Originally Posted by
Golfman 
You may or may not know that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Hi Ed,
Would you concede, too, that his reported mild depression and anxiety only a few weeks sober may well be the natural process of early recovery? I hate seeing people handed out these drugs like candy, when it can be so difficult to stop later down the line.
No, they aren't "addictive" in any tradition sense but there is a disctinct and sometimes severe discontinuation syndrome associated with trying to come off them.
Originally Posted by
Golfman The commercial for Cymbalta points out the names of the two main chemicals that can be out of whack.
There are three primary neurotransmitters responsible for mood which are affected to some degree by antidepressants; dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Cybalta is a neuromodulator to the latter two.
I too, am an alcoholic with long-term sobriety which will be 11 years in mid-April. And I
too have been through a few ADs over the years just like you!
(Currently Celexa and doing great!) Anyways - back to the caveat - I like your next point...
Originally Posted by
Golfman I would suggest that you make sure your physician is qualified to deal with depression. Many GP's dispense AD meds without actually knowing what they are faced with.
Oh man is that a great point. As I said, I think they are handed WAY too easily and quickly here in the states. I'm not a doctor but psychopharmacology has been a field of high interest to me for 20 years, and what we are now finding is that certain ADs like venlafaxine can be very difficult to come off, should the patient decide he doesn't want to be taking them his whole life.
I'm fine with that, btw. LOL I'm fairly sure that I will be on an AD for as long as I live. But that's a whole other story.
Can't_Stop, the mild depression and anxiety you describe are actually all a part of a healthy recovery from heavy drinking, and if it were me, I would definitely want to give my body longer than mere weeks before commiting to an AD.
I wish you the best either way, and remind you that, if you are taking an AD, it is essential that you not still be going back to the drinking. It will be impossible to know if your Effexor is truly working for you long-term or not.
Ten