I respect anyone who could deal with those kinds of problems without medication. I've since learned that taking antidepressants is somewhat of a trap, because once you become acclimated to them, they're incredibly difficult to withdraw from -- that withdrawal makes cigarette withdrawal look like a day at the beach, and because of that, I determined that unless/until I ever became truly suicidal as I was about 10 yrs ago, I will never take those meds again.
But 10 yrs ago, Effexor saved my life, quite literally; after a year of fighting my own brain, I had reached the end of my endurance, had become so alternately apathetic and filled with rage, I actually ended up being arrested for Simple Battery at one point, from fighting with my husband (who was giving me that "snap out of it" crap). At that point, if I had not gotten medical help, and the Effexor, I doubt I would have lived much longer, because I simply could not take it anymore. Thankfully, couples therapy also helped a great deal, helping him to understand that I did not choose those feelings and could not simply decide not to feel them, that I was suffering a medical disorder of my brain, and when he finally understood that, he became completely supportive. Somehow, with the help of Effexor, a good therapist, and my husband, I managed to get thru it and out the other side. Then I had to withdraw from Effexor when I lost my health insurance, and that took about a year of gradual weaning-down, before I no longer felt like someone had just attached live electrical current to every nerve ending I possessed.
Since then I've been thru desperate financial straits that nearly led to us becoming homeless, serious problems in our son's life, as well as all the usual ups and downs of reality, but I have managed, sometimes hanging on by my fingernails, to get through whatever is tossed my way. Still don't have any health coverage, still dealing with the problems in our son's life, and now my mom is so desperately ill with diabetes and cirrhosis, we don't really know for sure how much longer she'll be around. And in January, I discovered e-cigarettes; in February I discovered an e-juice that tastes very similar to the cigarettes I used to smoke, and I knew that I had found my ticket off the cigarette boat to hell. Surprises me more than anyone, that I've managed to not smoke for 90 days, and not even WANTED to smoke for 90 days, thanks to e-cigs.
Pay no attention to fools who know nothing of what it really feels like to have this type of disorder; arguing with fools about anything is just a waste of time, you can't argue someone out of being a fool. Best thing is to just ignore them and get on with your own life as best you can, by whatever means necessary. If the necessary means includes medication, don't be too proud to take it; that would be like a diabetic refusing insulin, as someone observed earlier in the thread. Or an asthmatic, like me, refusing to use my rescue inhaler because I "refuse to be defined by my medication" -- all that would do is get me dead. If the neurotransmitters in your brain don't work correctly, they're not going to get better at their job just because you think it would be "weak" to take medicine for it, or because you decide the medicine isn't necessary -- if it's bad enough to compromise your life, it's bad enough to take medication for it.
However, do keep in mind that some of what you may be feeling may be exactly because of the MAOIs leaving your body; if you can weather a week or two of negative feelings, you will likely come out the other side feeling much better, and without having complicated the matter further with even stronger drugs. But only *you* can decide what is tolerable and what is not.
Empathies...
Andria
I have had myself convinced that I had all manner of strange afflictions, so I just stopped looking for things to get worried about.....Good Luck!
