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...]