BiPolars, Depression, OCD and Anxiety: Did SSRI's work for you?

[halfoz]

i was disagnosed with major depressive disordered in 2001 and put on Effexor, plus CBT therapy and talk therapy. I stopped the CBT becuase it required "work" - and yet to this day I strongly recommend it.

I eventually stopped it all because life got better.

Scroll forward to 2010, and I had a horrific car accident. Doc says I have Major Depression, and PTSD.

I'm on Lexapro and am absolutely singing its praises. Never makes me feel "medicated", just removed the inhibitors to taking actions i otherwise wouldn't, like cleaning the house.

The lexapro has been a real godsend. With my pain under control from the oxy's and the crazy under control from the lexies, life is better than ever, considering. I understand that you have to taper lexies slowly or you get effexor like wds - yech.

The effexor wds are terrifying. no ability to eat or sleep and these weird half-body spasms that were entirelt uncomfortable. awful awful awful. i campaign against these drugs.
I think Pristiq is just a simple reformulation of effexor so the mfr can keep its patent alive.

my bottom line: if i was at the point of making plans to commit suicide, I'd ask for effexor, cause i know it works for that. anything else, eff it.

good lucl

 

[masspain]

SSRI's never worked for me. Only Heroin worked.......

 

[izzy66]

1 paxil flipped me into a 3 day episode of manic psychosis complete w/ a ride to the bin at the end.
actually it did get me an accurate diagnosis though. i kept trying to tell the doc but... oh well, was an experience i won't forget.
-izzy

 

[Mr Blonde]

i was disagnosed with major depressive disordered in 2001 and put on Effexor, plus CBT therapy and talk therapy. I stopped the CBT becuase it required "work" - and yet to this day I strongly recommend it.

I eventually stopped it all because life got better.

Scroll forward to 2010, and I had a horrific car accident. Doc says I have Major Depression, and PTSD.

I'm on Lexapro and am absolutely singing its praises. Never makes me feel "medicated", just removed the inhibitors to taking actions i otherwise wouldn't, like cleaning the house.

The lexapro has been a real godsend. With my pain under control from the oxy's and the crazy under control from the lexies, life is better than ever, considering. I understand that you have to taper lexies slowly or you get effexor like wds - yech.

The effexor wds are terrifying. no ability to eat or sleep and these weird half-body spasms that were entirelt uncomfortable. awful awful awful. i campaign against these drugs.
I think Pristiq is just a simple reformulation of effexor so the mfr can keep its patent alive.

my bottom line: if i was at the point of making plans to commit suicide, I'd ask for effexor, cause i know it works for that. anything else, eff it.

good lucl

That's good to hear you've found the right medication for yourself. And I'm a fan of CBT as well, it worked wonders for me. Did a lot more then any medication they tried me on did.

 

[muntedmunter]

I was prescribed Pristiq about 4 weeks ago for my anxiety and all it really did was make sleeping much harder, made me feel wierd, dry mouth and much more but yeah it didn't really stop the anxiety.

However, I did only try it for two weeks so I have no right to comment but from the start of trial it didn't do much at all.

I am now on Lexapro and have been having that for nearly two weeks, likewise it isn't helping with the anxiety/panic attacks but the good news it is making me a tiny bit better and the side effects aren't nearly as bad compared to the Pristiq.

They don't work for me with anxiety. They';re supposed to work. It's part of the condition for getting an authority script for Xanax (5 repeats). Dr must have used SSRI's etc first, and found it was of no help. For depression I found good old Effoxor did work, and reasonably quickly, but after a few months I felt a bit like a zombie. Also it takes a lot longer for your cock to explode when stimulated. Might be helpful to some, but an annoyance to most.

OT - I have been seeing the Dr for a month or two now and have been prescribed SSRIs, just curious to know - Basically they have to prescribe me this before the can prescribe Alprozolam or something that will actually work? If that's the case I have now realised that I probably need to do a few more visits before I am actually prescribed this, true?

I just realised the other day that there's no chance I will be prescribed this which means I will have to rely on the lexapro which is totally fine, but if that's the case I might be in with a shot?

Thanks.

 

[Mr Blonde]

OT - I have been seeing the Dr for a month or two now and have been prescribed SSRIs, just curious to know - Basically they have to prescribe me this before the can prescribe Alprozolam or something that will actually work? If that's the case I have now realised that I probably need to do a few more visits before I am actually prescribed this, true?

