Guys, you are the greatest! Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement. I appreciate them muchly. Love, Havana...
Thank you all for your kind notes! I'm definitely not feeling up for grad school. The school year started while I was still in the bin (as I refer to the psych ward). My husband sent email to the...
Just a note to let all of you know that I'm back home, after 3 1/2 weeks in the psych ward of a local hospital. GASP. My pdoc wanted me to go in so that another pdoc could take a fresh look at me; he...
Just wanted you folks to know that my pdoc decided to put me in the psych ward tomorrow. My depression and panic/anxiety are overwhelming and not getting better. He feels he needs a new set of eyes...
Pebbles and Tortoise, you are both TOO kind! I'm going to see if I can get a friend of mine to help me learn Word. That one-on-one tutorial might be just what I need. On the other hand, not...
Pebbles, I hear you. I wish I COULD put school off for a semester. But the program starts only in the fall. And they've given me a graduate assistantship, which is good for two semesters, again,...
Thank you to both of you for your kind thoughts. I was tried on lithium many years ago. It unfortunately did nothing for me other than dry me out completely (could barely swallow or talk), leave a...
Tortoise, thank you immensely for the hugs. They're greatly appreciated. When I start shaking or freezing and have to wrap myself in a blanket, I'll think of you and all you good folks on the board....
My pdoc took me off Topamax cold turkey this past Wednesday. Ever since, I have been feeling terrible: panicked, agoraphobic, nauseated, freezing and then broiling, anxiety-ridden, shaking. At first...
Thank you so much for your good thoughts, Mogs. I wish I could have positive thoughts myself, but my thoughts all keep centering on how utterly overwhelming school is going to be for me. Graduate...
Welcome back, Mogli! Havana...
I woke up with less shaking this morning, so I'm not in the psych ward. However, the panic attacks/agoraphobia are hell. I've spent just about all day in bed, dosing myself with hydroxyzine and...
You folks are wonderful! I haven't been online for several days because my computer has been giving me fits. But I got online today, and I found your wonderful and heartening notes. Saw my pdoc...
Red and Pebbles, thank you so much for hanging in there with me. I'm so sorry to be such a whiner. That's about all I seem to do lately is whine, I'm afraid. In the past two plus months, I've fallen...
My heart is very full after reading both of your postings, It's Genetic and Winnie. I'm too depressed to be able to express adequately how grateful I am to you both for your thoughtful and helpful...
I've been finding that, every time I think ahead to graduate school, which is only about four weeks away, I go haywire with terror. It's not so much the graduate school itself. It's just that it's...
I'd so hoped I'd be able to take Depakote. My pdoc had me split a 500mg ER pill in half; I seem to be sensitive to the smallest amounts of meds. Well, I started it on Friday night, and Saturday...
GreenTeaHero, I hate many of the same things that you do. I absolutely hate not wanting to do anything. I used to be such an avid knitter and needlepointer, and for the past couple of months, I...
Have a wonderful vacation, Tortoise! Havana...
STILL going through withdrawal, with shaking, fever, chills. Still feel lousy. The pdoc wants me to start on Depakote NOW, hoping that it will alleviate some of the nasty anxiety symptoms. His nurse...
I think that what you write does indeed have meat, Pebbles. Thank you for the good thoughts. I indeed hope I can do this: get through the withdrawal, get on the Depakote, get help from it, make it...
Mogli and Tortoise, your ideas about dealing with panic attacks were top notch! I am having a LOT of panic attacks lately--haven't had them in years--because of withdrawing from Lexapro--and these...
Tortoise's advice was absolutely brilliant! How lucky we are to have her on the board! Red, I think that, with Tortoise's advice, you'll be on a path to real success with your puppy--who does sound...
Wow, this is a tough one, JB, and I hesitate to even say anything. BUT I'll stick my foot in my mouth and say this: You love her, and I'm sure that, under the illness, she loves you. She obviously...
