Share your experiences of antidepressants

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Mrs. Tuberski
Depression is a coping mechanism for most people. It is as somebody asked caused by chemical imbalances in the body. However the mind is a very powerful thing. There are other methods to battle this Medication is just faster and quicker with what docs claim a higher sucess rate. For me a classic case of a person that should need them dont take them. I say this because of a rape i experienced and loss of a few jobs because of that rape try to stay strong in mind and faith. So far and after at least 10 years of counseling i havent taken the pills. That and the fact that i have a wonderful husband and sometimes kids help.

Don't deny something that could make your life a lot easier though. You have someone around you constantly so he would be able to tell if things were going wrong and get you sorted out. It's always an option, one I wouldn't take for the best part of a decade but when I did it made my life so much easier.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

I wont deny the fact I should go that route. And yes tuberski is around hes my rock he usually can tell if im hiting the bottom he usually doesnt let me though. If you all know him he usually speaks his mind he wont tolerate me feeling sorry for my self. Yet on the same note he knows when to hold me and when to leave me the hell alone. I have no idea what my fears of medication are perhaps its an admited weakness for me.

[Provost Harrison]

Well you've obviously never entertained the fact...but you should always consider the options, especially after such a stressful incident as that.

Well it makes life that much more pleasant. I am sure many of you remember the 'good old days' when my celibacy used to drive me insane (and one of the contributory factors to my depression). I have never been able to heal the problem, I just don't have the confidence and the time that has elapsed has made it really, really difficult. But I can face it now and not let it bother me.

[Whaleboy]

I've been on Prozac, Venlafaxine (Effexor), now I'm on Carbamazepine (Tegretol) and Risperidone.

Footie Mad: Rispiridone/Risperdal is an anti-psychotic, it won't make you feel happier, it's designed to stop psychotic or manic episodes. It basically kills your dopamine levels which effectively tells your brain to sleep. If you're taking anything over 1g you'll probably notice you feel very tired very quickly. 0.5g feels sleepy after an hour or so. AVOID alcohol unless you want to sleep for 14 hours.

Venlafaxine is an anti-depressant, and an old anti-depressant. As I recall, it isn't an SSRI, which implies to me that whoever prescribed it for you either a) doesn't know what s/he is doing, b) has a lot of money to spend or c) thinks that you have scitzophrenic episodes, heavy bipolar disorder or (depending on dose) some kind of borderline PD. Either way, you're taking a drug to make you happy and a drug to make you sad. I was on that combo for a while and it was interesting. Varies from person to person, for me it was horrible. I recommend you talk to your shrink about it. If your GP is prescribing it, tell him to **** off.

are these kind on depresisons ver common?

Varies. There are various chemicals that control different things, altering different ones can have the same effect. Also there's psychological stuff that affects things. In terms of treatments, there's no "system" for it. For some meds work better, and different types, for some therapy, or both. Just got to feel your way around and find what's best, because it's a very individual thing, you can't take a blood test and come back "positive or negative" for different things.

How could it lead to a suicide attempt?

Effexor gave me suicidal tendencies, no idea how but apparently it's relatively common. You find with these things that some people regard them as a wonder drug, others as the bane of their existence and there's rarely anyone in between.

Mrs Tuberski and Provost... different drugs work for different people, and for some not at all. I haven't heard of anyone who was fearful of the meds for whom they had a net positive effect. Remember that they're deemed a success (ignoring financial concerns in the US) if the positive effects outweigh the negative side effects. Fears of anti-deps are very reasonable and there are a many different ways to get help than it, it's harsh if you say that she's completely cutting off her nose despite her face.

[Footie Mad]

If you're talking about Efexor not working as a serotonine raising drug my doctor said it is, as well as affecting other substances in the brain.

[Whaleboy]

It depends, if you're taking it with risperidone I'm assuming you're on a highish dose. Effexor is a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor*, but the seratonin element only works well at low (37.5mg / day) doses. At higher it works in a similar way to the tricyclics anti-deps. Your doctor, as in GP? If you're on a low dose from your GP, be suspicious. If you're on 75mg/day or more, I'd tell your GP to **** off and see a consultant psych.

*Not wanting to confuse you, but I should say it's not technically a SNRI, chemically it's dissimilar from any other anti-dep that I know of, but sometimes it's classified like that. All intents and purposes kind of thing.

