med question....

I know there is a medication area, but I wanted to stay within this group since you "understand" things.

My family is seeing a therapist for my son mainly, but to help make us a happier family. I went by myself yesterday and she wanted to talk about me some. I told her that I was taking Wellbutrin 300mg, Zoloft 200mg, and Xanax as needed. She told me that I was highly medicated for as much stress/anxiety that I still have. Anyone else on this much meds? Does it seem like a lot? i don't feel like my pdoc is pushing anything with me fast. I'm not sure it all works, but since my home life with my son is so difficult right now, we both thought that might be overriding the meds. Any opinions?

What I do know is that everyone is different and if this combo is working, well then leave it be! Trust your pdoc. The therapist does not know you like your Doc does.

Are you experiencing any side effects from the medication?
Also, have you considered seeing your own therapist, in addition to the family therapist?

E.

I'm on 100mg of Zoloft, 75mg of Trazodone, 120 of Inderol (Propranolol for anxiety and flashbacks) plus I take 10mg of Flexeril (muscle relaxer) at night because of psycho somatic pain. As long as I take those meds at those exact doses I end up somewhat "normal"....but if I decrease ANY of those meds (except for the Flexeril) I end up anxious and experience an increase in PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms. Until the Zoloft increase from 50mg to 100mg I had never been on 100mg of an antidepressant before. So, at first it did seem like a lot me....but I know that med combo at those doses is what I need in order to function normally...or as pretty close to normal as I can get. Thankfully my therapist doesn't question my medication when I tell her that it's been changed or increased. She knows my doctor and knows that the medications are my doctor's area of my treatment. Most therapists don't know that much, if anything about medications. And everyone is different and responds to different doses. While my aunt responds well to 50mg of Celexa (she just has clinical depression), I was taking 60mg of Celexa (as well as 60-80 mg of Inderol) which was the maximum dose my doctor could prescribe without me seeing a psychiatrist and the 60mg stopped working after a few months. Prior to that I had tried Paxil (20mg then 40mg of the old version of it and then 25mg of the Paxil CR) and I kept having adverse reactions to it (I was just as depressed on it as I was off of it and sometimes it would make me more depressed). Every 2 months or so I'd have to have the Celexa increased because I'd stop responding to it. So far the Zoloft and Trazodone combo is working great. Though I use the Trazodone more as a sleep aid than an anti-depressant.

Meds are different for everyone, trust your doc. Even if we are on the "right" dosage, situational stress can keep anxiety sky high in my experience.

Unfortunately, my insurance won't cover much for mental health. Between myself and my son seeing pdoc and therapist for him, we just can't afford for me to go to a therapist too. I've found sliding scale counselors, but even that right now is tough.

I don't know how I feel about if my meds are 100% affective, but I do have a tendency to have a higher tolerance level than most. I also have taken the zoloft for 8 years. So I really think going up to the 200mg worked on that, but something is still not right. I'm started to wonder about this therapist a little bit. She said several strange things during our session last week that were just weird!

Anyway- thanks all!

therapists r just that therapists, they aren't trained in med management. One thing that helps with anxietÿ is to not let it get over the top before u take the xanax,meds like these and pain meds work best if u "stay on top" of the issue they r ment to correct.