Posted by chujoe on May 5, 2010, at 14:36:53
In reply to Re: Best meds for ADD/Depression/Chujoe » stargazer2, posted by floatingbridge on May 4, 2010, at 11:44:22
Hi, I'm just getting used to the way these boards work, so it's entirely possible I responded to the wrong person.
Cymbalta has worked pretty well for me. My history: about ten years ago I had a major period of anxiety and was prescribed Zoloft, which worked well enough that I quit taking it after a couple of years. I can't say I was exactly mentally healthy after that, but I went the better part of a decade without taking pdrugs. Then last year I had another major episode of anxiety & depression, but mostly anxiety and was again given Zoloft (100mg), which helped briefly, then got very patchy and gave me the shakes. I saw a neurologist, who diagnosed essential tremor -- it's not that bad, but the Zoloft made it worse, so I was switched to Cymbalta, first 60mg, then 90. It works, though I tend to get sleepy in the middle of the day. I still have a bit of tremor, but it's less of a problem with the Cymbalta.
So my depression is more of the "activated" variety, characterized by anxiety and intrusive thoughts. My diagnosis includes a tendency to OCD. Anyhow, because of the tremor and anxiety, my pdoc thinks I shouldn't take stims.
It's only recently -- even though I'm an old guy of 59 -- that the ADD thing has been clear to me. All my life I thought & everybody else thought I was just disorganized & even though I've had a reasonably successful professional life, in hindsight I see that I've been hampered all along by my inability to stay on task, etc. Talking to my pdoc recently, I mentioned something I'd done & she said, "That's classic ADD."
I've been reluctant to medicate for ADD -- it seems like such a middle-school malady! And I've had it all my life, so why start now? On the other hand, if I had broken my toe when I was six and always walked with a limp and then an orthopedic surgeon said he could fix it, I'd go for it, right? Currently, I'm not taking anything for it, though the Cymbalta has taken care of the H part of ADHD -- I can sit still and watch a movie now without having to get up twelve times. And the Cymbalta has also given me my cognitive powers (such as they are) back to me -- at my age you begin to wonder about dementia & I have to say it has really relieved me of that fear -- I can think again. I just have a very hard time focusing on one train of thought for very long.
Well, that's probably more than you wanted to know, but it's very nice to have found a place where one can talk about these things openly and honestly in a supportive environment.
poster:chujoe
thread:944334
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100504/msgs/946436.html