[Provost Harrison]

No, Effexor is a rather new type of drug. Not only does it inihibit the reuptake of serotonin, but it also inhibits the reuptake of noradrenalin, low levels of both are associated with depression. Can work effectively on some people who have a poor response to other antidepressants, but can also have a higher level of side-effects.

As I've said, I've had positive effects from antidepressants and you should never write them off if other means fail. Relax Whaleboy, I have studied these things quite a bit in the past

[Whaleboy]

And I've had drunk medical students lecture me for hours on end on why I can't wash down anti-psychotics with absolut

[Ted Striker]

[Footie Mad]

I'm on 75 mg and probably raising to 150 mg of Efexor after a weeks usage. The risperdal business is a remnant from my old doctor who prescribed 2 mg two times a day combined with 40 mg of citalopram/cipramil.

Now i've quit this doctor and is with a new one, trying a new direction hence the use of efexor, the new doctor didn't want to cut the use of risperdal abruptly but said i should take half the dose and then we would discuss quitting completly. And yes she is an expert in the field.

[Whaleboy]

Ok good, the reason you can't stop instantly is that Risperdal is a pain in the arse if you've been taking it regularly for a while, especially 4mg / day which is at the high end of normal. I can take a maximum of 1.5mg / day on an ad hoc basis, which basically means that my family doesn't have to keep scraping me off the ceiling when I'm manic. You should halve it, and preferably take the bulk of it at night with lots of water so at least it's going to give your body the best opportunity to adapt to waking hours without it.

Good also that your doc is an expert, what you'll find is that you probably started on 37.5 or 75 (latterly if she's pushing you hard) and 150mg is a normal theraputic dose. Expect to be on it for a long time, and be very careful when coming off. Ideally you should reduce at a rate of 37mg per week when coming off. If it's not working well at 150 you may go up to 225 but don't let them keep you on for months on end if it's just making you worse, there are plenty of meds that do a similar thing.

[Whaleboy]

And that's my limit on anything that passes for helpfulness. Best of luck to you, I hope the new meds work out and that you start feeling better soon! I guess like I said, for some effexor works, for others they don't, so don't be disheartened if it doesn't there are plenty others that will.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

I have a son that takes an anti depressant as well but it isnt for depression he takes it to counter act the concerta he takes for adhd. He was on adderal nothing like amphetimes to lighten the life. but he couldnt sleep, so the gave him the anti depressent i cant spell it but it is imperadol or something like that . Now he just sleep walks. What to do?

[Snotty]

Sorry Mrs Tuberski, not much I know about this really

All I know really is what I got drugged up with. I didnt really try to live my 'normal' life when I was on meds. They stuck me on Seroxat/paxil 20mg at first, and it didnt really do much early in except make everything feel, I dunno, plastic is the best word I can think of.

When they stuck me in hospital they ramped it up to 40mg with carbomazapine and valium. They moved me off of valium later and onto melaril (sp?) because obviously I was enjoying my valium to much (I valium!). We were all self medicating with cannabis as well. I guess the seroxat didnt really do much for me, I just got worse and worse. I dont know if this was the natural progression of my depression or if the medication made it worse, Ive got no way of knowing really.

The worst bit of seroxat was when they stuck me on 60mg for over a month. Things felt much better after a while, but I ended having a hypo (hyper?) manic episode. I wasnt bi-polar before but it made me lose control really, like my primative drives had no moral checks to them. My id was in control with no ego to act as a brake, if you know what I mean. And it sucked not being in control of myself.

Anyway.....I dont think medication is the important part, its like taking a headache tablet, it only helps but doesnt cure it. I stopped taking all my meds after leaving hospital and made myself a new life. That was a dangerous cure, and not for everyone I am sure, but it worked for me. I was very lucky to fall in with a bunch of nice people.

Its all over for me now, all in the past thankfully. Good luck to you guys. Im happy to elaborate more if any of you guys want to talk about it with someone who has survived and come out the other side, ready to live my life again.

Now Mrs Tuberski may have got the wrong impression of me with all the talking and such, normally I got months without saying anything

[alva]

Originally posted by Dissident
I need anti depressants. But I hate going to the doctor, so I just go without.

Try some Omega 3-6-9. Not a wonder cure by any means and it might be placebo effect but it does seem to do me some good.
My low spikes sort of speak seem to have blunted off..less steep and a lot more shallow.