Posted by Alan on March 6, 2002, at 8:25:21
In reply to What's the point of drugs that make yr life worse?, posted by Automated Lady on March 6, 2002, at 7:18:44
> I have to put this in, because I am getting to a point of despair about ever recovering from my depression.
>
> I have been seriously depressed since I was 18 (although I have had symptoms of depression from a very young age) and have tried Prozac, Efexor and Celexa. Each one of these has affected my life in such a way as to make it worse rather than better. Although ADs have lifted me out of the darkest moods, they have also made me so tired I have had to sleep 15 hours a day, changed my appetite so that I have been scared and incapacitated by my compulsive eating, made me lethargic and numb, made me not care about my life enough to try and change it.
>
> I am sick of being in this mess, which is that I can't cope without ADs and can't cope with them. I am trying to do a university course and am failing miserably because I can't get myself together enough to do any work, talk to anyone or go to any classes.
>
> I have an NHS doctor who is not interested in combining drugs or trying anything unusual (eg. MAOIs) - he isn't even interested in the fact that my depression is different from the "classic" type (it's atypical). I feel like in order to get any real help I will have to do something desperate, and I have no wish to do that. I just want my life back.
>
> I apologise for being very negative, but I would really appreciate some advice.
>
> AL
**********************************************Not having adequate medical care seems to be the issue here and I'm not sure any one of us will help you with our own personal experiences except give you ideas that you can propose to a seemingly pretty close minded doctor. Many times a doctor will blame the patient instead of their prescribing abilities and their preconceived ideas about a disease vis-a-vis the patients *actual* reaction.
Perhaps second and third opinions would be in order? I went through 3 pdocs to find one that thought outside the box and actually listened to me as to what I was telling them in order for them to help me.
Any pdoc should have the skill and open mindedness to be willing to experiment or at least inform you of all of the choices other than have a one drug at a time/no polypharmacy/only AD's guideline. Are you seeing a specialist that is up on the latest treatment techniques for depression? There are many others out there like the TCA's (older) and even other antidepressants in the ssri (and newer) catagory. If you are looking for a list of other ssri's and the like i'm sure that this bboard and another doc will inform you as to your options. Many only find relief through the combo of drugs - especially "atypicals" as they're referred to by docs.
My experience has been to gain as much flexibility as possible by informing myself about ALL of the options -which is what you are doing here of course. Remember, you're the boss, the doc's your employee. Once you take this attitude, you are more likely to find out some answers to your questions more quickly.
Sorry for your troubles.
Alan
poster:Alan
thread:96683
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020301/msgs/96692.html