Help finding the right Anti depressant.

[riptaz]

Hi

I know this might be a bit of a dumb question cuz its totally subjective and varies so much from person to person, but what type of anti depresant is most efficient in releaving depression ? I only ask cuz I have tried citalopram, mirtazapine, propranolol clomipramine and Fluoxetine and non of them seem to be working I've also made major improvements to my life and I now exercise but am still very down, so down I can barely get out of bed. Is there any other type of AD that works in a totally different way to all that i have mentioned as my doc is running out of idea's lol.

He has mentioned talking therapy but I really don't want to go there for personal reason's, not that Im afriad just I had a friend that went to talking therapy and it seemed to mess him up a bit.

anyway any advise would be great.


Thanks Guys

 

[Darksidesam]

What sort of depression do you suffer from?

I also had no success with citalopram.

 

[J.Wallace]

I personally do not recommend SSRI's at all. I was on Zoloft, then later switched to Lexapro. Both of them worked a little, but affected me in ways I didn't know until I stopped taking them.

They largely affected my sex drive, prevented me from enjoying things to the full extent. They are simply mood blunters, they simply level off you're mood to right in the middle, preventing you from experience depression but also extreme happiness. Not to mention if you take other drugs, such as Mdma or some Psychedelic's it can ruin those experiences for you (If taken with Mdma it can increase the risk of Serotonin syndrome).

Bottom line, I don't recommend you take any kind of SSRI, which is what doctors will give you if you ask for an anti-depressant. Of course, this is just my personal opinion, everyone reacts differently. But if I had a choice, I would go back in time and stop myself from ever taking them.

 

[effie]

Hi Riptaz,

It is very subjective.. I'm sorry you are having such a rough time

You've tried SSRIs (citalopram and fluoxetine), mirtazepine and a tricyclic (clomipramine) - there are the SNRIs such as venlafaxine, or another tricyclic such as imipramine or dosulepin, or there is bupropion, an atypical antidepressant (and stopping-smoking aid) which works in a different way to conventional antidepressants..

I would mention these to your doctor and see what they say. I presume you have given the ones you have tried a decent trial?

As for therapy - this is such a wide term, there are many different types. I am sorry your friend had a bad experience different types suit different people - psychoanalysis or counselling can bring unpleasant things to the surface for some people and can make them feel worse, although if you have a good relationship with a good therapist this can be beneficial in the long term. Something like CBT might be more useful for you - it has a strong evidence base and focusses on correcting thought patterns and behaviour that perpetuate feeling down.. I find it works best one-on-one but there are websites out there (google Living Life To The Full and MoodGym) which guide you through it, or there are self-help books too..

I would also recommend taking a look at the TDS depression megathread, and treatment threads, found in the TDS directory in my sig. The forum in general is great for discussing ways to manage depression - feel free to post in the megathread of course or start your own thread if you like - there is a huge amount of support and wisdom to be found from the other darksiders.

Good luck

 

[Tripman]

^^ As Effie said, TDS is a great place with all of this information and people very experienced to help you.

I'm closing this for now, however if you would like it re-opened I will do so and move it to TDS. PM me.

~Closed.

 

[Tripman]

Re-opened and moved as per request.

 

[Doomed2pain]

I've been on amitriptyline, fluoxetine, citalopram, mirtazipine, venlafaxine and now sertraline. I didnt find any helpful, and quite a few of them made me worse.

As for therapy I am just starting cbt, I also had a few sessions of emdr but am hoping to try it again soon.

As others have said, everyone reacts differently. I am hoping I will find a mix of meds and therapy that help me. It all depends on your condition, and your physiology I think.

Good luck, and give me a pm if needs be.

 

[charcoal]

I personally do not recommend SSRI's at all. I was on Zoloft, then later switched to Lexapro. Both of them worked a little, but affected me in ways I didn't know until I stopped taking them.

