Posted by pellmell on May 14, 2002, at 16:08:19
In reply to Re: warning, this is a big self-pity post, posted by katekite on May 14, 2002, at 14:34:36
Those life improvement suggestions are all well and good, but they require sufficent "willpower" and the feeling that you yourself are worth the effort. I have very little of either of those qualities when I'm depressed.
The challenge for me when the drugs lift my mood again is to do something positive for myself and not simply coast. It's very hard for me to improve my life when I'm on meds, but impossibly hard when I'm not.
But maybe you should take some time away from medication; I've gone off of drugs multiple times just to try to prove to myself that I could do without them. My failures have made me feel better about being on them, though I think that's due to the residue of the "pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps" tripe I was raised with. There is no baseline human brain chemistry. Do what will make your life better.
So to echo the other posters: try to find a pdoc, or even another GP. DON'T go back on Effexor. You know that particular drug isn't a good match for you; there's no good reason to repeat the experiment.
-pm
poster:pellmell
thread:106275
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020510/msgs/106378.html