My story is very similar. I was diagnosed with depression 6 months to a year before I got sober. They were willing to treat me but on the condition I get clean and sober. Otherwise the pdoc was gonna cut me loose. I think the Effexor helped me to get clean and sober but that is just my intuition. I didn't get sober because of the pdoc. Really my bottom was getting fired from a job I had held for 11 years and did very well at. I got another really good job right away but go fired from it because of my using. That was it for me and I went to a 30 day treatment center. I have been clean and sober since. 19 years. In recent years I did experiment with pot a little to see if it would work on anxiety and depression but i found it didn't help. Some would consider that a relapse but I don't care.

The thing is like you my depression got much worse after I got sober because I was no longer self medicating. That had actually worked for a long time. I know, like you, there is no going back to that as it quit working and made things much much worse. I take benzo's (klonopin) but I am very careful to take as prescribed and no more, or less than prescribed. I used AA to stay sober and it has helped me a great deal. Probably saved my life. Many people in AA also suffer from mental illness. But there are some A holes that think you are not sober if you take psyche meds. Ignorant. Anyway I applied the twelve steps and the program to my depression many times and it just did not work the same way it did in keeping me sober. I have had to get plenty of professional help. And try to apply whatever I think might help. Meditation, CBT, spiritual and personal growth, dealing with the past and so on. I have found great support in AA and Alanon but it is not the answer to my depression.

So having 2 1/2 years is a major accomplishment. Good for you. Recovery from addiction and mental illness is a life time thing. It takes constant and vigilant work. Sounds like you are having some good success. With meds and therapy and getting back to work. That is huge. Find people who understand mental illness and addiction recovery and not the a holes who are ignorant. There are many in the recovery community but often they are quiet about it. The best group I was ever in was a dual diagnosis group. Many of us here are dual diagnosis.

I still suffer from anxiety depression and its affects on my life. After a year of trying other things my pdoc finally did agree to give me klonopin. Nothing else worked and I was in serious danger of offing myself if I had to put up with the anxiety and paranoia that went with it. It was horrible.

Anyway keep trudging down "the road less traveled". You have made amazing progress and it takes time and patience.