Posted by sasha71 on November 16, 2003, at 19:09:53
New here but not new to meds and depression. I'm 32 years old, mom of 2 girls ages 9 and 4, sp. ed. teacher and wife of deployed national guardsman.
I've suffered with depression for over 16 years - on again, off again but received help only the last 4 years.
I'm currently on Effexor, 225mg (couldn't hack the side effects at higher doses) and Welbutrin (300mg, recent increase from 150mg). I refer to Effexor as my "get your butt out of bed" drug and Welbutrin as my "give a crap" meds. With just the E. I could function but the W. gave me the desire to function well and even enjoy it sometimes.
I also see a psych. therapist every 2 weeks - just changed to a new lady about 2 months ago after my first (and only) therapist and I differed about treatment options.
I truly feel that the combination of meds and dr. supported therapy is the best for me. I tried 2 years of just Paxil and while it helped for a while, it just didnt' cut it in the long run.
My hsuband has been deployed since Feb. '03 and won't be home until mid-late- April '04. Has this contributed to my depression? you bet your booties but it's being managed. Most of the time.
With the increase in W. about 6 weeks ago, i actually feel "normal" (whatever that is) which i haven't felt in well over 3-4 years. Just that mental flavor of being balanced and knowing I could make good decisions if something happened without falling apart and wanting to crawl into my personal little black hole. That's pretty cool.
Anyway, I just wanted to intro. myself, say "hi" and that I'm looking forward to participating in the boards here.
Sasha
poster:sasha71
thread:280333
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031113/msgs/280333.html