Sleeping for 14 hours on Venlafaxine and Quetiapine

very wise words Jaguar I agree completely Thanks 

 

This latest information, Kate, tells us a lot about why you are having problems that you should not have. In another thread here I asked for more information as it is critical in knowing what the problem stems from and what advice, if any, can be given (always remembering that my advice is personal and not professional). The patient considered all that as unnecessary. Pity. Such attitudes make the work of GPs so much more difficult.

You weaned yourself off Prozac? What did your GP advise? Did you ask for guidance in how to do that? Furthermore taking any anti-depresssant 'on and off' is never going to resolve your problems. Dealing with any form of depression is neither a quick nor easy process.

I suggest it is time for you to sit down and think carefully about your life and your future. Only you can decide what is important to you and then what is the most important of all. You will have to make some changes. Only you can do that.

So, how to make some improvements. First, probably sleep. Both your body clock and your lifestyle are are in conflict. If it were at all possible my suggestion would be to go away for at least three and better six months doing something completely different, in a very different environment - like moving to a New Zealand sheep farm to work with the animals and/or on the land. And I mean work, not holiday. You should be exhausted, physically, every day. At first you would be under constant pressure from mind and body but as the days passed you would find that both your bodyclock and your mind would adjust to normal while your physical aches and pains would be replaced by a great feeling of wellbeing and fitness. You cannot do that, I think, unless you are lucky. So what can you do that is near to being a real possibility? Aim for it.

It is never too late to change; we do not want to face change, particularly if that change comes from our own decision, but there is ample evidence of people who have made tremendous changes in their lives and many of those well into maturity, even beyond. In this respect nothing is impossible. We always try to convince ourselves that we cannot, just cannot make such a change. We may be fearful of the future. But this brings me back to an earlier comment - what do you want out of your life? If you cannot stand your present lifestyle with all the problems it has brought you then what have you to lose by changing? Whatever change you may make it will not be cast in stone. Further changes will be there for the taking. Life is much like a lottery so taking a chance is normal.

Hello Jaguar, thank you for your helpful advise. My condition has always been monitored by GPs and yes the GP helped me to wean myself off the Prozac. I have no idea where my depression stems from even after years of counselling, psychodynamic psychotherapy and CBT. I have been told that some people have this illness because they inherited it, it is genetic. I was a happy child, but all my life I have felt like an outsider, a loner, and in adolescence I suffered panic attacks and anxiety attacks and continue to. I try and maintain a healthy lifestyle eating well and exercising. I have a stressful job, my dream job, which I don't love anymore. Frankly I do not currently feel well enough to make radical decisions about my life and my future - I need to wait until I am well again to do that.

There is another clue, Kate - you have always felt like an outsider. I wonder if you had any real friends while in school; were you bullied; panic and anxiety attacks are not confined to depression; siblings?; happiness at home, but what about away from home; that job took away thoughts of your problems at first as you immersed yourself in it, but has the job or the company or the other employees changed in ways that disrupted the way you wanted to keep doing your job.

Diagnosis is fraught with uncertainties, so much so that clinicians and particularly psychiatrists get to a point where they decide what is wrong and stick to that thereafter regardless of whether it might be right or wrong. Others then follow suit.

So I am going to suggest something which will seem odd to you. Take your time and when alone, comfy and completely undisturbed, I want you to think about all your family members, close and the next ones such as cousins, plus all the grandparents you have spent time with. Can you think of any one or more who have had medical problems that seemed to affect their ability to be 'normal' as other family members have been. Has there been anyone who seemed odd; has there been anyone who just did not fit in in any way even though a family member and included as such. Finally, do you know of any past history in your family of unusual illness, who could not work, who left the family and their whereabouts are unknown.

This is serious, Kate. I am not asking you to disclose family secrets, just to think about anything and everything to do with your family. If there is absolutely nothing you can think of then that closes one avenue of thought. If there is something then you need not talk about that person, just what it is that brings that person to mind. That may be the key to your problems. There are other avenues to explore afterwards but I think starting with the family is the approach to adopt now.