And oddly enough, an SSRI (sirtraline) is my wonder drug when it comes to my life threatening depression, as well as doubles as a great controller of my severe OCD symptoms. Zero side effects, and while I am on a large concoction of drugs, when the sirtraline was added I suddenly realized I had never been happy in my almost 30 years of life.

I've also tried just about every other antid out there, including other SSRIs but sirtraline was the one.

 

[n3ophy7e]

I know this might be a bit of a dumb question cuz its totally subjective and varies so much from person to person, but what type of anti depresant is most efficient in releaving depression ?

Hi riptaz, it's not a dumb question at all, but for the exact reason that you said, it's really difficult to pinpoint one or even a few anti-depressants that are most effective. It's fantastic that you've made positive changes to your lifestyle because that will help a LOT, but it does sound like you need to tackle your depression from possibly a different approach.

Is your doctor a GP? Or a psych doc? As amazing as GPs are and as much as I appreciate the service they provide, I have to say that most GPs are only limited in what they know about how to treat psychological disorders. If your symptoms are so severe that it's restricting you from going about your daily life, I would really recommend that you see a psychiatrist and work together with them to find a medication or possibly a combination of meds that works well for you, AND ALSO see a psychologist/psychotherapist to work on the actual causes of your depression, and to learn some effective methods for dealing with your depression symptoms. Meds are sometimes just like a band-aid and don't actually cure depression. Many studies have shown time and again that medication PLUS therapy works much much better than just medication alone. I'm sorry to hear that your friend had a rough time with his therapy, and whilst it is important to note that sometimes therapy can make our symptoms WORSE at the beginning of treatment (purely because it forces you to bring your issues to the surface so that you can work through them), in the long run therapy is one of the best methods of coping with depression.

So riptaz, if you've tried various medications and you're still really struggling I hope you consider trying therapy. You never know, it could work wonders for you, but you don't know until you try

What do you think?

 

[brighton]

Mood stabilisers are another option.
They are usually for bipolar but would be worth looking into.
Lamotrigine and lithium both have anti depressent properties.

 

[Legerity]

You may find that therapy is helpful or it may not be but you won't really know unless you go. I have not tried enough antidepressants to have an opinion but they don't really seem to have a particular effect; it is hit or miss and people can have any kind of positive or negative positive to them. I suspect it is not really understood how they work.

It may be that your friend didn't really want to attend therapy, didn't have a good therapist, or for whatever reason it wasn't right for him. But it really depends on the therapist as well as the person attending.

Good luck whatever you decide

 

[clubberdude]

And oddly enough, an SSRI (sirtraline) is my wonder drug when it comes to my life threatening depression, as well as doubles as a great controller of my severe OCD symptoms. Zero side effects, and while I am on a large concoction of drugs, when the sirtraline was added I suddenly realized I had never been happy in my almost 30 years of life.

I've also tried just about every other antid out there, including other SSRIs but sirtraline was the one.

Very similar to me, though I suffer from moderate-severe anxiety (can verge on psychotic on occasion when under great stress). which leads to depression (a cause-effect relationship). My anxiety is very "of the moment", so I tend only to worry about the things immediately affecting me at the time. Sertraline is incredibly effective at controlling this anxiety - 50mg is as effective as a decent dose of a benzodiazepine, but with fewer side effects. I have just recently relapsed (into another wave of depression, stupidly came of the Sertraline whilst feeling stressed - stress is one of the biggest triggers of anxiety for me. I was off the Sertraline for around 2 months), but have found taking 50mg a day is making me feel reasonable again. I plan on staying on this dose for at least 3 months now, but will be lowering the dose as required for maintenance when the time is right (have a very flexible approach to this - might be on 50 mg/day for much longer if required). I imagine i'll be on this medication for most of my life, but I have no significant side effects, and I have feelings of depersonalisation (related to the anxiety) whilst off the drug which is reversed when I take it. I have tried all the herbal crap, 5-HTP is completely ineffective, most other supplements I've tried don't seem to have much effect either - though Piracetam seems to elevate my mood a bit. Exercise had the paradoxical effect of increasing my anxiety whilst I was off the Sertraline - something that has never happened whilst on the drug.

