Mental Health Is there a better antidepressant out there?

[tightlywound]

One should believe in any of the numerous patients/users which share experiences like that. It proves, that these ADs aren't as harmless as some drs. tell - concealing many important facts.

And as you reported, the ADs which were effective lost this property after a while. Made the same experience with Mirtazapine - bad "coming down" suddenly after 5 Months of being high. These meds aren't really as well explored, as most patients believe.

It shows that it is not really a treatment especially in long-term use. Temporary suppression of symptoms with dependency risk and possibility of getting irreparable damaged.
Effects on a person are unpredictable, its an in vivo experiment with substances developed in legit drug labs, that even don't know by themselves, how some of these creations exactly work. A dealer is interested in selling large amounts. So the threshold of "disorder" will be reduced to spread these "feel better solutions" over the population. Anyone can get such a prescription easily, if he knows what to tell the psychiatrist to get a diagnosis.

People can also get bipolar, suicidal, even violent or there are other changes in personality and behaviour. Just drugs! Treat them like that, with caution...

There are worst-cases where treatment in hospital is necessary, sure. By seriously ill inpatients these medications can be a more human way instead of fixation or something. But should they provide them to almost everyone on the streets?

Just inform and decide by yourself. The brain can change itselve in a positive way if you get a good psychotheraphy. And every positive event/thought/input helps to cure depression slowly. You have to be patient and ready to investigate possible causes of depressive symptoms. Hard work which needs lots of time and energy from both: therapist and patient. It seems to be easier to go to a psychiatric fast-food-restaurant. Healthy stuff?

it just surprised me because I have been on at least 10 if not more other antidepressants (none worked as well as viibryd), generally for months at a time, and have never felt a single withdrawal symptom. I thought I must just have some chemistry that causes me not to withdraw from antidepressants. I agree, nobody informs of the risk. I wish my psychiatrist had warned me about the risk of total dependency when he prescribed it. probably because it initially worked so well I have to withdraw so hard I guess. I don't know.
I've had severe depression since I was 11 (23 now) and I've been in therapy almost consistently since I was 6, minus a break in my teenage years. I'm still depressed and my anxiety (bigger problem than the depression) is literally killing me. I have so many other issues going on we rarely focus on the depression itself in therapy -- we mainly focus on how I can become more functional/independent and coping mechanisms for anxiety and getting my eating under control (in fact I just switched to an eating disorder therapist instead of my general one). basically we just try to formulate plans to somehow get me through the next week hopefully w/ some improvement to my situation. RE: cause of my depression -- I was born fucked up. super faulty wiring all over my entire brain. it's simply genetic. I've had a wonderful life, everything I ever needed or really badly wanted provided for me. no trauma, nothing. I have no excuse.

I agree it should be harder to get an antidepressant script. they can be dangerous drugs and should be treated w/ respect.

 

[sekio]

OD --> Mental Health

 

[paranoid android]

I can't take SSRI's, Snri's or Mirtazapine at all either. I have had good luck with Bupropion Wellbutrin, Zyban) as well as the Tricyclic anti-depressants Amitriptyline (Elavil) and Trimipramine (Surmontil). Wellbutrin is a Norepinephrine and Dopamine reuptake inhibitor while Amitriptyline is basically a Serotonin and Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor with your typical anti-cholinergic effects you get with TCA's. Trimipramine is abit of a odd one as it is basically a anti-depressant with mild atypical anti-psychotic properties. If you have trouble sleeping at all Trimipramine would be a good choice as not only is it a awesome sleeping pill but it is one of the very few drugs that actually improves REM sleep and overall sleep quality. Most people including myself find that it increases happy or positive dreams so to speak so you don't feel all shitty in the morning. In fact Trimipramine makes me feel pretty damn good in the morning.

It might also be worth noting that certain mood stabilizers such as Lamotrigine and certain Atypical Anti-psychotics such as Quetiapine and Olanzapine seem to work well against Unipolar depression as well. I get the depression phase of Bipolar alot and both Quetiapine and Olanzapine seem to work almost immediately as anti-depressants. In fact i find Quetiapine to work much faster against he depression phase of Bipolar then the Manic phase.

I am certainly no doctor and there is no way i can tell you which anti-depressants will work for you. But i can give you my own personal experience and what worked for me. I would say try Wellbutrin or a Tricyclic before you try anything else. The good thing about Wellbutrin and Tricyclics is that much unlike SSRI's or worse yet SNRI's they don't seem to cause depdenace and Wellbutrin has very little in the way of side effects.

 

[Moreaux]

I can't take SSRI's, Snri's or Mirtazapine at all either. I have had good luck with Bupropion Wellbutrin, Zyban) as well as the Tricyclic anti-depressants Amitriptyline (Elavil) and Trimipramine (Surmontil). Wellbutrin is a Norepinephrine and Dopamine reuptake inhibitor while Amitriptyline is basically a Serotonin and Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor with your typical anti-cholinergic effects you get with TCA's. Trimipramine is abit of a odd one as it is basically a anti-depressant with mild atypical anti-psychotic properties. If you have trouble sleeping at all Trimipramine would be a good choice as not only is it a awesome sleeping pill but it is one of the very few drugs that actually improves REM sleep and overall sleep quality. Most people including myself find that it increases happy or positive dreams so to speak so you don't feel all shitty in the morning. In fact Trimipramine makes me feel pretty damn good in the morning.

It might also be worth noting that certain mood stabilizers such as Lamotrigine and certain Atypical Anti-psychotics such as Quetiapine and Olanzapine seem to work well against Unipolar depression as well. I get the depression phase of Bipolar alot and both Quetiapine and Olanzapine seem to work almost immediately as anti-depressants. In fact i find Quetiapine to work much faster against he depression phase of Bipolar then the Manic phase.

I am certainly no doctor and there is no way i can tell you which anti-depressants will work for you. But i can give you my own personal experience and what worked for me. I would say try Wellbutrin or a Tricyclic before you try anything else. The good thing about Wellbutrin and Tricyclics is that much unlike SSRI's or worse yet SNRI's they don't seem to cause depdenace and Wellbutrin has very little in the way of side effects.

I found Wellbutrin to be effective and didn't notice withdrawal when I discontinued. The only concern with Wellbutrin is that it can lower siezure threshold in some users, and if you're like me with a low siezure threshold to begin with, it can definately trigger them. I would also be hesitant and have a detailed discussion with your doctor regarding Wellbutrin and siezure thresholds if you currently take or plan to take benzodiazapines. If yes to any of that, I would ask the doctor to start slower than usual to work up to your therapeutic dose. Just wanted to mention the siezure piece with Wellbutrin become not too many people are aware of that. Wellbutrin is a great AD, and it's fairly benign compared to SSRIs and SNRIs.

 

[curlydog]

St. John's Wort is a mild anti-depressant, it actually only works in lower, steady doses. Higher doses do nothing more and do not work faster. You have to do a low dose for like a week until you get the results.

Do you know your serotonin levels?