You are here: Home / Archives for depression

Struggling.

March 27, 2011 By
Effexor

It used to be that when I saw a character in a TV show having a meltdown and it turned out that it was because they weren't taking the medication they needed,  I would think to myself "jeez, how hard is it to take a pill every day?"  Hypocrite, thy name is Elizabeth. I certainly don't wake up in the morning and decide that I just won't take my medication. The bottle sits on the kitchen counter in plain sight. But since we went down to one car, the days that I do have the car are spent running around trying to get errands done that can't be done on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I'm house-bound. For newer readers, back in February of 2007 I had three moderately severe anxiety attacks. My doctor changed my antidepressant to the generic form of the  antidepressant/antianxiety medication Effexor.  If I take it every day, the fog I would walk around in otherwise lifts, and I can participate in and enjoy life.  Problem is, I get to a point where I've been feeling good for a while so … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health, Welcome to my Life Tagged With: , , ,

From clouds to sun to clouds again

November 19, 2009 By

Two weeks ago, I pulled myself out of the darkest place I had been in a long, long time, and called my doctor's office for an appointment. I told first the nurse and then the doctor the same story-what I was feeling wasn't my usual seasonal depression. I couldn't sleep, or I slept too much. I was irritated by everything and everyone, all the time. And worst of all, for two weeks out of each of the previous three months, I had experienced PMS like nothing I had ever felt. I needed help. Instead of re-prescribing Wellbutrin and Lexapro, she prescribed Venlafaxine, a generic form of the antidepressant Effexor.  That way, I would only have to take one pill once a day instead of two in the morning and one in the afternoon.  She handed me a sample pack with seven 37.5 mg.  pills and seven 75 mg. pills, and wrote me a prescription for six months of the 75 mg. dose. The next morning, I took the first 37.5 mg. dose, and the next day and the next. By that third day, I realized that I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: , , ,

It’s That Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Again

November 4, 2009 By

I've tried to deny it this year for some reason. I've tried to think that I can get through it on my own, thank you very much, no need to seek professional help or anything. But people, I can't do it any more. It's affecting my marriage, my relationship with my kids, and the very core of my mental health and well-being. It's time to call my doctor and get my annual Winter's-A-Comin' prescriptions for antidepressants.  PLURAL, I might add. It used to be that just one did the trick, lifted my mood out of black and ugly up into beigey-grey and tolerable.  But two years ago I told my doc that one wasn't doing it anymore, so she added a second one.  Without them, I sink into a murky place of constantly feeling "sick", feeling like everyone else is trying to hurt my feelings, feeling put-upon and underappreciated. I don't like who I am when I get like this, and the people I love don't either. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Health, Personal Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts