• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

What anti-depressants are you taking?

NoPromiseMade

NoPromiseMade

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 22, 2010
Messages
198
Location
Houston TX
Hey folks,

I was wondering what anti-depressants people take. I have just stopped taking mirtazapine. The sleeping for twelve hours every night was great until I got a job and had to get my ass up at a certain time. My doc has scripted my citalopam(celexa) but I have reservations about it beng an SSRI and being very similar to lexapro which some of my friends have had bad reactions with.
 
Alcohol, tobacco, and tea are my anti-depressants. Cut everything else out (marijuana, opiates, speed, coffee, and St. John's wort). This helped a lot, but didn't help all the way. The biggest savior for my depression was dealing with (finding answers to) some negative thought loops that had been going on for years.

Your friends have different ratios of neurotransmitters and receptors than you, so they might need less serotonin activity while you need more. Don't judge at all based on what they say.

Also, I'd go with Lexapro over Celexa. Lexapro is the updated form of Celexa. Pretty much Lexapro has 1 of the 2 molecules in Celexa. The one that is in Celexa that isn't in Lexapro has been found to be inactive and hence they took it out and named it Lexapro.
 
I've tried mirtazapine and celexa along with a bevy of other ADs. Usually SSRIs drive me manic, but I'm on cymbalta right now and that along with geodon and lamictal are working wonders.
 
It can without question be helpful to hear about your friends [or just other people in generals] personal experiences with certain Psychiatric medications, but deciding that you don't want to try a certain medication based solely off of stories you've heard from other people is an awful idea.

Keep in mind that however many stories about SSRIs you've heard from your friends, your psychiatrist who would be prescribing the SSRI has heard hundreds & hundreds MORE stories about SSRIs & witnessed first hand hundreds of people's reactions to it.

Also keep in mind that not all SSRIs are the exact same. They all basically do the same thing, but the mechanism by which they work & things like that differ from medication to medication.

Zoloft [an SSRI] more or less saved my life. Seriously. I was put on it right after I turned 11, & of course it took years & years for me to admit to myself how much it helped me. I probably would have killed myself by the age of 15 if my parents didn't make me start taking that stuff as a kid.
On the other hand, Prozac [an SSRI that's known to be quite similar to Zoloft] made me so intensely manic that if I'd stayed on it for a few more months than I did I probably would have ended up dead or in jail.


(A side note about Lexapro to keep in mind: my psychiatrist told me the other day that Lexapro is really one of those "hit or miss" medications. I'm not too sure of to what degree it's a "hit or miss" medication for treating Depression, but I know that my Psychiatrist -- who's dozens & dozens of people Lexapro probably just in the past year -- said that about half the people she gives it to find that it helps their anxiety a lot, & the other half find that it makes their anxiety worse.)


If your psychiatrist thinks you should try Celexa. If for no other reason just because you have so much more to potentially gain than to potentially lose by trying it.
 
My current antidepressants are heavy physical exercise and marijuana (like a few light puffs at night). So far they have been working pretty well. I suffer from depression and anxiety and I'll have to say exercise works about as well as the AD's I've taken (I've taken every SSRI and SNRI as well as wellbutrin). Plus I'm losing weight, have better self-esteem and sleep great.

Now- that combo doesn't eliminate all of my symptoms but no AD ever did. I realize my approach isn't for everybody but I'll bet a good 20-30% of people on AD's could achieve very similar results if they just exercised aerobically 5 times a week. The weed gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day ;)
 
My first antidepressant was Celexa (SSRI), killed my sex drive completely and I felt like a freak. On top of that, celexa had given me a manic episode when I first started so I had to take lithium with it (I'm bipolar). So I was pretty much a sexless zombie for a year.

I'm now taking Wellbutrin (I believe it's an NDRI?). I'm off the lithium (5 mo. so far) and haven't had any sort of episode. I am taking risperdal (antipsychotic) as well, just to maintain stability and keep me from hearing/seeing things/being paranoid.

