Sharing about Depression

Posted by AfternoonNapper @afternoonnapper1, Aug 8, 2011

These diseases, and others, need not live in darkness. It is through exposing them that we take away some of their power, through sharing that we find like souls, and through difficult, sometimes painful work that we begin to heal and make peace.

http://afternoonnapsociety.blogspot.com/2011/07/theres-something-wrong-with-us-but-were.html

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.

@honeybee6636

I feel like such a failure suffering with depression. I just want to remember what its like to be happy. I feel hopeless and sad and I know that I shouldnt feel this way. I want to try an anti depressent but I never hear anything good about them. Does anyone have any happy endings to share?

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Yeh, I am even afraid to try the alternatives...because I know they wil have their effect on the brain and nervous system. And regular doctors just don't give me any advice about them....hard to know what to take and how much??

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@honeybee6636

I feel like such a failure suffering with depression. I just want to remember what its like to be happy. I feel hopeless and sad and I know that I shouldnt feel this way. I want to try an anti depressent but I never hear anything good about them. Does anyone have any happy endings to share?

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Well, how about the news about people taking these antidepressents and their babies are born deformed? If that happens to babies, just think how it can affect us?! That is scary.

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I can't believe I found a group of people they may understand me. I have struggled with mdd recurrent severe treatment resistant for over 20 years of my life. I have tried evey med combination, ECT's--too many to count, years of therapy and yet my brain continues to suffocate my life. I am currently undergoing another medication change after abilify stopped working and latuda made me feel worse. I see the dr tomorrow and I know he wants to put me in the hospital to do a med wash but I can't leave my 2 young boys--I am a single mother. I feel like I am suffocating in this blackness, that I am a shell of who I used to be years and years ago. I hate myself and think about suicide often. I just want the pain to end. Please somebody who understands this despair share anything with me. I have no support groups where I live so this is it.

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@honeybee6636

I feel like such a failure suffering with depression. I just want to remember what its like to be happy. I feel hopeless and sad and I know that I shouldnt feel this way. I want to try an anti depressent but I never hear anything good about them. Does anyone have any happy endings to share?

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I get depressed a lot and sometimes I don't get why I do maybe its the change of the seasons I don't know I usually get really bad for about and week and I will snap out of it so there is hope for all of us out there

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@livedriftwood

from livedriftwood. Yes paxil is a good choise. I was on it for 15 years. then it just stoped working. Doctors say sometimes your body or brain just changes and its still a mystery as to why that is. So I had to go into the hospital again last year and they put me on Pristiq. It was great. But after a year it just stoped working. Now im back on Paxil. what a roller coster

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Did Paxil work again?
I’m 9 months off a BAD taper and near a nervous breakdown…..

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@jw2

Hi Honeybee6636. I have suffered depression all my life off and on. I took Paxil for about 16 years and it was wonderful. One day not so long ago my Paxil quit working. I went into a severe depression, the worse one i have ever had. I thought I was doomed. I went to several doctors and they all seemed like I was a bother to them. To make a longer story shorter, I found a psychiatrist who is helping me. I am on Cymbalta and at first it worked, but now I am depressed again. I have no idea why I am depressed. I am going back to my doctor and see if I can go back on Paxil. Don't be affraid to try the antidepressants. Paxil really did help me. I also take Xanax but only when I feel a little sad. I suffer anxiety also and that I can work with. I was begining to not want to leave my house but I worked through it.

I also purchased a set of CDs from Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety. They are wonderful tapes to listen to. You can also call them and a counselor will talk to you.

Please don't be scared to try some medication. I led a wonderful life while I was taking my Paxil. I want to start taking it again, so I am going to talk to my dr. about it. The Cymbalta just isn't working..

You hang in there and get started with meds if your dr. wants to try you on them. They do take a while to get into your system so be patient. Good Luck

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Did you go back by on Paxil?
Is it working?
I’m 9 months off a bad taper and heading toward a nervous breakdown.
Wondering if it might work again

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@hopeful

I was diagnosed with depression in 1997 and without medication, I doulbt if I would still be here. Medication is an *absolute* necessity if you are depressed and wish to recover. I am constantly amazed by depressed people who complain about their symptoms, yet refuse to take any medication. Depression will NOT resolve on its own, so how else can one expect to recover? People who are so reluctant to take medication also seem so willing to take "alternative" therapies, not realizing this is also a type of medication. Perhaps it is simply their illness that makes them think medications are somehow harmful when they're not. -the key is finding the *right* medication for you. I had to try several types before I got relief and even now, I still have to change medications every 5 to 7 years because they can stop being effective. But this doesn't mean you shouldn't try them. Also, all horror stories about depression medications are the result of a patient stopping treatment *cold turkey*. You must be slowly "weaned off" these types of medication or you will suffer complications. Depression is a TERRIBLE illness, but you CAN feel better if you follow your doctor's recommendations and faithfully TAKE YOUR MEDICATION. Try it, what do you have to loose? Except perhaps your depression...

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A doctor recently told me to just quit celexa. He said it doesn't work for everyone.

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@usdanma

A doctor recently told me to just quit celexa. He said it doesn't work for everyone.

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Did your doctor talk about tapering you off celexa? I have mdd and have taken Fetzima for about 5 years now, it has helped me. I also have fibromyalgia and it’s one of the antidepressants that’s supposed to help with pain. I’m very sensitive to medication so I’ve tried several different antidepressants over the years, finding the right medication with minimal side effects. I know it’s different for everyone.
I have depressive episodes that get pretty dark. I can be doing good and whether it’s an environmental or emotional trigger, I’m thinking doom and gloom. I’m in tears and not functioning well. I’ve learned these episodes will pass but it’s difficult to pull myself out of them.
I know my medication is important for me, and I’ve also learned to use distraction techniques. Even on pretty good days my thoughts can be detrimental to living a positive and productive life. With chronic pain too, I had to find ways to cope. Having things to distract and disrupt negative thoughts has helped.

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@usdanma

A doctor recently told me to just quit celexa. He said it doesn't work for everyone.

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@usdanma Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I have been on Celexa at different times in my mental health journey. As with all medications, not all work for all people, that's why there are choices!

I do know that no matter how long you may have been taking any depression medication, you should not suddenly stop, but taper off slowly. I have spaced a tapering schedule out to be several weeks. What worked for me was to skip a day, then two days on, skip a day, for a week. Then every other day for a week, then half tablet every other day for a week, moving to one half then two days off. As you can see, it was very slow, and was done with my doctor's guidance.

Has your doctor suggested another medication in place of the Celexa for you?
Ginger

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@doe

I've read online about Cymbalta, and the withdrawels when you stop taking it. It is horrible what the people went through! I'm so glad I researched first, because my doctor had given me some samples to try. That would be the last one I would take! Although I am considering Zoloft, as my niece takes it and it has worked for her. I have to get something, as I have been battling depression as well. There has to be something better than cymbalta. One person said on the tv commercial, it should say cymbalta kills!

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I am 66 and have been taking antidepressants since 1990. I started Cymbalta in 2012. I have found it to be the most effective drug for depression and chronic pain. I have raised and lowered the 60 mg dose several times and have not had Ill effects.

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