Success with Meds & Doctors

[creston1966]

I'm curious how many folks have had success with an anti-depressant medication and/or doctor (therapist/psychiatrist)?  

I'll start:  

Meds:  used prozac, zoloft, cymbalta, and elavil at diff times over last few years....not much success so far.   Still on prozac and fiddling with dosage at dr's advice.  Sometimes it feels like it may be working to improve depression, but have had a lot of compulsiveness on it.

Doctors.  Very little success.  Have not felt comfortable with them to discuss inner thoughts.  Maybe more problem than theirs.  Am leary, often think they just want to prescribe a pill, kick you out of their office and get paid.  

[izzyb1957]

i have read your comments and i want to ask you. i have a partner that was told he had bipolar..
he goes down for about 3-4 weeks they get his med working  3 x avanza  2 x epilim then he goes on a high and is climbing up the wall, he then settles down 1-2 weeks later and goes on a wild spending spree.. followed by a slow dive back down and we have repeated this on 6 occassions over 14 months. now he is back in hospital meds have been changed to 2 x lithium and 3 x avanza he is still currently in hospital still flat.. will this be a life term thing do you think, i have know him for only 16 months and for 14 months he has been like this i think i am getting more sick than him, i need a break and i cant cope if you have bipolar like this is a life term think do es it ever get better so you dont fall  you seem to have concored this well i need urgent advise i am ready to chuck it all in and move on it so hard for the other side please help me isabel

[Venora Moonwind]

I love my doc and my therapist. they work together.I am on celexa and zyprexa for bi polar and I feel great.Been on this combo for going on 7 years.I am happier than I have ever been in my entire bi polar life.I am feel like I am am a real bi polar success story. It took me a long time to get to this point in my life and I think that is why I appreciate what I have now.Give the therapy and the doc a chance and If you dont feel comfortable with the doc you have now then get a different on.It wont work if you arent totally honest and forthcoming with your doc and therapist.I know I it took me ages to get comfortable with the right ones but what a relief when I I finally was honest with myself and them.(I went through several docs and therapists and meds) You hang in there  this can be beaten.
Love Venora

[wickedwanderer]

I dunno, I have to say that medications don't all just work quickly and magically.  From experience, antidepressants take at least a few weeks to start working.

Creston, I think you may know my answers  :P

Meds:  Effexor, Cymbalta, Celexa, Wellbutrin, Lamictal, Trazodone.  Finally getting a good combination of Wellbutrin and Lamictal; hopefully this continues.  I've been on antidepressants for almost 8 months, and have now just found some that work with me.  Hence my comment about not working quickly or being a magical quick fix.

Docs:  Therapists - I found one I like...by chance.  I've had 3 that I didn't like.  I didn't want to go to therapy, but I knew it would really help.  I forced myself and finally found a good therapist.

Psychiatrists - I have a VERY busy one.  She cares and is not afraid to switch meds (as opposed to docs who want you to give it some more time - I think 2 months is quite enough!!).  But, because her practice is so busy, sure, I feel rushed sometimes.  But, she never cuts me off when I'm talking.  Another down-side is that the waiting room is always packed.  Not a good thing for people dealing with anxiety.  

[caregiver222]

In other words you are asking for a general opinion rewgarding the world of chancre-mechanics. My closest friend is a prominent psychiatrist and he is an advocate of medications. They work promptly, require little intensive labor on his part, and often give good results. As for therapy, many patients are "psychioc vampires" and will use up all the energy of the therapist because they are narcissists and love to talk about themselves. I don't have any answers concerning depression because I am never depressed. I love life. On the other hand I have encountered many patients in a hospital environment who are truly depressed. The suicide statistics demonstrate this fact. Before going to medications I would prescribe B-12 supplements (sublingually) with folic acid and at least 45 minutes of exposure to sunlight every single day. There are many causes of dfepression and I'm not an expert in all of them. Nutritional deficiency is unquestionably a significant factor. Genetic predispopsition is another issue. A history of head trauma is also significant. The m,echanism of head trauma in depression is not always clear, but often a blow will cause damage to the pituitary which controls the endochrine system. When the endochrine system is compromised the end result is often emotional chaos. So I would recommend anyone with depression to see an enchronologist and get a full and proper endochrine screen before resorting to medicinal intervention. As for freud, if any of the students I know gave me a paper on Freud they would start with a "D" and work their way down. So this is your prescription. Go find a copy of the book "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius and read it. Incidentally, not all psychiatrists just want to prescribe a pill, kick you out of their office and get paid. Mine showed up at my house at 3 A.M. in a snowstorm when I was deathly sick to give me home-made chicken soup he prepared, and no - he didn't charge.