YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Just wondering, I have never been on any anti-depressants before December and I am now on 30 mg of Cymbalta. So this is all new to me....
I was put on them the week after my significant other of 8 years completed suicide....
The psychiatrist who prescribed them said they would help for the acute stages to help me function but the real cure would be time and talk therapy and he only would renew with assurances I was in therapy (I was, plus suicide survivor support group).
He said I would only be on a few months - about 6. He has since left the insurance plan I am on and he told me I would need a new doctor so I went to see one.
Instead of taking me off, she wanted to double the dosage and said, well fall is coming, etc.
At the beginning of the session, one of her first questions was "are you still depressed?" and I then related the story to her. at the end she asked again are you still depressed? and I said...what is depression and what is grief?
how can I tell?
I function...I get thru each day.
She said, well fall is coming up (midwest and we get dreary winters) so maybe we should up your dose...
I don't have any real side effects - minor weight gain but my clothes still fit - but just how does one know when its time to go off or to change meds/levels?
Is it the patient or the doctor?
I admit, the idea of being on meds bothers me....not rational but humans are not rational beings, but rationalizers....

Cinnamon, that's the million dollar question. I think probably everyone who's ever been on meds has struggled with that. Are you comfortable with this doctor? I used to just go along with whatever my psychiatrist said, but then I realized that I didn't always agree with his diagnosis. It took a lot of work, but I finally found a good therapist/psychiatrist team that really work with me on dosages and meds. After ten years, I finally feel like I'm on the right med/dosage. Don't be afraid to listen to your gut. Good luck.

Thanks....I really liked the original doctor as he listened quite carefully and was thorough in his explanations of what was going on and what treatment he sought and why.
He was pretty up front that he saw my meds as a response to acute grief and short term.
I picked the new doctor by insurance, she is free and in same practice as therapist.
She asked all the "right questions" for a first visit, but said little. Maybe the question I should be asking is not about meds but about - how can you tell when a doctor is right for you? I lucked out with my first - my therapist knew him and gave me a list of 5 and said, he will get you in the fastest and he did, that day.
He took a later train to see me, so I began with a sense that he cared.