I have decided, after about 7 years, to go off of my antidepressant medication. I initially started medication after getting dumped by my boyfriend. My sister urged me to try it because it had helped her so much. And I have to admit it was like coming out of a fog into the bright sunshine. I became interested in life, I was creative, I lost 20 pounds, etc. But maybe it was only masking the true problems in my life, so I wouldn't have to deal with them.
I was on Zoloft for about 4 years when my insurance decided it wouldn't pay for it anymore. The idiot doctor I was seeing switched me to Effexor cold turkey. She said it was the same as Zoloft, which couldn't be further from the truth. They're not even in the same family! I think I was on Effexor for maybe two weeks before realizing what a terrible mistake that was. I tried to wean off of it with Wellbutrin, then Lexapro (which I took for quite a few months). Eventually I started to feel normal again, but it took months of headaches, body aches, irritability, not feeling well, etc. the list goes on and on... A few months ago I switched back to Zoloft (my new doctor reasoned since I did so well on it in the first place, then I should go back to it). But I have not had the same success. Particularly, low libido is a problem, whereas it wasn't when I was on Zoloft the first time.
Anyway, I am scared of being like this the rest of my life. I don't want to be constantly on medication. I have been in therapy for almost a year now so that is helping. I found a great site, www.crazymeds.org, that talks no-nonsense about how much it sucks to be on meds when you don't need to be. It also talks about how great they are when you NEED to be on them. It also talks about Discontinuation Syndrome, which most doctors don't believe happens, but is in fact a very real occurance, which I am now going through. Even my own Psychiatrist doesn't believe in it. I wonder how much the pharmaceutical companies pay him not to believe?
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