Posted by babak on July 10, 2002, at 2:21:29
In reply to Re: Mirtazapine Effexor, posted by fairnymph on July 7, 2002, at 12:10:48
No one has actually diagnosed it as anything. I have been suffering from depression and anxiety for the last 12 years following a major breakdown.
No I haven’t tried Wellburtin and this is one thing which I am thinking of giving a go before Olanzapine.
Regarding Effexor as I said, I have been taking Effexor for the last six years now; in doses ranging from 37.5 every other day to 375 every day. Despite what every one says I have noticed the difference in matter of few days. I am not talking about the full effect but “the difference”.
What I don’t understand is that why my psychiatrist has put me on 75mg when not only I wasn’t responding to 375mg (10 days excluding two weeks titration) nor did I show any signs of Serotonin Syndrome.
I can afford the medication but not ECT becasue we have national health service in UK. Therefore most treatments are avaialable for free. But my case is not severe enough for ECT - as considered by NHS.
Prozac was working well except I had problems with headaches and anger control. There seems to be three sides to my depression: anxiety, anger and anhedonia. Different drugs affect these different aspects to varying degrees. So far Mirtazapine has been best in helping anxiety and sleeping problems, Effexor in helping with irritability and anger management, but nothing seems to be able to shift this anhedonia which is getting worse by age. It is really painful, it feels like an emptiness screaming inside my head. It stops me from relating to people. I am continuously and desperately bored. I get so frustrated that I develop headaches which go one for two weeks or more. Anhedonia was the main reason why my marriage broke down. I look almost psychotically calm on the outside which gives people the impression that I am OK. But on the inside I turning and twisting with boredom. I can’t stand other people’s company. I wake up in the morning and most days I take a sleeping pill right after breakfast and go back to bed or just stay in bed and keep my eyes closed hating the thought of getting up. I can go on for ten fifteen hours with my eye closed, during which time I have no control over my thoughts. They just race around completely disordered and I never remember what I was thinking three seconds before.
On days when I feel better I try to keep busy but it is very difficult because I take no pleasure in anything I do.
Now I understand why schizophrenics stop taking their medication from time to time. Some times all that pain is somehow worth it, just to feel something other than frustration.
I think the worst part of it is that because the anger and anxiety are gone people just don’t realize how painful it is.
poster:babak
thread:111030
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020709/msgs/111905.html