Posted by PoohBear on July 13, 2004, at 19:22:43
In reply to Re: Does Effexor work, posted by Atticus on July 13, 2004, at 16:55:24
I'm very glad that you were able to find a med that works. If you read back through some of the threads you may come across my story, though not nearly as dramatic as yours. I had to deal with dark thoughts and suicidal ideation, though I never followed through and I don't believe that I would have. Still, it's very unnerving to imagine what it would feel like to have a bullet go through one's head or be tempted to flip the car at speed.
Whew!
My "cocktail" is 150mg of Effexor XR for depression, 20mg of Ritalin for ADHD and 100mg of Seroquel for sleep at night.
Like you, I've decided that given my history and my family history, I most likely have a chemical imbalance that will always need some "tweaking", and like you, I think of it as no different than someone on meds for any other life-threatening illness. The difference is the fact that depression and mental illness in general is regarded by many if not most people as something spooky or that they outright deny.
Effexor DOES have MAJOR side effects and MAJOR discontinuation effects. Would I have taken it if I knew ahead of time? I honestly don't know. I do know that my quality of life was not what I wanted and that many of my friends have seen a positive change. So all in all, I believe it's worth it and I'll deal with the withdrawal if and when I need to.
Welcome back to the land of the living; I'm glad that your attempt on your life failed. You are precious and deserve to live.
Tony
poster:PoohBear
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040712/msgs/365794.html