Mental Health What's the best Antidepressant out there?

[mandisweetness32]

I'm having lots of trouble trying to find the best antidepressant drug for me. My "labels" are clinical depression, situational depression, & severe depression along with social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, & anxiety disorder. I'm already on klonopins for my anxiety, I take 8mg of Subutex a day, 1mg Klonopins 3×a day, & 100mg of Zoloft daily. I've been on everything from Zoloft, Welbutrin, lexapro, paxil etc.. Can anyone help? I'm starting to think the subutex is a better antidepressant than anything I've ever tried before! Anyone else who's in my situation or been in my shoes please give your input, & those of you that found what really truly worked for them, then I welcome your ideas, & recommendation please???? Thank you so much

 

[herbavore]

It would be great if there were one that worked for everyone but that definitely is not the case. People's experiences with AD's go from horrible to best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-me and that applies to every one of them. I guess our bodies are just that different.

 

[mandisweetness32]

Was that supposed to be funny? As someone in this thread looking for a way out of thinking about suicide, that was the last thing I needed.
I don't mean to be ugly, but this is a mental health thread. How could you suggest those drugs as the best antidepressant. Depression is a serious, can be fatal disease, and you suggest Crystal Meth? Obviously you have never felt or know anyone in the grips of depression. It makes me sad. I think the Mods should suspend your membership or give you a warning or something for such a thoughtless post. This is a HARM REDUCTION site.

Thank you jkmkaye.. I mean crystal meth wtf? I legitimately need honest answers from anyone who's been in my shoes, like I said the bupe works great as an antidepressant but I know it's not used for that.. Thanks again for standing up for those of us who do have issues and are truly looking for the "RIGHT" way..

 

[jkmkaye]

Sorry, my over reaction. I am just really sensitive when it comes to depression issues. Sometime I wish I had can cancer(no disrespect meant to people with cancer) but at least people understand it.

 

[mb-909]

Well, there is no "the best" antidepressant in my opinion. I won't say that they are useless, because many people seem to have positive results with them (but I personally wouldn't take them - Abilify and its withdrawal made my life worse than it was before). Sports, especially cardio workouts, running, bicycling and swimming help to ease off depression for a short time. In the end you have to use your time to change your bad daily structure. There is no happy pill to erase depression, just the symptoms. Only yourself can change your path and bad thinking. You don't have to do it alone and it certainly will take its time. But by doing nothing you won't change anything.

What helped me was MDMA and shrooms (to some it may be dangerous, but I was ready to take the risks - don't do it if you are not ready to take the risks), because they both showed me how it is to feel again after years of being emotionless. But before that I stayed completely sober and tried to change my life by myself, no drugs or "happy pills". Drugs can only be a tool and have to be used in the right way to be useful. This is the reason why I rarely do drugs (like drinking alcohol 1x in 2 months), because my motivation is too feel again without needing drugs.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

In my studies, I've come to the conclusion that there is indeed no "best" antidepressant, but that different antidepressant classes work best for certain types of depression. I may be wrong, just my layman's opinion.

The fewer medications you try, the less likely you will be treatment-resistant and have to go on a special diet. That's not to say one should be satisfied if they're still very depressed while on an antidepressant, just that giving a medication time to work, at least a month, is a good idea.

There are studies out there of suboxone being used as an adjunct, but research is inconclusive and I would say it's not a good idea without doctor supervision. Few doctors would put their license on the line for that, too.

In my experience, klonopin actually caused depression. At 3mg per day, you aren't on a low dose in my opinion. I even felt a lot of relief cutting down my benzo dose to one third of what the doctor gave me (with his guidance), relief from depression, that is.

 

[paranoid android]

Everyone reacts differently to medications and especially psych meds. I have Bipolar disorder as well as GAD and abit of Panic disorder as my official diagnoses i think and right now i am currently taking a cocktail of 200mg's of Lamotrigine, 6mg's of Clonazepam (it helps the mania as well as anxiety and the nerve pain i have so it has more the 1 use for me), 300mg's of Bupropion and 300-400mg's of Quetiapine a day. Also Cannabis helps the symptoms i get alot as well. Between all those i am pretty stable most of the time and Bupropion actually helps give me energy which is a plus due to the awful fatigue i get with bipolar depression. Lamotrigine has between a life saver for me literally as it has evened out my moods better then other meds i have tried, it has pretty much stopped the mixed states i used to get and it has the plus of giving me no side effects. The seroquel i take is not nearly as good of a anti-psychotic for helping mania as say Zyprexa is but my insurance only covers seroquel and Risperdal and i would only go back on Risperdal if i absolutely had to due to the side effects and it not being the best med for Bipolar in my case. I find Quetiapine to only really start to help after maybe 5 days or so and not until i hit about 300mg's a day.

I found Quetiapine to help my depression as much as my mania though and i would recommend it as a anti-depressant if all else fails. Lamotrigine can also help unipolar depression. I have tried Venlafaxine, Amitriptyline, Bupropion, Mirtazapine, and Trimipramine. Or i think that's all the anti-depressants I've had. Of those only Bupropion, Amitriptyline and Trimipramine helped and didn't cause horrible side effects or awful withdrawal symptoms. Oddly enough dirty old tricyclics seem to help me without triggering mania plus they also help my pain and help me sleep. The next time i see my doc i might get him to put me back on Trimipramine actually.

Everything works different for everyone basically and some people get relief with drugs that are not traditional anti-depressants such as mood stabilizers and certain anti-depressants. I have known people who have ended up in MAOI's such as Nardil and Parnate because nothing else worked. The med merry go round can be a right cunt and it took me years before i found the right combo of meds. But it can be done so don't give up.

 

[ThePharmacist4925]

Some work for some people, others work for other people. It depends on you, work with a doctor to discern an answer to your question.

 

[jkmkaye]

I have probably been through over 12 meds, and I can not still get stabilized. I am close to giving up. My only thing keeping me here is my son.

 

[deemeein]

Try to not feel like that, I know how much easier said than done but there's always tomorrow, and tomorrow's tomorrow to live for, something I've learned a lot in the past few years despite forgetting it half the time too. I too have been through a lot of mental health meds - at the minute I am 200mg Zoloft, 600mg Lyrica, 10mg Diazepam a day but have been on a raft of others and thinking of adding Valdoxan (Agomelatine) back into my scripts as it definitely helped considerably. Have stayed away from the anti-psychs in recent times as they weren't right for me. But honestly, keep strong and remember a smile a day keeps bad moods away with love

 

[sam05]

Best antidepressant is exercise, a good diet, and maybe some counseling. Maybe a good magnesium supplement. IME, the rest of it just adds to the chaos and by the end of it you are so screwed up that you wish you never started any of it. YMMV

truth.