Posted by Racer on July 7, 2005, at 12:47:04
In reply to Re: Anxiety/Feel like constant crap/Can't keep a job.., posted by StressedandDepressed on July 7, 2005, at 12:19:36
Well, first of all, 5mg Lexapro is a miniscule dose. If you haven't talked to your doctor about raising it, do so. That's not even in the usual therapeutic range, so raising it might help.
Also, rather than looking for a book or movie, how about looking for a good therapist? Therapy can help a lot with many of the things that you're concerned with right now. There are a ton of different therapeutic orientations, so you might want to do some research about things like CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), psychodynamic, interpersonal, etc. The bottom line, though, is always going to be whether you and the therapist have good chemistry, whether it's a good fit.
You say that you've tried so many medications, but since we don't know what they are, how about writing us a little list? That way, we won't be suggesting something you've already tried. The best is to write out a list of the meds, with a little about your reaction -- side effects, therapeutic effects, etc. Then we can make better recommendations.
What about your doctor? Are you seeing a psychiatrist, or is your GP prescribing your meds? If it's your GP, that may be part of the problem: most GPs stick to the SSRIs, because they don't have a lot of experience with other drugs. Now, don't get me wrong -- I do think it's appropriate for GPs to stick to the safest drugs available, since they don't have the expertise to deal with some of the other meds. On the other hand, a lot of people don't get full benefits from the first drug -- or the first six drugs -- they try.
The bottom line, as I see it based on what you've written here, is that you're being medicated, but it's not working for you. You're not getting adequate remission. Therapy is probably the best bet for long term improvement of your life, but adequate medication is probably the best short term fix for you right now.
Hope that helps.
poster:Racer
thread:524465
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050702/msgs/524613.html