View Full Version : Antidepressants?
Has anyone ever felt 100% perfect after taking antidepressants? I take 150 effexor but still feel quite anxious. I went up to by 37.5 mg but it made me feel weird so back downto 150. I have been taking this for over a year.
Just wondered if maybe I should try and change drugs again. Already changed it three times in the last year.
I take diazepam and zoplicone as well, I get questioned a lot about them when I ring up for a repeat which I hate. I only take small dosage 1/2 tab in morning and 1/2 at night.
Just wondering if anyone can share their thoughts.
I don't think anyone feels 100% perfect after antidepressants - they fix some problems and cause others, so it's a balancing act.
However, if you are taking an AD for anxiety, it should reduce it to a level that you find manageable. If not, a switch to a different AD or a drug like pregabalin (if ADs haven't worked) may be in order.
MyNameIsTerry
13-11-14, 10:59
I've taken Citalopram and Duloxetine at standard doses and I have never found they take my anxiety away. They pulled me back from a point I didn't think I could cope any longer with and this is what I see them for.
They are anti depressants afterall, they are not geared towards anxiety and there is limited evidence that they work.
Benzodiazapenes work in a different manner, as do hypnotics, both of which you are also using. These have a much greater effect because they hit the area of the brain where anxiety is occurring, they are made to do this. The trouble is, they are habit forming. I have found that these do take away anxiety but you very quickly adjust to them hence higher dosages are required and this is where the habit forming issue becomes a problem.
You have to question whether its working enough for you to cope, manage and work on your recover.
Sometimes I think the antidepressants are working, but at the moment I am going through a rough patch where I have gone from studying full time to now nothing. There is no work around so I have started to feel anxious again, then then the depression kicks in.
I was on citalopram for about years and found it to be really good but decided to stop taking it because I thought I felt good and when I went back on it again it didn't seem to have the same effect. I haven't found a good antidepressant since.
I am so scared of trying another antidepressant. I am currently taking effexor XR and when I started taking it it made me really sick.
Can anyone ever truely recover from this?
ADs are only a prop to get us going again and feel more comfortable they are not a cure
With the right attitude support ,time and patience yes you can recover 100%
venusbluejeans
13-11-14, 22:14
Hi
This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your problem.
This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.
Hi Hemps,
Yes you can really recover. I have to say that with some qualification, since for me, recovery means taking medication, probably long-term. But it works - I have a good job, I interact with people, I don't suffer from debilitating anxiety or depression.
For you, for the moment, you probably need to find a medication / therapy that works long-term. It seems you have hit an an empty spot in your life, but keep trying and making yourself available, and things will turn around.
Antidepressants seem to be given as a first line of treatment for many different types of anxiety but I have yet to find an antidepressant that significantly helps with anxiety.... and I've tried a lot. Other medications can help with anxiety specifically but generally GPs are less willing to prescribe those for various reasons. Therapy can help some people too and if possible a combination of therapy and medication is considered best.
I think 'recovery' looks different for everyone. What is your idea of recovery? Some people might feel recovery is to be able to work a normal job, study at college or be a stay at home parent without crushing anxiety always getting in the way. Others might feel recovery is only when they become some kind of ultra successful person in a high-flying, high-pressure career and still experience no anxiety whatsoever at all (very unrealistic).
As someone who has chronic depression/anxiety/OCD I feel the recovery process is learning to manage symptoms on a day to day basis, learning to recognize triggers and prevent car crash scenarios before they happen, learning to accept and live with the problems rather than constantly fight against them. Recovery will be being well enough to to find a job or become self employed to such a level where I can support myself and not be on the verge of breakdown the whole time.
Totally concur with yenool's post. Medication can help with your recovery but it won't change life circumstances - you have to do that. Depression can be treated with antidepressants but it's much harder when it comes to anxiety, eg GAD. There actually are powerful meds that relieve anxiety but those major tranquillisers tend to zombify you to the degree of not caring about anything any more. There is a difference between responsibility and anxiety and some tranquillisers can blur those lines. They just mask the problem, not solve it.
I think depression needs to be treated before anxiety can be tackled, which is where ADs can be useful. But they take you only so far and the rest of the journey is down to you...
