Antidepressants Too Activating?!?

[Deleted member 1860]

Hi all,

My pdoc keeps on wanting to put me on an antidepressant because of my recurring depression. I'm on Geodon right now, which is working to control my anxiety and I'm building up my dose so that it can work as a mood stabilizer too. Lithium was just added to my cocktail because I have so many intrusive suicidal thoughts and keep on getting hospitalized because of the thoughts and my resulting suicide attempts.

I am adamant about NOT going on an antidepressant because they are waaaay too activating. They cause extreme agitation and anxiety in me. It seems kind of odd because antidepressants are also used as anxiety meds as well, but they just make my anxiety worse.

Does anyone else have experiences with not being able to take antidepressants because they cause you to become too agitated and anxious?

I am stuck with using antipsychotics and mood stabilizers instead of antidepressants to battle my depression. This is an uphill battle since I have so many adverse reactions to medications...I've been through so many already!

Normally I would just deal with the depression, as my anxiety has always been my main problem. The big issue is that my depression gets so bad at times that I become suicidal, so I know I need to find a medication that will pull me out of my depths of despair.

I know a lot of other people here on the forums take antidepressants, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had the same experience as I have with these types of meds being too activating.

Thanks! :smile:

 

[catjudo]

I haven't had the same experience with antidepressants. For me they are a life saver...having had a history of frequent hospitalizations for suicidal thoughts. Of course, I fully realize that this is not everyone's experience.

I have successfully used lithium in the past. I'm currently trying to avoid resuming lithium (just a personal preference) and I'm trying lamictal instead. I used lamictal during my pregnancy five years ago because lithium is contraindicated during pregnancy and found the lamictal to be reasonably successful.

I've also used Geodon before and found it to be absolutely horrendous. Initially it was very helpful but as my dose was increased into the therapeutic range I began experiencing troubling side effects. Initially I decided the Geodon was so helpful that the benefits outweighed the side effects. In time the side effects continued to worsen until they became so bad that I was miserable, just now for different reasons. Stopped the Geodon and decided it was one of the worst medications I've ever been on in terms of side effects...I found it to be debilitating.

Again, everyone experiences every medication differently, both the benefits and the side effects. Just thought I'd share my experiences. Good luck in finding something that works for you.

 

[BethRSA]

Hi ScaredOfLonely!

Good question. Different medicines affect different people differently. I hope that you understand that weird sentence.

Anyway, I was taking Zoloft that I'd brought with me from the USA. At that time, it wasn't available here in S Africa. So, they gave me a low dose of Prozac. I was so hyper! I couldn't sleep at all. I wanted to tell everyone off. It was terrible. I decided it was better to wait for the meds that were coming in a box than to take the Prozac.

I hope you find a good med for you.

 

[Deleted member 541]

I had a few through out the years that would cause me to become anxious, and have anxiety attacks 24/7. One that I remember was Wellbutrin. Could NOT take that stuff. I never had luck with most meds, as they caused awful symptoms. The best I had was with Cymbalta, and some with Lexapro, but by far, Cymbalta was the best.....

 

[anni]

Hi Scared,

I'm lucky to have found one med finally which works for me at a nice, low dose. That is Zoloft.

I'm answering your post because my husband went through a terribly painful series of events some years ago and his doctor put him on an anti depressant. He said it made him feel much, much worse. His various troubles replayed in his mind 24/7, he had terrible anxiety and suicidal thoughts. This happened to a hugely stable, generally unshakable guy with no history whatsoever of emotional problems.

It does sound as if these meds do affect different people in various ways, doesn't it?

Take care,

Anni

 

[Nicky31]

Hi Scared,

Thanks for posting this. On top of my PTSD, someone drove into the back of my car in June and wrote it off, as well as leaving me with really bad whiplash, nerve injuries and a brachial plexus injury. A fortnight ago after my physio assessment (yes it took that long), I spent the next 5 days in chronic pain and on very strong codeine. I contacted my physio who instructed me to go to the docs and ask for nerve pain relieving pills.

He prescribed an anti-depressant for the pain and on doing so and writing the prescription, he said "These will cause you nightmares", I replied by saying "I'm already having nightmare's, several a night in fact". He said "No these will be really scary" and I wondered what type of nightmares he thought I might have been having. I picked up the prescription from the pharmacy and read the notes about the drug at home and promptly showed my boyfriend. Both he and I thought it was probably best if I didn't take the drug for numerous reasons. The side effects included heightened anxiety, nightmares, and increased feelings of self harm and suicidal thoughts. Already feeling very low I chose not to take the drug to protect myself, so I can understand why you might also feel fearful.

Nic