are you on anti-depressants?

KarafromPhilly · Jul 16, 2003

"The only kind of drug I take is the kind that is for my health when I am sick."

---daughterjudy123

Me too. I take Celexa. :nurse:

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2003

Better living through modern chemistry, I wonder if they have a pill that will help my golf swing, or my putting.

preciousnurse · Jul 16, 2003

I believe that antidepressants are a way of life for most nurses. Face it, we have tough jobs. I believe that all nurses should be on them and i also believe that it should be taught in school more about how to deal with people, not patients, but more often than not how to deal with family members. Anger managment has become a true issue with me because I am not the most patient person in the world.

debralynn · Jul 16, 2003

Sprklplnty: Sorry I went off. Its just this is the kind of crap I use to get from my ex. He use to say I was just feeling sorry for myself! Whats so ironic, is since the divorce, he is now depressed, but still doesn't know it!

I guess the saying still holds true..... until you've been there, you just don't know!

PennyNickelDime_RN · Jul 16, 2003

debralynn -- You didn't go off! I support you 100%. Having been there myself and helping others with depression for the past eight years with an online depression support group, I still find it difficult when someone posts that depression is something people have a choice about. Obviously you know this isn't true because no one in their "right mind" would ever choose to be debilitated by this illness.

sprklplnty

ERRN5778 · Jul 18, 2003

Passing thru,

I think it's time for you to refresh your memory on what depression entails and how it can be managed. Depression if you recall is most of the time genetic and therefore one can't just snap out of it. Would you say that to a cancer patient who is depressed? Read up on currently literature on depression, you might learn something. It disturbs me when I hear people making fun of those who need medication to treat depression. I'd suppose you would also say to a cardiac patient "You are weak for relying on those blood pressure medications, try a more holistic approach." Your views are much too one sided...and as a nurse you can't be an advocate for the sick if believe on one side of an issue.

giggles66 · Jul 22, 2003

I am not on any antidepresents, but I am on medication called

Zyprexa its an antipsycotic eventhough I am not nor have I been psychotic. I do not think that I am on the correct medication. I think that I should possibily be on an anti-anxiety and /or a medication that would help me with my concentration exspecially for school.

Carmen

PennyNickelDime_RN · Jul 23, 2003

giggles66,

I have severe anxiety and have for most of my life. My experience with Paxil was a positive one for many years. Paxil does have an anti-anxiety property which helps many. I also take Xanax which is an anti-anxiety which helps me. Buspar is another medication made specifically to target anxiety.

You might want to check with your doc about those options. Take good care!

~~~sprklplnty~~~

itsme · Jul 30, 2003

Well said kywlpn! I used to take zoloft, but thought I didnt need it anymore because "I felt great" so I went off, on my own ( without md knowledge) and guess what, depression came back! Now I take Effexor XR. I do not like what happens if I run out on a week end and miss a couple doses, but it actually works for the depression- although I would prefer zoloft again. I am the worlds worst patient, I hate going to the doc, so will wait and go once a year with my long list and get everything taken care of at once! Depression is an illness. Not just feeling blue like so many people think. Hell, I have a wonderful life, great kids, a fairly happy marriage, a job I love, and yes, I have depression. I dont know why, but I do, and I treat it. I do not feel "wasted" from my meds. The "daughterjudy" is obviously an uneducated person when it comes to the illness of depression!

essarge · Aug 3, 2003

Wow, what a great thread! And I thought I was alone in this!! LOL! Years ago, a therapist thought I was bi-polar...I thought he was not correct. Now reading this thread, I've decided that perhaps he was right. I go through, it seems, two moods..."happy" (spend, spend, spend) and "not so happy" (cry alot, get really b*****). So I guess it is time for me to "pull myself up by my bootstraps" and get my ars to the doc.

Thanks for this thread...now I know it's ok for me to be the way that I am!!

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Aug 3, 2003

I first attempted suicide at 8. I ended up with minor liver damage and several transfusions. There were several other attempts, two very nearly successful.

I had a father that did not "believe" in Psychiatry - I went 13 miserable years without any treatment for depression.

I went through the years of Xanax, and Sinequan - going off because I didn't want to be "on drugs". My sister, a schizophrenic, did many of the same things, d/t pressures to be "strong & nondependent". She was very functional on meds, nonfunctional when off.

When they came out with SSRI's, my life improved immensely. I also began to realize that I will probably be on them for life.

I have friends that think that I am too"strong" to be on meds, that one can"snap out of depression". And there are many people that abuse the meds, and that annoys me, also. And we should be seeing a shrink for improved coping skills, along with meds (I do).

But invariably some of these types frequently have there own issues. And they should probably see a shrink for those issues, but don't.

I would love to be off meds. But I also like to be a functional person. And I accept that SSRI's are there for me, until better corrections can be found.

dreamon · Aug 3, 2003

Is there anyone on celexa who is having side effects? Thanks!