Under the PBS, alprazolam will only be covered for panic disorders when other treatments have failed or are inappropriate. So if you are getting your medication subsidized, the doctor will have to try other things first.

Or you could get a private script for it and not have to worry about justifying a subsidy to Medicare. Alprazolam is fairly cheap anyway.

 

[MrIbis]

Quoted for truth.

BTW, Angel dust - that is a great post. You seem like a very strong person to be able to deal with all that and come through alright in the end. Congrats

To Lagger:

SSRIs and bi polar don't mix. they can push you into a manic episode. unfortunately, bi polar and depression are often confused.

My story with SSRIs.

It probably took about 6 months of feeling adsolutely terrible and spending most of my time lying in bed, and ignoring phone calls from friends, before I got my arse down to the doctor and was diagnosed with moderate depression and anxiety.

I first prescribed effexor (an SNRI). I lasted 3 days on it before the side effects became unbearable. I actually went to the hospital after an hour of first taking it because I though I was having a serotonin syndrome due to taking some mephedrone a few nights earlier. Turns out it was just the beginning of a big jump in anxiety. I had bad anxiety, nausea, couldn't sleep for 3 nights, confusion, felt terrible.

I had CBT for 6 months, which helped quite a bit. So did meeting my amazing girlfriend.

After about 2 months of CBT I still wasn't happy with how I was feeling. My symptoms had improved a bit, but it was still acting quite negatively on my life. I had quite bad insomnia at the time, and the doctor recommended on giving zoloft 50mg a try, instead of just constantly prescribing stilnox to help me sleep. his reasoning was I was depressed and anxious and dealing with this would help the insomnia. I was hesitant but eventually tried to start it.

The initial side effects weren't pleasant but were bearable. I had nausea, headache, insomnia (nothing new there). after 4 days I can remember walking outside on a sunny day in winter, and actually feeling happy. I hadn't actually felt happiness in 8 months.

After a week the nausea and headache stopped, though the insomnia continued. My depression had lifted to an extent but my anxiety took on a whole new crazy component. I also had some strange side effects of being more aggressive with people (not violent), and doing silly things like starring down dodgy fuckers on melbourne's trains. I also was having difficulty concentrating at uni, became comppletely apathetic about everything, and emotionally numb. though it was better than being depressed, it wasn't as good as being well. My sex drive also took a big dip.

I think the big change for me getting over depression and anxiety was moving out of a house full of cunts I hated, and getting a girlfriend that I love dearly. The antidepressants did help, but they came with some shitty side effects. This has what has prompted me to taper over the last 3 weeks, and 3 days I ago I stopped completely. I've got a thread about it here.

The tapering was unpleasant but not to bad. Stopping completely has been pretty hard. Brain zaps, insomnia, flu like symptoms, dizziness, and now bad anxiety (bad alot different to any anxiety I have ever felt). I'm hoping it will clear up in a week or two.

I think SSRIs are overprescrbied. Most doctors don't seem aware of the dangers of suicide, violence, and withdrawal symptoms they cause. I have a problem with them being prescribed for shit like irritable bowl syndrome, premature ejaculation, and very mild depression. However, for some people they are a life safer. for me I think they helped a bit, but the side effects aren't worth staying on them any longer.

to anyone thinking of going on them, do your research. find out what the side effects are, and read about the difficulty they can cause getting off them. I would definately recommend life style changes and counselling well before starting antidepressants. they should be used more as a last resort.

Most of your post i can attribute to personally when taking zoloft, especially the anger issues. The shit used to make me go in death drives through incoming traffic at christmas time just because i wanted to see if i'd die, or who i could take with me.

I tried a plethora of meds, SSRIs, SNRIs, Tricyclics and Tetracyclics, none really worked for me long term.

In terms of controlling anxiety, it's a personal thing, eating well and being with good people is a major plus for it. Keeping my sleep and other drug use in check as much as possible (we all have our vices) and just keeping family as an important facet in my life.

I'm prescribed Alprazolam for Panic Disorder, not that i frequently have panic attacks anymore... It's PBS covered and Authorized. My doctor was pretty cavalier about prescribing it, first made me trial a week on Avanza then gave me the xanax as i asked for it. The dosage is 1mg b.d p.r.n. . I find the benzos probably the best at putting my anxiety to rest when i need to. Or holding on to them for when i have a big comedown in order. lol