Changing antidepressants

[Ashes2ashes]

I started trauma therapy and duloxetine in April. I had terrible night sweats and nightmares and it made me feel dizzy all the time. I almost passed out from low blood pressure a few times. I changed to sertraline for June-September. I have had terrible nightmares and flashbacks when I am sleeping with bad night sweats. Before the medication I didn’t suffer nightmares like this. They are so vivid. I changed to Lexapro and I have been on it for a week now. I had some days where I felt manic, and other days where I feel normal. I know it’s early but is it possible the antidepressants are making my ptsd symptoms worse? I also have been doing trauma therapy off and on. This all started because I had side pain... anyone else question the use of medication and whether it makes things worse? Or is this just processing...

 

[Sideways]

Duloextine, sertraline and lexapro are all SSRI’s I think?

It may be worth trying a different type of anti-depressant.

 

[Ashes2ashes]

Duloextine, sertraline and lexapro are all SSRI’s I think?

It may be worth trying a different type of anti-depressant.

The first was an SNRI to help with pain but it affected my bp too much. The psychiatrist hasn’t suggested anything else. I could ask I guess

 

[EveHarrington]

Are the meds to combat depression mainly, or something else?

 

[Ashes2ashes]

It was to numb my flight/freeze response, and treat anxiety and depression.

 

[EveHarrington]

It’s concerning that you have moments when you feel manic.

Possibly another class of meds would help you.

Does your depression come before your anxiety? Or does your anxiety come before your depression?

 

[Ashes2ashes]

Anxiety first. I’m adjusting to Lexapro and I find I am lethargic now. No energy boost any more. I feel like although I was reactive it was better than feeling like this on the meds. It’s frustrating..

 

[pamcoco]

Before the medication I didn’t suffer nightmares like this. They are so vivid. I changed to Lexapro and I have been on it for a week now. I had some days where I felt manic, and other days where I feel normal.

So, I have the same reaction, both mania and extremely intense dreams. Lexapro and Sertraline are very similar in many ways and I have been on both.

Mania induced from SSRI’s was added to the DSM at some point. It took a ridiculously long time for it to be added as many professionals were insistent that it must be bi-polar disorder. When I told my psychiatrist about this reaction he did not believe me until it was acknowledged by the DSM.

I do not have bi-polar disorder but I do have some of the tendencies unmedicated. Before the assaults I had tried SSRI’s a couple of times but had to go off of them due to the mania. But since the assaults, I had to be medicated. I'm on SSRI’s because of extreme difficulties with the other classes of anti-depressants and because without anti-depressants I would be dead.

Mania in sleep is essentially an overactive dream state which is actually very similar to narcolepsy. Since I have been on SSRI’s (12 yrs this round) I can remember details of dreams I had 10 yrs ago. I have frequently described it like my dreams are more real than my life.

Your doctor should be familiar with the manic reaction you are having, which I think is called pharmacologically induced mania or some such.

SSRI’s take about 6-8 months to effectively reduce anxiety. My shrink gave me clonapin to take nightly for that period of time.

I just want to warn that last November due to a drug interaction with medications I take for a chronic illness, my medical doctor had me switch from Lexapro to Sertraline without a transition period. About 4 days into the transition, I attempted suicide.

While there were several factors that led up to this attempt, the sudden switch of meds was a significant one. My shrink was shocked that the medical doctor did not consult him first as he only does gradual changes, but she apparently didn’t know better. I just hope you will be careful of drastic medication changes and if your prescribing doctor is unaware of the suicide risk (and many other risks) consider consulting another doctor, preferably a good psychiatrist.

You are not alone in this challenge. Meds help one problem but cause 3 more it seems.

Be safe and kind to you.

 

[blackemerald1]

I know it’s early but is it possible the antidepressants are making my ptsd symptoms worse?

^My suggestion is that it's too early to determine whether or not you can tolerate this drug. But there is a fine line. Sometimes it doesn't matter because the side-effects are too difficult to tolerate no matter what time frame you use. It's useful to remember there is a therapeutic level that must be reached before you or anyone, can ascertain their usefulness.

I suppose you could try and give it a little longer and see if these unwanted effects settle down. That would seem to be a sensible option because swapping and changing too frequently isn't going to help determine what is what. However, depending on the severity of the unwanted effects, you and your doctor need to discuss what is tolerable and not.

anyone else question the use of medication and whether it makes things worse?

^I did - all of the time. I could not tolerate any anti-depressants unfortunately. Those that I managed to stay with for a while, despite the unwanted effects eventually stopped working at the recommended dosage and had to be increased. Obviously there was a marked increase in the unwanted effects too and tolerating them became a burden. It was very difficult to weight up the benefits of medications v the unwanted effects. I so desperately longed for the depression to lift. Seeing a glimmer of light via these drugs certainly was enough to convince me to prolong the agony of the other unwanted effects for a while.

I still struggle with uncontrolled depression from time to time. For me, if a medication could balance out my depression I would take it.

Or is this just processing...

^Could be one or the other or, both. There's really no way to tell since you have begun both treatments around the same time. And it also depends on how intensive the therapy has been. Perhaps that's something you could raise with your therapist too.

I hope you start to feel better soon.