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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 26, 2006, at 23:08:49
I know there has got to be some in here. We never hear them. I need some hope. Please share ...
Posted by Glydin on April 27, 2006, at 8:18:57
In reply to Will someone please tell a success story????, posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 26, 2006, at 23:08:49
I am a success story and I stuck around these boards and tell of my success. I'm not sure alot of folks post once things stablize for them. Success stories are sometimes not near as well received as one would hope. Few seems to hear/read/believe/drink in etc... at least that has been my experience. I think it's difficult to be moved by good findings of others when one is not having that themselves - that just seems to be the way it is.
Posted by ClearSkies on April 27, 2006, at 8:54:24
In reply to Will someone please tell a success story????, posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 26, 2006, at 23:08:49
My depression is in remission.
My alcoholism is countered by sobriety, every day.
My anxiety is at a fraction of what it once was.My cocktail: Cymbalta, Campral, Lamictal. Recently stopped: Ambien, Xanax, Neurontin (see above).
My therapist and spouse are of enormous help. I am not working but I'm confident that I'll be able to in the future.
I won't list all the medications that I tried and failed to improve on. It's a really long list! though no longer than I think most people have. It takes a lot of persistence as a patient to find the right treatment. The onus is on us (ha ha did not realize the joke) to keep searching for a solution, a compromise between benefits and adverse effects, until we can begin to feel improvement in our lives. For me that meant trying medication after medication, and many incompetent therapists, until I came to find some success. I've been posting here for 3 years (I think, I can't really remember!) and the strides I've made are utterly fantastic.
ClearSkies
Posted by Crazy Horse on April 27, 2006, at 9:39:06
In reply to Will someone please tell a success story????, posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 26, 2006, at 23:08:49
I am doing pretty darn good, better than i have been in years. I'm currently taking Parnate, small dose ativan (2mgs. daily) and plan to taper off of it(the ativan), and Trazodone for sleep.
At this time i am not depressed or anxious, i can actually enjoy life. My only frustration is parnate induced insomnia..sometimes i'm up all nite, then the next day i'm exhausted. None of the sleeping agents i.e., lunesta, ambien, work for me so i use the Trazodone, sometimes it works very well, sometimes not so well.
Anyway, i hope and pray that Parnate coninues to work for me (been on it for 3 mos.) because even though i still struggle at times, it really is helping a lot..it feels good to finally feel good! :)
Monte
Posted by curtm on April 27, 2006, at 10:06:03
In reply to Re: Will someone please tell a success story????, posted by Crazy Horse on April 27, 2006, at 9:39:06
It isn't my intent for any of my posts to be failures, but merely experiences that I am sharing and using as steps to more success. I find the journey to getting better to be quite delightful and entertaining. I have always been told that I was spontaneous (usually in a fun way, so I guess my bipolar "qualities" are not all bad, if they don't get out of hand. Another success of mine is finding all of you (nobody told me about it, I was just surfing and researching.) I don't know if that could ever be matched. My marital relationship is getting better and Life has started becoming colorful and peaceful again. I do need to start setting some goals for me, though, which I can be successful at, too. My life has been going through some changes (for the last thirty-six years) but I take them all day by day. Have a GREAT DAY everyone!
Posted by curtm on April 27, 2006, at 10:08:50
In reply to Will someone please tell a success story????, posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 26, 2006, at 23:08:49
P.S. Thanks for suggesting the idea of sharing success stories.
curtm
Posted by pseudoname on April 27, 2006, at 12:25:14
In reply to Will someone please tell a success story????, posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 26, 2006, at 23:08:49
Talk about coincidence! I posted about my recent improvement in a thread just up from this one, about 8 hours before your post. :-)
I think Glydin (once again) has some terrific insights here. Reactions to others' success stories can be pretty complex.
I'm still reluctant to commit to a story of quote-unquote “success”. All of it is partial, compromised, multi-sided, and hooked to trade-offs, and it's possibly reversible and temporary. (All of which, I should add, applies to “failure” as well.) I don't want to stick my neck out too far. If I start declining again, will I be like a temperance preacher who falls off the wagon?
Good thread.
Posted by Phillipa on April 27, 2006, at 12:28:36
In reply to “Success” is complicated » UgottaHaveHOPE, posted by pseudoname on April 27, 2006, at 12:25:14
I would love to see more success stories as this gives hope to the rest of us here instead of doom and gloom and thinking oh I'll never get better. Love Phillipa
Posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 27, 2006, at 12:39:56
In reply to Re: “Success” is complicated, posted by Phillipa on April 27, 2006, at 12:28:36
i want to hear them, especially with ppl who have had been diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety. Tell me what worked. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by pseudoname on April 27, 2006, at 16:50:41
In reply to Re: OK, stories where ppl have had improvement, posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 27, 2006, at 12:39:56
> OK, stories where ppl have had improvement
Sorry, Ugotta. I wasn't picking at the language. I should've been clear that it's the same case with “improvement” — it can be dicey to talk about. My own post was no different.
It sounds like you had pretty good success for about nine months. Did you post about it at the time?
Posted by irishcatholic on April 28, 2006, at 8:09:31
In reply to Will someone please tell a success story????, posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on April 26, 2006, at 23:08:49
Prozac + Xanax XR has been a big help for me.
Let's call it a 70% improvement which has lasted approx 2 yrs. I was at 20mg Proz daily and 0.5mg Xanax XR 3 times daily. Over the last year I've tapered back to 20mg Proz every other day and .5mg Xanax XR @ bedtime. But several trials to eliminate the Proz completely have not gone well so I'm hoping to stay where I am for a long time without poopout.(Originally diag anx + depression which seemed to build over a period of 2 yrs as I hit 50 yrs old.)
My other complaint is +20 pounds from 150 to 170 so I'm chubby, despite diet & exercise. I guess that's the price of mental health :-)
This is the end of the thread.
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