[justfloating]

I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and I'm looking for some advice before I go.

I know my meds are working. I can feel their effects. The fact that I get out of bed in the morning, the fact that I'm (mostly) eating properly, the fact that I actually HAVE good days ... I know they're all thanks to the meds, and that's great. But I also still have bad days, really bad days. They don't last forever but there's really no stopping them once they start, and I usually have to ride the bad spells out. When the meds first started working, I went for a really long time without any bad days, and my doctor was even talking about weaning me off the meds. But I've been having quite a few bad days lately, and there's no way I'd want to stop them now because I know they're the only things giving me good days and making the bad days bearable (ie, they could be MUCH worse and last MUCH longer without meds). Should I ask the doctor about upping them, or should I just resign myself to the fact that I'm going to have really bad days every few weeks, and take them as they come? It's not like I want to be euphoric all the time, but I also don't want to keep hitting the point where I can't get out of bed for three days straight. I'm on 150mg of effexor right now -- I dunno if you can even take more than that. Has anyone gone through this too? I am loving my good days. I am loving that I'm getting some control over my life now that the depression's lifted somewhat. I'm taking care of myself, I'm making progress in therapy, I'm making progress with my family and my other relationships and for the first time in a long time, things are going well.

I've been keeping track, and I don't think there's anything triggering these bad days, they seem to come at me out of nowhere. I'm terrified of going back to being as bad as I was before. My counsellor says she's seen a definite improvement in me, that I'm on the right track -- I do not want to start slipping again! Is this slipping, or will the bad spells just go away? Any advice would be highly appreciated.

[leacon]

Have had several times my psychiatrist has added a new med on. You probably do not want to discontinue what is working just add something like wellbutrin or other different class of antidepressant on.

[tarabug922]

Hi There,

I wanted to let you know that everybody has bad days, that's to be expected even with anti-depressants, but probably not at the level you're describing. I would suggest you ask your doctor about upping your meds or maybe adding a new one on. I personally take 300 of effexor so I know you can take more than 150 whether or not it's recommended I do not know. I also wanted to say that the bad days may be a result of the therapy you're doing. When we're in therapy things inside start to shift and they loosen the dark memories we don't like to deal with. So the bad days may be those memories trying to break through. It could also be a signal that your brain/body is ready to deal with some of the harder stuff.

I hope you're psych understands where you're coming from and helps you out. If not find a different psych that listens. There are plenty about. But it sounds like you already have a good one. One other thing, don't be too quick to go off the meds just because you're doing better. Don't even let the doctors talk you into reducing your meds if you're not comfortable with it. You know the meds are making the difference keep the meds stable to keep yourself stable. Once therapy is coming to a conclusion and you have dealt with your issues then look at decreasing your meds because you won't have any issues coming back to bite you in the butt.

I hope this has been of some help to you.

Love and Hugs,
Tara

[Rohag]

Personal Story: There have been times when my pdoc, who knows me well, has prescribed either an additional medication or a deliberate overabundance of one of my standard meds to take as I feel the need.

Having something more powerful on hand only for those rough times might be an option in your case. Of course, were one to use the "extras" too often, it could initiate a cycle of diminishing effectiveness for those meds.

Wishing you and your doctor a profitable appointment!

[Amazonmom]

Ask the doc about either upping or adding to the meds. Do not just resign yourself to suffering. You deserve better than that.