Depression Medications

[Player0]

I don't often choose to share my personal life online, and really don't want to get in to too much detail here. But, I wanted to comment on something that I thought was important. I have struggled with anxiety and depression since my teenage years. I'm far from being 'troubled' and am probably as normal as anyone out there, but I guess I'm genetically predisposed to the disorder. Everyone in my immediate family struggles from similar problems. My father had a break down in my teens and tried to commit suicide. My mother stopped sleeping for almost a year and ended up needing electroshock therapy. She lost some memory but it did actually cure her. My sister has freaked out a few times and has been in hospitals. I'm not looking for sympathy for any of it, these days things are a lot better, but I'm pretty sure that problems like this can be genetic, and many other family members have had similar problems in my case.

Personally, I haven't needed as much help as others in my family. I would like to think its because I'm pretty strong mentally and can usually work out the problems on my own. But maybe my problems arent as bad either. I did go to a therapist once, but didn't think much of that at all. I had never tried taking any drugs either. My thought on drugs is that they are not curing anything, simply masking problems that need to be solved by other means. I don't like being dependant on anything unnatural.

It was only this past winter that I fell in to some sort of weird funk that I really can't explain. But my problems suddenly got much worse, I stopped sleeping and eating, and couldn't focus on anything. I was desperate, I went for help, and they put me on drugs. They gave me an SSRI (Lexapro, like Prozac) and a relaxant (Xanax). I actually had to try three different SSRIs before finding one that wasn't so bad.

Did it help? I honestly don't know. The Xanax helped me relax, helped me get some sleep, and sleep is important to recovery. But so is time, and who is to say that I wouldnt have felt better in time if I hadn't taken drugs. Surely I wouldnt have gotten so tired I would have started sleeping. Desperate people make bad decisions, and like most people, I was looking for a quick fix, so I readily agreed when the doctor started pushing pills.

Some people beleive that they do work. Some people have been on these meds for long periods in their lifes. Some people would rather not live with out the meds. Of course, history is full of similar 'quack products' which some people swear by, and today we just laugh. Hell, soda was supposed to be a cure for weight gain at one point.

IMHO, medical science is an oxymoron. Oh sure, we have made advances. I do take Nexium every day for my stomach ulcers, and I would be miserable without that. But please dont think for one minute that just because someone is a doctor and someone made these pills, that they are 'the answer'.

I took Paxil for a month, and was getting ringing in my ears, terrible vivid dreams, headaches and cold sweats. So they moved me to some others, and finally Lexapro. I have been on Lexapro for a couple months now and...I have felt better. But, is it because of the drug? Probably not. My life is in a much better direction. Lexapro just gives me migranes and makes me tired all day. So I decided to stop taking it last week. SSRIs DO have withdrawel symptoms. The makers claim the drug isn't addictive, but they do recognize the withdrawel problems. When I came off Paxil, I became extremely depressed, suicidal and violent, 10x worse than I had ever been before, and it was simply caused by the drug withdrawel. Coming off this lexapro has made me so dizzy I can't stand or even turn my head without getting naseous. My head feels like its swelling, the headaches and shooting pain down my neck is terrible, and I'm so lethargic I cant even focus. Sometimes if I move to fast, it almost seems like life's frame rate is falling below 10FPS, the image seems to stutter, or spin around me.

Its not surprising that screwing with your brain chemistry can have some bad side effects. We dont even know what CAUSES depression, yet we have 'treatments'? Some people can argue this, but I think therapy and mood altering drugs are nothing more than quack medicine, and although they can help some people, that may be due to nothign more than a placebo effect.

I know a lot of people suffer from these problems, and every day we see more and more ads on TV or in our email boxes for products that are going to help. I just wanted to share my experiences in order to maybe help disuade some of you other people out there from trying these things yourself. Somethings you just have to experience first hand, and theres no helping desperation. But screwing with your brain chemistry can have concequences much worse than the problems you already currently have. I just hope that these 'withdrawel symptoms' go away. Im close to taking more pills just to feel better. Sounds like an addictive drug to me.

