[OT] Question about generic medication

Cheryl wrote:

wrote in message

I've been in a depressive cycle for a few years now, though, that
goes up and down. Last spring, for example, I was utterly miserable.
Then in the summer I started seeing a therapist (I had to switch health
plans to get that - the HMO didn't offer it, and I had to wait until
August 1 because that's when my employer would allow switching plans).
I did feel better for several months, but stopped seeing her in October
because I didn't feel she was helping me. She had what I felt were
some inappropriate responses to some of my complaints. (Eg: one time,
she said, "Well no wonder you're more anxious these days, there's so
much going on," and I was thinking economic collapse, climate change,
the US elections, etc, and then she said, "Yeah, a few planets are doing
some unusual things right now and it's screwing everyone up." With all
respect to the astrologists here, I don't want that in my psychotherapy!!)

In my experience the Drs who are licensed to prescribe meds aren't the ones
to talk to about day to day things that could effect your mood. They seem
only qualified in determining if the meds and the dose you are taking have
the desired result. You need to combine the med Dr with therapy.

The above *was* a therapist, not a meds doctor.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
Yowie wrote:


But the big one is the outer shell if it has one.

This one doesn't have a shell, and neither did the old ones.

I don't think the "shell" is relevent. Some meds will be suffixed
with CR, meaning Controlled Release. That doesn't mean it has any
special coating, necessarily. Some generics don't always translate
into CR versions - Paxil is one until recently.


Paxil CR still isn't available in generic, is it?

Jo

and try to get outside in sunlight or at least bright light for
even ten minutes in the middle of the day.

For treating SAD (or otherwise getting some antidepressant benefit
out of light) you DON'T want the middle of the day, you want first
thing in the morning - summer dawn time. Get a bright LED light,
put it on the pillow beside you and turn it on with a timer. You
can always go back to sleep afterwards, but that early morning blaze
of light is the ONLY way it's going to help.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

"John F. Eldredge" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:17:59 -0800, Jofirey wrote:

I think what we eat and how much activity we have can also affect how we
metabolize medicine. A vicious circle, if we get sluggish, maybe we
don't metabolize it the same way. If we eat differently than usual or
take it at a different time, it gets into the blood stream more or less,
or at a different point in digestion. Lots of things can make a
difference.

Certain foods can interact with medicine. For example, if you are on
various cholesterol-treating medications, you aren't allowed to eat
grapefruit or grapefruit juice. A chemical in the grapefruit will bind
to the medication in the digestive tract, keeping the body from absorbing
the medication.

--
John F. Eldredge --



That's very true. Mom couldn't drink grapefruit juice because of
interactions with her cholesterol medication. When she finally came home
from the hospital one of the prescriptions they'd put her back on was
coumadin. It's a blood thinner. She'd been on it in the past but had been
taken off of it years ago. When you take coumadin you have to avoid
vegetables with high concentrations of vitamin K, essentially spinach,
broccoli and other dark green vegetables. Since spinach was one of the few
things I could still get her to eat, and since it was obvious there was no
"curing" my mother, the gerontologist switched her to low-dose (81 mg)
aspirin. This accomplished the same thing without interacting with her
beloved creamed spinach or spinach souffle.

Jill

wrote in message
...
Sherry wrote:

This is a difficult time of year for a *lot* of people. The holidays
just aren't what
they're cracked up to be, and we're just constantly bombarded by the
media
fairy-tale "perfect" version of the holidays. It's enough to put a
healthy person
in a funk. Let alone someone who is already prone to depression.

It could be, but if my depressed mood is caused by environmental
factors, I think it's more likely the opposite. We're hearing about
all this horrible stuff all the time and it's overwhelming. Global
economic crash, global terrorism, global warming - the globe is in
trouble. I try to block it out, but with people all around me getting
laid off, it's hard to ignore.


I've made a point of not watching television news anymore. I don't have a
job, I don't have insurance. I'm 700 miles away from my doctor who used to
give me samples of my anti-depressant medication because he knew I couldn't
afford them. I've found if I ignore the global issues it's easier to focus
on what is immediately around me. Things that maybe I can actually have
some effect on. Do I feel bad about ignoring global issues? No, because I
can't fix them. I have a voice, certainly, but I no longer let myself be
overwhelmed by things which are basically out of my control.