I also exercise because that makes your brain happy AND it feels great :)
 
i have been taking a fairly light dose of effexor for almost six months. it takes the edge off, but as others have stated before me, i still turn to a few puffs of "medicinal" mj in the evening for some additional relief.

currently i am at 150 mgs. im thinking of upping the dose as i have had a pretty rough summer thus far, but am wary... at this point im able to work things through without losing it, so maybe thats good enough...

that being said, effexor is an snri, and so works a bit differently. my sex drive hasn't changed that much, but my ability to reach orgasm (sorry... honest...) has been difficult sometimes. like others have said, everyone reacts differently, and exercise really does help. cheesy but true. there's really nothing like natural endorphins... :D
 
Am on lexapro. I think when I first started taking it, I expected wonders but this is not how ssri's work. It is more or less in place to numb you down to resolve whatever issues you have or so I think.

I will be reaching a year soon in terms of taking this medication but it looks like I may need it for another year or so....
 
buproprion and Lyrica. While pregabalin is not an AD med per se, not being in so much pain does wonders for my mood. It also tweaks me out a bit for some reason. The buproprion made me quit smoking, and the way I take it makes me all tweaked too. After so many years in pain and junk-time, its kinda nice to actually get up and start doing stuff.
But no AD will change my view on life..... A pile of shit viewed through rose-colored glasses is still a pile of shit, and even if I hold my nose and close my eyes it'll still be...... surprise!..... shit. That's what life is, and drugs just make it easier to ignore or taste better.
 
Amphetamines are about the only drug that seems to stop me feeling depressed. I've been on anti-depressants since about the age of 12... I've been on almost every SSRI, and I recently stopped taking Wellbutrin as that wasn't doing much either. I've considered ECT, but the side effects (memory loss, etc.) don't really appeal to me.
 
combination of wellbutrin and some sort of either :ssri, maoi, or norepinepherine reguator can treat most cases. most take consistantly and takes 2-4 weeks to kick in
 
Zoloft and Abilify. I guess the anti psychotic is more like a mood stabilezer and enhancer, rather than being the primary method of treatment. I'm not sure if it's normal or not, but the ssri and anti psychotics have yet to really affect my overall well being yet.
I also take k-pins for anxiety.
I'm pretty drugged up, but I don't really feel psychiatrically stable yet. I'm more sad than anything, I'm not manic...
 
Bupropion and Gabapentin. It is really the gabapentin that works for me, but I need huge doses. I found that bupropion greatly potentiates gabapentin, and that their synergy really works for me.

Before that, I used to take Tramadol and it worked fantastic, but the addiction part was not exactly pleasant.

Tianeptine works great as well but isn't available in Canada :(.
 
Lexapro 30mg daily saved my life after I suffered from seratonin syndrome from doing massive amounts of mdma in the past. Really helped me turn into the person I am today...

It does kill my sex drive somewhat during the day but it goes away at night as I take it during the day

Also I take adderall for my add, and when I do it makes my sex drive much more apparent. But yes lexapro is amazing and even my therapist takes it, and its supposed to have one of the highest percent for success with patients. I love it.

Zoloft on the other hand made me VERY tired and sluggish during the day. lexpapro has barely any side effects at all.
 
TheFDA said:
(A side note about Lexapro to keep in mind: my psychiatrist told me the other day that Lexapro is really one of those "hit or miss" medications. I'm not too sure of to what degree it's a "hit or miss" medication for treating Depression, but I know that my Psychiatrist -- who's dozens & dozens of people Lexapro probably just in the past year -- said that about half the people she gives it to find that it helps their anxiety a lot, & the other half find that it makes their anxiety worse.)
Click to expand...

I've heard the same. I know a lot of people who dislike Lexapro, claiming it either didn't work at all, gave them bad side effects, and\or worsened their depression.

However, I take 10mg of Lexapro daily, and it truely works wonders for me, even at such a low dose. The difference for me is amazing. Without Lexapro, I am a very, VERY anxious person, and I get really bad depression spells that hit me out of nowhere. I've been lucky in that Lexapro was the first AD that my doctor put me on, and its worked so well.

The only downfalls are that it makes orgasming more difficult, and it also sucks because I can't roll :/ I'd like to try something that is not an SSRI so that I'm able to do that, but I'm also hesitant to switch to something different when what I am taking works so well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top