39 new of 170 responses total.
I was just curious, as you mentioned the suicides. I agree with Brooke and John. My boss is very supportive. I decided to tell him as I was concerned about job performance, and wanted to assure him that this was not willful on my part. I was glad to learn that none of this was noticed as having an affect on my work, especially since I was improving at my job the entire time.
Actually, it's kind of surprising to me that we have had so many. Because it's such a low pressure place, with a lot of support.
Well, I'm sure it may have made the burden somewhat easier, or at least one can hope. It's good that you *do* have a supportive environment in which to work.
Yup. One of my colleagues recently suffered from a breakdown. She is on sick leave now for the time being. As I understand it she is currently spooked by skeletons from the past. What kind of past she hasn't hasn't revealed yet, but I dread it has to do with over affectionate daddies. Although I am no therapist I sympathise with her. At least I know what she has been through. What complicates the whole thing is that she for now refuses to seek professional help. She is scared what it will bringto surface. It tried to explain that letting things keep on festering doesn't help either. Certainly as she is affected by it now. To make things worse she has had a burglar in her house.
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I got a hint in that direction (but not in so many words) from another colleague, who's in closer contact with her than me. I won't pry.
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I did. Also because it helped me so much.
Today I had my first EMDR session. EMDR is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing; it's a technique for alleviating bad feelings about yourself by "reprocessing" them, thinking them through a different way and then feeling better about them. Though it's called "Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing", my therapist does not use anything that requires one to move his eyes. He had me put on speakers and hold onto a vibrating buzzer gizmo (with one part in each hand), then go through some of the details of my divorce. The divorce is what's got me depressed. At intervals of a minute or so, he'd stop and ask me what I was thinking about, then we'd go on. It was pretty intensely emotional for me. You'll have to forgive me if I don't go into details right now. The idea was to shift some of the ideas around some in my brain, or something. I'm not too familiar with the theory, but it's supposed to provide permanent relief from the stuff that's being reprocessed. I'm going to continue doing this at times for a while. Right now I don't have much of an opinion on whether it did any good. I can say, it was a very difficult session in therapy.
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I appreciate the kind thought, Todd, but it wasn't huge. It was just difficult.
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Well, I appreciate the kind thoughts. Thank you! I don't know if I just burned out during yesterday's session in therapy, or made some real progress because of the EMDR, but I feel enormously better today than I did yesterday. I have been burning with anger for over a week now, but not today. That's quite a relief.
Well, about two weeks after the lapse of the Welbutrin due to errors not my own, I'm feeling better. I was secretly hoping that there'd be no change in mood and that we could reevaluate it, since Wellbutrin is such a mild antidepressant and I also have Celexa. It's an amazing thing, to realize how I had felt/could have felt like without it. Okay, so meds aren't the cure-all, but for now, it's definitely proving beneficial. I'm glad that I actually feel like coming up with things to do to get back in shape. It means to me that I have recovered some motivation. I can't wait to try out my new in-line skates.
Take care, girl! (hugs)
I may have to exchange the blades for a pair a half-size larger, but I did venture out and try them yesterday.
I've noticed gently varying responses to missing doses of Zoloft. Sometimes I'm having a good day and can miss a day without enormous repercussions, but far more usually I start getting extremely depressed. Sometimes the depression has a relevant and believable cause, sometimes I catch myself making mountains out of molehills to have something to be depressed about. It's sort of a nasty cycle. But there is a very marked effect to missing doses. I think next time I see the psychiatrist I'll ask about future plans. Have other people who are still reading this item ever gone off Zoloft? Were there side effects? What was the trigger that made you decide to stop taking it?
I was on Zoloft for 6 months once. It really helped me. Interestingly, when I stopped taking it, I didnt get depressed again. I had no bad side effects from stopping it. In fact, it was nice to finally get rid of the weird side effects the drug had.
May I ask what side effects? I haven't really noticed many. Did they phase you out/decrease your dosage, or just stop cold turkey?
I had a similar experience with Effexor -- a noticeable effect when I started, but not much by way of "withdrawl symptoms" when I stopped. I've been told that's just because it takes a long time to get out of your system, but I think it was also that I stopped taking it at a time when I was stable enough to stay cheery on my own for a while.
I'm taking Zoloft and have been for about 7 months now. I see my psychiatrist in a couple of weeks, and am expecting him to tell me to stay on it for another few months. My therapist tells me I will not go back to being as depressed as I was when I started taking it, but I can't just quit taking it; I have to go through whatever their method is for stopping. I intend to do that. I've had one noticeable side effect; I've had almost no sexual desire for the entire time I've been taking it. I hadn't had any plans to have an active sex life anyway, but it's pretty weird to go for a week or two at a time without a single lustful thought. I have self-image problems anyway, and this contributes somewhat to them. Zoloft can have other side effects as well, such as dizziness, increased appetite (which may well come from getting past the depression itself), lack of sleep, and headaches.
If you want the worst possible view of Zoloft, here's a site that says it causes sucide, aggression, hypertension, is addictive, and has other side effects I haven't read about: http://www.zoloft-side-effects-lawyer.com/default.htm
The side effects I had on Zoloft were: decreased appetite (ok, I liked this one!) no sex drive at all blurred vision I went off Zoloft kind of by accident. I had a Rx for 6 months. I forgot to make my follow up appointment in time so I ran out of the Zoloft about a month before I could get into see the doctor. By the time I saw her, I had been off it for a while with no ill effects. I just stopped taking it and had no ill effects from that.
True on the decreased sex drive. That's actually not a bad thing; with Don across the country and potential temptation upstairs it's kind of a plus. However, I'm definitely still capable of responding; just less likely to initiate and don't miss it as much. I'm not really noticing any appetite effects. My weight has changed slightly but this is due to it being off- season for hockey more than anything else.
It's interesting that 3 of us in a row had a lack of sex drive while on Zoloft. I had understood that to be uncommon, and not usually that severe. I thought I was far outside the norm with that one. It's a personal topic, but thanks for letting me know it happened to you as well.
It was great. For 6 whole months I didnt wake up in some strange man's bed even once ;)
Slynne - the secret is to get up and go home to your own bed.
That wont solve my problem of waking up in some strange woman's bed though! Sheesh, that happens *all* the time.
Get up and go home to your own couch? ;)
Finally, a solution!
I haven't noticed a decreased sex drive with either the Celexa or Welbutrin. Then again, this is probably because I've never had a "normal" sex drive to begin with. The more I am working on this, the more I realize I'm more buried than I thought. Ah, well, here's to progress! Strange man's bed . . . How does this work exactly? I usually found out the guy's name first before I fell asleep. ;)
Just because you know his name, it doesnt mean the guy's not strange
I've never woken up in a bed belonging to a person who wasn't strange. :)
I wake up in a strange man's bed every single day! Try to beat that, haha.
Never sleep with someone crazier than you are. That makes waking up better, even if he or she is strange.
Oh, I don't know - waking up with a strange man in your bed has it's rewards - if you do it right.
<delayed smug glowy grin>
<hi fives lynne>
resp:162 Wellbutrin is working okay for me, but it's pretty much the only one I can take (SSRIs usually produce bad upswings)
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