Advice needed big time :(

[srm12123]

Hi im steven im 20 years old. My doctor seems clueless anymore to what to do which isn't good in my eyes. I have been trying so many different medications with no success only worse feelings. From Prozac,Paxil,Luvox cr, lexapro, perphenazine amitriptyline.... It's like I just am tired of trying all these with no help. I mentioned Effexor to him because I heard from someone it was a good choice for her after many strike outs with medications heard the withdrawal sucks but my point is I feel like sh*t 90% of the time as it is. I just want some input on the medication and if it was worth it to others because my insurance doesn't cover and it's 130 for 30 day supply. And if anyone wants to share how they felt prior to medication would be good to help me compare. Like physical and mental symptoms and if Effexor helped you thanks everyone hope to hear back! Steven.

[Enduronman]

Copy that..LOL!

Enduronman...

[Buttercup]

I have been able to control my symptoms by taking an SSRI and a beta blocker along with therapy. How long did you try the meds you have been given in the past? Meds can make you feel like crap for a good few weeks and can take a fair while to work. I do feel though that they are pretty pointless if you don't also get other help like therapy.

[dazza]

My advice would be to NOT rely on medication for a cure, because medication DOESN'T cure your underlying personality anomolies.

Alcoholics turn to booze to take them away from the perceived brutality of life, yet they end up seriously ill as a consequence.
A far better approach is to tackle what is bugging you from a mental perspective and cure THAT.

You keep pumping all sorts of pills down your neck like there's no tomorrow and in the long run you will suffer for it.
Sorry... but you will.

A different approach is needed.

Spend every dime you have on cognetive therapy, NOT pills.

Use pills ONLY when necessary and infrequently.

[annalea(:]

As Dazza said, pills wont cure it!!
Medication just masks it and your damaging you body and mind by thinking they cure a thought in your head :) best thing to do is get your self to a therapist or councillor because they can, lest say, untie the knot of thoughts in your head and unravel your anxiety!
AnnaLea
Xxx

[defmunel]

Agreed. Medication does not solve the problem. It's just a bandaide.

[Siegfried]

Well that's all very kosher but it's not really true. Medication helps cure. Sometimes you're just stuck in a vicious circle of negativity after a trigger of some sort and a mood elevator helps you break it. Other times you cannot deal with the so-called "deeper issues" if you can't leave your bedroom you're so anxious. So yes, drugs are not miraculous, but they not only help you on your way to a better place, they also alleviate the pain and suffering that accompanies these disorders, and which we all know to be real fire and brimstone. ;-)

[srm12123]

I'm not saying a medication is going to fix what is going on with me 100% but isn't it going to help alittle. Or at least should I say shouldn't it help you out alittle. I can't find the medication for me and it's like I'm at the point now were I just don't wanna take anything and I Try to fight it but I just can't and that's the problem I'm always pissed off and frustrated

[ElsieBee]

Well that's all very kosher but it's not really true. Medication helps cure. Sometimes you're just stuck in a vicious circle of negativity after a trigger of some sort and a mood elevator helps you break it. Other times you cannot deal with the so-called "deeper issues" if you can't leave your bedroom you're so anxious. So yes, drugs are not miraculous, but they not only help you on your way to a better place, they also alleviate the pain and suffering that accompanies these disorders, and which we all know to be real fire and brimstone. ;-)

Siegfried, you're right and then some.

Since the 1990s, it has finally been demonstrated that depression has specific physical effects specific parts of the brain, and SSRIs help reverse the damage. Depression kills brain cells called "glia" that protect neurons in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is concerned with "moral sensibility, planning, and other capacities essential to social functioning. . . . Eagerness--the anticipation of pleasure--requires an intact prefrontal cortex" (Peter D. Kramer in Against Depression). Depression also shrinks the hippocampus. The hippocampus is a multi- tasker: it is the brake system for your stress response, and it makes new brain cells, including glia. Depression shrinks it between 3% to 20%. SSRIs build the hippocampus back up.