[darksaint]

Try taking saint johns wart.
About 1000 mlg (sp) millagrams.
Also zoloft seemed to help me alot.
Try exersizing. (sp) I know that this is spelled wrong but i am tired.

Meditaion classes might help.

I know it's a hard road. But hang in there.

Pat

[Cyaneyed]

Hello..

I would like to express that I feel the same about medication for depression. I feel that I could possibly be depressed myself, but since I haven't been diagnosed with it yet or been on medication for depression, I can only create opinions through others' experiences.

After taking a Psychology paper at university, I feel that depression can be caused by numerous factors. Indeed a chemical imbalance in the brain could be a plausible diagnosis, but the idea of nature or nurture can also contribute to depression in a person. Environment plays a prominent part in someone's life, particularly in childhood. A lonely or devastating childhood can often affect a person's neurological disposition, thus later resulting in forms of depression and mental disorders.

Medication for depression, however, can apparently leave one "trapped in a glass bubble". No longer feeling the elated highs (or vicious lows) that others can experience. But as you say, Player0, the medication for this problem can be addictive. And I do feel that some of the prescribed drugs may rely on the placebo effect.

I guess we'll never know?

[spldart]

I can empathise strongly. Some crazies in my family and some of my friends are on strong medications. I've always controlled my issues with intellect though. Hope I can continue indefinitely :(

[darksaint]

zoloft seems to have the least amount of negative side affects.
It can make you feel tired at odd times in the day.
My girlfriend is very sane with it.
With out it i get introuble for spending moneys on my computer.

[Player0]

Zoloft ate a hole in my stomach hehe.

[Gregorach]

Well, I've suffered depression on and off for most of my life, as have pretty much all of my close friends (birds of a feather and all that ;)) Owing to a pathological distrust of doctors I've never sought any professional help, but many people I know have. Of the drugs they've been prescribed, Seroxat seems to be the worst - there's currently a class-action going on to force GSK to acknowledge it's serious side effects and withdrawal syndrome. My best mate reckons that Prozac made him violent (and he's a big lad).

The difficult thing is that different people respond very differently to the various options available. I'm sure that there are many people for whom SSRIs are a godsend, I just haven't met any personally... Though the fact that most of my friends have had at least one period of Exctasy abuse probably doesn't help, since E operates on a very similar mechanism...

I tried St John's Wort for a winter a year or two ago. I did seem to help a little, but it did also make me a bit erratic - on balance, I don't think it was really useful.

Personally, the best thing I've found is a book called "Overcoming Depression" by Paul Gilbert - it's based on Cognitve Behavoural Therapy and is really very good. I'd recommend it to anybody as a first line of defense.

[darksaint]

Originally posted by Player0
Zoloft ate a hole in my stomach hehe.

god that sucks.

[speculative]

Companionship. The mind is most majestic, but also most dangerous, when it acts alone... Of course then that leads to co-dependency... oh, never mind...

Hang in there man! :)

-spec

[Pyro]

I've was taking Effexor(venlafaxine) 75mg pills for the past few monthes because of depression and anxiety. I personally believe for me this was some kind of hormonal imbalance. I've just always felt this way and I couldn't understand why.

It was more anxiety than depression I guess. Though my major anxiety issues started to make me depressed. I could never get infront of a class and give a report or go to large social events. Because my face would get cherry red and I would start sweating big time. I could never explain why I got so nervous around people while others didn't. I wouldn't leave my house to go hang out with friends. I didn't even have a girlfriend throughout highschool and I couldn't understand why. I'm attractive(not being cocky), popular with all of the students, and am a caring individual(what all women want :) ). I was the Homecoming Queen's escort and didn't even go to the Prom. :( I missed out alot in Highschool because of my anxiety problems.

