The Black Dog Has Returned.

Post by **jones jones** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:00 am

The “black dog has returned with a vengeance bringing in its wake a pack of baying curs. Quickly they surrounded me with hackles raised and slavering fangs bared, their glowing eyes fixed upon me intently.

Cursing them, I was about to surrender rather than face yet another battle that I knew I would be hard pressed to fight let alone stand any chance of winning.

Like a coward I cowered in a corner, crying out: “I’m actually looking forward to dying! This preferable to fighting another battle I knew I could never win.

But fortunately for me I am constantly surrounded by people who love me and care about my well being so that as I was about to roll over a bare my throat to the black dog, they sprang into action.

The psychiatrist who treated me during my last serious bout of depression, the oddly and aptly named Doctor Christian, could not be raised so frantic telephone calls were made to Peter my G.P. and Earle my pharmacist, both good friends of mine. End result I was put on a course of Efexor XR capsules which is used for the treatment of major depression.

Now the list of potential side effects from taking Efexor XR you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy and include; loss of appetite, dizziness, weakness, drowsiness, yawning, dry mouth, sweating, nervousness, constipation, abnormal dreams, weight loss, diarrhoea, vision changes and a host of other alarming stuff. As luck would have it I suffered from about 50% of them. Last night for instance I slept for a straight nine hours and woke up still sleepy and yawning!

So yesterday I went back to my doctor and he has now put me on Venlor XR and at half the strength that I was taking the Effexor at. So far the nausea has lessened but the doctor told me that it would take about 48 hours for the Effexor to work thru my system.

Well heres hoping the Venlor XR will eventually send the black dog back to Hades where he belongs.

Jj

shelbell · Post by **shelbell** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:08 am

So sorry your black dog has showed it's ugly head again hun. Mine never leaves so I know how you feel about the not having the will to fight it anymore. It's good they didn't have you on the Effexor long, it takes awhile to go thru the withdrawls when you stop it. I've never heard of Venlor, but I hope it works for you. I'm also sending out some :yh_hugs:yh_hugs and :-4 to you.

You might want to check out this other thread that's been going on about depression.

http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/showt ... hp?t=40833

:-4 Shel

Trunk Monkey · Post by **Trunk Monkey** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:56 am

That's a bad, bad dog and needs to be trained to leave you alone! I wish you all the best with your new meds and hope that dang dog leaves you alone. Sending nothing but :-4 and :yh_hugs your way. Please let us know how you are doing.

kayleneaussie · Post by **kayleneaussie** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:06 pm

good luck with your new meds jj....thinking of you :-4:-4:yh_hugs:yh_hugs

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:30 pm

hi Jj,

i keep getting drawn back to this thread as you may have noticed !!

i dont have a big black dog, more like an aggravating terrior at the moment, sitting in the corner, waiting for a crack to appear in my armour so he can sneak in and tear things apart again and i dont think its going to be long before he succeeds.

take care my freind :-4

mwaaaaaah.

along-for-the-ride · Post by **along-for-the-ride** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:28 pm

Hang in there, JJ.

Are you familiar with this book?

Attached files

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:52 pm

Ahhhhh, sorry JJ:-6 Hope you'll be on the road to recovery and the meds are working. Take care and keep the faith:-4 All of my thoughts are with you.

Hope6 · Post by **Hope6** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:53 pm

My thoughts and prayers and lots of positive energy being sent your way Jj! :-4

I hope the new meds work better for you, and you will be feeling better soon and you can tell that ol' dog to go take a hike! :-6

sunny104 · Post by **sunny104** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:16 am

sending you prayers and hugs!! :yh_hugs

we're always here for you! :-4

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:23 am

Viscous cycle.

Do you accompany the chemical imbalance meds with substantive activities that you find meaningful or provide a balance in your life ?

Post by **jones jones** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:38 am

to shelly honey; pJ honey; jimbo my buddy; kaylene honey;helen honey;along for the ride honey;kathy honey; hope honey; sunny honey and nomie my buddy;

sorry i have taken this long to respond but we had a fierce storm today ... thunderbolts and lightning so i lost my internet ... been sleeping 10 hours at a stretch but my new meds seem to be working a lot better ... nausea has eased and the only side effect seems to be sleepiness and drowsiness ...

guys until you been visted by the black dog i know its difficult to understand depression/bi-polar stuff ... but you have no idea how much having friends such as yourselves helps ... when you in the depths of depression all you wanna do is be alone ... pull the covers over your head and pray that the world will go away ... but it never does ... people such as you guys bring me back to reality and make me realise that no man is an island ... we all need someone to love us ... someone we can lean on and someone we can trust ...

i thank you all so much even though you made me cry!

mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Jj :-4

shelbell · Post by **shelbell** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 2:10 pm

Just remember Jj, I'm always just an e-mail away and I go thru these same things that you do as I'm sure you already know. I'm glad the new meds are starting to work...that's all good!

mwaaaaaaaaaah! :-4

Post by **jones jones** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:40 pm

shelbell;1013033 wrote: Just remember Jj, I'm always just an e-mail away and I go thru these same things that you do as I'm sure you already know. I'm glad the new meds are starting to work...that's all good!

mwaaaaaaaaaah! :-4

thanx honey! i do believe that the black dog is beginning to get restless and has jumped down off the foot of my bed a few times lately ... soon he may start running towards the door wanting to be let out!

mwaaaaaaaah!

Jj :-4

shelbell · Post by **shelbell** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:33 pm

jones jones;1013402 wrote: thanx honey! i do believe that the black dog is beginning to get restless and has jumped down off the foot of my bed a few times lately ... soon he may start running towards the door wanting to be let out!

mwaaaaaaaah!

Jj :-4

That's really good news. Now lets hope he jumps off and stays off...then you can let him out and let him go.

mwaaaaaaaah! :-4

sunny104 · Post by **sunny104** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:50 am

sending you extra squishy hugs today. :yh_hugs

hope you're continuing to feel better. :-4

Post by **jones jones** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 8:07 am

shelbell;1013437 wrote: That's really good news. Now lets hope he jumps off and stays off...then you can let him out and let him go.

mwaaaaaaaah! :-4

your so right shelly honey ... i gotta keep away from my door as long as i can! with friends like i got here on FG i can do it!

mwaaaaaaaaaaah!

Jj :-4

Post by **jones jones** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 8:08 am

sunny104;1013695 wrote: sending you extra squishy hugs today. :yh_hugs

hope you're continuing to feel better. :-4

thanx sunny honey .... i do so love squishy hugs!

i am hoping i have turned the corner!

mwaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Jj :-4