I have avoided medications most of my life. With the exception of vitamins, I won't even take anything for a cold. But I am so tired of feeling the way I do.

It's been 5 months since NC with OW (my idea!) and I am still sometimes overcome with sadness. I am not suicidal (anymore) or anything; but I want to stop feeling like I want a river to come and wash me away and take away the pain of what I have been through; and continue to feel.

Any advice on what medications work best? How long have some of you taken it for? What kind of doctor do I get them from? What do I say to the doctor? I am almost ashamed to ask for it. I don't want to DR. to look at me like some koo-koo bird. But I guess I am.

I am not a DR, and I am not going to tell you what meds work best for you because there are a ton of meds out there that work for some and not for others.

Taking Anti-depressants is NOTHING to be ashamed of. for some reason unbeknownst to me, our society has brain washed us into thinking it is a crime to be on Prozac cuz you are depressed. HMMM, they dont seem to look down on you when you are taking Chemo because you have cancer or you are taking allergy pills cuz you have allergies. Fact being MOST of us suffer from depression once or more times in our lifetime.

I will tell you what I take, but this is only MY POV! Right now I take Effexor. I have also taken Prozac, Lexapro, Paxil, and Zoloft. right now the Effexor is working very well. I am a BS and was on AD before Dday. I became very depressed last summer and have finally gotten stabalized after experimenting with many drugs. What works for me may not work for you or vice versa. My FWH is on Prozac and has been for many years. He takes his for Anxiety...But now he needs it for his depression.

I woul dhighly suggest you get to your Family Physician and tell him your reasons. There is nothing to be ashamed about. You made a mistake and you are now dealing with that mistake. Do not lie to him about it. He may also put you on some Xanax as well. But Xanax is very addictive and you must be very careful taking it. Both my H and I are taking Xanax for now to deal with the rollercoaster.

You should not be embarrassed to talk to your DR. he is not there to judge you or to tell you what an Ahole you are. My H IS a DR and he is the one who had the A. He used to councel people on this and prescribe meds all the time for it and now he is in their shoes.

Make an appt to see a Family DR first, then if your Family DR wants you to have further evaluation he will tell you. But please get tot he DR ASAP!

WK,
I can only give you background on my situation.

I went to my MD (part of a PPO) they suggested Lexapro. Due to side effects primarily sexual in nature I was then switched to 150 mg of Wellibutrin.

Later after switching counselors, my new IC suggested that I go meet with a psychiatrist who specializes in pharmacology. He realized that the 150 mg wasn't really working an up it to the max 450 mg. He also told me that I needed to stop drinking temporarily, if not forever, because the alcohol was disrupting the effect of the meds. Acting like the proverbial "fuel on a fire."

BTW, why the moniker, White Knight?

Do you have the white knight syndrome?

cwmac

Go to your doctor right away and get started. Men just have such a hard time taking care of themselves. Why be miserable when you can feel great. These meds will put your brain chemicals right back to where they should be.

Since you are a male, ask Dr. about Wellbutrin (sp?) since it has fewer sexual side effects.

So make an appointment today and tell your doctor that you are depressed and not enjoying life. Believe me, the doctor will understand.

Run, run, run to your family doctor. My H, the FWS was depressed for years. As a nurse, I offered the suggestion many times that maybe he was depressed. "Oh no, not me" was all I got from him. After d-day I tried several different anti-d's and happened to have an almost full prescription of Prozac, since I had changed to Paxil. H was feeling so badly he started taking the Prozac (I do not recommend anyone take someone else's medication)that was in the cupboard. IN 3 DAYS he felt so much better that he couldn't stop talking about how much better he felt! Needless to say, this aided our recovery more than I can say. He didn't need the meds long. Just to realize that he was in fact depressed, when he thought all along that it was the marriage that was making him sooo unhappy, was enough to get him going in the right direction again. Since men are usually more resistant to meds than women are, he is now a huge proponent of men getting pharmacological treatment for depression

Make an appointment today, your recovery will be a whole lot smoother. You don't deserve to feel this way.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial"> BTW, why the moniker, White Knight?

Do you have the white knight syndrome? </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yeah, I guess I do and it's got to stop. That's how I got into this mess. I own a business and it seems every time I tried to help someone who worked for me to progress, they either stole from me or asked me for $$$ or quit and tried to start their own business to compete with mine. I've had 3 girlfriends who probably had no business being in relationships even though they were very nice and sweet and never stopped telling me how honest they were ... but when I realized they were a bit "touched" and tried to get away; they turned on me with their fangs gleaming! Not only am I hurt from losing a relationship; but I have to deal with being made into the "bad guy" because I did not turn out to be the "White Knight" they hoped I would be.

My mom and brother are on Anti-Ds. I guess it runs in the family. There's a great book called TOUCHED WITH FIRE: MANIC DEPRESSION AND THE ARTISTIC TEMPERMENT. That made me feel better to think that if Van Gough can get depressed, it's OK if I get that way too. But my A certainly did not help my life ... and the above made things worse!

<small>[ March 29, 2004, 12:16 PM: Message edited by: whiteknight ]</small>