of me. Death seems the kindest option, since I can't see any hope for anything better coming along. I've been suicidal before, but this is much calmer, and therefore more frightening to me.
>
> I just lost my job, after a terrible experience working for the company for mere weeks. My confidence is totally blown, and I can't imagine anyone ever hiring me to do anything again. My home life is pretty unhappy, due to circumstances beyond my control. (My SO is about to lose his visa, so it's either marry in haste -- and in Reno -- or he's deported. We'd marry sooner or later anyway, but he's unhappy not to be able to decide for himself when he's ready.) My horse had to be put down. I'm fatter than I've ever been. Etc. Etc.
>
> So, what else? I'm sweaty all the time, my mouth is always dry, and I can't sleep. I cry alot, I go from OK to totally desponant in under ten seconds, and I just can't seem to get a grip on myself.
>
> Is this acceptable situational distress from being in a really rotten situation? (BTW, if my SO is deported, I'm unable to support myself in the area we moved to together.) Is this normal grief over so many losses in a short time? Should Effexor be able to help me through this by offering a lifeline? Or is the Effexor simply not working anymore?
>
> Oh, did I mention the part about not having insurance?

 

Re: Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?

Posted by Noa on January 24, 2001, at 12:17:14

In reply to Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?, posted by Racer on January 22, 2001, at 14:09:49

Racer, I doubt it is poop out. You have all the MAJOR stressors going on all at once. You uprooted yourself only to find yourself unrooted in your new place. Nothing is anchoring you. YOur horse dying has got to be traumatic. Your SO's possible deportation has got to be frightening. And no job to anchor you, let alone pay the bills and get insurance.

Everything is up in the air, in other words. How much stress can a person take without going nuts (pardon the expression!)??!!

You need some extra help, support to help you figure out how to cope with all of this. Death might seem like a tempting option but it's not, of course. Your mind, if it is like mine, goes in that direction easily now, having been down that road before. Now, when so much is feeling unbearable, it seems natural to start thinking like that.

But if you are thinking like that, it is a MAJOR RED FLAG that you need more support pronto!!!

 

Re: Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?

Posted by SLS on January 25, 2001, at 10:27:57

In reply to Re: Effexor Poop-Out or situational distress?, posted by Noa on January 24, 2001, at 12:17:14

> Racer, I doubt it is poop out. You have all the MAJOR stressors going on all at once. You uprooted yourself only to find yourself unrooted in your new place. Nothing is anchoring you. YOur horse dying has got to be traumatic. Your SO's possible deportation has got to be frightening. And no job to anchor you, let alone pay the bills and get insurance.
>
> Everything is up in the air, in other words. How much stress can a person take without going nuts (pardon the expression!)??!!
>
> You need some extra help, support to help you figure out how to cope with all of this. Death might seem like a tempting option but it's not, of course. Your mind, if it is like mine, goes in that direction easily now, having been down that road before. Now, when so much is feeling unbearable, it seems natural to start thinking like that.
>
> But if you are thinking like that, it is a MAJOR RED FLAG that you need more support pronto!!!


There is a phenomenon known as medication "break-through". This is not a good thing. Medication break-through can occur due to the development of stress, whether acute or chronic. A previously effective drug and dosage can no longer maintain an equilibrium within the brain, and the depressive dysregulation is allowed to reappear.

So, yes, it is very likely that you have experienced a medication break-through due to stress as opposed to a medication "poop-out". One of the strategies used in these situations is to simply raise the dosage of medication.

This dynamic makes a good argument for combining psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy, a treatment strategy that has been demonstrated consistently to be more effective than medication alone.

I hope everything falls into place for you.


Sincerely,
Scott


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