[Mogeii]

Just wanted to let out some semi positive thinking. I have always been one of those people who thought psychiatrists were on a spectrum of unqualified nurse practitioners who throw meds at people like candy, to highly educated and intelligent doctors who have their own personal favorite meds and are unwilling to bend too much with their prescriptions. I have also always been one of those people who looked at my Zoloft/Klonopin/Buspar/Lexapro/Xanax every morning before taking them and both wanted to punch myself in the jaw for NEEDING these and also wanted to burn down the places that make them. Basically self hatred that I need pills to get through my daily life. And I dont know about anyone else, but the next person who equivocates mental health meds with other meds to me is getting their tires slashed. I have had 2 doctors and 3 regular people say this same line: "Taking antidepressants are just like taking blood pressure meds, I dont want to take them but I have to." Listen fools, your blood pressure meds have two options, they help, or they help with side effects that need to be addressed. Mental health meds can help, hurt, help and hurt, have side effects worse than the original condition, or the real kicker! Cause psychosis/suicide/mental breakdowns. Do your blood pressure meds do that?

Anywho I find myself now in a different state of mind. I have one of those super smart psychiatrists but he seems to be more of a guy who has his process of meds, but is willing to deviate a quite a bit to fit the patient. For instance when my Zoloft crapped out on me, I told him I wanted to try Lexapro. He said he would have recommended Lexapro or Paxil, but since I said Lexapro he saw that as the deciding factor. That was a big trust thing I appreciated from him. Im sure if I said I WANT TO TRY ACID he may have not followed me, but since I was merely suggesting a particular SSRI over another, he was very open to it. Basically what im saying is, it is nice to know that your psychiatrist operates on the proven premise that SSRI/SNRI treatment is all trial and error and no real study has proven which is better for which condition so all we can do is look for the right one.

But I see him Thursday and I am looking forward to it because I am on 10mg Lexapro and am having break through anxiety, and yesterday had a depressive episode that I haven't felt in a month. I know he will be on board with upping to 15 or 20mg, and I am hopeful that is all I need. Btw if anyone has any experience upping their meds and having success let me know! I am a bit worried because break through anxiety is well known when finding the right med dosage but a major depressive episode that lasted 4 hours seems a bit odd.

In essence I am at least a little better every time I go through the medi-go-round because I trust my psych, I believe SSRI/SNRI are helpful for the majority of people, and I know the sheer amount of drugs that can be tried is so large that you should never give up on trying some new ones if the old ones aren't working. Im sure some people on this forum see someone like me who has been on 3 different SSRIs total, and 3 different anti-anxieties total, and still see me as a rookie in the medicine . I really hold on to that belief that everyone WILL find the right med combo for them, how long it takes and how much pain is endure during that journey varies greatly, but in the end we all find a winning combo. At least I hope we do

[Mike_J]

I'm glad you have found a doctor that you listens to you and that you feel you can trust.

Good luck...