I went to the Doc and I told him I already tried Prozac. It worked for alittle while then it stopped. So he recommended Effexor. I started taking the pills and about a week later I began to feel the effects. I felt alot more confident and all of the anxiety problems went away. Its been so awesome. My public speaking teacher told me I'm one of the best speakers hes ever seen. This is something that I could never have imagined in highscool. What a breakthrough. I speak to women all the time feeling confident. I could make a complete idiot of myself infront of a large amount of people and just shrug it off now. Mainly I no longer dwell on the same things in life. Instead of always worrying about this and that I just push it all aside and move forward.

The only side effect that I have with this medication is that it makes me quite tired sometimes.

Heres some info about effexor (http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/venlafaxine.html).

"How does venlafaxine differ from other antidepressants?

Venlafaxine seems to have the relative freedom from side-effects associated with the SSRIs [fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), and fluvoxamine (Luvox)] and the impact on both serotonin and norepinephrine associated with the tricyclic antidepressants [amitriptyline (Elavil), imipramine (Tofranil), etc.]. It is hypothesized that the action of the venlafaxine molecule upon both serotonin and norepinephrine will cause venlafaxine to be a successful antidepressant for some people who have not responded to treatment with SSRIs.

As venlafaxine and its active metabolite have relatively short half-lives, 4 hours and 11 hours respectively, venlafaxine should be administered in divided does, two or three times a day.


What kinds of depression can be treated with venlafaxine?


While the pre-marketing studies were restricted to patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (with or without melancholia), it is to be expected that venlafaxine will be prescribed for patients with Major Depression, Dysthymia, and Bipolar Disorder."

[unacceptable_risk]

Hi all, I really dig the depth of this forum.

I feel well qualified to participate in this discussion, and have some thoughts to share. I have a strong personal anti pharmaceutical stance, primarily because it is a developing field in which we know about enuf to mess with our brains right now, not really fix as previous ppls comments have covered.

However a large portion of my position is based around not wanting to get too far from what a human really is, you know...without cars and power and shoes and shampoo. I keep wanting to fix my problems naturally.

The benefits of a balanced diet and physically chalenging lifestyle can be immediate for depression and insomnia. It is so important to get to the end of the day both physically and mentaly tired for a good sleep to follow. You can be totally shot from being awake too long working on a pc etc, but unable to sleep if your physically unstrained.{sore neck and mouse wrist don't count}My no.1 rule for insomnia is don't lie there not sleeping. Almost anything else is better. Shadow box or something, pushups etc.

In the morning if you eat breakfast you start your metabolic processes and stimulate the various glands and organs that make us tick, to day mode. eat your days carbo rich food for lunch and only eat protien and vegetive matter after 4pm, then you are maximizing your bodys efficiency and using its natural clock cycles.

All that, is just to give your body the resourses it needs to maintain its own brain chemical levels[as, for most of us it did at one stage.] In general, if you have a regular multivitamin in the morning with food and notice it make you feel perkyer thru the day, then you can assume your diet lacks the essential minerals and vits to supply your needs. Fix that with better food and maybe supplements.....but you dont need too much cause your liver will only work overtime to get them out of your system. so dont go overboard.

The reason I know I'm depressed, is that I know all that, and have done for a very long time. But still as yet, completly fail to implement it into my own life. I am going nowhere so fast its making my head spin. Every few months I look up from my malaise and realize that I'm still stuck, and not getting younger. I rededicate myself to improvement ....and I don't know where it goes from there. I use these computers to avoid reality I believe. And months go by.

On paper I have Post traumatic stress disorder and spinal damage. In reality, I have a lot going for me, much to achieve and little in my way. I have backed a plan that involves building a sweet little car to enjoy. To try and stimulate some of the interest in life that I have known.

I must stress that these are my thoughts....relative to my situation, everyone is different. I have not allways suffered from this and simply want to get back into life. thats why I don't see pills as the answer for me. We are still monkeys after all.

Good luck to everyone who is stuck, in any way.

_U_R_

[betty]

ah, before i start ranting id like to say i like your avitar Cyaneyed
:cool3: well here goes...

