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Confused about the effectiveness of my medication


11 years ago 0 11214 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi Siemie,
 
Sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time with medication. That sounds very frustrating. I cannot comment on the medication as we are not supposed to give medical advice but I can say that regardless of what medication you are on this program can help you with depression.
 
In most cases medication masks the symptoms of depression but doesn't resolve the root cause of the depression. This is where cognitive behaviour therapy comes in. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy systematically helps you to change your automatic thoughts and behaviour to in turn change the way you feel. CBT is one of the most effective treatments for depression and it's effectiveness does not fade over time.  This program will walk you through a complete CBT treatment. It does take a bit of reading and homework but the learning you will gain is invaluable. When depressed it can be hard to get motivated to work on anything let alone an entire program but I encourage you to get started ASAP. Make a schedule for yourself in regards to when you plan on working on it and reward yourself for completing sessions and goals.
 
So while you are figuring out your medication you can take control by working on this program. What are your thoughts on this?
 

Ashley, Health Educator
11 years ago 0 4 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi everyone,
 
I was diagnosed with MDE in 2007 and I just cannot seem to get onto a medication that helps me to function normally. My life has held numerous stop-start situations, where I function OK and then just kind of lose function in an extreme way. This makes me doubt the effectiveness of my medication. I recently had a really bad Major Depressive episode and was admitted to a clinic for two weeks where rapid changes were made to my medication. It was really difficult especially discontinuing the SSRI I was on cold-turkey and immediately starting on a high dose of new med. So the med I am on now is the anti-depressant -Trazodone( 200mg per day) as well as the mood stabilizer-  Lamictal (100mg per day). It doesn't feel like it's been helping too much. I've been back at work now for 2 weeks and already feel burnt-out and like I have no inner resources left. I do suffer from anxiety, but my doc doesn't want to prescribe something like xanax or anything that's habit-forming.
 
From 2006-  Jan 2007 I was on Citalopram,
Feb 2007-2011 Venlafaxine (which was an awful experience) and then Prothiaden 150mg and Esperide,
Sept 2011- Feb 2012 Escitalopram, Alprazolam and sleeping tablet.
From Feb 2012- July I was on Escitalopram and mirtazipine and started gradually on Lamictal (also was weaned off all anxiety and sleeping tablets)
 
And now I am on the Trazodone and Lamictal and still not feeling to great and struggling to cope at work. Just feeling hopeless and cannot face life.
 
Why does it have to be such a struggle to find a med that works for me?
 
Going to make an appointment with my doc just to follow up. Guess I also just have to be more patient...
 
 
 

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