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Mental Health Alternatives to SSRIs??

Zon

Zon

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 13, 2012
Messages
150
Hey guys, really hope someone here can help because I've really hit a bit of a wall right now.

Long story short I started having moderate depression, anxiety and panic attacks about a year ago and am now trying to get help, although doctors in my country are very closed minded about medication and generally don't seem to be very good at their job. I tried Zoloft but even the extremely low dose caused a lot of sexual side effects. Then after a bit of research I found out that in some cases the sexual dysfunction caused by SSRIs can last for years after stopping the medication (a condition called PSSD). This is absolutely not a risk I am willing to take, even if the chances may be small. So I am back to the drawing board.

I've researched A LOT of meds... but can't seem to find any that do not cause PSSD, or other serious long term side effects. I also am a casual drinker, and do not want to quit that, at least not completely as it would also effect my social life. I'm actually starting to think there isn't any... So here is my last try, I know people on here are very knowledgable especially about medications, legal and illegal. Does anyone know of anything that might work for general anxiety and lack of motivation? I will of course do my own research and ask my doctor about it before taking anything, I just need to give him a little guidance. Any suggestions at all are much appreciated.
 
If youre not opposed to being dependent on it (just as you would almost any anti-depressant), you could try tianeptine at the recommended dosages.

I, personally, recommend Kanna. It still has SSRI qualities, but it is a plant, its cheap, and it seem to have worked much better for me than any SSRI, and i have not noticed any sexual repercussions from it
 
My personal mix for mild depression and lack of motivation is 500mg of kanna, sublingually, in the morning, and 3g of kratom in the afternoon
 
5-HTP and St. Johns Wort have both been proven in studies too work as well, if not better than SSRIs with much fewer side effects.

Magnesium and Omega-3 fatty acid supplements also have evidence to support their use. Cannabidiol is very effective and has strong anti anxiety effects but it might be more difficult to get.

Tripping on psychedelics can cause breakthroughs for some people with depression and can result in lasting positive effects on quality of life. Effectiveness for OCD and Depression have been shown in studies for psilocybin and ketamine.

If you want to recover from what you are experiencing I strongly advise you avoid all psychiatric drugs. Every class of psych drugs has negative long term effects and strong evidence supporting a worse prognosis with their use. This is due to the fact that they permanently change your brain. If you take an SSRI or a stimulant over the long term you will end up with seriously messed up neurotransmitters when you stop taking them levels which will worsen your condition. I would especially avoid stimulants as they are so deceiving. They work so well at first but what they are actually doing is frying your brains neurotransmitters. Adderall, vyvanse etc. though tempting as a quick fix, are very neurotoxic and can cause long term mood and anxiety problems even in people without prior mental problems.

Apart from arguably Ketamine, the drugs I mentioned above have no long term negative effects on the brain. You might aswell see if they help before poisoning yourself with psych drugs.
 
My setup is bupropion, buspirone and mirtazapine. No sexual side effects. Bupropion is probably a bad idea if you like to have more than a drink or two at a go, and it can increase anxiety for some people, but it's really good for the amotivational flavor of depression. I'll second the magnesium recommendation - magnesium citrate is best if you can get it.

There are a lot of options for anxiety. Benzos work a treat but getting off them is hell. Buspirone seems to work really well for a minority of people and do nothing whatsoever for the majority; its side effect profile is pretty minimal.

MXE helped really dramatically with my depression and anxiety and was instrumental in breaking bad thought patterns. There are some antidepressants currently being tested that work on the NMDA receptor (ketamine and MXE are NMDA antagonists) as well, but I can't speak to those.
 
It is possible that your troubles are not serotonin related. The other major neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and dopamine) could be the culprit. Ask you doctor about a SNRI (sereotnin AND norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors). You may be suffering from a lack of norepinephrine, or both. Wellbutrin is an SNRI. You may need a dopamine boost, and this is accomplished through psychostimulants such as aderall or straterra, although I caution you of these because they can cause severe addiction problems. There is a new set of drugs about to be released referred to as SDNRIs. They are reuptake inhibitors for all 3 nerotransmitters, but messing with your brain that much could be a very bad idea, and should be a last resort.
Appie
 
Some Tricyclic anti-depressants have anti-anxiety properties. Doxepin, Amitriptyline, Trimipramine among others are used for anxiety. Most Tricyclics are basically SNRI's, SRI's or NRIs along with being potent anti-cholinergics and antihistamines. Trimipramine is abit of a odd one though acting as both a anti-depressant and a mild anti-psychotic. I have taken both Amitriptyline and Trimipramine for Bipolar depression and i didn't find the side effects to be bad at all. I never got any sexual dysfunction from being on either Amitriptyline or Trimipramine which is a major plus in my opinion.
 