*sigh* player, i know what your talking about all too well.

lexapro is the antidepressant i started out on in january. it didnt do anything at all. pretty soon i ended up in the hospital. there they started giving me paxil. i guess it works, but when i dont take it for a few days i get extremely angry and depressed over nothing at all. antidepressant are most likely addictive. i'll end up feeling so terrible without them i'll start taking them again only to get the usual side effects (extreme lack of energy and occasional head aches). i wish someone would figure out what to do to fix everyones problems (besides being heavily sedated all the time) *sigh* well good luck everyone

[Pyro]

That sucks betty. I've been fortunate I guess because the only side effect I ever felt was tiredness.

I believe the Efflexor did its job well for me. I'd take the pills for acouple weeks then I'd just begin to forget about taking them. I'd go for days without them. Then I'd realize I wasn't taking them so I'd take one...then forget for afew more days. Now I haven't taken the pills for weeks and I feel the same.

[Player0]

I am now med free. It took nearly a month for the vertigo and headaches to go away, but I'm feeling great lately! A bit stressed, but hella better than before. im so glad to be free of those damn medications. For one thing, not being tired all the time makes life much more worth living. Every SSRI i tried made me tired. And they are extremely addictive. I figgure if it has withdrawel symptoms, it is addictive. Some days I just wanted to take another lexapro just to make it go away. I still get a twinge of vertigo now and again, i hope thats not permanent dammage.

Paxil (did I say this already) made me SERIOUSLY ill tempered when I started to come off of it. Good thing I was at home for a couple weeks, cause I probably would have killed someone. No seriously, I was that out of control and MEAN. Well, slightly more than is normal for me ;) Lexapro withdrawel just made me mostly sick. Paxil withdrawel, although more short lived, made me psychotic.

[speculative]

Glad to hear you're feeling better P0! :cool:

-spec

[WesM63]

Glad your feelin better bud :D How'd the car work go?

[darksaint]

It's good to hear your feeling better.
I had the same problem about 4 years ago.
Granted at the time i was smoking way to much poot and drinking heavy. But after I stopped both drugz and hit the gym i felt 1000 times better.

If you like try some herbal remebies.
St. johns wart
Blue Green Alge
Kava Kava

It takes about a month to notice the st. johns wart and the Alge.

The nice thing is you dont get all the bad side effects with these.

[MrP]

just want to share this with you

http://www.thewildhearts.com/cgi-bin/gingersays_full.cgi?issueno=045

toodle pip

[Player0]

Yeah, ive heard good things about St. Johns wort. Some people say its so mild it doesnt even do anything. Im not a big advocate of natural medicine, although I beleive that a good diet can do WONDERS for your system. Im not taking anything that messes with my brain chemistry ever again though, apart from mild depressants ;)

[betty]

im glad you feeling better! yay, thats great :P

[Player0]

Thx :)

[betty]

i dont know if this relates to this topic or not but...
last night i slept for like 14 hours. haha, thats not normal. wonder whats wrong :confused: oh well nothing to do around here anyway :rolleyes:

[Player0]

Wish I could sleep that long. Not even on the weekends anymore.

[betty]

the focked up thing is im still tired :aargh!:

[melon]

Beginning last October, my daughter has been on Paxil (didn't work), Effexor (made her pass out and also go into self mutilation episodes), Lexapro (made her exhausted), Wellbutrin (supposed to give her energy, but failed), Provigil (supposed to give her energy, but gave her horrible nightmares). The nightmares persisted even with only Lexapro. We backed her off all medication. Enter nasty withdrawal symptoms! We tried pop-tarts for 4 days but I think it gave her stomach problems. Now she has been on pop-tarts for 5 days and so far so good. The depression has stayed away.

[wfarid]

wow, i really feel for you guys, but it is really nice to see ur strength and all thru this... i think medication is a double edge sword and it just depends on the person... Some people it works great for, others it doesn't... I am more of a naturalist myself, but hey if medication can stop you from hurting yourself and the good outweighs the bad, then its totally fine... I agree with a lot of you who say physical exercise and a healthy diet are good for your mental health as well... I mean if ur fit on the outside it kinda makes more prone to being fit on the inside...

