Posted by BarbaraCat on January 17, 2002, at 22:03:13
In reply to Anyone reached the feeling good stage ?, posted by sid on January 15, 2002, at 10:14:53
I had a wonderful 3 months on 30 mg Remeron before it, like all the others, pooped out. The first AD to really lift the veil. Ahh, what delight. I started dancing again, playing the piano, calling old and neglected friends, falling asleep happily planning the next day's fun events. Getting more exercise because it just felt good, instead of whipping myself into a painful joyless struggle to just keep by bod from rusting. And simple things made me content, washing dishes, grocery shopping, watching my kitty cats playing in the yard and laughing at their antics, rather than worrying about them getting smashed by a car or carried off by a coyote. Enjoying watching TV with my husband instead of sobbing during news breaks. Nothing manic or whiz-bang, just a warm open glow in my gut and heart area that made eveything just, well, nice. It was just so easy and natural to be happy and didn't require any therapy or work to bring it on or sustain it.
When it pooped out, it really pulled the rug out, cause I truly thought that I'd found the right med at last. I hoped that if I could just manage to keep doing those healthy fun things I'd recently been immersed in, then I'd work through a minor slump. Nope, good times snuffed out and replaced by empty cold painful harsh world, in bed and in desperate straights for 6 weeks now. And just increasing the dose and adding other stuff to the mix doesn't work. It's like the myth of Tantalus - glorius life all around, just out of my reach. And my plans to go back to school, get a life? Yeah, right. Been there, done that, dropped out too many times.
> Hi all,
> I saw my doc this morning, continuing at 75 mg of Effexor XR for a while longer.
>
> She mentioned that once I "feel good," I will stay on the med(s) at least one more year to avoid relapses once I come off it(them). Problem is, I don't know what it's like to "feel good." I've had dysthymia since I was 13 years old (I think) and anxiety for as long as I can remember, so any improvement over a pretty low baseline is "feeling good" to me.
>
> As a result, I can't imagine how we'll decide that I'm at the right dosage and I need to tough it out one more year. Sometimes I think I complain too much and should live more and ask myself less how it is I am doing today. I also think that if I felt really good, perhaps I would not ask myself how I am doing. I am confused with it all. Any insights? What is it like to "feel good"?
>
> - Sid
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:90273
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020116/msgs/90659.html