I'm a first-time user and have never posted before. I'm here at work in my cubicle so I said, "what the heck". Brief summary:
When I was 25, I woke up one morning with a stiff neck, throbbing temple, tingling feelings in my head, etc. Over the next 2 months, my memory and concentration became terrible and there seemed to be a "fogginess" in the left side of my head. My left eye would seem to stare off into space and my sight seemed to be getting worse. I also felt light-headed at times, didn't like bright light, and had a "leaking" feeling in my ear. I was sure this was something physical (especially after I tried Serzone and it didn't help) so I had tons of tests for the next 15 months: MRI's of the head and neck, 2 EEG's, EMG, Vestibular testing, blood work, lyme test, neuro-psych testing, and spinal tap. Everything came back completely normal except for the EEG's which showed minor slowing in the temporal lobe region. My neuro. had tried me on dilantin and neurontin because he thought maybe I was having seizures (which I wasn't) but those drugs made me feel worse. Finally, my psychologist (I started going because the symptoms were driving me crazy...I never felt depressed, except over my symptoms) suggested a seratonin drug. I tried zoloft and within 2 weeks, I began to feel much better. My memory and thought process became much better. So I took zoloft for about 4 months before switching to prozac. I got pretty much the same results with prozac: memory was better but the eye staring and general anxiety was still there. I added a stimulant to the prozac hoping it would sort of "jump-start" my head but it simply "jump-started" my body. I got off that and switched to Effexor, which I have now been on for almost a year. I'm on 150mg/day. I exercise 3-4 times a week, don't smoke or do drugs, have a wonderful girlfriend and family, etc. However, I still have terrible short-term concentration, and a lot of the times have a feeling of unfamiliarity with places I should feel fine in (i.e. work, home, etc.). In addition, I have a very young daughter. However, I am not with her mother and I have A LOT of built up anger towards her. She plays mind games with me and uses my daughter as a sort of pawn to get back at me. It's a very tough situation. I am the type of person to keep things inside of me and not express my feelings. I would love to cry but it seems that I just can't. So currently, the effexor doesn't seem to be working that great anymore. The staring has come back, it feels like the left side of my head is in a bit of a fog and I'm generally not happy. I really want to be happy but these symptoms aren't letting me. I've been thinking of going to a hypnotherapist. The thinking is that maybe a hypnotherapist can help to get all that anger and anxiety out of me. Could all these symptoms really be caused by depression, anxiety, stress, etc? Would you suggest switching to a new medication? Thanks