Anti-Depressant Meds====Which works 4 YOU??

There are SOoooo many drugs around, which ones have you tried thru your Doc, and how are they working for you??.
I've mucked around for a while on Prozac (didn't really take it properly), but now I'm serious I'm on Venlafaxine (Efexor), and have been on this for about 4 months---seems to be ok?

Hi,
Years a go i had been on nortripline, prozac and amitripline, all made me really space out, not sure if it was the dosage i was out on, horrible it was.Then 2 yrs ago i was put on citriplam) that was the biggest nightmare for me, could not stop crying, was shaking like a leaf so bad i thought i was going out of my mind.Now my doctor is trrying me on aropax ( the new named one) and have side effects but they are deteriating as the days go by.I am still anxious and jittery and have found it hard to sleep at night sometimes but taking baby steps at moment.have not been on it long.

hi we are on effexor on 300mg a day been on it few yrs now before been on aropax citlipram and nortrip all which didnt work for us.

cheers chatz
Do you think it helps??, I've just moved up to 150mg per day, some days are better than others is that the norm??

angie I am also on effexor, I was on 150mg last year and after coming off them totally (cold turkey what a disaster LOL) in january have been on 75mg, but have noticed (finally) that I am not quite right, upped ack to 150 again per medical advice.... Hope that gets me back to happy...

Do you find you sweat a lot on Effexor? I was ok on 75, not sure if it goes away but it is yucky!!

Hey Kazzy, Welcome.

I've just a couple of weeks ago restarted taking a psych med (Nortriptyline) after nothing for about 18 months (well, I might have had them, but I didn't swallow them). The Nortrip is being tried as part of a pain relief regime from a broken back.

The first week, I had to take one 10mg tablet a night, the second week two, and I'm supposed to increase it incrementally each week until I'm taking five a night (unless I feel benefit say, at weeks three or four, in which case I stay on that dosage).

Week One was pretty dodgy, I didn't feel great and wasn't looking forward to increasing the dosage, but I also don't want to be as sore as I frequently am. The weekend just gone, was halfway thru Week Two. On sunday night, I nearly 'phoned the Depression Hotlines 0800 number (Thank You to the person who added that to the relevant Thread, too).

Now, for someone with as well developed a 'phone phobia as I have to WANT to use the 'phone, that was a bad space to be in.

Somehow I've managed to pick myself up from the dark times of the weekend, but I'm not willing to increase the dosage to three of the buggers tomorrow, I just don't think I can do it.

I'll keep taking the two a night for as long as I can reasonably hack it and when I see my doc later in the month I'll 'fess up'. But if I think I need to quit them for my sanitys sake, I will.

Bloody meds. Bloody brain. Bloody back. Bah Humbug!

Pat.

Hi kazzy and others........... no the med doesn't make me sweaty, actually I dont have (or feel) any side effects.
Hope you are doing OK today.
Hi to paddy!!

Hi everyone, Over the years I have tried several anti-depressants. Paddy, I was asked to try Nortriptyline but I said if any of the side effects were worse than the 'old faithful' I've taken for ages, I wasn't going to perservere. I didn't like the side effects so just remained taking Dopress (used to be called prothiaden - spelling?). The depression I have has been named as 'Diurnal' which means I feel worse in the mornings and better later in the day. I also believe that a lot of my depression is 'reactive' - far too much personal stress in my life, going back many years, with all kinds of abuse. Some of the meds have been just awful, shocking things!

Good to know we support each other, which I believe is very helpful.

Take care, Daze7

Happy Birthday to someone on here, by the way. I have had four Shortbread in your honour

Yeah, I'm delighted to see folk using this Message Board - it gives me a boost like you wouldn't believe, to think that just maybe, something I've been part of, is a help to others as well as me.

We each know how much we struggle and fight against mental illness of any description and I'm in awe of the strength you all show.

May your Angels watch over you all and keep you safe and happy.

Pat.

i am on effexor on 300mg a day was on 450mg but was taken down beginning this year i think doing ok on 300mg

Hey,

Just had an assesment with a psychologist and a p doc.

