What Medications Helped?

[Gamereign555]

If your trying to find the right med don't give up. Most of them I think you have to take for a minimum of 3 weeks to tell if they are working well or not. That can be a real pain in the butt because if its not the right med for you it either won't give you relief from your depression or it will have ill effects on it, or the side effects will be so bad you wouldn't want to bear them for any length of time. And in the midst of it all you are still suffering from depression sometimes severe with anxiety, which has other complications like being practically bedridden and poor to non existant eating habits and probably some degree of sleep disorder.

I should note in my personal experience that taking drugs like ativan, xanax and valium if taken at a high enough dose to cause rebout effects, it can be hard to tell what the anti depressant is doing that makes it difficult to determine if you should stick with the anti depressant because your not sure or if you should discontinue because its not working. That made things a little hazy at times.

A good doc will probably have you try a couple different ones to see what it does to you, feelings, side effects, ect. and to see which direction you should go in the way of the type of med that might be right for you.

When I found the right one it started working in just a few days, but then quit after a week. But the improvement was so drastic that I choose to stick with it, later finding out that it was common for the drug to fail after a week or two, prompting an adjustment in the dose. After the adjustment it took another 2 weeks for it to start working again. Just to find my right anti depressant I ended up with far worse depression and anxiety than I ever had in the first place, and it was all from a reaction to the drug. I even ended up in the hospital because of it. It was pretty scary and I was crying uncontrollably with intense chest tightness and pain, it took me 2 weeks on lorazepam and diazepam to lower my anxiety while the anti depressant finally decided to work. It hasn't failed me yet so it was a good bet.

If it was me and all I was feeling from my anti depressant for 2 or 3 weeks was little to no improvement and some side effects from the drug, I would try another one. And of course if I was having serious side effects or worsening of depression and anxiety I wouldn't take it anymore. I would also be reluctant to double up on a dose of anything that doesn't seem like will help at all, you should feel something you would think even at a low dose if it is the right med in the given time period of 2 or 3 weeks. Upping the dose on something that already does not work is like giving a patient a full battery of antibiotics because they don't know whats wrong with you. Not a good idea.
Your brain will hunger for the right one and savagely eat it like a rabid dog...one would think.

Well be careful everyone, it is your brain and all. And on a pretty deep level. But don't give up, there are plenty of options out there. Some, and I hope to be one of them someday have come off their anti depressant and are doing well. Some don't and never have taken one, and that is or used to be all of us.

 

[scott_1971_h]

I do not notice much in the way of help for helping me sleep, rather the sleep comes about 5 hours after I take it. I wake up rested and felling good. I am still however favoring sleep during the day and awake at night. This is an ongoing issue with me, even if I try to reset my sleep patterns I will want to stay awake until through the morning waking up at around 4pm.

Me too, for a *LONG* time i was sleeping during the day and awake at night.
Scott

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Has anyone heard of carrot of hope? The website owner proposes a PTSD cocktail of low dose geodon, propranolol and vistaril. I have been on MANY drugs and this is one of the few that really worked for me. Nothing else ever came close. Anyway, I'm now down to taking just Ativan when I'm having problems sleeping. But for anyone who can't tolerate antidepressants, I suggest looking into these three meds.

 

[Snuggy]

Lorazepam is the only drug that has truly worked for my anxiety and insomnia. It can get into the system fast if dissolved under the tongue. It truly relaxes your nervous system and body. It is NOT an everyday treatment however.

 

[Gamereign555]

*Snuggy* That is true about the lorazepam for many of us. A lot of us wish we could just use it whenever we needed but instead have to learn how to face our problems without the use of benzodiazapines. As you can see there are many ways we try to cope.

 

[Sqweak]

I've only ever taken lexapro with adderall. It really helped me in the start. I liked lexapro. It was an uplifting feeling that leveled my anxiety and I felt normal? I had less ideation and I haven't had a racing thought sense-taking lexapro; even though I’m not currently taking it.

 

[bittersweet]

I'm currently on Celexa and I gotta say, I actually feel sorta normal again. I'm not as depressed, not as angry and have nowhere near the levels of anxiety I had in the past without medication. The initial side effects are a bit irritating (constant sleepiness, uncontrollable yawning, dizziness) but it is well worth it for a couple weeks while you adjust considering that I actually feel "good" now.

I was also prescribed Klonopin to take as needed for my panic attacks but luckily I haven't had to take it since I am more or less leveled out now

 

[Sazza]

I to have started on Celexa its been 2 weeks now started on 10mg and as of tomorrow i am to up it to 20mg. I have mixed feelings the side effects seem to be wearing off now after getting through first couple of weeks. I definitely think it is helping the anxiety to a degree but still having periods of high anxiety seem to be more as the day progresses. What i have found though so far is depression seems to be coming more of a problem the Celexa does not seem to be helping one bit with that. Hoping the new dose may do the trick as these depressive episodes are getting more debilitating than the original anxiety.

 

[bittersweet]

I hope the new dose will help Sazza. At the very least, I hope you can find something that helps

 

[TLight]

I've tried every anti-D on the market and none did a thing. For years I was on Resterol, Ambien, Trazadone, etc and none would knock me out, however I was living with a trigger. When he left, I did start to sleep a bit.

Now I'm on 100mg Seroquel XR and klonopin as needed. This medication has saved my life. From the first moment I took it, I felt a bit lighter and just 'different.'

I've been on it three years and will likely never go off.

 

[Gamereign555]

I am now taking 20 mg Amitriptyline before bed and it is working better than anything I have taken yet. It may be working too well! I have been sleeping for 14 hours a day easily.

 

[NutritionNerd]

I'm taking Tianeptine (Stablon) and Adderall (low dose for ADD). I tried going off Adderall to see if it was aggravating and I get too depressed and demotivated not to mention difficulty thinking.

I have also occasionally used clonidine to shut me down when I was so deep in a reactive funk I couldn't get to sleep. It has a rebound so then I'd have to take a half the next day.

Kava was helpful early on when I couldn't get relaxed, however long term can make you feel depressed.

California Poppy was also helpful for getting to sleep - it has some sort of pain relieving alkaloids which are related to but much safer than opiods.

I make my own herbal extracts - concentrating some herbs makes them more like a medicine and sometimes you don't get the full effects. Some things need to be taken as a tea because the aromatic components are what you're after.