calebtrask
Greenlighter
I've been dealing with depression for more-or-less my entire life. Most of the time I experience dysthymia, just an overall bummed out and detached feeling, however I've also gotten severe major depressive episodes in the past and have been hospitalized for some. I've been in therapy on and off from 8 until my mid-twenties (now) without any lasting impact except diagnoses for PTSD and ADHD. I started medication at 13 and cycled through the typical SSRI's with no help and took a break from them until a few years ago when I started meds again to try and combat my latest episode of major depression. Most of the medications have no noticeable effect on my mood, and the few that do are underwhelming. I know that antidepressants don't have a sudden "wow I'm not depressed" feeling and don't think that I have unrealistic expectations about drugs. I'm just looking for something to give me a bit of energy to work through therapy programs and keep me stable and functional each day.
Here are the meds I've tried in the past:
Prozac/Zoloft (each for about a month at a normal dose)
Risperdal (to augment antidepressants)
Celexa/Lexapro (for about 6 months at a normal dose)
Effexor (300 mg for about 8 months)
Pristiq (starter dose for about 3 days - gave me terrible nausea)
Elavil (150 mg for about 2 months)
Remeron (30 mg for about 2 weeks)
Seroquel (don't remember dose, was given it in the hospital - didn't notice much difference)
Abilify (15 mg for about 2 weeks, had to stop because of restlessness side effect)
Trazodone (150-300 mg as needed for sleep, don't take it too often because it gives me a hangover)
Prazosin (1-5 mg prescribed to help with nightmares from PTSD)
Provigil/Nuvigil (200mg/150mg for excessive daytime sleepiness, positive effect on mood at first, but this went away after a week or so)
Concerta (72 mg, not very helpful with ADHD and no real antidepressant effect)
Namenda (40 mg, bought online to see if it helped with ADHD and amphetamine tolerance)
Tianeptine (12.5 mg 3x daily for 2 weeks, noticed a slight increase in mood/motivation)
And here are the meds I'm currently on:
Cymbalta 120mg
Wellbutrin 450mg
Lithium 300mg 2x daily
Tenex 2mg for sleep/ADHD
Ativan 1mg 3x daily as needed
Adderall IR 20mg
Vyvanse 100 mg
As of right now my psychiatrist and I don't think I'm getting what I should out of these meds, so I'm looking for other options. I've already tried ECT (shock therapy) without much impact and probably next week I'll start detoxing from the drugs I'm on so that I can start an MAOI. He suggested we see how I do on a combination of parnate + lithium + low dose of amphetamine and go from there. If that doesn't work, the only other option we've talked about is starting an experimental treatment where I'd get injected with a low dose of ketamine once a week.
If anyone else has tried to deal with treatment resistant depression, I'd love to hear your experience medication-wise, specifically if MAOI's were helpful. I'm a bit nervous about the parnate + amphetamine combo, but my psychiatrist said that if we regulate the doses correctly, there wouldn't be a problem. I know MAOI's boost amphetamines and parnate itself is a stimulant, so it makes sense to me to try because I've had the best responses to stimulant medications in general.
I've tried to be methodical in taking various medications and combinations for dealing with depression, but if someone has an alternative to suggest or something else that worked for them, I'm certainly excited to hear about it.
Here are the meds I've tried in the past:
Prozac/Zoloft (each for about a month at a normal dose)
Risperdal (to augment antidepressants)
Celexa/Lexapro (for about 6 months at a normal dose)
Effexor (300 mg for about 8 months)
Pristiq (starter dose for about 3 days - gave me terrible nausea)
Elavil (150 mg for about 2 months)
Remeron (30 mg for about 2 weeks)
Seroquel (don't remember dose, was given it in the hospital - didn't notice much difference)
Abilify (15 mg for about 2 weeks, had to stop because of restlessness side effect)
Trazodone (150-300 mg as needed for sleep, don't take it too often because it gives me a hangover)
Prazosin (1-5 mg prescribed to help with nightmares from PTSD)
Provigil/Nuvigil (200mg/150mg for excessive daytime sleepiness, positive effect on mood at first, but this went away after a week or so)
Concerta (72 mg, not very helpful with ADHD and no real antidepressant effect)
Namenda (40 mg, bought online to see if it helped with ADHD and amphetamine tolerance)
Tianeptine (12.5 mg 3x daily for 2 weeks, noticed a slight increase in mood/motivation)
And here are the meds I'm currently on:
Cymbalta 120mg
Wellbutrin 450mg
Lithium 300mg 2x daily
Tenex 2mg for sleep/ADHD
Ativan 1mg 3x daily as needed
Adderall IR 20mg
Vyvanse 100 mg
As of right now my psychiatrist and I don't think I'm getting what I should out of these meds, so I'm looking for other options. I've already tried ECT (shock therapy) without much impact and probably next week I'll start detoxing from the drugs I'm on so that I can start an MAOI. He suggested we see how I do on a combination of parnate + lithium + low dose of amphetamine and go from there. If that doesn't work, the only other option we've talked about is starting an experimental treatment where I'd get injected with a low dose of ketamine once a week.
If anyone else has tried to deal with treatment resistant depression, I'd love to hear your experience medication-wise, specifically if MAOI's were helpful. I'm a bit nervous about the parnate + amphetamine combo, but my psychiatrist said that if we regulate the doses correctly, there wouldn't be a problem. I know MAOI's boost amphetamines and parnate itself is a stimulant, so it makes sense to me to try because I've had the best responses to stimulant medications in general.
I've tried to be methodical in taking various medications and combinations for dealing with depression, but if someone has an alternative to suggest or something else that worked for them, I'm certainly excited to hear about it.