Hi I am WaLa, I am new to the forum...

Hi everyone: I am new to this forum, so this is my first post. I am 61 years 10 months, was on Lexapro from 2004-2011 and got off of it cold turkey (with my physician's reluctant acceptance, after failing twice before, once cold turkey and once by "tapering"). Right after getting off of it, I was hit with Hashimoto's disease (thyroid), dry eye syndrome, and eczema all at once, and, of course, without any medicinal help for my mood, crashed into a deep depression and anxiety with thoughts of suicide, worthlessness, uselessness, and I had to quit my job.

They put me on Klonopin 0.5 mg (I think), and I can have up to 4 of them a day, all of which I took at first. Now I am down to 2 a day. Was on Wellbutrin for a while, but it did/does absolutely nothing for me. Tried Effexor also, but after 2 weeks on it could barely pee, it just dribbled out while I stood there and waited for my bladder to empty.

Last year I had a panic attack and discovered I have atrial flutter, not fibrillation. With flutter my right auricle tells me right ventricle to beat 160 times a minute using distinct separate electrical signals. Obviously this is a little bit fast even for an excitable guy like me! I'm on meds that control this and my heart beats normally now, along with high blood pressure (under control with meds), and high cholesterol (under control with meds).

So I am still depressed and somewhat anxious, and I went to a shrink who prescribed Depakote, which I refused to take after I saw its side effects, and since I do not have bipolar disorder or seizures, which are its primary uses. I have an appointment to see a new shrink at the beginning of August, but she does not take insurance, but she comes highly recommended, so I will spend my savings to see if she can help me.

That's about it for now. If anyone wants to know more about how Lexapro (escitalopram) worked for me, or side effects, or withdrawal effects, I'd be happy to share that info. Of course, everyone reacts differently!

I wish you all well, and I hope I will be able to be a regular contributing member to this forum.

Post Edited By Moderator (getting by) : 6/25/2014 6:46:25 PM (GMT-6)

hi wala. i wish you well with the meds. a lot of meds nowadays have primary functions, ie for epilepsy, and many i have taken for bi-polar. some good, some so so. curentely i am on lamictal, the latest anti seizure medication that is also used for bi-polar and depressive disorders. it works very well. just putting my 2 cents in.

welcome to the forum. know that we care and are here to support you. i wish you well with your next appointment. it is important to find the right treating professionals. thus you can feel confident and comfotable with. feel better soon. keep strong.

Welcome ......

   Were you an engineer?

   I sense the precision ..... and not a thing wrong with that! i was an architect! I also, had to stop working once some medical truths came my way!

   I must say, keep your feeling of reluctance to simply believe what someone says. Specifically - about your meds! It's always good to use you head. This is not to say to distrust doctors. Just keep up with what they say and maintain the right to make a decision yourself.

   Looking forward to your contributions.

Peace and wellness

Rob & Gizmo

 

Welcome to the forum.

You have received lot of advice on medicine so i will not go there.

I suggest that you see a talk therapist in addition to the medication. The things that you are dealing with would overwhelm anyone!

A therapist can teach you coping skills and help you put things in perspective in a way you never imagined. I see one and it helps tremendously.

Keep posting, we are here to support and listen the best we know how.
Peace
Trina

Happy Turtle: Thanks for suggestion about Lamictal. (The medicine I refused to take was Depakote; I later discovered that that shrink tends to experiment on his patients with medicines. I have a good friend who is on two medicines that he is using for social anxiety disorder which are not primarily for that purpose. I have another friend who went to the same shrink and said after a few weeks of his treating her son: "I detest the man. I will never go to him again!" I trust my friends, so I don't feel so bad about not taking his drug. I will remember Lamictal when I see my new shrink.)

Other Folks: Yes, I have been in talk therapy again now for about 4 months, and have had 7 or 8 other therapists in the past, only one of which was less than I had hoped for. So I know the value of talk therapy and will continue it.

Rob and Gizmo: You are very wise to guess that I was an engineer from my short message. I was not an engineer, but I was a research scientist working on mathematical and statistical analysis of patterns in bacterial and plant DNA.

I am going out of town for a couple of days to visit our daughter, a physician, so I will be incommunicado for a few days.

Thank you everyone for your encourage, suggestions, and personal wisdom. Sorry if I forgot someone.

Best wishes,

WaLa