G
batter
Lick me 'til i scream!
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2001
- Posts
- 2,606
an afterthought
just wanted to add that should one be put on medication for depression, it is very very important that you DO NOT mix herbal remedies with your prescribed meds as they do cause clashes between the meds themselves. you may be causing more harm than good by mixing the two together.
naturally, alcohol should be abstained from.
just wanted to add that should one be put on medication for depression, it is very very important that you DO NOT mix herbal remedies with your prescribed meds as they do cause clashes between the meds themselves. you may be causing more harm than good by mixing the two together.
naturally, alcohol should be abstained from.
teresafannin
One who hears the Music
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2000
- Posts
- 2,532
Hi Tabby, I started seeing a therapist a few weeks after my son's murder. I continue to see the therapist a few times a month & take Paxil every night. I thought I could handle the depressions, the anger, the confusion & all the other emotions I have experienced. I forced myself to push so many feelings down inside myself & got pretty good at fooling most people into thinking I was fine. It took a major emotional breakdown at work to make me realize that therapy alone wasn't going to take care of it. My therapist & doctor worked together to come up with a medication that would work for me. I had a complete physical, including bloodwork, before starting on the Paxil. I have been taking it for a little over 2 months & everyone has noticed the difference. I am sleeping better & regained a little bit of an appetite. Work is going well & I am getting out more. The woman I was before is gone, she died that night in September & people are finally realizing that & accepting who I am now. I wish I had started on the Paxil earlier, but live & learn. I don't know if I will take Paxil forever, we are taking it a few steps at a time, but I feel more in control of my life than I have in a long time.
The best thing is to find someone to talk to, very few people can handle this on their own. Do you have a friend you can talk to or perhaps talk to your family doctor? Normal is kind of relative, I think. My life will never be totally normal again, but at least I am not feeling quite so hopeless. Take care, Teresa
The best thing is to find someone to talk to, very few people can handle this on their own. Do you have a friend you can talk to or perhaps talk to your family doctor? Normal is kind of relative, I think. My life will never be totally normal again, but at least I am not feeling quite so hopeless. Take care, Teresa
Some good information on this thread for anyone who suffers form depression. I urge you to see your doctor and get some help from a proffessional. The most effective therapy for depression combines talk, meds and do not forget exercise. I know this is very difficult when you are feeling so wretched. Try telling one person and ask them to help you by walking with you everyday. Take your pet out for a walk. Write down your feelings, journel it helps when you are confused or stuck. Most of all please take the offers for support seriously. This is too painful to try to handle without help. We are all here if you need a shoulder or a hug......
CelticsHeart
Really Experienced
- Joined
- May 8, 2001
- Posts
- 169
Clarification for miles
To quote miles in reply to my post
"I don't know where you are getting your information. Depression is self-limiting for SOME people. Others have it for a lifetime and it does not go away by itself (dysthymia). I don't know of anyone nor has any doctor ever told me to discontinue using them to allow a brain to "Step up its own production" to overcome the withdrawal. "
miles, if you read back to my post I think you will find that I said that there is a school of thought which says that depression is time limited. It is accepted fact in the UK. I also put it to you that there is no evidence to say that it is so only for SOME. I say this because almost everyone has treatment of one type or another to aleviate the symptoms. Ergo who is to say that it is not self limited in all people.
I personally have no fixed opinion on this, it would be a folly to hold such when it has no basis in evidence.
Also I am not trying to belittle the effects low mood can have so please don`t read that in my post. Depression harms not only the sufferer but family, friends and others are touched by it also. It is still far too stigmatised as it is, but in th UK for example in 1996 there were more in-patient beds for treatment of mental health than generalillness.
Secondly, when you say you do not know of anyone who told you to discontinue an anti-depressant to allow your brain to "step up production" I am hoping you have misread, or misunderstood my words. It was not what I was advocating at all. Quite the reverse in fact.
If you check the product characteristics for an anti-depressant - they should accompany every pack of the product- you will see, I have no doubt, that the manufacturer will advise that they are taken for a period after the person notes a return to normal mood and that they arenot discontinued suddenly. As a matter of rote they must be discontinued by reducing the dose or frequency of administration.
Imagine if you will that a person takes say 300mg of Effexor daily, a very high dose but some need to take it at this level - normally in a controlled clinical situation - now imagine how much artificially created serotonin there is circulating in the synapses on a routine daily basis. Serotonin produced by the brain in response to the presence of a drug.
Now imagine that J.Bloggs stops taking this high dose one day. What do you think will happen? Will J.Bloggs cope with the absence of the normally present levels of the serotonin at the levels the drug induced? Will he cope with the massive drop in production?
J.Bloggs should have "tailed the dose" down gradually as per his docs advice, and the advice of the maker. This is to allow the body to adjust to the change in its own chemistry.
The same can be said of someone on high doses of a tranquilliser/painkiller/steriod and many other drug therapies.
I did not advocate that people "discontinue" rather that they do so with care.
