8224
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Joined: 10/10/2007
Msg: 176 | |
| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 12/31/2007 8:31:21 PM | I think you have to determine if it is situational or clinical depression you are suffering from.
As with any medical illness or condition, only your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional can provide an acurate diagnosis.
You should be examined by a physician, that you trust, (probably a second opinion would not hurt also). And let them determine your best course of action. If it means taking pills as an aid for recovery, so be it. There are many many people out there that could not function without the aid of anti depressants.
Everybody is different though. From my personal experiences dealing with depressing situations and becoming depressed, (situational depression) i have realized that i had to give myself time, logically think about the situation that i was dealing with, and last of all i kept in mind that i was not alone in the world with my problem. Others before me have experienced similar depressing situations and pulled through, so why shouldn't i be able to.
From what you are saying it sounds like you are suffering from situational depression. As you speak of a couple of the events that took place that started your depression. And the pain from those two events keep reoccuring after you have tried to discontinued the anti depressants. What i understand is situational depression
should not require you to stay on the anti depressants forever. Maybe the next time you try to wean yourself off you should do some advance preparation for your mind.
Such as speak with a psycholigist (psychotherapy), read some self help literature, and maybe even join a self help group for the painful events that took place. What ever you do, dont turn back to the bottle!!
Good luck to you "Womanofsubstance".
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 12/31/2007 8:49:07 PM | | I too work in the medical field, and see too many people professionally and personally that use drugs as a crutch...life is full of many ups and downs , you have to take the good with the bad and think positive like you said...thank you for an honest and intelligent observation. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 12/31/2007 10:34:49 PM | first off 100 years ago if you showed any signs of a mental disorder you was put into a mental institution, tied up, left to rot or got a lobotomy..you was an outcast and didn't live among society,,if you got cataracts they thought you had the evil eye,,,and so on and so on..."normal" people use to cast away family members that had problems..that is how they dealt with it...you never got to hear about them..thanks goodness for modern medicine
evie  | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 12/31/2007 10:55:37 PM | Annikagirl,
Agreed. The arrogance of some practitioners is annoying to me, too. I'm studying psychology, and have already met some lecturers, clinicians (dated one for a while) who take themselves far too seriously.
The comments you addressed remind me of the petty jealousies/rivalries between various fields, notably chiropractors/physiotherapists and psychologists vs almost anyone else who question their authority including sociologists and psychiatrists.
The sort of arrogance displayed merely serves as a model for some of us to take heed of so as to maintain our vigilance lest we become like them. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/1/2008 2:50:53 PM | Shortandsweet57....
You are aware that cymbalta was used as a pain pill...primarily for treatment of pain from peripheral neuropathy, before it was used for an anti depressant? I am on it right now, and noticed one very positive side effect. My depression began from a head on collision on black ice, in a vehicle. Since then, I had yet another similar collision on black ice, and fractured my skull through the left frontal area...into the sinus. I had constant headaches from it...bad headaches...until on the cymbalta. Now they are gone entirely. I also feel much better over all. To me, it has made a very big difference. The only negative effect I have at all, is it depresses my libido a bit, but since there is no woman in my life...I can live with that.  | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/1/2008 7:45:01 PM | I had actually asked if I could try cymbalta because I have fibromyalgia, and I have a bad knee and degenerative disease in my left shoulder. But my doctor said Wellbutrin and Lexapro, which I am on now, should do the same thing. I still have to take anti-inflammatories and other medicines though to control the pain. IM I am very glad that you have found something to relieve your pain. Those headaches must have been awful.
And I am offended by the people who keep saying we are hooked on medications. Antidepressants are not even addictive. Some anti-anxiety medicines or sleeping pills might be IF TAKEN IMPROPERLY. But if you taper your dosage of anti-depressants appropriately when you start taking them, and then back down when you go off them you should not have major withdrawal problems except for a few really notorious drugs like Paxil or Effexor. Fortunately as I was being tapered off one med I was starting another so I didn't really have any of those problems that some people have had to deal with. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/2/2008 5:44:24 AM | You know...they have scientifically proven conclusively now, that unless you have an addictive personality, even the notoriously addicting drugs, do not addict you. The antipain effects remain, but the side effects dissapate with time and exposure. It should be opening new vistas for people dealing with chronic pain, but it really does not. Even with the research done, they will lift the license of any doctor they feel is over perscribing for addictive pain pills. This is absolutely assinine.
It is the same with heroin. Heroin is still the best for pain. Why then is it not available for terminally ill patients? To OK it for medicinal use, might make it available on the street. Right...as though it is not there by the ton already...so stupid!!! The fact is also, who cares if someone dying of painful cancer, gets hooked on anything. The result will always be the same anyway, so why let them suffer. They treat dogs better than people sometimes.
With my personality, I can drink a pot of coffee daily, and stop cold turkey...for weeks at a time, but not feel the difference really...at all. Obviously, I am very nonaddictive. The caffeine withdrawal should do something...but it does not...nothing at all. It so depends on the person, and some people are addictive...others definitely not.
