I am curious to know from those of you who are taking the subject medications, what do you see as the benefits? Here is my experience--I took Xanax (generic) for a very short time soon after dx--it was like a sleeping pill. I would take it and conk out--not too practical. Later on, I tried Lexapro--even on 2.5 mg, was sleeping 13 hrs a night and required a daytime nap. Needless to say, I ended that.

Here's my theory: I think the human body/brain is simply not designed to do what we do as dementia caregivers. It's too hard and lasts too long--thus, the statistics about how many caregivers die before the patient or develop serious health problems. I don't like taking any kind of medication, but I think I'm practical enough to consider it if I think that it will benefit me in the end. Consequently, I'd like to hear about others' experiences.

Lexapro has been working good for me. I can not tell any difference but I notice that things do not bother me as much. The repeating question I thought I'd go nuts. Now it does not phase me. It is very suble for me and took it 3 week to kick in.

I do take Xanax without any sedating effects. I prefer something that I can take as needed instead of something that I have to take all the time.

My caregiver role as began when DH was Dx’d with his Mental Illness in March 1988. I came home from volunteering at school to a potential suicide. The next morning his Psychiatrist wrote a script and told me to start him on it, apply for Disability, keep the household running as normally as possible, and to return in 2 weeks. Also, if we had trouble before that to call him. We had trouble, but we got through until the appointment, because I didn’t know the med wasn’t the right one for him—I didn’t know what was “trouble”. By about May of 1990, DH was leveled out, the household was running normally, our daughter was doing well, and I couldn’t care less about any of it, and least of all me. I really thought that if I just disappeared it wouldn’t really matter.

I joked to a friend that I should sign up for a depression med trial I’d seen advertised. She agreed, and further offered to do the driving to get me there. About 2 weeks later she got after me and didn’t let it go. I went, signed up and learned a lot. The study was a double-blind one for the time-release Welbutrin. Even after 2 weeks, I knew there was a difference, and I knew the week I got the placebo. At the end of the study I was on a small dose (75 mg daily) and referred to a clinic to continue treatment. I opted for some counseling as well. The med alone would have done the job to get my brain healed, its chemistry back in balance. I wanted more. I wanted to understand the hows and whys of having become so down, and how to fight it, and how to prevent it from happening again. I knew DH’s condition would never “get better” (heal). Little did I know that in 2005 we’d face a med side effect crisis , which in 2006 would be so severe it put him in the hospital for nearly a month while Drs. tried to change his meds. In the process, they tested him to determine precisely what his problems were. That’s when the bomb dropped---Vascular Dementia already in early to mid stage 5.

When I started the care giving journey I made the classic mistakes of taking care of
everything and everybody, except me. I had no mentors, no support group, and little
support from family. In fact, I had negative issues with his family. I learned the hard
way. But what I learned is with me still. I take care of DH, but to do it, I take care of
me. If I become overwhelmed, I pull back and sort out what’s going on, ship out what I
can, fix what I can, and then deal with the rest as needed. If I ever get to the point where
I need help, I’ll get it, and I know what to watch for.

Once you face a severe event and figure out how to handle it, you can handle anything
less. I faced down his potential suicide, his mental illness, handled our daughter
graduating from college and moving to CA. I’ve handled his Dementia care while
having my hernia repaired, and healing a broken foot. Our daughter got married.
I’ve been in the Abyss and refuse to go there again. If it takes meds to help me, I’ll take
them.

I am here and share whatever I can to help others on this site because it helps me. My
almost 22 years of care giving has taught me a lot of stuff. If I can save someone some
of the grief I had to fight my way through that’s great!

I’ve faced the fact that I could have lost myself completely in 1990, but a good friend and
some meds changed that. Now, I will get DH through this rotten deal, and I’m building
some plans and dreams for my AFTER.

