I still feel disabled by depression although I have been on a anti-depression cocktail for years. Granted, I am not as immobilized by severe depression as I was in the past and I am grateful for that. Perhaps that is all I can expect from the meds. I have realized that losing weight and becoming fitter is a great morale booster and, in general, I feel more empowered to do things. However, the depression is still there like a dark cloud.
Sometimes, I feel like my mind is turning to mush because of the meds I take and I just want to get off them for good. But then I would most likely become very depressed again.

Do y'all see yourselves as being on psych meds for the rest of your lives?

TIA,
Keri

I also found that I needed more than meds and I finally started seeing a psycologist and doing 'Cognitive Behavior Theropy' with her. Although it's not a cure it definately gives you good coping skills when your depression is worse. I hope I won't always be on meds but my guess is that I will. I've been on them for ten years and I don't see any cure insight.

me, too. I mean I'll always be on medication and have recently been referred to a behavioural therapist. I tried to quit meds over the summer - disaster. but the past two years I've found a new therapy, in an unexpected place - i started to do work for Amnesty International, with my college group. It means you have to confront a lot of awful things happening in the world - but it has really helped me get some perspective on my probs - and makes me feel better about myself for doing something useful - you know how when you're really down you just feel useless? Charity work really combats that. I'm a convert! lol

I've been on Effexor for about a year, and Wellbutrin for less than a month. Effexor knocked out my anxiety, but I'm still struggling with depression. Though taking objective stock, it's definitely better. It doesn't seem like it until I sit back objectively and look, though.

I've wondered about how long people take meds. Though I went in for depression, I've been diagnosed before with a therapist of having general anxiety, and that's where I found my biggest change. Unlike depression, I didn't even realize I was so anxious until I wasn't anxious any more. I think it's probably because depression is something that hits me cyclically, every five years or so, but anxiety is something I've had for so long, and so constantly, that I'm just used to it.

Now that I'm on Effexor and know what it's like not to be anxious all the time, I'm really loathe to go off of it. It makes me feel like I've just traded one problem for another sometimes. Now I'm on something that is mucking around with my brain chemistry, and that's scary. But the thought of going back to feeling anxious and on edge constantly is scary too. It really was a night-and-day difference for me, and I only hope that someday I'll feel that way about this latest bout of depression.

Cat Wuz, I know what you mean- it feels very overwhelming at times to just function day to day. Every time I try to make a change and get to the gym regularly I get so tired that its that much harder to face the following day!
I have found in the past that I just have to make myself for 2-3 weeks before my body and sleeping patterns adjust. By then I have a little bit of a boost from feeling more tone and healthy.
My problem is falling off the wagon for whatever reason- getting sick, crazy work schedule, a death in the family...it seems like the few times I had made a good change I got side tracked by life.

I monitor myself and do lots of self care that I have learned over the years.

Sorry to ramble, your post just hit a nerve. It is really hard, just keep on keepin' on!

Rabidstoat, I'm afraid medication is a long-term thing for most people. I've been on Seroxat for seven years (since I was thirteen) and Prozac before that. Prozac was a miserable failure for me, but Seroxat has been excellent. I'm not saying it's a magic button that makes everything ok, but it has allowed me to live my life. My mum once joked that if she ever met the person who invented it (ok, we know it's a company really) she'd have to give him/her a hug!
Mucking around with brain chemistry - well, maybe. We still don't know that much about the brain, and consequently, how exactly these things work, why they work for some and not others, etc. But seeing as a million chemical reactions are happening in the brain/body all the time, and we make more every time we do - well, anything - I don't think it's anything to worry about. I certainly like these reactions better than the ones I have without the medication. All in all, I would say, if it helps you get a handle on things with the anxiety, wonderful. I mean, diabetics have to take insulin their whole life, right?