When I went off of zoloft, I simply ran out, and did not wish to bother my psychiatrist on vacation. I discovered that I felt better after a week without it. So basically I cold turkey'd it. There were no dire side effects at all...nothing. I was off everything for four months. Then I began to feel the depression creeping into my life again...way too many stressors, so I called my psychiatrist and made an appointment.
I do feel much better on the cymbalta though...a lot better. There has been an awful lot of very major stresses in my life too...but I can cope. My quality of life has significantly improved. I'm sorry, but I do not see the problem with that. I am also esentially pain free. I am not tough, but have a very high threshold for pain...something inherited from my mother. The headaches I had before broke through that often though, but now they are totally gone. I feel great! Anything that can improve the quality of life, as this has, cannot be a bad thing. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/2/2008 10:30:54 AM |
Anything that can improve the quality of life, as this has, cannot be a bad thing.
This is my thought, too. It's very easy, from the outside, to attempt to dictate to another person how they should live their life.
Yes, there are times when I wish Mom would just dump the attitudes that contribute to her depression, but because I've done that and continue to do it, I know how hard it is, and I know it's piles easier for me. I'm from another generation. I had lots of models of positive womanhood that didn't involve saint-level self-sacrifice, and I had access to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy at a much younger age. I also know how many battles Mom has already fought, not just for her own, personal quality of life but for that of every woman who wants to do something other than be a wife or a professional caregiver. Every woman scientist and engineer owes my mother and women like her a debt of gratitude.
Even assuming that SSRIs are a mere palliative, which I'm not convinced they are, why begrudge an old warrior some relief at the end of her life? Why begrudge anyone some relief?
Why are we, as a culture, so vicious about this? It reminds me of a flock of birds pecking to death an injured member, and there's no reason to do that. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/8/2008 8:44:55 PM | I take vitamin B as well as many other vitamins....no matter how concious one is of thier diet ..the apple we eat today does not have the same nutrirtional value as the ones our grandparetns ate....
I think we live in a society that is far to quick to reach to the psych community for help instead of places we once looked ...like to family friends and even clergy...maybe if more of us talked to one another we'd all he healthier and happier...
thanks for your post...
Linnie
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/26/2008 10:37:30 AM | In answer to the question in subject: I don't think so.
It is better to take the time to heal naturally than to permanently rely on medications. For the short term, yes, they can be useful, but in the long term is only the individual effort that matters ( unless, of course, one is a psychiatric case). | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/26/2008 11:05:26 AM | | Never took any drugs of theat type that were perscribed for me, took some that were prescribed for others. I think the thing I would say to you is this. Be careful using a drug to blot out a feeling. Sometimes we just gotta hurt and go on. its not pleasant and its not easy but drugs can become a problem. in your case it seems to work so i guess its ok. but think about how you can deal with this, possibly while on meds. also keep an eye on the doc. many of the biggest dope pushers are docs who really have little training in dealing with psychology, only pharmocology. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/26/2008 4:14:34 PM | | If you are on meds for depression have you ever gone through talk therapy. The drugs alone will not make the background issues go away. Time to dealk with it all or the alternative, taking the meds on and on. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 1/26/2008 10:44:34 PM | | I can certainly relate to this. My mom passed on when I was 15 from breast cancer. I was called upon to "run" the household at 12 years old when my mom was diagnosed. (Talk about losing your childhood!) Now, their relationship had not been great as my father decided having an affair on my mom with his security guard at work was more worthy of his free time than spending time with his family. So, it was only a month and a half after my mother had passed when he announced his "girlfriend" was moving in. Then they decided to get married....oh goody. So, basically I've been an adult since I was 12 and on my own since I was 15. When my ten year high school reunion came around, I just freaked. I was then 28 years old and had not even came close to accomplishing what I thought I would have by 28. So, I thats when my breakdowns started. The final straw was my last relationship which ended badly about a year ago. I left pregnant, with nothing but the clothes on my back and was living with friends for a few months trying to pull myself together. I ended up having a miscarrage which put me in deep, deep depression. Thats when I went on prozac. I've been on it since then and it has totally changed me for the better. Today I have my own apartment, car and job. I've worked hard to improve myself and am feeling ready to head back into the market and date. But without prozac, I'm a basketcase and can't function. I'll probably be on it the rest of my life but I can live with that. Hopefully, the next person I have a relationship will be able to live with it too. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/3/2008 8:54:41 PM | Good for u ahistorychic and all others on this thread. I too have been on effexor for the last ten years. I made a lot of changes in my life. If someone reads this and knows that I take antidepressants and can't except that, that is their problem. One thing that I have learned is, that we need to take baby steps. That's what I have done. I would like to be off effexor one day it has helped me though, but if I have to be on it for the rest of my life so be it. I also find now that exercising has helped too.
Cheers!
