Monday, February 1, 2010

Any Ideas On This One?

Okay. So: Antidepressants.
Supposed to make you LESS depressed, yes? As in, no longer a swampy, inert mass of non-motivation?

Not being 100% sure that they were going to authorize a refill of my prescription, and having heard that the withdrawals from this one (Effexor) are a howling bitch-monkey, I cut my dose down about four days ago from 225 mg to 150 mg (from 3 pills to 2 pills) per day.

And today, though I did stay home from work due to, erm, female issues--I was motivated enough to get all my laundry done (except the blankets), to clean out the fridge, take out the trash, and to vacuum the living room (well, I WILL do that--most likely, anyway.)

Now, nothing else has changed. Just the dosage on the meds.

Does anyone else find this weird, or is this just one of those well-known paradoxes of antidepressants?

3 comments:

  1. Not everyone gets withdrawls from stopping Effexor. I stopped taking it over a year ago when my pills ran out because I had no refill, and I didn't experience any withdrawls at all, just a gradual return of symptoms that made me take it in the first place.

    Still have those since I cannot afford the pills, life blows.

    -N

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, that can't-afford-my-meds thing is a bitch. I looked at the "your insurance saved you $____" on my receipt and almost had a heart attack.

    Speaking of which, that's another worry I have with CR--I got up his ass about not taking HIS meds, which are substantially more necessary-to-life than my depression meds--we're talking blood-pressure meds here (although he should be on anti-depressants as well, but that's a whole nother can of worms) and he told me he can't afford even the little copay for HIS stuff. I'd hate to have to re-marry someone just to get them insurance coverage, but I mean, damn.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PS... the fact that I'm commenting here means also that i've caught up to the present!! I have now read your entire story, lady, and it has been a pleasure! If I were Someone With Power, I'd make sure you were a rich professional writer, and famous too, if you chose. :)

    ReplyDelete