MarilyninMD, I have been taking the generic for Zoloft for two months now, and the difference in how I feel is magical. Before, I was in the abyss a lot, and didn't know why, other than the loneliness and neverending work of caregiving. I was not in a good place, and going downhill to the point of a nervous breakdown in the near future. Then, after making a dr. appt. and crying as I told them why I needed it, they saw me the next day and gave me the prescription. Now, I have not even been near the abyss, don't feel the loneliness, even though I expect to be alone the rest of my time on this planet, and have a good, although sometimes cavalier attitude about what caregiving and housekeeping tasks I feel need to be done right now and what can wait. This chemical I believe has literally saved my sanity, if not my life, and am so thankful for all the good folks here that insisted I see my PCP about it.

I have been on buproprion (Welbutrin) for almost two years. After the dx of my DH, and a major surgery, loosing our home, moving away from kids, grandkids, my doc said, maybe you should give this a try. I had tried many different meds a year or so earlier and had the zombie feeling so decided I wouldn't take anymore. But when one of my daughters took it and it actually gave her energy, and "can" help weight loss instead of causing weight gain, I decided to try it. It has helped, nothing will ever take the feelings, emotions, low times away completely, but at least I don't cry as much. It did give me energy, I did loose weight, whether from stress or the meds I don't know, but I'm pretty happy with it. Not really sure how well it is working now, because I have so many really stressful things happening in my life between DH, kids, grandkids. My doc just gave me ativan as well for nights....so everything considered, guess this is really the best I can ask for.

My dr prescribed Sertraline (generic for Zoloft) last November. It took about 2-3 weeks for me to feel differently. At the time, my eyesight was getting really bad and my pulmonologist said I needed to be on oxygen therapy. Believe you me, I was feeling pretty low. I was ready to pick a fight with anyone who stood still. My pcp thought I needed the med and after I told him what I thought, agreed to give it a try. It worked like a charm. It's not a tranquilizer. I do not feel like a zombie but it sure takes the edge off most everything.

Good luck (and Texas Joe) I'm glad you found something to help you function a little better. :)

Thanks everyone for sharing this information. I don't need anything now but will know how to recover all this info when I do.
Carosi, I am very glad you are here and have often profited from your experience and wise advice. Thanks for sharing and devoting your time and attention to this site.

I started taking St. John's Wort at the beginning of the summer. I started myself on 1 capsule 2x/day because I was expecting no effect. I've always been a wishful thinker when it comes to herbal remedies, then tried them and got no effect. Hence, I expected no effect. Hence, I started at maximum dose. After a couple months, I cut back to just taking it in the morning, because I think it can make me jittery.
As for effectiveness: Yes, I'm certain it has helped me. I was doing "ok," and was functional, but still kind of in a blah sort of funk.
On St. John's Wort, I feel more able to differentiate myself from the Alz situation, and I have started to accomplish things again. Mainly, by this I mean I am back to my work of writing books, with energy and motivation, and I have learned how to use Wordpress, and created and launched a website for my books. The ability to motivate myself and accomplish work suggests to me that I am better on the SJW than without.

Emily, it's wonderful that you're able to write again.

Marsh, I love that statement.

I'd like to echo what Jeanette said about thanking everyone for sharing their experiences. As she said, I am coping without anything now, but in the future, who knows? I'm keeping an open mind in terms of the meds. Does anyone use any of the new-agey stuff--meditation, tai chi, biofeedback, etc.? Kathi, didn't you learn some of these techniques in your caregiver classes?

As for the "new-agey stuff": I do get acupuncture once in a while. My objective is to relax and have some help with my tendency to internalize my stress so that it shows up as chest pain or neck/shoulder pain, etc. I think it would be hard to expect a lot more from therapies of this sort unless you had a lot more time and money and could do it every day.

OTOH, you mentioned tai chi. While I have not engaged in this particular form of exercise, I think any kind of movement or exercise program--done regularly--can be of tremendous benefit to your whole system, physical and emotional. Particularly if you participate with a class, there's the added social benefit.