Hi. I have depression and have been on medication for about 11

>>17406137
You might want to try another doctor. If the med is working but its side effects are bothersome, the logical move would be to try (while being carefully monitored) LOWERING the dosage a bit, not raising it, or trying a different med.

There have been lots of advances in 8 years, and if your doctor is just doing the same old thing, he might not be up to date.

It would be better to get a second expert opinion before self-medicating.

>>17406201
>You might want to try another doctor.

He's the only expert in my city but I'll call the surrounding areas and check.

>If the med is working but its side effects are bothersome, the logical move would be to try (while being carefully monitored) LOWERING the dosage a bit, not raising it, or trying a different med.

They're not so bad but are not pleasant either. Seitching to another med will just give me another set of side effects.
>There have been lots of advances in 8 years, and if your doctor is just doing the same old thing, he might not be up to date.

This med has been around since 80s but he's pretty young (40s) and has credentials and all that.

>It would be better to get a second expert opinion before self-medicating.

I'll look into it just want to see what people think of the natural route as that gives higher life enjoyment/quality than being jacked on pills all day and not enjoying anything and stuck in limbo on autopilot.

>>17406137
I'm sorry of hear about your problems. First off, you need a positive attitude. I highly recommend the book 'The Ultimate Introduction to NLP'. You can find it on bookzz.org if you want to check it out.

Second, you have probably already tried other meds. The one that has done absolute wonders for me is Zoloft/Sertraline. Sertraline kicks in immediately, and if it doesn't you can up the dose (by yourself, don't consult with a doctor every time you do this) but its best to keep doses low and early in the day so you can sleep at night.

Numbness is not an issue with Sertraline!!

Third, know that depression will return unless you commit to a healthy lifestyle and structured life in the long run. Know that you might rebound if you do alcohol, sleep badly, have a chaotic life, or a combination of all three. Knowing is half the battle.

Fourth, I know from personal experience that marijuana only makes your depression worse. You will grow lazy and hate yourself for it when you're not stoned.

Your depression and personal circumstances might differ, but I'm pretty convinced this rough guide can help out all fellow depressed.

t. been suffering from depression since puberty but learnt to live with it through positive attitude and the right meds

>>17406330
Thank you. I'll check that book out.

Yeah there are a lot of things that need to be fixed in my lift so I gotta work on that

I assume you're reasonably young so you've been on a drug cocktail messing with your brain chemistry for almost half your life? And it's not working?

What about getting off the drugs for a while and see how you feel?

I'm in a similar situation, same age too. It got the point where every time I needed help from the doctor, he would just want to increase my meds or switch me from this med to that, to this to that. It's almost like they don't even know what they fuck they're doing. It reached the point where I felt poisoned, I couldn't even turn my head at a reasonable speed without getting "brain shocks".

Eventually I said fuck this, I have no idea what harm these countless drugs are going to have on my body 10 years down the line. Got off the drugs, and decided to enjoy the discomfort of intense anxiety instead.

Its up to you. It's true your anxiety and depression is probably not going away any time soon. It's your choice whether you want to feel their effects, with side effects, or feel their effects full on without side effects.

>>17407399

Agreed. If you've been on pills for 11 years, how do you even know what you feel like anymore?

>>17407422
You don't. And I won't be surprised when they "discover" that half of these drugs were causing worse problems like cancer etc in the next 10 years.