My brain having new anxious thoughts

Aw crap SG, I'm sorry you're feeling this way.

If I was a doctor, and you were my patient, the first thing I would do would be to reassure you that you have options. Did you know that Prozac is still prescribed? Prozac has a wicked long half life and is a much smoother drug than Cipralex, but it literally can take 6 weeks to start working. There's a whole pile of drugs that I could try you on and I'd be confident that one would stick.

What you need to know though, right now, is that ADs don't stop you from being depressed, they just give you enough of a break for you to do the heavy lifting. No miracles here, I'm afraid.

Go buy a book on Cognitive behaviour Therapy. CBT shows you how to deal with this weird panic you're experiencing.

Are you Canadian?

I just need to know that I'll always have options
..even if I'm maxed out

Really really terrified I gotta live like this

Worrying about this sounds like it is causing you a lot of anxiety. Really we should just worry about the day at hand. If your medication is working today, be thankful for that. Try not to worry about the future, it only depletes you of your energy.

I agree with the meditation. It does help.

Hugs, Karen...

Sorry SG, it's been meeting-palooza around here this morning.

You're always going to have options. The thing that sucks about Canada's healthcare is there is such an incredible dearth of explanations and information. In a perfect world, your GP would have reassured you; but meh, this is the world of 5 minute medical visits and waiting rooms full of people with colds. People like us with plain old boring depression get a bottle of drugs and a "come see me next year".

There are a bunch of different AD types, specifically SSRIs, SNRIs, MAO inhibitors, and tricyclics. Each type has a number of different formulations, and each one of those formulations work differently. There are also 'booster' formulations, which make some ADs work better, and you can combine different types of ADs. For instance Wellbutrin is often prescribed as an adjunct to another AD. As I alluded to previously, you would have to live to be VERY old to burn through all of the possible combinations.

But that's not the real problem, is it? The real problem is how concerned you are about something that really shouldn't be a big concern. Is this kind of anxiety new to you? Is it something that just popped up recently? Have you always been a worrier? Have you been able to talk to your doc about your feelings?

Sometimes we end up spending way too much energy solving the wrong problem.

Thanks SG, I'm no hero - I just pretend to be one on the Internet. ;-)

Thanks for the offer of help, I'll probably take you up on it some day.

Go have fun. I am going to get up off my butt and grab a latte at Starbucks. Grande or Venti? Such hard choices!

A Canadian has the proverbial snowball's chance to see a psychiatrist for simple depression or anxiety. A hospital admission results in an opportunity for triage by a psychiatrist, whereupon you're generally sloughed off to a social-worker-led course of group therapy. In Canada, your GP is the gatekeeper for every specialist, and psychiatric referrals typically take years to materialize.

Psychologists are too expensive for most Canadians, and public funding is inadequate. Forums such as this provide peer advice and acceptance for people with limited choices.

SadGirl, I'm glad the Effexor is working a little bit! Patience, along with keeping your faith is the key!