Posted by Sioux on December 31, 2002, at 23:14:54
In reply to Re: Anyone had success on Effexor XR? , posted by Dimbulb on December 31, 2002, at 14:01:03
>>> grrrr.........I spent a half hour typing a post then had to register, then my post wasnt available anymore. My first post was a literary jewel and now I am so ^#%$& this one is going to suck...
<<<This is a literay jewel. ; ) Unfortunately, I know exactly that frustration.
On to your other question. I, too, have a compicated and nasty medical situation (a cluster of autoimmune disease) which causes nasty and complicated financial situations. The neuromuscular consequences come and go - so I have to adjust/readjust - and also affect my speech and facial expression which, of course, affect my social transactions not to mention my sex life. In real life I was a biological scientist.
So. Just like fearful situations cause adrenaline to rush, so chronic stressors (depressing situations) can cause "depression" rushes - releases of chemicals which, over a period of time, seem to alter the brain chemistry. Depressing situations also require a lot more eneregy to deal with them. Sometimes antidepressants work in this situation.
Myself I found, however, that getting a handle on it all was the best antidepressant. By that I mean I recruited a whole *lot* of help from other people. One tracks my meds so they are ordered and arrive on time, another tracks the insurance billing, another examines every hospitalization and argues the billing, another lets folks know how I am, another writes 'thank you' notes, another raises funds for and tracks my various assistive devices.
All of this leaves me with enough energy to put up with it all: fall over, drop things, break bones, need need need need one damned thing after another.
Now. I'll bet you don't have that much help. So my list above should help you understand exactly how much energy you no longer have for yourself. It takes half a dozen people just to deal with some of the more obvious external consequences of some kinds of medical conditions.
That's depressing. So you get depressed.
In sum - use absolutely everything and everyone that you can to make yourself comfortable. Your first step is to identify what it takes - daydreaming's a good place to start, but the miraculous cure doesn't count. (sorry) Then do the same thing with what would positively pump you. The third step is to see how much of that you can actually do with what you have or can acquire.
Hope you find this helpful.
In the end I had to not use antidepressants because they all dulled my mind (which is about the only thing left that works). I worked even harder to find out how I could actually a have bunch of *fun* and, in the end, that's what worked for me. (believe it or not, it turned out to be going to movies in the afternoon; I didn't even know I liked movies!)
poster:Sioux
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021230/msgs/133966.html