This is not to make light of your situation at all, Joyce. And I don't know
a thing about that medication or possible issues with what you were
prescribed. I'm just saying it seems to work for me if I keep the "world" a
few steps further away. I know what it's like not to want to leave the
house. I think I'm a bit agorophobic. But yesterday I made myself go out
and get my hair cut. I've been thinking about getting it cut since this
time last year but I just never did it. There was always something else to
deal with. I actually feel a bit better today since I forced myself to go
out and do something just for me for the first time in months.

Of course it was depressing that the girl (heh) who cut my hair had never
seen an episode of 'Friends', had no idea who Courtney Cox is. She had no
idea what shoulder-length cut with whispy bangs I was trying to describe.
LOL

Jill

wrote:
Sherry wrote:

This is a difficult time of year for a *lot* of people. The holidays
just aren't what
they're cracked up to be, and we're just constantly bombarded by the
media
fairy-tale "perfect" version of the holidays. It's enough to put a
healthy person
in a funk. Let alone someone who is already prone to depression.

It could be, but if my depressed mood is caused by environmental
factors, I think it's more likely the opposite. We're hearing about
all this horrible stuff all the time and it's overwhelming. Global
economic crash, global terrorism, global warming - the globe is in
trouble. I try to block it out, but with people all around me getting
laid off, it's hard to ignore.

Keep trying. Distraction helps, too. I know it's hard, but I find it
helps when I'm in a vulnerable period - or when I feel one sneaking up
on me.

Sometimes I don't know what comes first - a depressed mood or bad things
happening. Sometimes it seems like if I'm not in a bad mood or weakened
emotional state, I can deal with the bad things that happen, but if I
am, I not only don't deal with the bad things, I make their effect on me
worse by obsessing over them. There's a famous prayer - the serenity
prayer - and it has good advice even if you don't pray. 'God grant me
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the
things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.'. When I think things
are getting to me, I tell myself 'I can't change it' (for strangers
getting laid off, terrorism, global warming), or 'I'm doing what I can
about it (donating to food banks, recycling etc). Either way, I don't
need to worry about it.

And then I tell myself that again, when I find myself getting depressed
over the state of the world, and again, while trying to distract myself
with something. Eventually, that usually works!

Are you required to use this specific pharmacy? Are they customer-
friendly enough
that you might *ask* if they could carry the same generic that you did
well on before?
With our plan, you *can* get name-brand, but it costs a lot more than
the normal $25
copay. Effexor is a really expensive drug, I do remember that from
when Dad was on it.

I thought about that, too. I did pretty well on the name brand, back
when I was taking it. So if the generic I got from Kaiser isn't available
to me now, I will look into that. (And yes, I know how expensive that
drug is - I was paying for it, full price, out of pocket in 2004 when I
had no insurance!)

Good luck with the drugs.

Cheryl

On Dec 10, 8:12*am, "jmcquown" wrote:


That's very true. *Mom couldn't drink grapefruit juice because of
interactions with her cholesterol medication. *When she finally came home
from the hospital one of the prescriptions they'd put her back on was
coumadin. *It's a blood thinner. *She'd been on it in the past but had been
taken off of it years ago. *When you take coumadin you have to avoid
vegetables with high concentrations of vitamin K, essentially spinach,
broccoli and other dark green vegetables. *Since spinach was one of the few
things I could still get her to eat, and since it was obvious there was no
"curing" my mother, the gerontologist switched her to low-dose (81 mg)
aspirin. *This accomplished the same thing without interacting with her
beloved creamed spinach or spinach souffle.

I didn't know spinach has high potassium. I have been eating more
spinach as
I am a bit low in iron. But I have to be careful with my potassium
because of my
medication. Just found out spinach loses potassium upon cooking at
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...trient&dbid=90

and I always steam my spinach so maybe it's O.K. I better check with a
dietician or nutritionist.
Thanks Jill

Winnie


Jill- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On Dec 10, 9:12*am, "jmcquown" wrote:
wrote in message

...





Sherry wrote:

This is a difficult time of year for a *lot* of people. The holidays
just aren't what
they're cracked up to be, and we're just constantly bombarded by the
media
fairy-tale "perfect" version of the holidays. It's enough to put a
healthy person
in a funk. Let alone someone who is already prone to depression.

It could be, but if my depressed mood is caused by environmental
factors, I think it's more likely the opposite. We're hearing about
all this horrible stuff all the time and it's overwhelming. Global
economic crash, global terrorism, global warming - the globe is in
trouble. I try to block it out, but with people all around me getting
laid off, it's hard to ignore.

