Are You Taking Any Prescription Medication?

[2quilt]

There are several meds out there that are in the same class of drugs, or in different classes of drugs. For example, Zoloft is an SSRI (seratonin) while my fav, Cymbalta, is a SNRI (seratonin and norepinephrin). And there are others out there too. If one does not work for you, dont give up, change to another one. This takes time, I won't mislead you, time to get on, see if it works, get off, try another one...but when you find one your brain likes, your life will be peaceful, you will be able to stay motivated and happy, and you will enjoy life as a "normal" person, not a zombie.

 

[DreamCatcher]

When first diagnosed I submitted, much to my dismay, that my brain is altered and will forever need medication in order for me to realize a happier life.

Like all organic diseases, such as dibetics who use different types and amounts of insulin (or control it just with diet), we PTSD sufferers must determine what we need to maintain a fuller, healthier life.
For myself, emotional pain is as critical as a diabetic coma.
My $0.02

 

[This Ends Now]

Medication

Everybody is different and so what works for me might not for you. Here is a short list of what I have tried:

Prozac: Excellent for depression. Some euphoria if combined with stimulants or too much sunlight. Hallucinations if combined with alcohol.
Zoloft: Produced violent reactions, fits of rage and suicidal behavior.
Paxil: Did absolutely nothing.
Welbutrin: Excellent for depression and lack of motivation. Caused seizures and increased anger.
Xanax: Good for acute panic and flashbacks. Short half life makes it useless for sleep. Serious rebound effect (hypomania). Highly addictive with strong potential for abuse.
Xanax XR: Worse than xanax. Addictive within 7 days of innitial dose. Experienced severe withdraw if missed even one dose.
Effexor: Good for depression. Caused severe nightmares (even by my standards) and insomnia. Woke up screaming on nightly basis.
Valium: Effective for insomnia and anxiety. Causes lasting intoxication and has minor potential for dependence.
Colonzepam: Excellent for anxiety and flash backs. Does not produce high feeling or zombie feeling. Does produce drowzieness. No additction yet and been on it for several years now.
Depacote: Leveled me out a bit but produced hung over feeling. Good for overall maintenence, but bad for accute symptoms.
Zyprexa: Severe weight gain. Zombie like feeling. Unable to think or perform simple tasks. Fiance wanted to sue doctor over this one.
Ambien: Excellent for sleep. Be careful about side effects such as intoxication and doing things while sleeping with no memory. Use only as last resort.
Fluvoxamine: Somewhat effective for depression. Produced heavily sedated feeling and difficulty concentrating. Also produced signifigant weight gain.
Atenolol: Great for controling the sudden spikes in blood pressure, chest pains and shaking associated with severe panic. Very helpful if trying to reduce benzo use. Expect to gain weight on this one too. Do not stop taking without doctor supervision.
Periactin: Excellent appetite stimulant if you cannot eat when stressed out. Helpful for those who also suffer from anorexia.
Promethazine: Great for keeping the food down once you have eaten it.

Currently I am prescribed Prozac, Ambien, Atenolol, Periactin, Promethazine and Colonzepam. This mix seems to be working for me so far.

This list only covers prescription medications doctors have tried on me and I am sure that I have accedentially omitted some. Several of them I have tried more than once with different strengths and different combos of meds with those reactions/interactions. Regardless of what your doctor gives you I would suggest avoiding alcohol as it interracts with pretty much everything. I would also suggest letting your doctor know about any natural remidies you are using as they sometimes can interact with the synthetics the doctors give you.

I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck. I know it can feel like a real crap shoot when trying to find the right medications for your body.

Liz H.

PS: I may have gotten the Paxil and Zoloft switched. I tried each of them for a short time and was quickly switched when the reactions were documented. I have trouble remembering which one did nothing and which one made me dangerous.

 

[louisa]

Thankyou

Hi Kers.

Thankyou for your reply. At the moment I'm hating this medication and feeling very ill. I'm trying to persevere with it for 6 weeks - by which time it is supposed to kick in. At the moment, I feel worse than ever - tho they say that is often the case, initially. Deep down I don't really want to take it as I don't really trust the drug companies, but I'm desperate for some relief from my symptoms. Thanks once again - I will come to a decision soon,

Best wishes,

Louisa

 

[louisa]

Thankyou

Hi, Grainne,

Yes, what you've said sounds right. I've been taking these for almost 3 weeks now - but have had no relief from any of my symptoms at all. I think I will end up not taking any medication again in the end. If only I could take something that would make my symptoms vanish for a little while - they are just constant, except for the fact that I got two nights of good sleep when I first began the medication. Will persevere a little longer,

Best wishes,

Louisa

 

[louisa]

Thankyou

Hi 2quilt,

Am going to persevere for a little longer. It's possible I might try something else. At the moment, it's difficult to be decisive and hard to think clearly. I really do appreciate your reply and everyone elses. This is such a great site - so helpful,

Best wishes,

Louisa

 

[louisa]

Hi DreamCatcher,

I have a friend who has said similar things to me - she was taking the same meds as me many years ago when we both had depression and they worked for her. We were both taking the same medicatiion - cytalopram - it worked for her but they ended up increasing my dose so that I was taking quadruple the amount that she was - yet still it wouldn't work. I'm now taking the sertraline as it's supposed to work on the PTSD symptoms as well as the depression. Perhaps, I need to persevere and maybe try different types of medication. It is good to know that they prove positive for some people though. Thankyou once again - these replies really do mean alot to me,

Best wishes,

Louisa

 

[louisa]

Thankyou

Hi This Ends Now,

Thankyou for lots of useful information. I wish my doctor would just give me some sleeping tablets or valium - a weeks supply - then I could just go to sleep for a full week and have a weeks holiday from the symptoms! On the other hand, It would mean I'd only have to wake to this bad dream again. There is this overwhelming feeling of dread, and then the dread is intensified triple-fold because I dread the feeling of the dread - hope that makes sense!

Your descriptions of how each drug effected you are very helpful - I will try to reach a decision soon, thanks.

I can't emphasize enough how helpful all these replies have been,

Louisa

 

[louisa]

Oops

DreamCatcher,

I worded my reply wrong, must be the drugs! I meant I have a friend who has a similar attitude to YOU - but I put 'me' instead!

Louisa :crazy:

 

[louisa]

OOps Again

Hi,

OMG ha ha. Actually, I didn't write my reply to you wrong. U see what these drugs do to me! Can't read!

Louisa :dontknow:

 

[insomnia]

In the past I've tried prozac and zoloft and I didn't like the way I felt. It made me depressed and I felt half dead. I just started taking welbutrin as so far its been ok I do feel a lil better but I have cotton mouth. So far that's the only side effect
I have from the new pills.

 

[disconnect]

I'm on 100mg Sertraline (daily) and 160mg Propranolol (daily). Propranolol has helped a lot with the severity and frequency of the panic attacks, but they're creeping back in again. Sertraline seems to be keeping me from rock bottom, but has made my nightmares worse and very frequent as a side effect.