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Posted 10/31/2006 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
After being on antidepressants for over a decade now, about 3 months ago I began to taper down & go off them with the support & supervision of my Psychiatrist. It was a really rough time for me & I suffered severe withdrawal symptoms. I am so happy & proud to say that with the exception of Metformin (a fertility drug) that I am "drug free" for the first time since I was 19.

However, for over the past two months now, I have become extremely depressed. I am now contemplating whether or not to return to taking at least one antidepressant or a new one all together. I would like to be on the lowest dosage & least risky antidepressant for child birth. I just don't know what to do. I also started vitamin supplement packets (I have had success with in the past) to help with energy. I am scheduled to see a new Psychiatrist (long story) next month (soonest I could get in) so I will be receiving his input, as well. In the meantime, I am trying to see my therapist weekly & trying to do things around/out of the house when I am able.

Any thoughts or suggestions????

Post Edited (indygirl) : 11/1/2006 4:13:45 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 10/31/2006 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
I think if you are suseptible to depression you'd be smart to get on a low dose of something approved for taking during pregnancy. You are likely to be at a higher risk for postpartum depression. I know now that with my son I was suffering a severe bout of postpartum depression. I was a mess and as a result, he's got a few problems now that I need to deal with. With my daughter, I was on the lowest dose of Effexor XR (75mg) and it was a totally different story. I was relaxed. I was able to cope. I didn't get angry and lose my cool over things. Children are inherantly stressful creatures, especially if they are collicky or if they are sick. You need your best defences available to help cope under those circumstances. If you choose not to take the drugs, than be sure to monitor your emotional health very closely after the baby is born. And goodluck with everything. A good book to read to help you understand and prepare you for what you are facing, is A ghost in the House (or something to that effect - I have found it very enlightening and if I could get my entire family to read it, they might understand better the beast that I deal with daily...). I think I mentioned the book in one of my previous posts but when I get the information I'll post it again. Take care. Goodluck!
Posted 10/31/2006 6:38 PM (GMT 0)

indygirl said...
After being on antidepressants for over a decade now, about 3 months ago I began to taper down & go off them with the support & supervision of my Psychiatrist. It was a really rough time for me & I suffered severe withdrawal symptoms. I am so happy & proud to say that with the exception of Metformin (a fertility drug) that I am "drug free" for the first time since I was 19.

However, for over the past two months now, I have become extremely depressed. I am now contemplating whether or not to return to taking at least one antidepressant or a new one all together. I would like to be on the lowest dosage & least risky antidepressant for child birth. I just don't know what to do. I also started vitamin supplement packets (I have had success with in the past) to help with energy. I am scheduled to see a new Psychiatrist (long story) next month (soonest I could get in) so I will be receiving his input, as well. In the meantime, I am trying to see my therapist weekly & trying to do things around/out of the house when I am able.

Any thoughts or suggestions????

Sorry to hear of your troubles indygirl and I'll give them some thought. If I come up with any ideas I'll let you know. BTW, it's not clear (at least to me) if you are expecting or at the stage of trying for a baby.. so what's the situation? I can see that it might make a difference to know, for the sake of the best advice and support that we can offer.

Got to go. Attempted bankroll robbery in Manchester. Beating up criminals before dropping them off at the nearest police station always makes me feel better but I can see that that's not a solution that would work well for everybody! tongue

Regards SS x

Posted 10/31/2006 11:02 PM (GMT 0)
Heh indygirl welcome to HW. I'm new here myself but I think this is gonna be a good place to learn more about coping with depression. I've been on antidepression meds since shortly after my 10 yr old was born and have been on a variety of them. In fact I just went to the Dr. today and she added lexapro to the Wellbutrin XL I'm already taking. We'll see how that goes! Good luck with getting pg :-) ...do you have kids already or will this be a first? Anyway...take care...don't give up and like you said and I need to do this too!... get out and be around other people. tongue
Posted 11/1/2006 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
Hi indygirl, I wanted to add my welcome to healing well, we are happy to have you join us here.  I am glad to see that your being proactive in your health.  Your new psychiatrist should be able to recommend a safe antidepressant for you to take while pregnant or going through the process of trying to get pregnant.  In the mean time you may want to look at medatation, medatation music, yoga and some relaxation courses all of which I have found are easy to do and help with my depression greatly (inaddition to medication of course).  Please do feel free to continue to post here we would love to hear more from you.  Take care :-)
Posted 11/4/2006 3:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hi indygirl, I'm one of those who finally gave up on meds because the side effects were so bad they were making my life completely miserable (just in a different way). Elisha has some good suggestions, and here's another. Try listening to subliminal music (I love The Ultimate Healer, you can find them on the internet). There are positive spoken messages hidden in the music and it works on your subconscious changing the way you think and feel and what you believe. I like it because I can play it while I'm doing other things like driving to work and I don't have to make time for it. I love to meditate and do guided imagery but most of the time it ends up being a good intention that never happens. If you are better at time management than me, a yoga class is also a great idea, to learn how to do the poses properly and then if you get a DVD (I like Sara Ivanhoe, again you can find them on the internet) you can do it at home anytime.
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