I have BiPolar Ii so I know I will be on meds for the rest of my life. I hate taking them but I am functioning now - last winter/early spring I was nonfunctioning. I see a therapist every two weeks and a psychiatrist. I HATE taking meds - I have nine prescriptions for various things (weaning myself off of some for NOn psychological issues) but they are a necessity for me. I do know this - if you are NOT satisfied with how you feel - then you need to get them adjusted or changed. I don't think feeling like Holly Sunshine is a reasonable expectation - but being fairly satisfied with your mental state is. Changing meds is scary for me - new side effects, new moods etc - and I DREAD it - but staying with things that are NOT getting the job done is not something I would tolerate.

yup

I just can't do the counseling. I've tried it. I guess I need to keep meeting someone new until something clicks, but I give up to easy. I don't know. And the meds.. yeah. I get to feeling better, so I stop taking them. I only remember them when i'm awful. Then I quit, then I feel a billion times worse. I had a crazy moment last time, tried to kill myself and threw away all my medication and decided I was never taking another pill if it killed me. And sometimes I think it will. I'm going to try this with 100% diet and exercise.
I also dumped some of my friends and family and feel like my stubbornness will get me through.

i struggle with the med thing - i HATE the idea that without taking a pill every day, i cannot live a normal life - i can't function and get through my day. For awhile I was doing well and i stopped all my meds - it was a disaster. so unfortunately i think i may be stuck with them forever and ever... *sigh*

Coming out of my last depressive swing (Bipolar here), I read this book, Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder. It inspired me to stop eating sugar & white flour. They suggest this to eliminate the mood swings from your blood sugar level see sawing up & down. Good sleep hygiene is in the book, too. I go to bed at a regular time and wake up at the same time every day which has helped me a lot.

Coincidentally, not eating sugar & white flour has curbed my appetite and taken away my urge to binge (along with OA support). Also recent research has suggested that sleep deprivation increases the occurances of obesity and diabetes. Hmmm... (God forbid I start exercising, that would be madness )

The book talks about what bipolar is, medications, therapy, and lifestyle changes/stress management.

Since I started these changes, I am successfully back to work (I was out on temporary disability for a few months). I'm feeling better & better. I was on quite the pharmacological cocktail. I'm off of Lamictal, Geodon, and Wellbutrin. I'm still on Effexor XR, Lithium, Provigil, and Valium PRN. Plus Armor Thyroid because I of course have thyroid issues (along with PCOS). Do you ever feel the deck is stacked against you?

I was in a partial hospital day program and worked on DBT. I continue to see a counselor every few weeks for mood monitoring & stress management. I use all the tools...after stopping my meds years ago and lots of break through moods since.

Positive thoughts to you all.
Amy

I really hated being on Zoloft last year. It really messed me up. I felt that I would be on it forever. But I made myself stop taking it because it was just destroying my life. I was doing really good without it for awhile. But all the old stuff came back. I feel pretty good on the meds I'm on now. I do feel like I will be on it for the rest of my life. Its sad, but true.

I have really cut back on the sugar, and only eat whole-grain/brown rice starchy carbs and have found the same thing. Not having the cravings makes the weight loss easier.

This thread really hit a nerve with me. I have been on anti-depressant meds of one sort or another for 12 years, ever since a major depression hit. It took a long time for me to finally accept that this was going to have to be for life. It took a lot of trial and error to find the right meds, too. It really has been a learning process. Different things affect my depression levels at different times of the year, ie SAD, allergies, bouts of insomnia. Then there's the psychological triggers.

Do I feel great every day? Nope, there are ups and downs through the year, and at those times, Doc and I adjust dosages. I am always able to function, though.

In trying 5 therapists over 12 years, off and on as the need arose, I found two with whom I was comfortable. Apparently, most therapists are behavioural, whereas I needed someone who was Jungian....it's Greek to me, but seems to have worked. I know for me, meds or counselling alone just didn't work.

And, it has only been by truly addressing the source of my self-esteem issues that I have felt hopeful for getting to a healthy weight, and maintaining. So in my case, it has really been a 'package deal'. We are all different, though, and within ourselves, there are variations; our bodies are not machines.

Were I you, at the very least, I would raise this concern with my doc.