Pebbles, I just got back from the in-service at the local hospice house (about helping our dying patients find peace--and about how to help ourselves, the living, find peace, ironically enough) and...
Pebbles and Mogli, thank you so much for the kind and sympathetic words. They mean so much. I am so sick of feeling sick. I keep thinking of checking myself into the local psych ward. If I don't feel...
Thanks, guys. This means so much to me. This withdrawal is soooooooooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. The panic attacks are horrible. I feel almost trapped in the house; going out is scaring me, but I...
I'd definitely get the itching checked out, especially with a drug like lamictal. I realize there's no rash, but I wouldn't let this go by without getting it checked out. Concernedly yours, Havana...
What a beautifully helpful post, It's Genetic! This is one to turn to again and again when one has trouble sleeping. Thanks so much for posting it. Warmly, Havana...
Oh, Mogs, this is so terrible. I thought you'd be back on your meds soon. As someone who's currently going through drug withdrawal--from Lexapro--I can only sympathize. I can barely do anything. I...
Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, a Short History of Herding and the Art of Making Cheese, by Brad Kessler. A weird choice, but a very enchanting book. This guy and his wife go from New York City off to...
As I've probably written before, I'm currently going through drug withdrawal from Lexapro, an antidepressant. My pdoc gave it to me when he was weaning me off Effexor, which had worked for me for...
Way to go, Bill! Havana...
Thanks for your kind words, Tortoise! I probably sound much more organized than I am. Believe me, I'm not. Much of the time, I just crawl into bed and hope to fall asleep and hide from the whole...
Bill, Tortoise, and GreenTeaHero, I'll probably see my friend today, and I hope that when I do, I'll get the chance to delicately tell her that I've seen her have really erratic mood swings. I think...
Hi, GreenTeaHero. Thanks for your note. I'm going to school to get a master's in social work--so that I can become a counselor!! :-)) Right now, I'm interested in hospice work--I've been volunteering...
Yep, Tortoise, graduate school starts in about five weeks. ULP. Havana...
I know you've probably read this from me before, but I've been dragging around in a depression for over two months now, and it shows no sign of going away. Every once in a while, I'll have tiny...
A friend of mine just called me and told me that she's taking herself off all her meds. (She's bipolar 2 with borderline personality disorder and ADHD.) She's become convinced that she's fine without...
I agree with Bill: the hopelessness is the PITS. Feeling depressed is bad enough, but then having hopelessness thrown at you? ENOUGH already! I'm feeing depressed and numb and on occasion hopeless. I...
GreenTeaHero, I can relate to what you're saying, although I have no wisdom to give you. I wish I did. I'm bipolar 2, so all I seem to get are the lows. I go from feeling "normal," whatever THAT may...
Thank you so much for your kind note, Mogs! I admit that I haven't been drinking plenty of water, but I really should, shouldn't I, to keep flushing this crud out of my system? "This crud" being the...
Is there a local legal services/legal aid where you live? (If there's a law school nearby, it would also have a legal aid clinic that's staffed by law students and whose services are free.) They...
I'll be checking in on and off throughout the afternoon, Just for Me. Perhaps we'll run into each other. I hope your day improves. Havana...
I"m here. Are you still online? Are you in a chat room? Havana...
What I read online talked about flu-like symptoms as being how the withdrawal symptoms from Lexapro might feel. I took my temperature last night, cos I was feeling really cold (unusual, given how hot...
Several of us were in the Pain chat room last evening--it seemed to be the place to be. If you're ever looking to talk to folks, check the chat rooms. We might be there. Chances are someone will be...
That pretty much sums it up, 10fold. Havana...
Go for it! Go for silliness! We need more of it! Havana...
Now I've got heart palpitations added to the other symptoms. Ugh. I'd hoped that, when I went off Effexor in November, I wouldn't have to go through withdrawal symptoms from anything ever again. No...