Mental Health SSRIs question

[Zon]

Does anyone know where I could find a list of SSRIs with their general (I know everyone is different) characteristics?

Info:

My condition is not extremely serious, but generally demotivated and unable to do my daily tasks. I think this is also causing me to have occassional panic attacks and just generally my whole life is out of whack latly. I wouldn't say it is anywhere near as serious as some people but still I really need something to help me get back on track.

The problem is I have completely lost all trust in my doctors opinion... First time I went to him he prescribed me a uselessly small dose of imipramine (TCA), which many knowledgable people have said is quite weird to do for my condition and an inadequate amount to last to my next appointment on top of everything... Went back and asked to change to an SSRI, he said ok and prescribed me Effexor, an SNRI which is considered one of the worst anti depressents to come off of. Just try google "hardest antidepressant to stop" and guess what is the most common medication named... I can't work out if he is a complete idiot or is actually trying to make life harder for me... Anyway. I most definitely to not trust in his opinions at all any more, so I plan to do my research and try to find a specific SSRI that I can suggest. And hopefully he will agree to it.

Also if anyone has any suggestions on meds to look into please go ahead, I will of course not take anything without doing my own research first and then asking my "doctor".

Basically, I don't want anything too strong or high dosage, I don't think I need it at this time. I just want something that will help me stay motivated and not mess up my sleep or my sex drive too much. As I understand some meds are more or less likely to do this. I also don't want something like effexor that takes months to quit and has seriously bad withdrawal symptoms.... So if there is a list that compares SSRIs to each other, in general of course... It would really help. Better than picking one out of a hat, or somehow picking the worst one which my doctor likes to do...

Thanks for any opinions/advice.

 

[moonie79]

The two hardest antidepressants/anti-anxiety meds to come off are Effexor and Paxil. Paxil is a great drug to help with anxiety, but coming off is hell. I recommend you try Celexa or Lexapro, which are essentially same drug minus a molecule. Having a good psychiatrist is key....u can also do genetic testing in your doctors office to see what medications your body can metabolize and which you can't. In the field of psychiatry for 20years.....All SSRIs will take at a minimum of 4-6 weeks to really feel any benefit. You will have side effects that may be unpleasant but if you can tough it out for first two weeks, you will be ok. Most do kill your sexual libido, but u can get it back once your stable.

 

[Zon]

Ok, good to know... Even more reason to get on them asap I guess. Is there any that affect libido less commonly than others?

 

[silverwheel]

I think the libido thing is pretty individual - I was on Zoloft for a long time, and it never hurt my libido. Actually, I was more sexually confident while I was on it. SSRI's can delay ejaculation, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Zon]

I think the libido thing is pretty individual - I was on Zoloft for a long time, and it never hurt my libido. Actually, I was more sexually confident while I was on it. SSRI's can delay ejaculation, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Actually you are the 2nd person to say Zoloft didnt affect your sex life. Did you try any other SSRIs that did? The other person said Celexa DID, and Zoloft didn't. Of course not much of a sample but still. I wish someone would gather data from all the people who have used several SSRIs and rate the side effects.

 

[Zon]

Has anyone ever seen this website? https://treato.com/Celexa,Zoloft,Depression/?a=s

It seems to gather data and reports of thousands of people and put them into comparison charts. Data all seems to be similar to each other but the different from Celexa to Zoloft has a few differences.

 

[silverwheel]

Did you try any other SSRIs that did?

Zoloft is the only SSRI I've been on. I've been on Cymbalta for a couple of years now, which is an SNRI, and it hasn't affected my libido either.

 

[fluorescein]

You should see a psychiatrist. I don't know about your panic attacks, but SSRIs aren't really good for motivation. If you're having a lot of anxiety or don't see the point of living then they can help, by lifting your mood, but they won't make you want to do your laundry.

Honestly taking some stimulants as prescribed might do the trick, e.g. adderall.

If you're just out-of-whack a bit you might want to take a step back and focus on your health, start exercising and meditating, take time off of work or whatever.

 

[Zon]

Hmm, adderall is an interesting suggestion. I feel like one of the main reasons I am depressed is because I don't get anything done every day, and I don't get anything done because I'm depressed.... Might be something that could break the circle.

Does anyone have any opinions about taking an SSRI like zoloft with adderall?

