Trust me, I know! I went on and off anti-depressants many times! Until this last time it just clicked with me! I need to be on them! It's not your fault you need them!
it's ok to need help from meds!
There were many years that I went through feeling the stigma of being on anti-depressants! I wish then I would have just stayed on them! Sure i'd feel fine for awhile, but the depression always came back!
Do this for yourself! Stay on them! Try to let go of the thought that you are not you while on them because you are you!
(((((hugs)))))
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I found with me I always ended up becoming depressed again! Sometimes I was good for a year or 2 and then it would come back! I also think PCOS has a big part in depression as it messes up hormones which is related to depression.
I guess it could be possible maybe with some good councelling and coping techniques?? I dunno though hasent worked for me.
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I would say stay on them, why risk going back into a deep dark place?
The way I look at it is I am happy because of the combination of meds and a great life.
I became deeply depressed off meds even though I have a very good life and have no reason to be depressed.
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me2 - Some people can be on them for a while...long enough to get out of their dark hole. Others need to be on it for years. I have a friend that's been on for about 12 years, and has no intention of going off. She's totally accepted that she needs them, and is ok with it because it means she can be happy.
I know I need them, to some degree...but I do want off. I'm trying to alter my diet to get things under control. I'm hoping it'll do the trick. If you've been able to deduce the root of your depression, it might be easier to figure out how much you need the prozac.
__________________ -diagnosed October 2002
-Meds: Alesse, metformin, Cytomel, Wellbutrin
-light therapy with a goLITE for seasonal depression
-yoga & meditation almost daily, because it makes me feel good
I know how you feel. Many people question that same concept, 'Why do I feel bad that I have to take a pill to make me get through the days.?" I have tried and tried to 'do life' off an antidepressant, and last visit to my doc, I said, "won't my walking increase my serotonin, so I don't have to take a pill for my depression?" She said, that sometimes exercise just doesn't help as it 'should or 'could'. I agree, since I started the Lexapro, I have felt better, it is helping, but the real healing is to face and confront the issues that make us deprssed, and we all want an easier way out, I know I do. And sometimes we just have that chemical imbalance, something I thought was hoakie, but it is not. I so agree with pink here, and everyone else for that matter--me2, you pose a good question here>>"so i should just stay on them as long as I'm happy? how do I know if i'm happy because I have a better life situation or its the meds"..I think that is a very personal decision as well as answer that we all have to make and decide, it seems that a lot of us have learned by trial and error that we need medications and accepting that is hard in this stigma-based sometimes ignorant society, but you would not believe how many people, including professionals are taking antidepressants!! hopeless made a great point as well, over the years, I had to come down off EffexorXR b/c it wasn't working anymore, so I posed a question when I was in a hospital b/c of a severe breakdown, "So, does this mean that for the rest of my life, I'm going to have to monitor my depression and switch from med to med?" The LCSW said, "pretty much--yes", THAT hit me hard. It is true, uinless by some miracle, I can FULLY believe that I do not need the medication. There are so many things from CBT, in combo w/meds, and getting out and just enjoying life, finding out what is holding you back, making you depressed personally, and work through that at your own pace. Just talking from experience, and going "through" as I type. It is not easy, but I think once we let go of what is really causing us to be depressed along with a chemical imbalance, life can and does get better, it's not fun, but we are the ones in charge of our own happiness, find out what you like, what gives you zeal and passion in your own life, and try your best with what you've got, with where you are to go for it.
You're in my thoughts and you are no way alone in this. I hate this Seroquel b/c I know it does not help me lose the weight I need to lose, but I can't blame it all on the medication, so I do the above...the best I can.
I can totally relate. I have been depressed off and on very regularly for 10 years. Throughout this whole time I have resisted taking anti-depressants. I blamed myself and felt worse and worse everytime I "let" myself get depressed. I'm pretty much at my wits end lately so I decided to take some anti-depressants. I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing. I worry about taking a pill all the time. I wonder if I'm acting wierd I feel like my brain is a bit slower etc. But I defintely don't feel depressed so I'm giving it a try. It's only been a week. I'm scared but I guess I can always come off them. It's just really scary when every pdoc or therapist you go to says you need meds and you can't seem to feel better on your own. This is all really scary. But I guess if you feel better taking the prozac then it can't be bad for you can it? Depression is such a terrible unhappy lonely negative place. I need to get out of there for awhile. I don't think my problems are going to disappear but if I can avoid the depression that would be a big help.
Oh can I ever relate!!! I need Effexxor to function as I am now addicted to it. I cannot come off of it becasue the hell my mind and body go through would leave me in a dark place that I can not afford to go through.
I wish you luck with this ladies.
__________________ Me 35, DH 52. DSS 22, DD 15
150mg of Effexor
Hysterectomy on Jan 17, 2006
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Mod for Depression and Diet and Exercise Buddies.
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Another way you can look at it is when you are on the meds you are actually how you were meant to be! Does that make sense? What I mean is, for example, my mom has Type II Diabetes, she HAS to take insulin because her body is "broken". By taking the meds, her body becomes normal - at least as close as it can. She is living the life she should be living.
So with depression it can be the same thing, your body/brain has a chemical imbalance, its "broken". By taking the meds, it "fixes" the problem and you are living the life you should be living!
So don't look at it as being "wrong" to be on the meds, but being "right" because your body is finally working how it should be.
I hope this makes sense LOL kind of hard to explain in a post
__________________
Michal - BLUE BELT IN KARATE!! KIAI!!!
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i like madtulsans analogy here, a chemical imbalance is a chemical imbalance whether it effects your liver or your brain!
i was on prozac for 6 months when i was 17 and i swear it saved my life. i'm lucky because i came off it and so far i've ultimately been ok. i know the hell of depression and i try to manage it with behaviour, as in my priorities will always begin with my health, if i know i'm getting a bit off i'll try to do something to fix it, whether that be saying no to one of my friends' invitations or staying in bed all day or doing no revision for a day. i cut down so i do only what is truly necessary and concentrate the rest of myself on being ok. i'm lucky i guess my depression was a one time thing but i guess it could come back any time and that thought is always there, but at least now i know what to look out for, ya know?!
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You know I was gi=oing to say the same kind of thing about the imbalance... Think about it...PCOS effects our whole endocrine system and how our bodies make, put out and uptake hormones of all kinds... and i will bet in the next few years they will find a connection between that and the neurotransmitters in the brain....
Some people have a hard time due to a particular situation...and can be on meds for a short time until they learn to deal...others, like us truly need the meds to create chemicals that our bodies are not producing in adaquite amounts... Don't feel bad about that...Im so glad your feeling better...me, I'm on Wellbutrin and Lexapro and lovin it!
__________________ 6/08 Dx with Cushing's Disease , surgery date TBA
Thanks for the advice all these years and good luck to all.
__________________ DX: Sept/03 Me 31 & DH 35 To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
PCOS:Metformin 1500mgs daily(Oct/03). Rapid Cycling Bi-Polar Type II: Effexor 225 mgs, .5mgs clonazapam, and 900mgs Lithium daily. litebook therapy(Dec/04). Meniere's Disease: To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. 16mgs Serc and 10-20mgs Metoclop
meds ;( 
