Posted by Noa on September 17, 1999, at 19:59:13
The worst of my latest depressive episode has faded, and I am able to function adequately at work. I am not sobbing all the time anymore, am beginning to take better care of myself, if only in the most basic ways, and am not suicidal. But I still feel exhausted and oppressed by the burden of the chronic, lingering depressed feelings. It's as though I have been able to make it to the surface of the water to return from drowning, and am actively moving toward life, but am getting awfully tired of treading water just to keep my head at the surface enough to breathe.
Any advice as to how long to wait to determine if my current drug cocktail (375 mg Effexor XR; 10 mg Methylphenidate, 3xday; .25 mcg synthroid; .125 mcg cytomel; and 150 mg serzone) is sufficient? It is clearly helping, as I feel better than I did, but can I expect more improvement over time, or should I move on to the next step, which is lithium or an anticonvulsant?
Are there others with "double depression", ie dysthymia plus cycles of recurrent major depression (I seem to have 3-4 episodes per year)? Do the medications help the dysthymia, or can I only expect them to help the more severe bouts?
My therapist has suggested that if I were to be able to be free of the major depressive episodes for a while, the dysthymia would feel different to me than it does now, because I wouldn't always be dreading the descent into hell that these episodes feel like. I guess if I weren't always in, or recovering from, or fearing another bad bout, I could work on taking better care of myself and building my life, which would help.
Appreciate any thoughts.
poster:Noa
thread:11727
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990914/msgs/11727.html