Posted 2/15/2017 12:29 AM (GMT 0)
kc:
It does sound like you're having it rough.
You say: "I am eleven weeks into prozac and still no better"
You add: "I've already wasted eleven months of my life going through med trials to no avail...still feel spacey, indifferent and so depressed....Well, the net says Prozac, I cry every day non-stop; this is so unlike who I was previous to meds. I'm just at a loss of what to do."
The medicine which you have been taking for 11 weeks, is for anxiety.
But then you say, after 11 weeks on Prozac, you "still feel spacey, indifferent and so depressed"
You're right. You have wasted 11 weeks of your life taking an anti-anxiety when you say you're depressed.
If you're miss-diagnosed you're going to be miss medicated. I was for about 10 or more years so I know what that's like. I was diagnosed as depressed, because I went into the psychiatrist's office depressed, and I was given an anti-depressant.
Except, I was really manic-depressive, so I wasn't given Lithium, which is what I needed, also. So, the mania wasn't treated.
Just as what you say is your depression is not being treated, which is why you haven't gotten better in 11 weeks on an anti-anxiety.
I agree, you need to see an psychiatrist, in my view. How far away is the nearest psychiatrist? I think you need to invest some time into finding where the nearest one is, and driving there.
Your computer Real Yellow Pages might help you in finding one in your area or closet to you. In the search engine, type in "Real Yellow Pages for your area." When you get the Yellow Pages to come up on the screen, type in "Psychiatrists for My Area."
Write down the one(s) you might be interested in, and call one and make an appointment, is what I would suggest.
Whether you go to a psychiatrist or back to your "doctor," you can also read up on the symptoms of depression to give him an idea of what you think. If you stay with your current doctor, you can ask him if he can give you an anti-depressant.
You say, "I just don't want to be on meds anymore and don't know where to begin getting off of them. I have an un-supportive doctor who wants me on a maintenance med indefinitely; problem is, what is that medicine"
On one hand, you want to get better, on the other hand you don't want any medicine. I've been there. Also, it's a pretty common trait, once people get on medicine they think they're cured and they want to be off medicine. Wrong.
It 's the medicine that made them "well." I've felt like that myself.
Is there any depression in your family? You may have inherited it, and it would be good for you to know that. Was your mother or father depressed? Grandmother, grandfather?
Traits can skip a generation, so your parents may not have been affected, but your grandparents might have been, that's why you might need to know. You can ask your parents about that.
You said also, "I cry every day non-stop"
When I was depressed some years ago I cried a lot. So I think that could be a sign of depression.
I think if you stay with your current doctor, you can look at the signs of depression (below) and if you think enough of them match what you have, you might take such a list to your doctor and say,
"Here are some signs of depression and here are the ones I have."
Then you can make your appeal for an anti-depressant.
First choice would be a psychiatrist, and you can take them the same list.
I recently had to find an eye doctor who was a medical doctor who was a particular type that I wanted. I had to sit down at my computer for over an hour, look on the computer Yellow Pages for my town, and find a list of them, weed out those I didn't want, call a few of the ones I wanted.
It wasn't easy for me. If you're depressed, it's not going to be easy for you either. You both the patient and the care giver. Tough situation. Lot of people can't do it. I couldn't do it when I was your age.
I had depression, I didn't know what to do, I had a nervous breakdown, which there's no guarantee you're going to recover from, assuming you can find some help. So you don't want that.
You need to be positive that you can solve this problem. "One problem at a time, and be positive about that problem."
"The person you have to defeat is the one you have to look at in the mirror every morning."
That's the person you have to conquer.
Take it in two steps. Get a phone number from the computer. That's all you have to do for day--or night--one.
The next day, all you have to do is dial the number. The secretary will do the rest. As easy as that sounds, when you're depressed, that can be the toughest thing there is.
Just that was beyond me, when I was your age. I know, I know, it's tough. But you need to get through this tough time. Just give it everything you've got for about five minutes. And then maybe five minutes more.
And believe going in that you're going to solve this problem. Here the signs of depression. Let us know how this is going.
mayoclinic.org:
•Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
•Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
•Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports
•Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much
•Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
•Changes in appetite — often reduced appetite and weight loss, but increased cravings for food and weight gain in some people
•Anxiety, agitation or restlessness