I would suggest Mirtazepine. Many get great results from it for anxiety and depression but it does increase hunger and weight gain is a common side effect. It is one of a few drugs that actually increases sleep quality which is one of the reasons that I would go on it if I ever decided my depression and anxiety were too hard to cope with on my own again.
 
swisscurrie said:
5-HTP and St. Johns Wort have both been proven in studies too work as well, if not better than SSRIs with much fewer side effects.

Magnesium and Omega-3 fatty acid supplements also have evidence to support their use. Cannabidiol is very effective and has strong anti anxiety effects but it might be more difficult to get.

Tripping on psychedelics can cause breakthroughs for some people with depression and can result in lasting positive effects on quality of life. Effectiveness for OCD and Depression have been shown in studies for psilocybin and ketamine.

If you want to recover from what you are experiencing I strongly advise you avoid all psychiatric drugs. Every class of psych drugs has negative long term effects and strong evidence supporting a worse prognosis with their use. This is due to the fact that they permanently change your brain. If you take an SSRI or a stimulant over the long term you will end up with seriously messed up neurotransmitters when you stop taking them levels which will worsen your condition. I would especially avoid stimulants as they are so deceiving. They work so well at first but what they are actually doing is frying your brains neurotransmitters. Adderall, vyvanse etc. though tempting as a quick fix, are very neurotoxic and can cause long term mood and anxiety problems even in people without prior mental problems.

Apart from arguably Ketamine, the drugs I mentioned above have no long term negative effects on the brain. You might aswell see if they help before poisoning yourself with psych drugs.
Click to expand...

Wrong.. look up neuroplasticity.
My advise would be exercise and sport, eat super healthy and look at nutrient supplements.
 
Is that you Mart?^^

Neuroplasticity refers to the brains ability to adapt and change. Anti-depressants cause downregulation of receptors and there is an acute withdrawal period and a post acute withdrawal period as with drugs of abuse, it will take a while to return to a state of homeostasis and there could be some increased anxiety and depression after cessation of use but it will pass. There are people who describe sexual dysfunction long after they stop taking them. I personally would never touch SSRI's again in my life but that is just me. They do help a small portion of the people they are prescribed to. It's not good to just rely on medication to make you better, depression is often a sign that ones life is shit and they need to make some changes within their life. The chemical imbalance theory just doesn't seem to cover all aspects of why people get depressed, there are probably some people out there who do in fact have a chemical imbalance that could possibly be helped by these pills but my guess is that most people who are prescribed these don't.

What if it was as simple as an inadequate amount of testosterone being produced which lead to poor male development and low sex drive and self image issues? Let's throw them some sexual dysfunction pills, that'll help em out! I kid. But seriously these things are garbage to me.
 
Thanks for all the replies, am going through suggestions one by one. So far most of the prescription drugs seem to have very long and painful withdrawals (1 month +) but am hoping I will find something soon.

Does anyone know if Kanna used daily by itself would work for anxiety/depression? And also if used daily would it have any withdrawal effects when stopped? People say it is similar to an SSRI, so I don't see why it wouldn't cause withdrawal and sexual dysfunction... But then people get positive effects from it immediately which is nothing like an SSRI at all so I am a bit confused.
 
It is an SSRI. Using it long enough would cause withdrawals I would assume but to what capacity I do not know. Many people use it but I am unsure how many reports are out there of people using it long term.
 
I use kanna for depression and it has worked better than mirtazapine for me. I have never noticed any sexual problems at all, and have used it for about a month now, and most likely there would be some sort of withdrawal, but one could taper and it should be much easier than a synthetic SSRI as the SSRI action is not nearly as strong as say, lexapro.