One of the things they did was they reviewed my medication which has taken the edge of the lows a bit but not been that effective.

They have decided to to change my anti-depressants or any of my other medication cos it appears that it is not overly effective and they are worried about destabliseing during the change.

Im on Efexor. I find they make me want to sleep all the time. Also they are so so hard to get off. I researched them on the web once, and apparently it is a huge problem. Im not sure what to do now, but still get anxiety and sweat a lot at night. I feel like a zombie most days and everything is an effort. Id like to change to something else and the change over is a concern for me too

Wow! So many ppl on the flashy venlafaxine/effexor.

Me too. Does it make you wonder? Is it the cute purple and pink box? Do the pdocs just like trying out new things? How many freebies do they get the more pills they prescribe? Does anyone know about this?

Anyway, enough of the cynical attitude. I've tried lots of antideps before as well as antipsychotics and moodstabilisers. I'm taking 75mg AM and it is the seventh week. I gave it to myself this time, when I spotted some symptoms of nauseating alien thinking that stuck. Having to go back and forth from the doc is a hassle, esp having to communicate, when your communication system is in a spasm. I get angry and withdrawn. But this time I took it early on, when I could make clear notes and also after having given up smoking for three months.

I had decided to try it again when I stopped smoking. Also I have a new theory. I do not think it is the medication that is the one magic pill. It is the combination of ones own biology at the time and the medication and anything else that is going on, like environmental stressors and attitude etc. There's so many variables. So I don't think we can recommend meds to each other, but we can exchange information on what might affect medication level. I found http://www.crazymeds.us/CrazyTalk/index.php? a useful site when I was trying to stick to medication.

I've tried Effexor twice before and it was awful. The first time I was put on 150mg when very unwell and I would have shot someone if I had a gun. Side effects can just push one over the edge. The second time I tried 37.5 when obviously depressed ( yes you can open the capsule and roughly divide the little white balls. Not having 37.5 available in nz cheaper is making many people struggle to come off. Withdrawal from Effexor is not nice or safe) and felt drunk and laughed at everything. Weird.

This time I have had all the side effects as usual, ( shaky, sweaty, gritting teeth, sudden yawning which is quite funny in the middle of the supermarket, scratchy, palpitations, drunk feeling, upset sleep, constipation, nausea, headache) but they seem to be going away or I am able to adapt to them. I did not have the agitation, however some coordination problems remain. Going to the physio helps. I did sleep a huge amount in the first week, almost as much in the second and still have to make an effort to move, but I think this is ok as I can slowly change that. I am slightly worried about not having as much worry/anger as I am used to! I lived my life using my anxiety/anger to get going. I guess there are other ways and reasons to move, right? I am getting back to making my compulsive lists to make sure I do things like pay bills and clean etc. It's not a complete personality change! Although my partner says I am easier to be around.
I was most frustrated by very itchy skin and acne but that seems to be getting better finally. My face, ears and throat do feel odd, kind of numb, but perhaps after a lifetime of extreme sensitivity that is what normal feels like. I do have more dreams, but as I could not remember any before maybe it is also somewhat normal.

I'm not willing to say whether it is working for me yet as I decided to give it 8 weeks. I did notice immediate lesening of anxiety, but not sure of mood lifting effects. I have never been on an antidep longer than 3 months and struggled with side effects. But I'm sick of hitting the deck every spring. It would be nice to have a pleasant xmas. I look forward to certain events in order to test it. Which does sound crazy, actually.

Sorry for writing such a wall of words. Maybe this stuff is working!A

I'm on citalopram and have been for a year and 2 months. I tried to go off twice, and the second time ended up in hospital for attempted suicide. That was a big wake up call for me and now I stay on them.

