Anti-Depressants

[kers]

I am on two, a SSRI and Trazodone. I think the SSRI has been essentially useless and I'm going off it now after several years, with my psychiatrist's approval. I crack up every time I do a med check, because he asks me if I've been depressed. Finally I told him, "I haven't been depressed since I found out I had PTSD." I was depressed because I didn't understand what was happening to me.

The Trazodone is technically an anti-depressant, too. I use it to induce sleep and I have no plans to go off it. It's a godsend.

 

[snugglepuss]

Just wanted to throw out there that there are a variety of anti-depressants available, which work on different parts of the brain and the various receptors.

I started on Prozac years ago, and while it made me "happy", my best friend noticed that I was almost manic. Someone could have hit me in the head with a frying pan, and I would not have really cared. It gave me a very flat affect.

Prozac is an SSRI which stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibibitor. It basically means that the drug is going to keep more serotonin, which is one of the happy drugs our brains make, floating around for longer in the hope that more of the molecules will fit into the little receptors, thereby making it more available to make you happier.

I tried anoter SSRI several years ago, and same thing.

Then about 5 years ago, I was introduced to Effexor. It is an SNRI, which does that thing with the serotonin, but also with norepenephrine. And that is the one that has worked for me. I have had some tweaking done in terms of dosage. And I have since had other meds added to such as Wellbutrin, Seroquel and Trazadone. While I am not super happy about being on all of these meds, they keep me from really harming myself, and allow me to function with some semblance of feeling normal (normal for myself).

Anytime I talk with someone about medications, I stress how important it is for people to educate themselves about what the drugs do, how they work, and also for them to learn how to be their own advocate, because ultimately they know their bodies better than anyone ever can. If it doesn't feel right for you, no need to really second guess it. Talk to your doctor and be as honest and open with them as you can.

 

[AdamAnt]

Man, it seems you've had to walk a tightwire Spuss, but of course glad you were able to dial-in the correct combination and dosage for you...so many don't have the same experience and I bet it's because you have the right support docs around you....please keep us posted? Do you fluxuate the dosages / percentages for any reason?

 

[snugglepuss]

Hi AdamAnt

Within the past month, I saw my psychiatrist for the first time in 2 years (oops). He lives in Vancouver, I live on the island. During the winter months, I really struggle with a much more depressed mood and lower energy, which for someone who has those two symptoms for most of the year anyways, means it is very debilitating.

He wanted me to increase the Wellbutrin to the max dose (450mg) but I had a pretty strong reaction to that, so I stopped it after a few days. I am struggling with a new diagnosis of diabetes with elevated liver enzymes and triglycerides, so I kind of flipped out and sent him a panicked email saying I want off all the meds.

None of my doctors have ever done any kind of monitoring via blood work, despite me being on these meds for a little over 5 years, with the exception of the Wellbutrin, which was added 2 years ago. I have felt for some time that things are not quite right, and so went in to see my GP and told him I wanted a blood panel done. I had Seroquel as a PRN for years, and relied on it for the panic and anxiety and self injury. My psychiatrist just said in a reply email that yes, seroquel can cause diabetes but he wants me to stay on it because it is effective at lessening the anxiety. He has it prescribed now as 1/4 of a 25mg tablet every day. What he said to do with it is to stockpile that dose until I need it, and if I need it, then I will have what I need to get through that day. My gp over the past year and a half told me to stop the trazadone because he thought I was on too many meds, and to use the seroquel to sleep.

The Seroquel and the trazadone has been prescribed at a higher than needed dose, which allowed me to gauge how much I needed.

The psychiatrist suggested on the last visit that we try a low dose of Cytomel in the event the Wellbutrin didn't work. Cytomel is a thyroid medication that is the thryoid hormone T3. The human body produces T4 and then converts that into T3, but in more and more people, that ability to convert is retarded for whatever reason. From the reading I have been doing, low dose Cytomel has been used for some time now in treatment resistant depression. Many people who have low thyroid function and are prescribed only T4 end up with worse depression and low energy, so more and more doctors are adding Cytomel, and finding that the depression and energy improve drastically.

I think the one thing I would really strongly suggest to everyone is to read read read read. Educate yourselves as much as you can about treatment options, and medications. Some of the language can be a little daunting, but that does not mean it is entirely inaccessible. I had to learn to be my own advocate, because no one else was going to do it for me.

 

[blynn895]

Hi
I too have struggled with just about every psych med, since I first broke down 20 years ago and told my dr. that i was depressed (no idea then about the PTSD, few memories). I tried Zoloft and it worked for several years, but the dose had to keep being upped and upped til we gave up and tried something else.
Since being diagnosed/treated for PTSD (in the right way, a specialized trauma program), I'm wondering if antidepressants get in the way of my healing, numbing feelings etc. I think my depression was a way to numb out my feelings & memories, a reaction to all the shit I've been through. I was suicidal for years and antidepressants didn't really take that away (on a high dose of effexor I made a serious attempt in 2007). I have been almost weaned right off SSRIs and felt so much more alive, hard to explain, but could feel in my body and every sensation, not numbed...
So now I'm on cymbalta, was on 120 mg at bedtime ( along with lunesta and klonipin). I've had side effects (liver enzymes up, blurred vision, weight gain and bloating, tired, etc), so I want to come down and eventually get off this one. The new pdoc yesterday agreed to lower the dose to 90 mg, taking it in the morning. So todays the first day, I know missing one dose of this horrible med makes me feel VERY ill, already have a headache..so wish me luck with that.
I guess my real question is if anyone here has had success healing from PTSD without antidepressants, whether you feel that its really necessary or even beneficial to be on them while you're dealing with the trauma.
thanks for listening...
Brenda

 

[jonson07]

Instead of anti-depressants medicines and all that i always prefer home remedies which have no side effects on our health.Many psychiatric drugs have not been satisfactorily tested in patients, so we do not know for sure the risks or the benefits of these medications.The thumb rule is caution while giving antidepressants - They should be neither a first nor a last resort. If given, anti-depressants should not be stopped abruptly, because it may lead to a withdrawal syndrome that includes dizziness, nausea, seizures and anxiety.