[wfarid]

btw, kudos to player0 for opening up and talking about a personal issue, i think just talking about it and relating to others helps you and everyone else in the community as well... Oh yea, I think everyone should try yoga/meditation, meditation, for me at least, just feels really good... Its like defragmenting your brain... Everything gets put into perspective and ya just feel more at

[melon]

I am totally amazed at how common it is to prescribe these mind-altering drugs. They are a good solution for some people but are a really bad trip for those where it doesn't work. A friend of my daughter's hung himself while he was on Lexapro and 2 or 3 other similar meds. He had just turned 15.

[Denovin]

I was on paxil, it made me feel blah.. like nothing good, nothing bad. Also did some other things.. like id wake up in a cold sweat at night.. complete loss of sex drive among other things.
The thing that got me out of my depression was joining the track team.. excersice, natural endorphins, though my case of depression wasnt very severe, only had dysthimia.. which is a long term mild depression. It comes back every now any then.. but as long as I keep myself getting out and about doing a lil bit of excersize (I walk alot at work, atleast 4 hours a day), I feel fine.

[melon]

In desperation for a more natural cure for my daughter's depression, I stumbled on this product on the internet. My girl has suffered from depression since she was in 5th grade. (onset of puberty) This is a description offered at Iamanadvertisingwhorewhowshouldbefoundandmurdered. com (www.zombo.com).

Pop-Tarts are an synergistic formula to enhance pop-tart production in a healthy body. Poptarts are a naturally occurring derivative of the amino acid, methionine, that is formed in the body when glue combines with all-terrain puppies (ATP) - the major source of cellular energy. Pop-tarts are an effective mood elevator.www.poptarts.com I will post an update to let you kknow if it continues to work.

[Player0]

There is nothing I hate worse than a :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:ing :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:-:mad2::mad2::mad2: advertiser comes on here posing and LYING on an otherwise somber and personal thread.

Just a word of warning to you would be advertisers. There are multiple people here who have enough knowledge about the internet to make your lives utterly miserable and can ensure that you never profit form any e-commerce activities ever again. I can assure you that if anyone steps on a personal thread like this again that they will find out the true extent of what I know how to do.

[wfarid]

agreed dude, that's pretty :mad2::mad2::mad2::mad2:in sleezy... geez have some respect for people...

last night, i was talking to my friend who is clinically depressed, it runs in her family... And she was a mess because she had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend. she was talking about killing her self and she was crying... i didnt know what to do, and i hadn't talked to her in months. she took a year off college just to relax and work and stuff, but i dunno if it's really helped her. I think she's just gone into a deeper depression, and I really do worry for her. I don't know what I should do. I mean I really don't want to overstep my bounds as a friend and I don't want her to be miserable or all doped up with prescribed medication... I was thinking maybe I could hook her up with some counselours here at my college but i don't know how effective they would be... any suggestions?

[tripodal]

Wow its way to late but i just want to tell you all
to just cheer the F*** up.

its all i can do to help :)

[illmatik]

Yeah, I've had my fair share of these types of meds.. Tried zyban/wellbutrin in an effort to cheer up and quit smoking (WRONG MOVE).. had seizure and acted like a speed freaked foold the rest of the time. Did the st johns wort as well for a while (need the good high concentrate stuff) but that also made me a little tempormental.. Zoloft did the trick for a rough time of panic attacks and serious depression, but I found it never let me get quite into a deep sleep and it seemed like everything during rest was a wild halucination for the first month (no good in the job I'm in). Got myself off of all of it, did a little yoga/exercise/meditation as time allowed, cut out the booze, and practiced breathing exercises to control panic attack. I've been in much better shape in the 2 years since stopping it all, still have good and bad days, but I'm going to try my hardest to keep my mindset off these types of meds. I found sam-e (in the high dosage range) helped a good deal, very subtle, and also helped w/ rebuilding the organs that suffer from a heavy drinker like myself. Good to hear yer brain altering chem free tom, I'm right behind ya whenever ya need me ;)