No side effects now, but then again they would seem norm by now. After 3wks on citalopram it was amazing that I felt semi normal, I had gotten so used to being depressed and thought that that was what life was about. I still get down, and went through a real bad patch over the last couple of months, but thankfully to many people here I am still around

When I first went on it I was nausious (sp?) and lost a couple of kgs cos I wasnt eating, but I've put on about 7kgs in the past year, and Im putting it down to the antidepressants cos thats the only thing that has really changed. So that sux, but I supose its better to have a big of extra weight then to be incredibly depressed and possibly dead right?

hi all. Ive tried a couple of a/d's. First disaster was fluoxitine, was great for weight loss but useless for me as an a/d. I was lying in bed one night, thinking that i would go into my mums room and put a pillow over her face as normally as if it was like i was deciding to go make a coffee. I decided then and there the meds were no good, locked my door and went to doc first thing the next morning. Next was citalapram (after a psych assessment - dysthymic disorder and major depressive disorder) which just left me feeling MEH, didnt give a shit about anything, including personal hygiene, YUCK.
While i was on that tho, my doc was trying to also sort out my pain meds and got me to try amitriptyline. WOW! Finally i had something that not only helped my moods, it also helped me sleep and did a little towards helping the pain. I have learnt enough about my moods over the 20 odd years ive had my depression and know when i need to adjust my meds. I can take anything between 50mg to 150mg depending where im at. Ive found my journal the most helpful guage of my moods and wouldnt be without it now.
Because i have endometriosis, i also take a lot of pain meds, ive been through the local pain clinic (fat lot of use that was) but the only thing that works is pain meds, hospital admits and eventually surgery. The bummer of it all is i take a risk when im taking my amitrip and tramadol as it can send my seratonin levels haywire and give me the mother of all shakes.

ciprmal worked for me last time & have restarted it again 2 months ago. I was on 3 a day last time but started on 1 a day, then upped it to 2 a day after a month. I'll stay on 2 a day for 3 months & if I'm not better, it'll go up to 3 a day. Feeling slightly better so will wait & see.
I was on prozac a few years ago & was fine for a while then had a major depressive episode so was changed to ciprmal.

Efexor for me, was up to 300mg, made me feel like a zombie, tired, apathetic, no concentration. Cold turkey break (doctors mistake) horrific, now down to 187.5mg after slowly decreasing. Tried down to 150mg last week, wavered between tears and rage, awful.

Side effects when decreasing - night sweats (really bad), nightmares, tiredness.

Now its stabilised at 187.5mg, can function okay but not a full life, if you know what I mean...

Want to go back on citalipram, but the withdrawals from efexor are so bad and take so long to come off (one week per 37.5mg, so that would be several weeks of hell before could swap over) make it almost impossible at this point in time for me....

Hang in there lowdown........dont force your exit from the effexor no matter how much you want to hurry it along.

have you spoken to your doc about something else to help with your symptoms......and what about your nutrition?

I have heaps of sympathy for lowdowns struggle to come down on effexor. Im taking it at the moment, at 75mg. If I have symptoms I will not be going any higher, because of the problem changing the dose. Creepy nightmares etc.

Because it has a very short half life ( even when taking the extended release) one can go into withdrawal very abruptly. Now that you have got it stabilised, you may be able to add an A/D that you can take at the same time. In some circumstances you can take two at the same time and do not have to have a break in between. Prozac is one with a very long halflife that may be able to be added to help you get off the effexor, by easing the withdrawal effects. It's tricky and it would be great if doctors didn't stuff up.
In the end your own experience with your body will be the best guide.
I think I used a combination of meds to manage withdrawal. Some benzos to sleep-I hate them because I have mood swings with them, BUT short term, they helped. I also got on to panadol every 6 hours.
Remember you can do it and you know what works for you. The funny thing is that it can be a really intense withdrawal, but may be over quite quickly, perhaps why your doctor said to go cold turkey.

I actually made a mistake in the last post, it is Fluoxetine (Prozac) I was wanting to go back to...

attica, the severe withdrawals over three days (before I went back on for my own sanity) was so horrific I would never recommend it to anyone...I got to the point where I really felt I had stepped over that line and my mind would not recover. I would never recommend anyone try it!!!