HELLO THERE,

I HOPE YOU CAN HELP ME, OR PROVIDE SOME FEEDBACK.

FIRST, I NEED TO SAY HELLO AND HOPE EVERYONE IS IN THE VERY LEAST O.K (BETTER WOULD BE IDEAL!)

I AM GOING TO MY NEW DOCS ON FRIDAY. I FEEL DEPRESSED, STRESSED AND ANXIOUS (WORRY ABOUT BEING ALONE WITH KIDS AND PROVIDING FOR THEM), AMONGST OTHER THINGS.

ARE THERE DIFFERERNT MEDICATIONS THEY CAN PRESCRIBE FOR THE DIFFERENT THINGS I NOTED ABOVE?

PERAHPS SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN ON MEDS FOR

a) DEPRESSION
b) STRESS
c) ANXIETY

And you wish to share your thoughts.

Many many many thanks!

LMW

LMW,

I am glad you are going to talk to your doctor about meds because it sounds like you are in a position of needing them right now.

I was on Lexapro for depression for almost two years and just weaned off it.

My doctor gave me a prescription for Xanax for anxiety, but warned me that it is not a substitute for antidepressants because it strictly treats anxiety and if I were feeling depressed and took just xanax, my depression could actually worsen.

There are quite a few meds used to treat depression successfully. You and your doctor can talk about the advantages and disadvantages of them and which ones s/he feels will best fit you.

Good luck and healing fairy hugs,

fairyfriend

It is great that you are getting help for yourself. I come from a family of doctors so really believe in the power of modern science to help....others here feel differently. Neither school is right or wrong - it is what works for you and your doctor.

First of all, there is some trial and error in finding the right depression medication.
I first tried Zoloft but did not like the side effects - sexual dysfunction, primarily. Then moved to Wellbutrin which worked really well for a while - just made me functional enough to deal with the issues without falling apart. I was still very obsessive, though, so we added back Zoloft at a smaller dose. Todays Wellbutrin/Zoloft cocktail is working well but now I feel strong enough to wean myself off in the fall when IC returns.

I also have terrible anxiety attacks, flashbacks, where I can't breathe, become frantic. For those events, I have Klonopin though I take it only rarely. Just having it in my bag can calm me down.

And for insomnia, another gift from all this mess, I have Lunesta, which I take a couple of times a week.

I was initially reluctant to have all these pills in my life but IC felt that I needed to calm down, give myself a rest and that they would help me to do that. They have.

Fairyfriend,

Our MC suggested that I might want to talk to my PCP about drug treatment that may help me with my anger issues - and I was very receptive because I was also almost non-functional as the result of the trauma of D-day. I got the prescription, but the depression and anxiety have since dropped to manageable levels.

I didn't start the lexapro yet because I was really worried about side effects, but MOST of all, about the discontinuation symptoms when I tapered off (I only intend to be on this for about six months). How bad was the discontinuation?

I tried two or three times to get off Lexapro before I finally succeeded. I won't blame Lexapro for my early failures because I believe that the problem then was I wanted off it too soon, and I just wasn't ready emotionally to get off it. I went off it successfully this summer.

Like other antidepressants, it has an afterlife in the body, but not nearly as long as say Prozac. I had been taking 10 mgs a day, so when I went off, I did two weeks at 7.5 mgs daily, then two weeks at 5 mgs daily, and finally two weeks at 2.5 mgs daily. Obviously you'll need a pill splitter for this one! Those 2.5 mgs pieces are small!

I did gain weight while on Lexapro, but my IC and my psychiatrist both said that my mental health was more important that any weight gain. So it was one of those trade-offs.

I don't regret taking Lexapro, as it most assuredly helped me, but the weight gain part, I admit, stinks. My H does not mind because he sees me as functioning so much more like the me that had been swallowed up by the misery during and before his A, and he is delighted to have the old me back!

Good luck,

fairyfriend

edited to add: Someheimers strikes again! I realized that while I had addressed the process I undertook to wean off Lexapro, I didn't discuss the side effects. Duh! Sorry.

I did have some episodes of dizziness and nausea, but nothing too horrible; plus I had some peculiar sensations (also common) in my legs, but none of the effects were bad enough for me to regret having been on Lexapro. And when I felt them, just knowing what I was feeling was simple a side effect of going off Lexapro was enough for me, so I didn't worry or need to take countermeds or go to the doctor.

I am speaking as someone who took meds not for the A but because I suffered from depression long before (when watching melting snow would make me sad). It is a matter of trial and error and some of the errors can be brutal! Make sure you are doing this with a doctor you trust and, if possible, someone checking in on you daily (though I know that is not always possible). Some meds can make you worse - I was actually given a dose of Ativan in case I had a bad reaction and needed calming down.

That being said, the right meds can make you feel nomral again (whatever that means) and allow you to deal with what is going on with a clear head. They can be so worth it, if you remeber the following:

1. Just because you are feeling better doesn't mean you should stop taking them - it just means they are working

2. They don't fix problems, just allow you to deal with them

3. Make sure you have regular access to a doctor tomonitor your health and any side effects

4. When you decide to stop, do so under a doctor's guidance and expect it to take months.

I had to stop cold turkey because I moved to an area lacking doctors (and refused to get refills at an ER)and reduced my dosage over 1 month. When I ran out of pills, I went into detox and had a small breakdown (triggered by my first big city traffic jam) and my husband had to take the day off work to monitor me. It was not fun. Doctors and nurses who later heard what I did (while I continued my search for a doctor) would shake their head in disbelief and say I shouldn't have done that (and then say they couldn't take me on as a patient, but that is another whine).

I hope I didn't scare anyone off of meds, but I wish someone had told me this before I had started them many years ago. I still would have taken them, but I would have better understood the consequences of my choice.

Chinook

I was on Lexapro for a couple of months and quit cold turkey which you're not supposed to do, but I think I was on it such a short time that it didn't seem to cause any problems. It was hard to tell because when I went off of it, two weeks later my father was diagnosed with incurable cancer (pancreatic). So I was challenged with a new zinger life threw at me. I don't think I could tell what emotions and issues were from being of Lexapro and which were from new found grief.

Liked Lexapro, didn't like Wellbutrin which I added to the Lexapro to offset some side effects. I think I was really having a hard time waking up in the morning and the Wellbutrin was supposed to offset that.

I also resorted to pills when I was almost totally non-functional at work. However, with the A I had been through divorce, death of a father, suicide of a friend. So it was intensely traumatic and deeply personal but I always put it in perspective of it's not the death of a child or cancer...just my hopes, dreams, and faith in humanity! Anyways, I was close to it but either decided not to or just never got around to making the appoinment with the HMO doctor that I wouldn't get for 3 months anyway!

Good luck and I hope it helps.