thanks so much for your input, zorah and tarabug .

zorah - yeah, i think my dr might be fudging it a bit, to get me the script. he's explained that it can be used for treatment resistant depression, and that he's prepared to do whatever it takes if it might help me out a bit. sometimes when i get depressed, i'll just sleep for 14-16hrs, wake up, have dinner, go back to sleep. it's that kind of leaden paralysis that my doc thinks dex might be useful for.

i've gone through all the classes of antidepressants out there (excepting TCAs and parnate - because of the dietary restrictions), all mood stabilisers, all newer class antipsychotics. so, with the exception of ECT, i don't think there's much else out there to try. if i could just get something to help with my energy, it'd just help immensely. it scares me to think i'm just accepting this because i am desperate, though.

tarabug - thanks for those links, they're very helpful. i might hit up some medical journals and see what the story is in there. both of your responses have been helpful in making me think twice about this. so thank you .

edit: ok, the other thing i'll need to consider is that it doesn't stuff up my weight. i'm at that point where losing any more will not be good for me. also - have read that it's efficacy is decreased when used in conjunction with lithium... so there might not be any point in starting this at all.