I have been doing 500mg every morning as my only dose (some people like to take two or three doses a day), and it has been great. If you do try it, i would advise starting at 250mg sublingually (it does taste like hay, but thats its only drawback so far), and go up from there. Some people are going to say that they snort it, but i wouldnt advise it, as it does not increase the antidepressant qualities and it does not feel good at all
 
I'm looking into the same thing and haven't found anything good. Zoloft was closest as it didn't have IMMEDIATE side effects. After a month and a half, I wasn't getting better and I stopped. I was on pretty much the lowest dose (25 mg then upped to 50 mg for a week and a half). The withdrawals are terrible. It has been five days and constant vomiting / mood swings. I tried three other meds - one other SSRI (I threw up that night soooo didn't try it again) and two SNRIs. I tried them out but didn't feel comfortable using an SNRI (various interactions).
Oh yeah, and I'm not a big drinker either. But one drink on Zoloft and I'd throw up. I know I mentioned throwing up multiple times in this post ... I generally don't have issues with that so I don't know what was with Zoloft and the other SSRI. Neither worked for me... made me feel just awful!!

Most recently I asked my doctor for buspirone but he didn't "feel comfortable" prescribing it to me. He wouldn't prescribe gabapentin either.

I used GABA supplements for a couple years. Started with 500 mg and upped to 750 mg. I felt that it helped "a bit" and it took about two weeks to start helping. There isn't any good scientific evidence about it. It doesn't help extreme anxiety or panic attacks but it did help moderate anxiety go to slightly less anxiety. I feel that it helped me a bit. Even if it was a placebo, it seemed to help me.

I don't have a ton to add. Just that I'm looking into the same thing right now basically.
 
Small doses of ibogaine TA or root bark. 100 mg of TA about 3 days a week for about 2-3 weeks. More if you can tolerate it. I felt effects for two months off of 3 medium doses. My first dose was around 600 mg. three days later I took around 300 mg. Three days after I took around 100 mg. Gold for two months after. At 600 mg you will trip mildly but its not a typical trip. Very manageable and peaceful but there is quite a bit of variance in dose response. I seem to require a bit more than most.

Hands down the best thing I have ever tried and I have tried lots and lots of stuff. Sadly, my symptoms came back after about two months but I have a unique situation. No mood swings, no drug cravings, went from wanting to die to loving life. Was sober for two months. Didn't feel altered or medicated just felt the best I have ever felt in my life and really felt like me. Felt truly happy and content to my core. Can't mix it with anything though and alcohol will kill it.

Expensive but worth every penny. Its truly an amazing plant. Need to re up myself bc I've been sad ever since my symptoms came back. Very unique. Everyone focuses on curing addictions with it but its so much more than that. You don't need to do a flood, I was skeptical but it truly works.

I'm kind of hesitant to say anything about it because it is endangered and there is some shady business practices going on, but I think most people have heard about it at this point. I imagine it would work for a lot of types of mental illness but esp depression and bipolar. It does help with anxiety some but its a process. Your first week will be an adjustment as the medicine begins to work. Some report feeling stimulated. It had the opposite effect on me but that's not really typical.

It can be dangerous, do your research. The big and dandy is a good place to start. Not that difficult to obtain if you look hard enough. Takes preparation and must be given lots of respect. Its a very spiritual plant but I need to stop before I get all mystical on you. ;)
 
Talk to your doctor about Lyrica. LOOOOOL. no joke it could work with panic attacks, I use it to add to Benzodazepines to slowly reduce dosage by increasing overall anxiolytic effect. The only downside of Lyrica is the quick tolerance to the physical effect, after 1 or 2 weeks you stop feeling the effect on the body and keep the effect on the mind. Since my General axiety is only visible as physical hypersensitivity and sometimes pain hallucinations, I use it irregularly but it can be efficient as a regular use too.
 
apatheist said:
Wellbutrin (bupropion) is an NDRI, not an SNRI.
Click to expand...

AWFUL DRUG! At least from what I experianced.Like the mix of a confusing agent and a stimulant. Makes you do stuff without remembering why when you finish it. Good drug to start things wrong drug to end them !
 
Mracid said:
AWFUL DRUG! At least from what I experianced.Like the mix of a confusing agent and a stimulant. Makes you do stuff without remembering why when you finish it. Good drug to start things wrong drug to end them !
Click to expand...


I find Wellbutrin to work good for Bipolar depression and SAD. I find it to help lift my mood without causing much in the way of side effects at all besides abit of anxiety that's controlled by my Clonazepam script. Wellbutrin, Amitriptyline and Trimipramine are the only anti-depressants that work for me without driving me nuts.
 
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