Hey guys, I was first treated for depression when I was 16. Now it's returned and I'm back seeing a doctor about it. Last time I was depressed, I tried the following medications: - Zoloft, which made me feel even worse (to the point where I tried to kill myself twice because of it) - Celexa, which I had to quit because it didn’t help me at all and the side effects were too much for me. - Lexapro, which my body couldn’t handle. I threw up constantly and was so dizzy I kept falling over. It also didn’t help me whatsoever. - Prozac, which had a partial effect on me and it actually made me feel a little bit better. The side effects weren’t too bad except for the sexual ones. The symptoms I get when I’m depressed are mainly constant sadness/hopelessness/self-loathing/guilt, insomnia, alternating between being restless and being lethargic, shutting myself off from the world and such. Anxiety’s never been a major problem for me, of course I’ve had to deal with that but it hasn’t been too bad. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder when I was 16 but my journals say I might be bipolar, which is weird since I’ve never had a manic episode. I asked my doctor about it and she said it’s because I didn’t respond to SSRI drugs, which apparently is quite common among bipolar people. I started taking Voxra approximately three weeks ago, which (according to Google) is a weaker version of Wellbutrin. However my anxiety’s gotten very bad in the last week and it’s apparently because Voxra affects the noradrenaline, which causes anxiety. I went back to see my doctor today and she said I need to start taking another antidepressant together with the Voxra to help me deal with anxiety. Even though I personally haven’t noticed any change at all, Voxra has made me a bit more awake and alive (according to my boyfriend) and I’m going to keep taking that alongside whichever antidepressant I decide to start taking. I want to keep the Voxra because it helps removing any sexual side effects of other antidepressants. My doctor suggests I try one of these drugs alongside the Voxra: - another go at SSRI drugs. She wanted me to go on Zoloft again but I refused, so we settled on Prozac. - Mirtazapine/Remeron. This would help me sleep but the weight gain is supposedly pretty bad so I don’t know. - an SNRI drug, probably Effexor. It’s allegedly very hard to stop taking and I know it’ll be really hard to quit it if it doesn’t work for me. - Abilify. My doctor thinks this is a good idea since I might be bipolar, but it’s an antipsychotic and the side effects are freaking me out. - Seroquel, for the same reason as Abilify. This is also an antipsychotic with scary side effects. Has anyone on here been on any of these drugs and if so, could you please tell me how it worked for you? Does anyone have any ideas/opinions about which drug I should go for? I’m going to see her again on Thursday and I’ll need to have my mind made up by then, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
My doctor tried me on Seroquel. Im not a lightweight when it comes to medications but when I took that it knocked my ass out! I turned into a zombie. Ive also been on Cymbalta but it didnt really do anything for me.
I have been taking elavil for my anxiety. It has some side affects such as dry mouth. However, It does work.
I'm on Abilify, but it's in combination with Lexapro, so I'm not sure how much difference that makes. It seems to work well for me, though. I didn't have any major side effects from it, but I'm on a pretty low dosage. The only thing I've noticed is that I sleep a lot. But it's really helped a lot with my depression. I don't know if this helps at all, but that's been my experience with Abilify.
Kyfry said: Seroquel seems to have that effect on lots of people, hence why I'm apprehensive about it. I mean SSRI antidepressants knock me out pretty good, so I don't even want to imagine how badly I'd react to an antipsychotic. Thank you for your comment! Sarah2695 said I just read up on Elavil and it seems to be working well for lots of people but it seems to be a hard drug to get since it's a bit older. Doctors seem to be much more willing to prescribe newer drugs unfortunately :/ but I'll definitely ask my doctor about it! thanks SamThes said: I have no idea either but all I know is that I can't go back on Lexapro. I have no idea why I reacted that badly to that drug in particular but the side effects were awful. I'm glad to hear that Abilify's working well for you! If it makes you sleep, that would be a good thing for me. I'm taking Theralen and Propavan for my insomnia and initially it actually helped me. One of the side effects Voxra has is insomnia and I think the side effects of that drug have kicked in because I'm back to not being able to sleep. So yeah I could definitely do with a bit more sleep! Thank you for your comment
Hey, I've been on paxil (paroxetine) for many years and was doing ok, but recently relapsed and now on top of paxil (40 mg/day) I'm taking Efexor. I started with 75 mg/day but didn't do much to me so I'm now on 150 mg. It's still kinda soon to tell but I might be improving a bit. I've heard of the strong withdrawal symptons as well and am a little afraid of them but hoping it will work. Now, from what I know, Efexor, in a low dose, works as a SSRI rather than a SNRI, so you may wanna consider that. Good luck. Diego.
