Dr. put me on Lexapro for 7 weeks. Wants me to come back in 6 weeks to let him know how I am doing. He really wants me to go see a Christian psychiatrist, but I just don’t have the time and my insurance won’t cover it. Of course, if I don’t do this, he will probably not continue to give me the medicine. I came home and looked up Lexapro and there were a couple of questionnaires to take to see if you have GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) or depression. I took both of them and the results of the depression questionnaire said I had severe depression. I also scored pretty high on the anxiety one. Lexapro’s website encourages talking with a counselor along with its use. I guess I might try to see if I can find the time to schedule something…
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I have been on lexapro for almost two years now. It’s really great. I started out on Effexor when Jayden was about 4 months old. I had post partum, but I really had depression issues for a long time before that. You’re one that could vouch for that! Anyway – it was seriously night and day for me. It was one of the best things I ever did honestly. I am able to handle things so much better now and my emotions are more even keel. I will tell you that I don’t cry that much anymore – which can be a good thing or bad thing sometimes! Jesse has said that there is no way I could ever go off, and I’m not trying. I am currently on 20mg. I went up at the end of nursing school. I wean back down to 10mg every 6 months or so, but end up going back up after a few months.
One thing you can do is see if either of you jobs have a EAP program. It stands for Employee Assistance Program. It allows you to see someone (on their plan or whatever) for a certain amount of visits for free. Montgomery County Hospital District’s & The Woodlands Fire Dept’s used to be through Interfaith. You could also look into Interfaith and see what they would charge you. Does your insurance not cover it period or do you have a large deductable? Another good person to talk to about it is Theresa Steltzlen. She is a L.P.C. and has a private practice in The Woodlands. I worked for her for quite a few years. So I have some knowledge about how all the insurance works. If you were comfortable seeing her she might could work a deal out with you. Or she would be a good resource on how to go about getting some discounts or finding someone else good in the area that may work with your insurance.
The best thing to do insurance wise – which you might have already done – is call and find out what your mental health benefits are. Usually, if you have an EAP it’s not through the insurance company it’s through the company that you actually work for.
Anyways – hope all this helps. Sorry to ramble on…
Counseling always is helpful, even just to have someone who is there exclusively to listen to you talk…I know alot of the bigger baptist churches have counseling ministries that will provide DEEPLY discounted counseling services…something to check into.