I am sorry to come to you for help again

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I know a lot of people here are anti-meds but I think taking Effexor has made me function better.I use to cry when ever I got stressed, pretty embarrassing at times, as you can imagine. The only side-effects are possibly lowering libido but that could just be age, not really sure on that one.

I do take a mulit vit, Omega 3, B100 complex and Melatonin to help sleep. My anxiety levels are pretty high but I think those things might help and they certainly don't hurt. Exercise and yoga, (or just general stretching), can be really helpful to. They don't cure anything but every little bit can help make things more manageable.

Asking questions is good - you only need ask to know if you're burdening, and allow me to assure you that you're not. St. John's Wort has been known to help improve mood stability, make more positive... however, it also can be inconsistent in the effect it has from person to person - not in terms of side effects, but in general effectiveness. As in all things, an outlook consistent with your goals always helps. For depression... I have to admit that I am at a loss. Meditation or focusing through music often helps me redirect my flow at the time, but there hasn't been a long term solution for coping with it for me yet. I've tried a great many of the pharmaceuticals for depression and experienced the side effects, so I'm a poor advocate for them. A scarce few proved effective as corrective treatments on a situational basis, but constant medicating is not a viable solution for me. As much as I have been impaired by what I experience, I am also aware that my world is much richer in many ways than the world that surrounds many other people. Regardless of the reason, I would not sacrifice the beauty for normalcy. Diet can also affect mood, so that would be something to consider, as does exercise - as much as I hate it, there are the few activities I enjoy... hitting the river or lake with a canoe being topmost amongst them. But I digress. Identify things that assure you and help keep the depression at bay - regardless of what they are. The importance can be discerned later, but like in brainstorming it is the volume that makes it productive, not the detail. Have you started writing out your thoughts? If so, are you finding it a positive experiment for you? Forgive my verbose nature... for now, I wish you well.


M.

Thank you very much, I appreciate the verbosity. In fact, I worry that my own words err on the side of terseness and I certainly hope that I am not too cryptic. I have begun to write down much thoughts, and it seems best in fact if I do so on the fly. I do not know if you are familiar with the composer Modest Mussorgsky, but he would carry around small scraps of paper with him to write thoughts on. He later disposed of them. I have found this to be the most useful. I certainly hope this does not go against your idea. Again, if I may ask, what sort of music have you begin discussing? Even if it is a bit of an aside, I am curious.

Krex, I have read in medical journals that Venlafaxine (The industry name for Effexor) causes serious psychotic side-effects, such as an often heightened risk of suicide. In fact, that was why I was once advised to avoid SSRI drugs in general, and almost had an MAOI prescribed (I decided against drug therapy.) I am very glad, though, to hear that you have escaped all of these side effects. I certainly hope I didn't sound rude.

I would not consider your writing terse or cryptic; if so, there again the value of questions can be found. That you are writing with immediacy is actually very much in line with what I had in mind... an immediate method of process that can start enabling you to know when is appropriate for you to be experiencing guilt, fear or anxiety instead of being at their whims. Do not fear asking me questions; I appreciate them greatly.

I did not have a good experience with Effexor when I was younger. Was fairly traumatic.

Mussorgsky is a very enjoyable composer; I work a lot with composers from the various classical periods as an arranger. That was a bit of trivia I did not know, but it makes me more confident that it may prove effective for you. Are you disposing of your writing, burning it, saving it for later examincation? I also listen to a great deal of jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock and contemporary orchestral works. I recently completed an arrangement of Strauss' "Till Eulenspiegel's Lustige Streiche" for marching band, and co--authored a fusion of Holst and Led Zeppelin last year. It really depends on my mood and needs... classical for deep thought, jazz for emotional processing, rock for anger, bluegrass tickles me, it helps me find my emotions I suppose.


M.

Thank you. I am writing on pieces of scrap paper that would otherwise be disposed of, and then pitching them in the recycling bin anyways. I doubt it would be helpful to keep them after all - I would rather not be reminded of this.

Those are some interesting tastes in music, and if you would like we could continue that conversation in PMs if it isn't a bother. I realize that I can be overbearing at times.