Posted by yznhymer on September 14, 2004, at 22:07:40
In reply to How do you know when you are better?, posted by Emily Elizabeth on September 14, 2004, at 21:33:04
> Hi all,
>
> I'm sort of new to these boards. I have a question and I'm not sure if it will make sense or not. I guess I'll start at the begining...
>
> A little background on me: I'm being treated for dysthymia and GAD and recovering from a major depressive episode. Right now, I take lexapro (50mg) and neurontin (300mg 4x/day) and ativan (as needed). We have been "tweaking" my meds for 2.5 yrs now and it is starting to wear on me. I have not had more than a month of feeling good during this whole time. To be fair, my life has been pretty awful in the past 2 yrs, so I can't expect the meds to work like magic (e.g., my fiance left me 6 mos before the wedding, my grandmother died, I have worked with very abusive graduate advisors that belittle me constantly...)
>
> I guess I'm not as deeply depressed as I was before, but at the same time, I'm a shell of the person that I used to be. I'm having a hard time deciding if it makes sense to keep messing w/ my meds or just be happy w/ the progress that I have made. My pdoc's plan of action is to keep pushing my doses of lex and neurontin up, if that doesn't work, she wants to consider effexor or augmenting w/ a TCA.
>
> So the bottom line is, how do you know when you are as happy as you are going to get? how do you know when it is time to stop messing w/ the meds? What are your experiences?I'm not planning to give up trying for complete remission until I achieve it or die first. Listen, its miserable going through trials of medications with nothing to show for it but a mess of side effects. Not to mention the hassles of therapy, alternative treatments, dietary programs, exercize regimens, light therapy, etc. etc. and so forth. Sure, sometimes I decide to stop fighting and just go with the depression. Take a break, as it were. Adjust the pace of my life and the scope of my responsibilities. But eventually, I learn about some new treatment or some overlooked possibility or gain some insight about a tried and abandoned option used in the past. And I'm back on the case... no matter how hard. I've had remission before... why not again?
poster:yznhymer
thread:390848
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040909/msgs/390868.html