Re: antidepressants

I took effexor for a few years.  It really worked well and didn't make me feel drugged.  That's what I thought when I was taking it anyway.  I had the same problems as you describe.  It worked so well that I would forget to take it.  Then I would have horrible migranes.  Lucky for me - I was also being prescribed Imitrex nasal spray for migranes so I could use that and not have the migrane.  Finally, I just got to the point that I was not willing to go trhough this hassle of using one med to counteract the side effects of another.  I quit taking effexor - cold turkey - and in a few days I felt fine.  My migranes stopped after that and I've been prescription drug free for 7 years now - except for antibiotics I've had to take to get over an illness and a series of prednisone to get over a severe allergic reaction last Thanksgiving.

My father is a Psychiatrist.  We've had many discussions about doctors over-prescribing antidepressants and other drugs.  He is a very good doctor - as far as doctors go, but no doctor (my dad included) will ever begin to understand the effects of the medicines that they prescribe until they take the medicines themselves.  How can you teach or treat something that you don't really know first-hand?

Antidepressants are a sensitive subject.  There are people who Really do need to be on them.  I have had pesonal friends and aquaintances who were bipolar and didn't take their prescribed medicines.  Notice I said "had personal friends and aquaintances who were bipolar".  It's not that they stopped being bipolar.  Two of my personal friends and one aquaintance have died tragic deaths due directly to irrational behavior directly related to not taking their prescribed medicines.  This can be very serious - as you can hopefully now see.

Cheers! ~ Roberta ~