As for where I get this information. If you are in the UK I suggest that you look up the British National Formulary, The Assosciation of British Pharmaceutical Industry formulary or other such publication such as MIMs. They will tell you that stopping an anti-depressant should be done in this manner. I am sure that similar documents are produced by the FDA and other bodies.
Finally, to anyone who is taking medication, follow the advice of your clinician. Sometimes the road seems long but it can be walked.
Regards,
Heart xx
To quote miles in reply to my post
"I don't know where you are getting your information. Depression is self-limiting for SOME people. Others have it for a lifetime and it does not go away by itself (dysthymia). I don't know of anyone nor has any doctor ever told me to discontinue using them to allow a brain to "Step up its own production" to overcome the withdrawal. "
miles, if you read back to my post I think you will find that I said that there is a school of thought which says that depression is time limited. It is accepted fact in the UK. I also put it to you that there is no evidence to say that it is so only for SOME. I say this because almost everyone has treatment of one type or another to aleviate the symptoms. Ergo who is to say that it is not self limited in all people.
I personally have no fixed opinion on this, it would be a folly to hold such when it has no basis in evidence.
Also I am not trying to belittle the effects low mood can have so please don`t read that in my post. Depression harms not only the sufferer but family, friends and others are touched by it also. It is still far too stigmatised as it is, but in th UK for example in 1996 there were more in-patient beds for treatment of mental health than generalillness.
Secondly, when you say you do not know of anyone who told you to discontinue an anti-depressant to allow your brain to "step up production" I am hoping you have misread, or misunderstood my words. It was not what I was advocating at all. Quite the reverse in fact.
If you check the product characteristics for an anti-depressant - they should accompany every pack of the product- you will see, I have no doubt, that the manufacturer will advise that they are taken for a period after the person notes a return to normal mood and that they arenot discontinued suddenly. As a matter of rote they must be discontinued by reducing the dose or frequency of administration.
Imagine if you will that a person takes say 300mg of Effexor daily, a very high dose but some need to take it at this level - normally in a controlled clinical situation - now imagine how much artificially created serotonin there is circulating in the synapses on a routine daily basis. Serotonin produced by the brain in response to the presence of a drug.
Now imagine that J.Bloggs stops taking this high dose one day. What do you think will happen? Will J.Bloggs cope with the absence of the normally present levels of the serotonin at the levels the drug induced? Will he cope with the massive drop in production?
J.Bloggs should have "tailed the dose" down gradually as per his docs advice, and the advice of the maker. This is to allow the body to adjust to the change in its own chemistry.
The same can be said of someone on high doses of a tranquilliser/painkiller/steriod and many other drug therapies.
I did not advocate that people "discontinue" rather that they do so with care.
As for where I get this information. If you are in the UK I suggest that you look up the British National Formulary, The Assosciation of British Pharmaceutical Industry formulary or other such publication such as MIMs. They will tell you that stopping an anti-depressant should be done in this manner. I am sure that similar documents are produced by the FDA and other bodies.
Finally, to anyone who is taking medication, follow the advice of your clinician. Sometimes the road seems long but it can be walked.
Regards,
Heart xx
M
miles
Guest
Tabby
This is a good guide from the Mayo Clinic that will help answer your questions:
http://www.mayohealth.org/home?id=5.1.1.4.1#When-to-Seek-Medical-Advi
This is a good guide from the Mayo Clinic that will help answer your questions:
http://www.mayohealth.org/home?id=5.1.1.4.1#When-to-Seek-Medical-Advi
teresafannin
One who hears the Music
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2000
- Posts
- 2,532
Anytime, Tabby. It was a major blow to my ego when I finally admitted I couldn't do it on my own. Any time you need to talk, drop me an email. I work full time, but check the hotmail account several times a day. Take care & I will send lots of good thoughts & hugs your way.
bluntforcemama
Aqua Vulva
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2000
- Posts
- 30,225
There are a lot more people who suffer from depression than most people even suspect. Some people just go through a phase maybe once or twice in their lifetime, some people deal with it every day of their life. Some individuals can hide it from the world, others can't. It's so diverse, that sometimes it's insane that the human race can survive with all the neurological chemical imbalances that go on in our brains. It took my parents almost 5 years to finally accept the fact that I was depressed, that I had a real problem.
I remember listening to my dad tell my mom "She's not like you, she needs help." Finally my mom agreed to take me into a doctor because I wouldn't eat, I cried all day, I was afraid to go outside, and I didn't want people to look at me or touch me. I would go from being hopeless to enraged. I honestly don't think I could live a fulfilling life without my medication. I can live, but it's the quality of life that matters.
I remember listening to my dad tell my mom "She's not like you, she needs help." Finally my mom agreed to take me into a doctor because I wouldn't eat, I cried all day, I was afraid to go outside, and I didn't want people to look at me or touch me. I would go from being hopeless to enraged. I honestly don't think I could live a fulfilling life without my medication. I can live, but it's the quality of life that matters.