The hippocampus damage is the reason for the connection between depression and anxiety. Get depressed and it gets harder to shut down anxiety when stress dumps adrenaline and cortisol into your system. The off switch is stuck! Stress hormones damage the hippocampus and other brain cells, so stress can trigger depression. Whether an antidepressant works on serotonin, norepinephrine, or both, they stimulate regrowth of the hippocampus.

Antidepressants don't damage your brain. Anxiety and depression do that. Antidepressants work to repair the damage. And combining them with psychotherapy works even better. As, you say, Sigfried, you can't discuss your problems if you can't leave the house.

I'm simplifying, of course, but after decades without medications for depression even available, I developed an anxiety disorder. It pains me no end for people to dismiss a disastrous disease or pair of diseases as something other than a real chronic illness like cancer or diabetes or AIDS. Dismiss and discourage the sufferer from seeking every kind of help, including the best kinds of help available.

Read Kramer's book! It's the best I've ever read. It helps!

[dazza]

Well that's all very kosher but it's not really true. Medication helps cure. Sometimes you're just stuck in a vicious circle of negativity after a trigger of some sort and a mood elevator helps you break it. Other times you cannot deal with the so-called "deeper issues" if you can't leave your bedroom you're so anxious. So yes, drugs are not miraculous, but they not only help you on your way to a better place, they also alleviate the pain and suffering that accompanies these disorders, and which we all know to be real fire and brimstone. ;-)

>Well that's all very kosher but it's not really true

It's the best advice I can give - this is WITHOUT question and you, yourself shouldn't question it.

Long term use of these drugs could well lead to a dependancy and they are NOT dealing with your underlying anxieties. They are effectively making you drunk by manipulating various chemicals in the brain and this can only be a cause for concern.

The manufacturers don't even know why these drugs work and the original poster is proof that sometimes they don't work (stats. suggest they only work on 50% of people)

By all means use them when ABSOLUTELY necessary but I strongly recommend NOT using them on a frequent basis.
The drugs themselves can actually cause further anxiety and depression, especially when you eventually come off them, along with a long list of other possible side-effects.

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/medications_depression.htm

I used Diazepam when I felt anxiety --> panic attack was too strong for me to cope with. This, at it worst, was perhaps 2 or 3 times a week (one pill per episode)
They HELPED (pass the time) - this is without doubt, but they didn't cure.
Therapy (and time) cured my panic attacks.

You're forgetting what anxiety is.
It's bourn from deep-rooted worries / concerns and it is VITAL that these worries / concerns are put to bed rather than masked.

Some people who reckon drugs cured them are wrong.
The drugs did not cure them... they masked the problem while some other means (e.g. therapy / time / change of lifestyle / change of job / dumped the partner who was making them unhappy) cured them.

I urge anyone who is dependant on drugs to think differently and seek natural ways of relieving your worries. Your life can be recovered without drugs but you need to force yourselves to take the necessary steps.

[srm12123]

What do I do here. Today is Saturday and it should be a great day feeling great. But I feel so spaced out with the head pressure and the vision being spaced out. I just can't see this all being anxiety I am tired of always asking the same shit. And all these symptoms seem to be related to this. The past month I have just been such a jerk to specially the last week I just can't help it

[Sassy Girl]

Effexor was the only drug out of many that helped me. You do need to adjust other things in your life as well to help with depression. Diet, thought patterns, get a psychologist or counsellor, read books on depression but it was the Effexor that put me on the right track to begin with. Not that I'm cured as I have relapses like I have at the moment but I am much better than I was. The only side effect that I noticed was weight gain. I seemed to gain weight easily but almost impossible to lose (then again that just maybe life).

I hope you get the right help soon as I was your age (it's been part of my life for 20 years this year) when I first had depression and it was hell being so young and having depression (although depression is hell anyway).

[srm12123]

It's not so much depression it's more so anxiety anxiou feeling about everything or any feelings I have