Hi walk4life,
Yes, my husband is fortunate with Zoloft at 50 mg. I just spoke with my psychiatric nurse practitioner and he suggested I stop Paxil 10 mg. completely now (have been taking only 5 mg. for a week) and start Zoloft 25 mg. tomorrow. I even wondered out loud if I should be off all SSRI/SNRIs & just continue with my low dose Xanax and Klonopin for my severe panic attacks/PTSD/dysthemia but he was against this idea. At 68 y.o. I am finding myself now so sensitive to all medications - for my physical as well as my mental health. I suppose part of the aging process? Ugh! And I hear you about few people knowing you suffer from depression. I am in the same boat. It's unfortunate, isn't it? But the stigma of mental illness is alive & well even in 2023. And most folks are completely clueless when it comes to the illness of depression. That old adage "just pull yourself up by your boot straps" continues to be so common. And family members can be the harshest critics. They don't "get it", think you are "acting out" or believe "you have everything going for you! how can you be depressed?" All of which just adds to one's depression! Strong, loving emotional support in coping with the demons of mental illness is vital to helping one survive it - and live their best possible life despite being a member of the walking wounded. But so many of us find that is lacking in our lives...so we suffer in silence - thinking "why bother discussing it with people who don't understand it?" A true shame - everyone loses.
You are not alone, hang in there!