Posted by wcfrench on October 14, 2002, at 19:24:21
In reply to Re: my experience; from zoloft to prozac and then some, posted by tai on October 14, 2002, at 17:18:37
Good to hear you are feeling a bit better!
Thanks for responding to my post, I wrote some more in that thread. I know exactly what you mean when you say your life is on hold. I remember feeling like that. I tried to run through my depression (I was running everyday when I felt good) and it just got so bad that I had to stop, it wasn't worth it. Whatever I felt from running seemed to not be there anymore. I just didn't feel the pleasure, the benefit, the purpose, it was just painful. It's so wierd how chemicals in your brain that control emotion and feelings can also affect how good you feel when you exercise. Amazing.
Have you ever just felt like things weren't OK? I tried explaining it to my sister, who was, at the time, telling me to get a job. I was trying to explain that when you think about your life, or what you're doing in your life, normally you get a "things are OK" feeling, but when you're depressed, something just tells you that things are not right. Well, since then, some of that has gone away, and things definitely seem a little easier with this drunk feeling. Before it was like I'd think about getting a job (Computer Science) and I'd be scared of working on a project.. or I'd think about fixing my car and I would get this bad feeling, like I couldn't do it or I was going to start doing it and just not enjoy it. I hated it so much. Now I just kind of do it and that feeling is mostly gone. It was definitely not normal, because those are things I had always enjoyed or at least not complained about. It was like anything that required extensive thought or dedication was too difficult because the thought of completing a task like that was simply exhausting.
If you are really concerned with your sex drive you might ask your doc about Lexapro or Remeron. They are not supposed to affect sex drive at all, and Remeron didn't for me. Also, does he/she want to keep you on those three antidepressants at once? I'm not a doc, but I know most people usually take Wellbutrin and an SSRI, but usually not 2 SSRIs. (Effexor also works on norepinephrine but it's mostly the same) I wonder if once you start the Effexor your doc will taper you off of the Prozac?
Also, not sleeping can be a big contributor to how you feel, so you really should address that. Prozac and to a greater extent Wellbutrin are both activating medicines. If you take either at night or in the afternoon I can see why you cannot sleep. I have friends that couldn't get to sleep for hours even after taking Wellbutrin in the morning. It might be better for you to be on a med that helps you sleep, like Remeron, which you take before bed. Anyway, definitely discuss it with your doc if you can because sleep is important in the fight against depression. For lots of people it has worked wonders for their sleep cycle and has lifted some heavy depression. I already slept like a log, so needless to say it wasn't a very good med for me :) .. Also I hope if you don't get full response with those meds that you ask your doc about other med possibilities, because for many, including myself, SSRIs are just not powerful enough alone.
And don't worry about posting long posts. There's always people that will read them. I've found that the longest posts are usually the best ones anyway. You might enjoy my posts in the "Any artists/musicians out there on meds?" thread. I wrote of my adventures on Geodon... pretty entertaining, at least when I read it. But isn't it always when we read about ourself!
Take care,
CharlieP.S. I just read this and realized how long it was. My rule does not apply in this case. :)
poster:wcfrench
thread:123411
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021012/msgs/123668.html