Most of them ! Everyone is different. And getting something that suits you can take time and discussion with your doctor. So I would not recommend taking EC'ers advice when you should work carefully on this with the doctor. As you know, it can take some weeks for a med to take effect and / or get the dose right. And you can get initial bad reactions that slowly go away with time. Is your doctor a regular doctor or a specialised psychiatrist? A psychiatrist might be a good idea if you are having trouble getting the right meds for you -- or combination of meds. My own experience of coming off any of these meds - including Effexor - is that it can be done easily if you gradually reduce the dose over a few weeks. Good luck and I hope your mood improves soon ! (*hug*)
Diego89: Efexor seems to work for lots of people that haven't responded well to other antidepressants hence why I'm considering that. But yeah the withdrawal symptoms seem really really bad. I had no idea it was more like an SSRI if taken in lower doses. The thing is that I pretty much need it not to be like an SSRI since I seemingly don't respond to them at all :/ Bingostring: Yeah I know but I talked to her and asked her for advice and she pretty much said it was up to me to decide which way to go. She said that since she simply doesn't know what kind of medication I will respond to, she thinks we should just try one kind and then change my medication if I don't respond to that either. All doctors seem pretty unsure of what to do since they don't know if I'm bipolar and they want to do some tests to see if I'm actually bipolar but I can't do them before August anyways so we're stuck at the moment. She's a psychiatrist. Thanks (*hug*)
My doctor tried to give my Effexor but once I got my prescription, I looked up reviews and so many people said it was terrible. Very few said that it helped them and everyone said that once they stopped taking it, it was what they imagined to be like detoxing from crack. I would watch out for that one. I had bad side effects from Zoloft and Celexa as well. Extreme anger outbursts with Zoloft and had suicidal thoughts and impulses for the first time in my life with Celexa. Never taking those again. I'm on Wellbutrin and a small dose of Lexapro right now and two months in, it's been wonderful. This is the first combo of drugs that I haven't gone crazy with. Everyone is different though. My doc said Wellbutrin is very different from those SSRI drugs though, and so far it has been. I also started Lamictal last week because I went to my doctor concerned that I have bipolar (dad's side of the family has it and I have the symptoms), and he agreed that it was likely and gave me Lamictal. He is starting me on it slowly. I take a new dose every week until I get up to 200mg after about a month. I'm hopeful that this will work because I'm sick of the mania. It's exhausting and I'm going through a manic episode right now. I've been bouncing off the walls the past two weeks and it's so annoying. I hope things go well for you and if you ever need to talk about the bipolar stuff, I can relate so you can talk to me any time.
I have taken quite a few antipsychotics, actually...as well as numerous depression and anxiety meds. I could list them but I'm not sure it's super helpful to do so-- e.g. my girlfriend broke out in a rash when she was on lamictal (mood stabilizer), but I've been taking it for ten years. ability works brilliantly for her, but put me in the hospital. all you can do is try stuff out and carefully monitor yourself while doing so. I know that really really sucks though. It can be scary and even when it isn't the milder side effects can suck too...but the right meds at the right dosage CAN help and it is worth it to find out. anyway, (*hug*) because med changes suck, but it doesn't last forever.
It's really tricky to give a layperson's perspective on AD combinations as there are so many variables to consider. What works well for person, will not work for another, as you've found yourself in the past. I think the best thing to do is work with your Doctor to find out what suits you. It may take a while for both of you to come to a firm decision as you have to give some drugs time to show any effect (that's the worst part about it), but try to persevere and keep talking about how you feel.
IsThisaName: Effexor seems to either work really well or not work at all (seriously, there doesn't seem to be any middle ground there) and either way, it's hell to quit. I've seen enough people raving at how well it's worked for them to actually consider that drug but I'm still unsure. Most of those people have, like me, tried several different antidepressants and found that nothing's worked for them before Effexor. Hah how we reacted to Celexa and Zoloft is the exact opposite - Zoloft made me suicidal and Celexa made me angry and drowsy. Oh, and none of them did what they were supposed to do anyway. Doctors here are reluctant to prescribe Wellbutrin and rather go for the weaker version of it; Voxra. I was also told that it'd be totally different from all other SSRI drugs I'd ever tried before and I agree. All SSRI drugs made me somewhat detached and they completely removed my emotions and made me numb (or rather, Lexapro and Prozac did that) and I haven't noticed that at all in the Voxra so far. I am still somewhat confused as to how the doctors might think I'm bipolar. May I ask what mania is like for you? When I was sick some years ago, I'd shift from being lethargic to being restless and panicky sometimes and those periods lasted a couple of days but that surely can't be mania, can it? From what I've heard, mania is supposed to be a happy state of sorts, right? When I was feeling more 'up' than down, there was nothing pleasant about it. I was nervous and stressed and panicked all the time. I used to self harm back then, and I almost only ever self harmed when I felt more 'up'. thedreamwatch: I hate how one drug can work really well for someone but not for someone else. :/ At this point I'm tempted to just pick one at random and hope for the best. Yeah and what's worse about trying new medications is that you have to deal with the awful side effects for at least a month and then by the time you're allowed to quit it, the side effects have mostly gotten a little bit less bad. So it's like you've fought your way through the worst part of it only to discover that drug in particular does nothing for you and then you need to start all over again. Linco: Yeah, that's the tricky part. I also seem not to be responding well to medication that everyone else's responding well to (mainly Prozac and Lexapro). ugh. Yeah, I guess that's the way I have to go about doing it unfortunately. I also wish I could see a therapist but I can't until August because getting an appointment is impossible
When I was taking antidepressants, Effexor was the second or third I was put on. Didn't work for me (but of course results vary). It did happen to leave me very constipated though which is a common side effect (affecting 1-10% of people according to wiki).
