Sunday, April 26, 2009

Anti-depressants are a necessary evil



Bit of back story, I was diagnosed with Major Depression last year. When I first realized that I was dredging the depths again, I saw the doctor, as one does. She set me on some anti-depressants, as they do. Nothing suss there.

But anti-depressants are not 'one size fits all' sorts of things. All of them have significant side effects, and it is very much a guessing game - on a case to case basis no less - as to which one is going to be right for you.

The one they tried me on last year was such a disaster in the side effects sweepstakes, that I decided that was enough of being the guinea pig of whatever drug company rep last spoke to my GP with a handful of free samples. That Id be better off on NO meds, than those meds.

Big Mistake.

I had absolutely no idea that things could get worse. I mean, how can Major Depression get worse, right?

Well it can. So what I would like to share with anyone out there reading this is: meds suck. But not having meds sucks harder. If what they put you on isnt doing it for you, and youve given it a fair go, then ask to try something else. Theres tons of them out there, dont give up.

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Major Depressive Disorder at Wikipedia

2 comments:

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

Never having been in a deep depression I can't imagine how it is for you. I hope things get better for you soon.

BetteJo said...

Lavender you are so absolutely right! If you're on meds and the doc asks if they're working and you say - I don't know - they probably aren't. At least not enough. So move on to the next drug. Seriously. It sounds awful and it doesn't sound very encouraging but sometimes it does take a long time to find the med that's right for you. Thank you Lavender, for saying it - it is so so true. Keep fighting the monster!