best drugs for depression/anxiety?

[Allein]

^^^^
Please lets not get into the serotonin theory / discussion that would need a thread of its own, but your right you can't take MDMA everyday however as a tool for therapy sessions it may have significant value along with other "recreational drugs" such as LSD.

I'm not going to list all the ADs I've tried again, I think it was only yesterday I did so but in short it is not a one size fits all condition probably because it isn't a condition at all, its an umbrella term for some symptoms that could be caused by a whole range of different things.

IME counselling (CBT in my case) is far more valuable in the longer term as is a good diet and exercise, but medication may have to be an option in the short term just to get you into a state where you can start to even see the long term let alone work on it.

 

[ro4eva]

that's a joke right ^^ ya cant keep using e for every day use. ya serotonin depletes. im sure that was a joke

Nah I don't take it every day. Although I have tried - and you're totally right - it doesn't do shit other than make me feel like I'm slightly tweaking (which is I guess could be expected since part of the mdma molecule is comprised of methamphetamine although I'm not certain). I would say, I have to wait - at the very least - one week in between each roll to be able to feel anything.

Truth be told though - it's the only illicit drug I've never regretted taking because I feel it's done me a heck of a lot more good than bad. While on it, I was never too shy to speak my mind, or too uncomfortable to discuss a topic that I'd probably never talk about while sober. I made friends - good friends which I would have never made while sober because I was an antisocial fuck - while rolling, which, after 10 years, I'm still very good friends with even though we don't roll nearly as frequently as we used to. That's just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. There are so many other good things that happened while on it. I was able to accept myself for who I was while on the drug and I was finally at peace with that. All anxiety - gone. All passive/depressive behavior - gone. I was assertive, confident, happy, energetic, apathetic, and the sex was out of this world. This behavior would last for a couple of days afterwards as well. The "morning glow" or whatever it's called except that it last quite a bit longer than just the next morning.

I'm very excited that it's being trialed for medical use as I feel it's left a huge, positive impact in my life.

I've also - for the past 10 years or so - felt like a guinea pig with all the FDA approved pharmaceutical crap they fed me over the decade, which at best, made me completely apathetic to any emotional situation (e.g. I couldn't laugh or cry regardless of the venue), killed my panic attacks, and at worst, made me gain about 60 pounds, raised my blood pressure and blood sugar levels significantly, caused drug induced RLS, seizures, and a couple of times, made me suicidal.

And I've tried the living a healthy life in terms of exercising daily and eating healthy. In fact, I was in the gym 5 days a week before and at the height of my mdma use (weekly).

Also recently successfully completed a 2 month rehab program for depression/anxiety, which, was a life changing experience but certainly not a magic pill.

Just started week hourly sessions with a psychologist and I'm confident I'll benefit.

But yea, I don't recommend you take mdma every day. Chances are you'll end up in the hospital pretty fast.

 

[silentcowboy]

kratom has done better for me then any ssri for both anx. and depression

 

[ErgicMergic]

Kratom is a fantastic anti-depressant, better than opiates IMO because of its combined opioid and stimulating properties.

A word of advice, though: If you're using opiates regularly to treat depression, be prepared for an absolute shitstorm of debilitating depression in PAWS when it's time to kick. You're the one whose gotta pay the piper in the end

 

[ro4eva]

Kratom is a fantastic anti-depressant, better than opiates IMO because of its combined opioid and stimulating properties.

A word of advice, though: If you're using opiates regularly to treat depression, be prepared for an absolute shitstorm of debilitating depression in PAWS when it's time to kick. You're the one whose gotta pay the piper in the end

Pardon me but what does PAWS mean? Parents are watching shit? Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome?

 

[weekend addiction]

This shit varies from person to person. I require 40 mg vyvanse and 2 mg xanax xr in the morning and 2mg xanax xr and 30 mg emeron at night... But this would put some people in a bad place and I can't recommend it to any1.

 

[SunflowerCake]

Honestly, from a realistic point of view, your best bet is an anti-depressant prescribed by a doctor. Illegal drugs can help short term, but many of them have that rebound effect.
No one can tell you "try abilify!" or "try wellbutrin!" because everyone reacts differently to chemicals and drugs.

If you want to EFFECTIVELY treat your depression or anxiety, you'll most likely have to use a drug that will target the synapses in your brain that are lacking. Some people's brains don't send out enough serotonin. Some people's brain do send out enough, but the reuptake of that serotonin happens too fast.
Antidepressants are meant to fix those synapses in your brain so that your brain works as naturally as possible. It makes your brain work the way it's supposed to, with the receptors that it was designed to use.

Here's why using illegal substances as antidepressants is destined for failure: They don't target the brain's NATURAL serotonin synapses. It creates new ones instead. If you continue to redirect that serotonin and dopamine to the "drug" receptors that normally aren't used, your brain will eventually forget where the old receptors are, and eventually, you won't be able to feel as happy without the illegal drugs that get you high. Your brain forgets how to make its own chemicals to keep you happy.

So, unless you plan on getting high every day for the rest of your life, you'll only be digging yourself a bigger hole for your depression later on. Trust me. Talk to a doctor.

As for personal experience goes, I enjoyed my Prozac. It didn't make me feel ANY different at all, EXCEPT for the fact that I seemed to wake up in a slightly less depressed mood every day. Generally speaking, SSRI's like Prozac are going to be the safest and have the least side effects. No reliable doctor will EVER give you something like Xanax to take long term, for anxiety. Stronger benzos like that are meant to sedate people who get panic attacks, so they don't end up in the ER every few months because they think they're dying of a heart attack. Also, I doubt a reputable doctor would ever give a script of stimulants like Adderall to someone with anxiety/depression, since these tend to make anxiety and depression worse in most people, once the drug's effects wear off.

Also, it's unfortunate that using recreational drugs can hinder an antidepressants ability to work... sometimes we have to pick between intoxicating drugs, or the drugs that will fix us... In my case I ended up picking the intoxicating drugs. I stopped taking my Prozac because I'd rather get high. Quit unfortunate indeed.

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I don't have bad enough anxiety that warrants daily benzo use but my anxiety is pretty well controlled by 30mg mirtazapine nightly with 1mg lorazepam for breakthrough. I usually only need the ativan a couple times a month. Mirtazapine is said to be really good with depression as well but I didn't really notice much from it...I know whats the cause of mine and no anti-depressant is going to help.

 

[effie]

Okay I am going to close this thread now.

We can give opinions on various antidepressants based on our own experiences, but the internet can give a very distorted view and this is a highly individual thing; what works for one person will not work for another. You need to speak to your psychiatrist, and if you are not happy that they are listening and working with you then you need to find another one. There are non-pharmacological treatments too (counselling, CBT, psychotherapy etc) which you could explore - check out The Dark Side directory for more information.

If tramadol worked then Effexor is a reasonable thing to try as they both have SNRI activity. Opioids for depression are a non-starter really, tolerance and addiction make them entirely impractical.

I would recommend staying away from recreational drugs for a bit - while there is research into MDMA etc it is very much in a controlled environment and anything that is going to affect your mental state (especially serotonin levels) means you will not have a good idea of your baseline or how medications are affecting you; the comedowns can be pretty horrible for someone with depression too, not to mention potential interactions with anitdepressants.

Good luck!

Closed, pm me with any queries.