It's been a while since I wrote anything, so here's an update. I'm slowly tapering off Venlafaxine. Two days ago, I forgot to take my pill before I left the house. I live about 40 minutes from Salt Lake City, and I was heading there when I realized I'd forgotten. Suppressing panic, I told myself I could make it there and back before I felt the repurcussions. I was right, but shortly after returning home I felt overwhelmingly tired and dizzy. Unbelievably, it took me two more hours to realize I still needed to take my dang pill. The rest of the day was spent laying on the couch, trying to calm my brain. I couldn't concentrate, had trouble focusing (mentally and physically) and was so dizzy I couldn't really do anything. It's outrageously frustrating to lose an entire day because of missing one little pill!
This cemented my plan to go off Venlafaxine. If it was really working for me, I would probably stay on it longer, but it's not and I just want to be done with it now.
So my doc wanted to put me on Cymbalta, but I hesitated because side effects I read about appear to be similar to Venlafaxine. I talked to her yesterday about it, though, and she said it's nowhere near as severe as the Venlafaxine, so I'm going to trust her and go ahead and give it a try. I'm nervous, but she is a very good doctor, so I'm going to put my trust in her and see what happens.
They have this new spit test that she had me do. The results show DNA and genetic information that never changes-- it's mine forever-- and from that data the test shows which anti-anxiety or depression drugs would be effective for me, by assessing my metabolization rates for different things. Specific to me. Kind of cool. If you're thinking about medicinal treatment for your anxiety or depression, ask your doc to find out about this new test. Here's an article about it.
One thing the test told us is that my body metabolizes Folate so quickly that I'm not able to absorb it into my system well, so take THAT, green leafy veggies! The verdict is that I need to take a pre-metabolized Folate supplement, which is best taken by prescription. Fascinating stuff! She said the Folate alone might help with my anxiety, but especially in conjunction with medication, I should be able to notice a difference. Kind of cool!
So I'll hopefully be sleeping better and less anxious very soon.
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