Does it matter if its WAW or MLC, treat the same?

[25yearsmlc]

What a crappy weekend to get out and GAL, so damn hot. With working outside, and it being 105 all weekend, I just couldn't get out to do a thing, I was exhausted.

Some slippage the last few days on my 180's. Time to get back to work again. I need some better ideas for GAL'n, the gym is like going to work since im already 5% body fat and do heavy lifting all day long. All my friends are drinkers, I went out Friday night, and had Dr. Pepper and ate dinner. Was still nice to just get out. Saturday night kids took me to a carnival in town, face painting and all. My kids have been just soooooo GREAT.

MEET NEW PEOPLE...that, to ME, is key to GAL. They don't remind you of your situation or bring it up so there are fewer reminders and the PMA is much easier. It's also more interesting. Absolutely JOIN something or take a class. If you have not seen my personal GAL list, go track it down. There's no good reason not to be GAL now...

we hammer it for a reason. It works.


So need to get better at detaching, think wife and I talk more now than the last 5 years, which might be part of problem for me, I take it too positive or negative. Been wondering if going on anti depressants is an option, heard far more bad than good with them. Make you foggy, and terrible to get off them.

I've taken them twice, for different reasons and got different types of ADs. Once for grief after my dad died suddenly and then later during the winter in Alaska. Different meds, for different types of depression versus melancholy, etc.

I am sorry you have heard bad information. I found them very helpful both times. NO problem "getting off them", just weaned. They are not "addicting" in the sense that you'd have to keep increasing the dose or crave, etc. And if they help, then why get off then? I mean, I think there are some knee jerk reactions from people who had the wrong dosage or confuse medications altogether. They'll be taking anti psychotics and call them anti depressants... NOT the same thing at all. Communicate with your doctor. If you feel "foggy" then chances are the dose needs an adjustment, or you increased it too quickly, etc.

TALK to a professional. And don't forget the downside of NOT taking them, like how you feel. Or if you obsess too much and or say the wrong thing or worsen the relationships b/c of your temper or blurting out things...which MIGHT get a lot better if you take ADs...

I'm not trying to push these onto you but I did a lot of research before I took any.

My h is an MD and when we talked after my dad's death I confessed I was "not shaking it" and could not concentrate at my new job. Kept forgetting things,felt tired but slept poorly...and that's BEFORE I went on an SSRI antidepressant. H was supportive and explanatory about how our brains react to grief, not sleeping or eating right ALSO affect us and it's a cyclical thing. But I got great results both times so I"m a poster child FOR the medication I took after my dad died.

Within days I felt 'better", with less "what if" obsessing... and two or three weeks after starting them, I was tapping my steering wheel on the way to work, to the tune on the radio.

I suddenly realized I had not sung or tapped to music for months...I was getting better! I could "hear" what was said at work and retain the new information...
so for ME it was a Godsend.

As for Getting off them, I did not have or notice anything much. I felt fine on them, but After about 6-8 months my libido was still down (it was down when I was depressed too, but this felt medication related).

So I told my doctor. He offered me an alternative AD or the option of weaning off, which I did. So i decreased my dosage and then eliminated it over a 2 or three week period. Still took something to help me sleep. But did not notice ANYTHING like a "withdrawal"...while my moods moved a bit more, my libido came back and that was worth it to me.

And that was that. I have friends who tried 3 different ADs before finding the right one, plus dosage adjustments. So you have to be patient. My dose was a low one, btw.

What I took in Alaska was totally different, acting on different receptors in the brain. Thank God...b/c they helped me there too, when I had no sunlight for months. Different chemicals get involved or imbalanced, so different adjustments need to be made.

Ask yourself how you are presently affected by your emotional status. That's what NOT taking them costs...but there are downsides and pros/cons to ALL choices in life.

Do some good solid research, not the alarmists hysterical anecdotal versions of hell, OR the pharmaceutical companies commercials. Read the Journal of the American Psychiatric Association, or the New England Journal of Medicine, etc...

there are some great resources out there for us to learn from.