Posted by MA on March 20, 2000, at 10:13:12
In reply to Dysthymia- Meds forever??????, posted by Emily on March 20, 2000, at 8:27:43
Each time you have a major depressive episode, the liklihood of having another one increases. If this was your first bout with major depression, then you really don't have a history of how severe your depression is or can be.
I too have dysthymia and have had it for over 25 years...I'm 43. With my first depressive episode, the thinking then was perhaps stay on an AD for a year. Originally...I had a doctor who took me off of Nardil and I kept telling her I felt like the depression was coming back...she basically ignored me. Each time I came off meds, I relapsed within 6 months. In the beginning I thought coming off meds meant I was "cured". After several relapses, I now know that my type of depression cannot be cured, only controlled with medication(s). I have to take something, even if it is a very, very small amount.
I'm TOO afraid of entering that black hole ever again. My goal now is to find a medication that works for as long a period as possible since I know I have to be on medication forever.
First of all, you should NEVER make the decision to stop any medication without the supervision of your doctor. You may feel great now, but you will not know how you feel until you stop. Even when you stop a med, you may feel great as I did. But the way my depression returns is with a feeling of mood elevation to the point of being overly confident. That is right before I crash and burn. Talk about not seeing it coming.
So, from your questions, I can offer the advice of
talking it over with your doctor and I bet the next step would be reducing your dose to 10 mg. Depending on how severe your depression was, your doctor may or may not agree with discontinuing meds altogether. My doctor let me go off them, but over time I understand that my depression is caused by some real chemical abnormalities and requires medical stablization.Your situation could be completely different.
Good luck with these decisions. I hope you are lucky enough to not need meds for life.
MA
poster:MA
thread:27631
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000312/msgs/27637.html