I've been on anti-depressants before but the situation was different, more of a constant sense of being deeply sad. This up and down, love him hate him, staying leaving stuff is driving me batty.

Can anyone speak to the effect anti-depressants may have. I'm hoping for Magic Mountain ride to A ticket kiddie ride at Disney. Are my expectations too high?

I think you might be expecting too much.

Anti-depressants are for combating depression, not for making you happy. Love him Hate him are real feelings with a focus and a subject. Although these may as a side effect get deadened, they could even get worse. They are not really the primary target of the anti-depressants, rather they are design to combat and underlying abnormaility in your mood. So if you are having boughts of feeling miserable, with low energy, can't concentrate, diffuse feelings of sadness or despair then yes it might help.

You are hating him with good reason, and you are loving him with good reason. I don't think there is anything you can do about this. These are REAL emotions.

If the emotions are too hard to deal with, and you don't feel like you are making progress with them, then I think IC will be more help than meds. Even if the meds were to work, then you would have to stay on them for life, or deal with the emotions.

Caveat: I'm not a doctor, and obviously if you really are having problems you should speak to your GP and see what they recommend.

I have to agree with Adam on this. It has been my experience that meds, when they work well, "deaden" emotions. They can't make you feel happy or sad, but they do make the swings smaller (which I guess is sort of like moving to a kiddie roller coaster). As well, they don't cure the cause of the emotions, just mask the effects (sort of like of how cold medicine stops you coughing but doesn't get rid of the cold).

Be aware that the first one (or 2 or 3) pills may not work and may actually make you worse. Unfortunately, docs can't give you a test that says you need pill A. It is trial and error based on what they know and how you answer their questions. The wild card is your body chemistry. As well, they are not easy to get off (need to be done gradually under doctors supervision).

That being said, talk to a doctor about it and be honest about how you are feeling and any concerns you may have. Also, make sure your doctor is someone you can see regularly and be honest about any side effects. Meds can be a sanity saver as they can allow you to deal with life without the rollercoaster. I knew this all when I went on them and would do it again, under the same circumstances (i.e. regular access to a wonderful doctor who believed that crying because the snow is melting is not good(especially in Northern Alberta where you see the stuff for 6 months of the year )

Also, have you considered other non-medical methods, like hypnosis? I found a site where I could download subliminal messages to listen to and it helped (much to my surprise!) NOw if they could only come up with a message to use on WS's (hee, hee, hee). I'll post the web address if I can find it.

Chinook

http://www.ineedmotivation.com/hypnodepression.htm

I did it as a "course download" for $11.99 and played it ion my iPod. It worked so well that I also downloaded the one called "Success in Sex and Dating" (all about romantic self-confidence).

The subliminal ones play music I can hear and a message subliminally (very relaxing). I sampled the hypnosis one and I couldn't get over some voice talking in my ear.

The site is very good because you can hear a sqample before you have to buy.

Chinook

thanks