QUESTION:

I would like to know why is it that I feel unconnected to myself when I take medication? When I discontinue my medication, I can feel all sorts of things from fear, my constant reminders about death, how I am as a person, my inner feelings about being so alone (both emotionally and physically), and the voices that live inside of my head (especially the one I hear from my deceased father). I can cry when I am not on my medication (Effexor, 300 mg a day) and I can feel my shame and guilt. I know that it is not a good idea for me to be off of medication, but sometimes I have to "go there for awhile". I feel bad all the time, with or without medication, so at this point one says "what does it matter". When on medication, though, I feel as though I am some kind of puppet. I do what is ask of me by my family and I have no other purpose of life.

DR. HELLER'S ANSWER:

That is not how you should feel on medication. What isn't clear is how much of what you call "feeling" is appropriate or inappropriate and just comfortable.

Even though there are medical literature reports of Effexor working, I've never seen a patient who did great on it. There were always some side effects or symptoms that just didn't get better.

There is a wealth of information on this website about medications that do work better, in my opinion. Like everyone else you need all your diagnoses correctly made and treated.

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