 

[Water-Lily]

Hey there,

I'll gladly offer my input.
Just so you know where I'm coming from, here's a quick intro: Well am considered to be a real "psycho freak" plagued with various life-long or chronic disorders, too many diagnoses and painful personal experience as a psychiatric patient. I was thrown in the psychiatric/medical system a long time ago (a decade or so), so I know what it's like to go to the ER over and over again and be invalidated/traumatized over and over again, I've been inpatient a few times, I've done programs, therapies, etc. I was given Prozac when I was 19, as a result I started to have repeated seizures, while remaining as depressed as I was before. Now I'm 23 and I've been taking a combination of meds that seem to work for several months now. I am prescribed Effexor to treat my depression (does work for me! but yeah it IS the worst in terms of withdrawal...), Klonopin/Rivotril (Clonazepam) to help with my anxiety issues, and Trazodone to help with insomnia(used off-label because Trazodone is classified as an antidepressant) . I was first given Zopiclone to sleep, but my tolerance to substances tends to build up really quickly and after 1-2 weeks, it just wasn't working anymore. I've been prescribed Ritalin and Dexedrine to keep me focused but that's fairly recent and I fear that my psychiatrist, on a second thought, will soon put an end to it. I'll explain why later).
Over this period of ten years, I have built a massive network of close friends, all with similar conditions to mine, so I can count of their feedback on certain medications, programs, or have their general input on the psychiatric/medical system, as sadly most of them have been looped inside it for many many years like me. Lastly, I have completed a degree in Psychology, ironically (or not) and I am truly passionate about this field. I love researching information about specific disorders, medications, etc. When I gather information, I'll use a few legitimate websites, but mostly I do rely on scientific articles. Clinical/experimental studies- meta-analyses are wonderful.
So I have insight from multiple sources: my own experience (or input from my friends), knowledge I've acquired by myself, things I learned in therapy or through various psychiatrists, and of course my degree.

So every person reacts differently to a specific medication, especially when we talk about antidepressants. Often, more than one, two, three attempts are required before finding the one antidepressant that works (efficiency + no or few side undesirable side effects). Sometimes, a combination will work better than one med on its own. Of course there are known general tendencies: common side effects, severity of withdrawal symptoms, etc. What can really be an obstacle to treatment is that it takes on average 4-6 weeks for an antidepressant to "work" IF it actually improves the condition, which is absolutely not granted to begin with. Then, generally the psychiatrist, doctor, or whoever is writing the prescription will try to increase the dosage before deciding that it's time to switch. This can lead to months/years lost for people who are refractory to a lot of different SSRIs, SNRIs, atypical antidepressants, etc. Sounds pretty discouraging but I've seen it happen way too often. But generally, most people end up finding the right med or combination.
From my own experience, it's always best to do your own research, especially if you feel like your doctor doesn't really know what he's doing (which doesn't surprise me in the least, I've lost faith in the medical system a long time ago, well the one where I live is so bad that I could rant about it for days on end).

Concerning your case, my most spontaneous opinion goes as follow: The med that I would recommend for you would be Bupropion (Wellbutrin). It's one of the newest antidepressants, and it has antidepressant + stimulant features.
Adderall is a stimulant like Ritalin, Concerta, Dexedrine. Well, usually people do get addicted to those, and tolerance builds, so you need to take more. Also, there are undesirable side effects to them, even if you take your medication as prescribed. I've been a speed addict (street amphetamines not meth) for a decade, so yeah. I love stimulants (such an outrageous understatement...)

When we need to decide which antidepressant would be the most favorable option to try, we all have specific conditions (side effects- sex drive, weight gain, etc.) You wrote that you wish to take an antidepressant that:
- Will help with your motivation to do the things you need to do
- Won't mess up your sleep
- Won't affect your sex drive

Well, almost all antidepressants (especially SSRIs and SNRIs) have a negative effect on sex drive. Except Mirtazapine (Remeron) and Bupropion (Wellbutrin). Be careful, those meds are extremely different, Remeron is far from being a stimulant. Actually it's known to have a strong sedative effect and it's commonly used to treat insomnia. Bupropion on the other end has a strong stimulant effect, while still being classified as an antidepressant; hence treating depression remains its main function. So it could help with your motivation/energy levels issues and treat your depression at the same time. Lastly, It shouldn't affect your sleep much if you take it in the morning, and shouldn't affect your sex drive.
However, any stimulant WILL affect your sleep, pretty badly. It all depends on the dosage, tolerance, etc. But I can guarantee that it will, to some extent affect your sleep negatively.

So that was my input, I hope it helps. However, do your own research and keep in mind that I am not a working professional, so you should seek advice and treatment from a psychiatrist.

