Hi caesarsmama,
i have heard of all three of these medicines, and they are all antidepressants (i'm pretty sure the celexa is, other two are for sure). I don't know what the differences are, but I take effexor xr, and it helps a lot for the depression, I know that. How long have you been taking the medicines? And are you seeing a psychiatrist, or a family Dr.? What doseages have you taken? It does take 4 to 6 weeks often for the medicines to reach their full effect, and you do need an ample dose of the medicine in order for it to be effective. Often our family Dr.'s will just give us one pill and tell us "come back if it doesn't work". This is what happened with me, and I wasn't getting the full benefit of the medicine, because it was too low of a dose. Also, I might add, that what works for one person, doesn't always work for another, so it might take some time for you to find what exactly will work for you, and you may need to combine medicines to get the effect you need. So, don't give up, and keep bugging the Dr. Until you find what works best for you. But, also be sure to give each medicine a fair trial before changing to another one. A psychiatrist is best equipped to know the best medicines, but if you aren't able to get one, do use your family Dr. Until you can see a psychiatrist. Good luck, and keep us posted on how things go.

Hi,

thank for getting back to me. I know that they are all anti-depressants. I was on 40 mg of celexa when I was switched to effexor xr. I was on the celexa in july until september when I was slowly switched to the max dose of effexor xr. Yes, it does help with the moodiness (you can double-check with my family); however, it hasn't given me any more energy or motivation to do things. And these are things I used to enjoy like going out for supper and the most important, going to the gym. There are also other little things as well. Then, at the beginning of nov, I had what I guess you could call somewhat of a breakdown and I was on the full dosage of effexor xr. I'm slowly turning around, an almost 'turtle-like' stride.

I see a gp who referred me to a psychiatrist. I don't see her again until 15 jan 04. The last time she saw me she said that she wants to give me something extra to boost my motivation, etc. She didn't want to over the holidays as she wouldn't be seeing me for a few weeks. She did not say what that "something" was.

All I know is that I want me back.


Thanks again.

What the hell is your problem? Get off this board and crawl back into the hole you came out of.

The two of you came out of the same hole and you are correct, it smells!

Caesarsmom,
it could be your Dr. Wants to add a mood stabilizer, such as, what I take is trileptal, it is an anti-epileptic, but many of this class of meds are used as mood stabilizers, as well. Also, lithium and depakote are two other well known ones. It's my guess the Dr. Wants one that blood draws are needed until you reach a therapeutic level (like you do for lithium and depakote). Or, perhaps it is something entirely different, but was wanting to wait just because it was the holidays, and there are often problems of it's own during any holiday.
As for these irritating interruptions in our lives...These immature imposters on this board, it usually is best just to ignore them. When they get a response, they feed on this. Being ignored is the cruelest insult to them. I don't know if there is anyplace to report them, but i'm looking, as I just joined the forum three nights ago myself.

Hi nansmom,

thank you. I think you are right about the mood stabilizer. I thought the anti-depressant was supposed to stabilize my mood? I think there is something that I am not grasping with this depression/medication thing. About a month ago, she had given me seroquel at a very low dosage to help me sleep. That had a really bad effect on me and I didn't sleep. Then she gave me something else (i forget the name), again, for sleeping, and I had almost the same reaction as with the seroquel. For sleeping, I take immovane (little blue pills). They're great but I am at double the recommended dosage.