I've made a point of not watching television news anymore. *I don't have a
job, I don't have insurance. *I'm 700 miles away from my doctor who used to
give me samples of my anti-depressant medication because he knew I couldn't
afford them. *I've found if I ignore the global issues it's easier to focus
on what is immediately around me. *Things that maybe I can actually have
some effect on. *Do I feel bad about ignoring global issues? *No, because I
can't fix them. *I have a voice, certainly, but I no longer let myself be
overwhelmed by things which are basically out of my control.

This is not to make light of your situation at all, Joyce. *And I don't know
a thing about that medication or possible issues with what you were
prescribed. *I'm just saying it seems to work for me if I keep the "world" a
few steps further away. *I know what it's like not to want to leave the
house. *I think I'm a bit agorophobic. *But yesterday I made myself go out
and get my hair cut. *I've been thinking about getting it cut since this
time last year but I just never did it. *There was always something else to
deal with. *I actually feel a bit better today since I forced myself to go
out and do something just for me for the first time in months.

Of course it was depressing that the girl (heh) who cut my hair had never
seen an episode of 'Friends', had no idea who Courtney Cox is. *She had no
idea what shoulder-length cut with whispy bangs I was trying to describe.
LOL

Jill- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I agree with you Jill. I also don't have a job. Well I do have a part-
time temporary
job now which I can't even go to due to the bus strike as I can't
drive. It is too far
to walk and I can't find a ride. I refuse to hitchhike.
I have also been avoiding the news on TV as it is too depressing. Plus
my TV is on its last leg. I listen to radio music instead of watching
TV. But even the radio has depressing news bulletins. So I switched to
listening to CDs and old cassettes which
help relax me.
I know what you are going through. I lost my father who had a sudden
fatal heart
attack 2 weeks after I lost my job of 20 years. It was right before
Christmas. I had to pay a small fortune to fly acrosss the country at
the peak of Christmas travel to help arrange and attend the funeral.
Then my flight was cancelled after long line ups at
the airport due to freezing rain. I sat down and cried at the airport.

My thoughts are with you and Joyce.

Winnie

Cheryl P. wrote:

Sometimes I don't know what comes first - a depressed mood or bad things
happening. Sometimes it seems like if I'm not in a bad mood or weakened
emotional state, I can deal with the bad things that happen, but if I
am, I not only don't deal with the bad things, I make their effect on me
worse by obsessing over them. [snip]

I don't usually obsess over these things. If I do, it's for a specific
period of time, and then I go back to worrying about more immediate
problems. However, I do feel there's a cumulative effect from hearing
about all these dire problems, and having them hang over our heads all
the time. Even if it's not in my conscious mind, it's still there affecting
my mood.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

jmcquown wrote:

We're hearing about
all this horrible stuff all the time and it's overwhelming. Global
economic crash, global terrorism, global warming

I've made a point of not watching television news anymore. I don't have a
job, I don't have insurance. I'm 700 miles away from my doctor who used to
give me samples of my anti-depressant medication because he knew I couldn't
afford them. I've found if I ignore the global issues it's easier to focus
on what is immediately around me. Things that maybe I can actually have
some effect on. Do I feel bad about ignoring global issues? No, because I
can't fix them. I have a voice, certainly, but I no longer let myself be
overwhelmed by things which are basically out of my control.

I often avoid reading or listening to the news, but I find that it seeps
in anyway, and just kind of sets the tone for everything else. Plus,
these problems are affecting other people around me, either directly
(people I know have lost their jobs), or in a similar way to what I was
talking about - they're just depressed about the state of things. And
when everyone else is depressed or stressed, relationships between
people aren't as good - people are distracted, more short-tempered, less
sympathetic, less available (either time-wise or emotionally). These
problems affect us whether we pay conscious attention or not, although
I'm sure it's better if I don't marinate in it.

yesterday I made myself go out
and get my hair cut. I've been thinking about getting it cut since this
time last year but I just never did it. There was always something else to
deal with. I actually feel a bit better today since I forced myself to go
out and do something just for me for the first time in months.

Yes, I know what you mean. Just a change of scenery, some fresh air, a
bit of walking around, conversation with people you don't see often, all
of those things can really change your state of mind when you've been in
a closed environment for too long.

Of course it was depressing that the girl (heh) who cut my hair had never
seen an episode of 'Friends', had no idea who Courtney Cox is. She had no
idea what shoulder-length cut with whispy bangs I was trying to describe.
LOL

Glad you have your priorities in order!

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)