the miracle pill

I haven't talked about this much at all on my blog, but for several years I've struggled with depression and anxiety. It's something I've dealt with for a long time, but just kept writing it off to being lazy, or hormones, etc. In December I finally decided that I needed to go see my doctor and discuss my options. Every time I'd see one of those antidepressant commercials & they'd list the symptoms I'd be like, "Yep, yep, yep. That's me."

On December 6th I met with my doctor and after some discussion we decided for me to try a medication called Cymbalta. You've probably seen the commercial: "Depression hurts. Cymbalta can help." According to the doctor it would give me energy, improve my mood, lessen my anxiety and possibly help with the headaches I was also dealing with. I started taking the medication and let me tell you, this one is NOT for me. I have never felt so fatigued in my life. I could {and sometimes did} sleep the day away. It wasn't uncommon for me to sleep until noon. Poor Jonathan was getting no attention, playing way too many video games & watching too much tv. I stayed on the medicine for 4 weeks thinking maybe my body just needed time to adjust. Not so much.

I scheduled my follow up appointment & when the doctor asked how the medicine was working for me I immediately told him that it wasn't. We talked about what I was experiencing & {obviously} agreed that was not the right one for me.

My doctor decided that I should try a different drug called Pristiq. The commercial for this one has the little doll that you wind up. {Can you tell I was paying a lot of attention to the antidepressant commercials?}

This medicine has changed my life! Within days I felt like a whole new person. The fatigue was completely gone, and I suddenly had the motivation to do all kinds of things. My mood had improved tremendously and I had so much more energy. I feel like me, only better.

My friends & family have been joking around that they need to get some of this stuff because they've never seen me like this. Every day when I wake up I'm able to get up & going so much easier. And, well, you've seen the pictures of all the purging/organizing going on around here. For the first time in a long time, I look forward to getting out of bed everyday. That in itself shows that this is the right medicine for me.

** My little disclaimer:: I'm certainly not trying to say that antidepressants are for everyone. If you think you might be dealing with depression, please go see your doctor. He/she will be able to help you figure out the treatment that's right for YOU. **