If you have any other questions, I'll be around =)

Good luck!

A few links
If you want to know more about antidepressants in general, I would suggest this website:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/286759-medication

Also, my absolute favorite website to dig information on a specific class of meds, or to find out which are used to treat a specific condition is Drugs.com It gathers up-to-date, very accurate and in-depth information about every possible legal drug that exists. You can search by drug classification or by physical/psychological condition, check interactions between meds, and much more. They also have a lovely app that I use all the time. Anyway here is the link to the list of the most commonly used SSRIs:
http://www.drugs.com/drug-class/ssri-antidepressants.html

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

Since you do not like the doctor you are seeing now, go to see a different one.

You will find a list of SSRIs/SSNRIs online with their side effects; but keep in mind the majority of people do not get all or even most of the side effects of an SSRI/SSNRI.

 

[Zon]

Sorry I am very late to reply back, this week has been a bit weird and I wanted to research things a little more before replying. So after someone suggested stimulants for my motivation I started looking into it, which then led to learning about ADHD which I really knew nothing about before. Page after page and video after video just described my entire life! I watched one video on TEDx of someone explaining ADHD and literally felt like it was me on the stage! I've been suffering from lack of concentration and motivation my whole life and I thought it was normal, only now that I am trying so hard to have a normal (boring) life that I noticed something was wrong and thought it was just depression. Now everything makes sense, it's really weird how happy I am about finding out I have a "disorder" haha. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is thank you, even though it was indirect the words of people on this forum has hopefully just changed my entire life for the better!

Hey there,
Concerning your case, my most spontaneous opinion goes as follow: The med that I would recommend for you would be Bupropion (Wellbutrin). It's one of the newest antidepressants, and it has antidepressant + stimulant features.

Now, back to medications.... I looked into Bupropion(Welbutrin) which water-lilly suggested and it looks absolutely amazing to mildly treat both ADHD and depression at the same time but...... You can't drink on it.... Almost everyone who has tried has reported feeling very sick when trying, or even worse. And I am a social drinker which I do not want to change as it would damage my social life and is just not who I am... So I guess it is unfortunately not the med for me.

Right now my main objective is treating my focus/motivation issues, and have been looking at Desoxyn(rated 9.1 for ADHD) which is rated a little higher than Adderal(8.5) as an ADHD medication on drugs.com (http://www.drugs.com/condition/attention-deficit-disorder.html?sort=rating&order=desc), Modafinil/Provigil(9.2) also looks like an interesting option although seems to have a lot of contoversy around it being used simply as a smart drug than a medication so I wonder if my closed minded doctor will just think I am faking the whole thing... (I am trying to change doctors but it's not easy).

My big issue is if I should ALSO take some kind of antidepressant along with this or not, I believe if I can treat my ADD which is the cause of my depression it should go away, but I am not sure about this. But is there any antidepressent, even a mild one that could be taken with any of the above stimulants, and moderate social drinking without strong side affects? Or is that just too good to be true? Really I think Bupropion would have been perfect if it didn't interact with alcohol :/ Still, thanks to water-lily for really good advice though.

 

[Water-Lily]

Hey, I still think you seek help from a psychiatrist whom you will trust and have a great connection with (it's never granted) for medication. It's always useful to have a document listing your psychiatric history (conditions or symptoms, known diagnoses, current/past meds, current/past therapies, trips to the ER, etc.) because it saves a LOT of time and trouble if you do book an appointment. Also, pharmacists are supposed to be knowledgeable about side effects, interactions, etc. But psychiatrists sometimes will prescribe anything or nothing, or won't know what they're talking about (same for pharmacists). They're the professionals, yeah, but always do a thorough research first, and every person reacts differently. Outcomes are impossible to predict accurately.

Well, alcohol is a no-no with... almost everything. Same for drugs, but there's a thread somewhere listing most prescription drugs available, and their interaction with drugs (the list is exhaustive and very useful).
In small quantities, you should be fine, but usually it's NOT recommended to drink at all. But as usual, it varies from person to person, and some meds are most risky to take with alcohol than others.
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/alcohol-interactions-with-medications?page=2

Desoxyn is banned in Canada, so probably you're from the US. To me, it's just unbelievable that this med actually exists. Desoxyn is methamphetamine, just in case you didn't know. If you look at the molecule, it is pure meth.
It's such an aberration that it is prescribed in the first place, but I really don't think you should go for that. If you really do think that a stimulant is what you need, try Ritalin or Adderall first. But there are a lot of severe downsides to them, so be aware.