Its a very good medication, been on it around 10 years and has helped me massively. However, only one out of three SSRI's I've tried have led to positive effects, Citalopram (the first) felt weird, and I had a few unpleasant thought when I first started it. The second, Fluoxetine (Prozac) made my anxiety much worse, to the point I couldn't tolerate the treatment. The problem with me is that counselling doesn't work, have tried it, and psychotherapy is unlikely to do much, owing to the nature of my anxiety (and depression when it occurs). I believe, in my case, my anxiety is biochemical in origin, and the depression is a product of this anxiety and a function of my environment at a given time. In my experience, finding the correct medication requires a degree of trial-and-error.

 

[tackyspiral]

This is going to sound bad but I think that everyone should steer clear of non narcotic psych meds i think that they r super dangerous i think i got put on most of them at one point or another and they made me worse...
I personally think add meds and benzos r helpful but they r technically abuseable so this is only advisable if you are going to take them as prescribed
which i think isnt that hard i mean i had a massive drug problem and i never ran out of my rx narcotics before the month was over

 

[n3ophy7e]

This is going to sound bad but I think that everyone should steer clear of non narcotic psych meds i think that they r super dangerous i think i got put on most of them at one point or another and they made me worse...

That doesn't sound bad dude, it's your opinion and we value everyone's opinions and experiences in here
I am sorry to hear you had such bad experiences with anti-depressants, and I agree that some of them can have really nasty side effects and as you said can make some people feel worse! So anyone who tries anti-depressants must do so under close supervision of a psychiatrist or GP, and must be made aware of the possible side effects. Having said that, anti-depressants can be very helpful to some individuals so we must always keep in mind that different meds are suitable for different people, and there are no blanket rules we can apply to psych meds.

I personally think add meds and benzos r helpful but they r technically abuseable so this is only advisable if you are going to take them as prescribed
which i think isnt that hard i mean i had a massive drug problem and i never ran out of my rx narcotics before the month was over

I appreciate that you didn't abuse your prescribed meds and that's really great, but a lot people don't have the same strength/will power to avoid abusing Rx stimulants and benzos. Additionally, benzos and stimulant drugs both have a tendency to exacerbate depression in some people. For that reason I would definitely NOT recommend either Rx stimulants or benzos for depression, and I suspect there wouldn't be many doctors who would prescribe either of those types of meds for depression.

 

[SoWhat!]

I personally do not recommend SSRI's at all. I was on Zoloft, then later switched to Lexapro. Both of them worked a little, but affected me in ways I didn't know until I stopped taking them.

They largely affected my sex drive, prevented me from enjoying things to the full extent. They are simply mood blunters, they simply level off you're mood to right in the middle, preventing you from experience depression but also extreme happiness. Not to mention if you take other drugs, such as Mdma or some Psychedelic's it can ruin those experiences for you (If taken with Mdma it can increase the risk of Serotonin syndrome).

Bottom line, I don't recommend you take any kind of SSRI, which is what doctors will give you if you ask for an anti-depressant. Of course, this is just my personal opinion, everyone reacts differently. But if I had a choice, I would go back in time and stop myself from ever taking them.

Quoted for absolute truth. Truly try therapy of some sort before SSRI's, i despise GP's these days finding it easier to write a script rather than address a problem.

This isn't to say you don't need one, but let a Psychiatrist prescribe it, not a GP who doesn't know one from the other.

I was on Lexapro and it made me half retarded, put on 20kg and i became a ghost in my own body, i lost my sense of self. SSRI's, no thanks.

 

[Missykins]

Mood stabilisers are another option.
They are usually for bipolar but would be worth looking into.
Lamotrigine and lithium both have anti depressent properties.

Those are the two that have worked for me, but I have a different diagnosis than unipolar depression. I believe that
Seroquel is now labeled for unipolar depression, but I may be wrong. Your doctor could also add Abilify (another
atypical antipsychotic), but both of these are associated with weight gain and diabetes.