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/4/2008 7:23:27 PM | | No not everyone over 30 is on antidepressants. When going thru my divorce I put myself into therapy to deal with my issues head on...my therapist recommended medication....I looked at her and told her that was not an option that I was there to work thru my problems, not cover them up and walk thru life in a fogged state of mind. Not that there aren't cases where antidepressants aren't warranted...but not everyone needs them. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/4/2008 8:21:26 PM | ok,,, I had to interject something here. I am surprised by the ignorance and self-righteousness that I read on this thread and I've only read the 1st and most of the 7th and 8th pages.
I first got on Zoloft 11 yrs ago when I was working on my MS degree. I would not have completed it otherwise. I tried to wean off the meds and my advisor and roommate both noticed my behavioral changes with 1 week. Within the last few years, I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. One of the major symptoms is depression along with many other symptoms, generally associated with depression like fatigue and irritability. For those who advocate 'talk-therapy,' I've been there done that. I will probably be on antidepressants the rest of my life just like I will be on the thyroid medication. I have tried nutritional supplements like Standard Process, vitamins, Women's groups, Therapy, and acupuncture. Nothing works long-term. So it's either the meds or the desire to sleep 20 hours/day. I certainly don't live in a fog. I still feel sad at times and I still feel elated at times. I still have a sex drive and I haven't lost nor gained weight due to the meds. For some it is a medical necessity and not simply a situational necessity. For either group, it's still a personal responsibility.
BTW, I knew 3 men that committed suicide, none of them were medicated. I wish they were, they may still be around. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/4/2008 8:35:20 PM | I know how you feel we try so hard in lives, but sometimes we do need the extra help. No, not everybody needs them but some people do. I have tried to wean off my meds too, I think my exercising is helping along with it. I have done talk therapy myself as well. Sorry about the 3 men who took their lives away. It is tough world out there.
Cheers!
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/4/2008 10:17:28 PM | Sort of a personal question ain't it?
I took them too, for most of my 30's, while I learned to cope with some bad stuff and made some sea changes. I was amazed and grateful that tiny pills could make such a difference. Imagine not having the will to inhale (let alone get out of bed) when the world expects so much more. Healthy people cannot imagine this and many can't tolerate it: 'just snap out of it' Other people's ignorant judgements are not helpful to one dealing with depression and related troubles. Would you tell a cancer patient to forgo chemo and/or other treatment?
This was very well said:
Depression is real...mental illnesses of many varieties are real. Just because you personally have been fortunate enough NOT to have experienced one doesn't mean there aren't many legitimate cases. Antidepressants CAN be helpful if they're properly prescribed and not abused...and accompanied by therapy. No one is intended to be using them permanently.
Maybe some are meant to use them permanently - I feel lucky to have been able to get off but would take them again/forever if necessary to maintain my current quality of life. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/4/2008 11:01:12 PM | Imagine IF, for a moment we decided to suspend judgment on another human being.
Imagine IF, we decided each day, to contact someone we thought could do with a kind word.
Imagine IF, we said to people regularly, affirming things that built their self esteem and self confidence.
Imagine IF, we said to more people, "ring me, if you want to talk, I may not have great answers, but I promise to listen".
Imagine IF, we checked more carefully on kids who sad and miserable.
Imagine IF, men dropped the "he man" thing long enough to let their mates feel that they could approach them in their hour of need.
Imagine IF, we were more suspicious of our religious beliefs and less accepting of situations that encourage us to be doormats.
Imagine IF, we said I am willing to be your friend...
Cost? A few words, a little of your time.
Benefits? Priceless......a maybe a lot less need for medication or judgement or the old stupid stupid comments of "pull up your bootstraps" comments that leave decent people feeling like failures....and maybe quite a few less suicides.
Fact is men may be more reluctant to get help for depression, but more suicides are committed by males...it makes you wonder. Fellas, change your attitudes towards your mates - their life; may depend on it...... | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/5/2008 5:25:57 AM | It is amazing how many people take them.The last job I worked at ,9 out of 10 women were on some sort of anxiety or antidepressant meds.
I rather deal with the problem ,but thats me.I understand that some people are weak and can`t handle every day life so if the meds work and they are monitored by a Doctor on a regular basis then why not.Its just not for me.
Btw,theres plenty of people under 30 on them as well. | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/5/2008 5:42:11 AM | Hi
I know its very tough..my wife mom and dad died within weeks of each other suddendly and kids taken off me..
its taken ten years,then had women homing in and stealing stuff including my soul, but Ia retained that , and grew, It can be done! I took myself off medication. Its been a long long road, finding healthy things to do and doing my art helps..
Best Wishes! | |
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| is everyone over 30 taking antidepressants?
Posted: 2/15/2008 8:21:48 PM | last year I started a new career which brought on stress, worry fear and anxiety.
at 43 I had never had this level mental stress and sickness all together in my life at once.
prior to this I thought I had met the love of my life, we fit so great and never fought.
she bailed because I was ":not the same person she met," more meds now"
by now I am taking a****ail of meds, It's a juggling act. My plan is to ditch this career move, lick my wounds, ween the meds, and accepting my "conditional" love lost
The meds do have side effects and even say they may cause depression ect. (ok)
I have learned to appreaciate couples who have stuck it out through each others
personal traumas over the years. I know the meds have helped but they can't fix grief | |
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