Long-term depression

My heart goes out to you lovetoall. Praying for you to have strength, peace and a better future.

HI johnsonk. I know exactly what you are going through loosing your beloved dog. I unexpectedly lost my 2 1/2 year old Giant Schnauzer in February of this year. Iam still devastated by the loss. My dogs are family to me and it hurts just as bad to lose them as family.

Thank you so very much for the kind response to my remarks. I know that power is given to us by others as good orderly direction. This helps us learn the lessons that we need in order to find serenity. All we need to do is change our mind in order to change ourselves. The truth will set everyone of us free. May health and happy times come into your lives.
Charlie75

@hopeful33250 Well said Teresa!

Well I saw my doctor yesterday and I let her know that I wanted to stop this medicine. I was also taking Latuda. She told me I could stop Latuda all together and she is tapering me off of the effexor. I was only taking 150 mg for about a year. She prescribed me 37.5 mg and told me to take 3 a day for 2 wks, 2 a day for 2 and then 1 till bottle is empty. Hopefully this works. I'm also dealing with problems with both of my hands. I need surgery. Getting more tests done today and hopefully getting surgery scheduled. I haven't been able to work out so that doesn't help.

I took something similar for quite a while and my doctor had me take close to a month to taper off- no problems whatsoever. Good luck

Hi, @kdo0827 , I want to thank you for your insight and your comments on this complicated subject. It helps me so much to know that I am not the only one who gets depressed. I am on two different medications, Cymbalta, for Depression and Fibromyalgia, and Wellbutrin, for "breakthrough" Depression." At the moment I am questioning myself if the breakthrough depression is made worse by Lyrica. Lyrica has been a lifesaver for me. I have not been taking it that long. There are situational obstacles and issues which contribute to the Depression. My husband's health is pretty fragile, and we are not able to travel like we had wanted. I am always on a diet, and so is he. We both have weight that we must get rid of. We are both horrid about exercising, even though we are members of a gym. So I guess you could say we are kind of stuck. His natural state is pretty melancholy. We used to call him Eyeore. And then there's the pain. Even with medication I always have a certain amount of pain. I like meeting everyone here in this forum, because if we all lived close to each other, I'd probably hurt too much and talk myself out of attending a meeting! Thanks again for sharing!

I UNDERSTAND YOUR COMMENTS. IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN JUST GET OUT OF. YOU WERE RIGHT ON THE MONEY WHEN YOU SAID IT'S JUST LIKE BEING GAY, I KNOW THAT FOR SURE BECAUSE I AM GAY. { I JUST AM } I AM 68 YRS AND RETIRED WITH TOO MUCH TIME ON MY MIND. A FEW FRIENDS HAVE SUGGESTED JUST GO SOMEWHERE, GET OUT MORE, MAKE NEW FRIENDS,JOIN A GROUP. EASY TO SAY FOR MOST BUT WITH ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION I FEEL SAD, AND IT SEEMS OVERWHELMING TO TAKE ACTION. I SEE A DR FOR MEDS AND THEY ONLY HELP SO FAR. I WANT TO BE FREE AGAIN AND OUT GOING BUT IT'S JUST NOT HAPPENING. PLUS MY DOG OF 13 YEARS HEALTH IS VERY POOR HEALTH, AND I AM JUST A MESS ABOUT THAT. SOME MORNINGS I WAKE UP AND THE ANXIETY JUST BUILDS MORE & MORE. I JUST STARTED GOING TO THE NEURO COGNITIVE INSTITUTE AND GOING THROUGH TESTING. MY NEXT VISIT SHOULD PRODUCE SOME MORE WAYS THAT WILL HELP. I FEEL I NEED MORE HELP. i HAVE WORKED IN HOSPITALS FOR OVER 40 YEARS AND THE PROTOCALS ARE LONG AND SLOW. HATE IS A STRONG WORD BUT I HATE FEELING THESE WAYS.

SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS OF YOUR SWEET DOG. MY CURRENT DOG IS NOT DOING VERY WELL, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I WILL HAVE WITH HER. I FEEL SO VERY BAD LOOKING AT HER STRUGGLE TO WALK AND MOVE AROUND. I DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO MAKE HER COMFORTABLE. SOME YEARS AGO I LOST MY SCHAUZER, AND I WAS SICK OVER HER PASSING. I THINK A DOGS LOVE AND DEVOTION OFTEN EXCEEDS ABILITY & OUR DEALING WITH AN ANIMALS DEATH, IT HURTS SO VERY BAD !

Hi Donny. I can feel the frustration/sadness in your words. I believe the first thing I would do is devote as much loving time as possible to your dog. Making him happy is something you will never regret, and it is certainly not a waste of time. Make it your goal for him to love every day he has...because of you. It is a shame that we cannot know in advance how meds will affect us, rather than having to try them to find out. It is so hard to tell whether our low feelings are truly and fully in our nature, or if the meds cause some of it. My next suggestion is to begin your "getting out more" days by finding a pretty place you can just go and sit, while admiring your surroundings. This can be indoors or outdoors. I don't know what is near you, but maybe you would like a beautiful park bench where nature is at its best; people-watching in a public place, like a mall or downtown area; watching some kind of sport, again in a park or other populated area; or really anywhere things area happening. It is not necessary to have a group for this, so simply take a comfortable chair, park it in the best place you find, enjoy a snack/drink if you like, and sit silently as you take in all of the beauty and activity near you. OR don't sit silently if someone should happen to stop and pass the time. You never know! Do not go with expectations of how the time will end....just let it happen. While you are there, you will have many new thoughts as you see different things going on. Your creative juices may start flowing, and suddenly you may get ideas about things you would like to learn, hobbies you might undertake, groups you might join...any number of things. Those kinds of thoughts come from OBSERVING others to learn more about yourself. So...what do you have to lose? Keep following Dr.'s orders, but get out more...and take your sweet dog with you, if he wants to go! This can be part of making him happy, too! I hope some of this helps you; it has helped me. Enjoy the fresh air, and know that God is waiting to bless you! All good wishes!!