Thanks everyone for your comments. I have hit a really hard place at the moment where my anxiety has skyrocketed. I am just wondering if it is I just haven't found the right antidepressant yet to give me enough relief. When I take antidepressants if I go too high I think the side effects make me feel worse. I am now taking a bit more diazepam which I really don't want to do until I can get a doctors appointment next week.
What you are saying is true. I need to get my anxiety to a level where I can deal with it and recover. I see a physcologist once a month but she doesn't see much help, just have a conservation on how I am doing and that is it.
I have been like this for over a year and a half. I took up study hoping to take my mind of it, and this worked really well, but it is over now and the anxiety has come back with avengence! I accept that I have this problem but don't know how to fix it. I try and walk everyday. I do have three boys that stress me out to the max.
Everyone around me doesn't understand what I am going through and my husband just switches off as he doesn't know how to deal with me.
Its so hard. I find that no body I know wants to talk about anxiety, when I know so many out there are suffering so badly from it.
Why don't you try some group therapy ,mind and rethink.org organise group cbt
I met some really nice people and could share experiences of anxiety and depression
unfortunately I live in a small town in New Zealand and there is a lot of group support here. But if there was I would definetly be there!
Hi Hemps,
If you are looking for a different drug to ADs for generalised anxiety, I can recommend pregabalin. I suspect it won't be licensed for anxiety in NZ, as it wasn't in Australia when I was back there.
This means your doctor may be unfamiliar with its use for anxiety, and also that you have to pay the full cost yourself (about $5.00 per day if you take the maximum dose, but many take less). Even at that price, it's worth the cost if it works. It's NHS approved for generalised anxiety in the UK, which may calm your doctor down about prescribing it.
Hi unfortunately I don't think my doctor would prescribe it and we wouldn't be able to afford anyway as we are a single income family.
I took extra diazepam this morning and have spent the day feeling worse.
I am a real mess at the moment and not sure what to do. Feeling like I am having a major relapse.
Hi Hemps,
Sorry to hear things aren't going so well. Taking extra diazepam during the day can have a negative effect if what you want is to have more energy as well as less anxiety.
Can you say what antidepressants you have been on? You say you have been on a few but they don't seem to be working.
Hi unfortunately I don't think my doctor would prescribe it and we wouldn't be able to afford anyway as we are a single income family.
I took extra diazepam this morning and have spent the day feeling worse.
I am a real mess at the moment and not sure what to do. Feeling like I am having a major relapse.
I know you don't feel comfortable with the idea but I think you should try increasing your Venlafaxine dose again before you decide on changing meds. You really want to avoid a relapse and the increase might pay off in a few weeks. Just my opinion.
Hi, I have take paxil which was pretty good. First one I tried. Hard to start though. I had to come off it as I was pregnant. Then I took Celexa which was great but I decided to come off that. Big mistake! When I tried going back on it, it didn't seem to kick in, then I tried Zoloft, that was horrible, now I am on Effexor 150 mg. I tried to upping to 37.5 mg but after a couple of weeks felt horrible.
I could give it another go. I don't really know what to do.
If I could suggest yet another AD it would be mirtazapine, which I am taking. It helps many people (not everyone, unfortunately) with anxiety. Your doctor is most likely familiar with it, and I'm pretty sure it will be licensed in NZ.
It helps a lot of people with sleep, if that is a problem, but often makes people feel sleepy during the day for the first few weeks (this wears off). It's also associated with weight gain, but this can be avoided if you are careful (I've managed to lose over 8 kg in the past two years while taking it). It works faster than most ADs and side effects are usually not as bad. It's worth a try if nothing else is working.
Thanks heaps for everyone's comments. Today has been a better day and even spent two hours at the hospital with my little boy today and didn't totally fall apart.
Its strange I can cope with stressful situations, but can't cope with being at home alone.
Thanks heaps for everyone's comments. Today has been a better day and even spent two hours at the hospital with my little boy today and didn't totally fall apart.
Its strange I can cope with stressful situations, but can't cope with being at home alone.
Most people with anxiety an depression aren't good with time on their hands.Its a shame you can't get counselling
Hope your little boy is doing ok
Unfortunately I do have counselling once a month but she doesn't seem to help much. Been seeing her for over a year. In and out within half an hour.
Hi just been to doctor and he has suggested trying going back up another 37.5 mg again. He is going to do a referral back to physciatrist. He thinks that my dosage might not be enough and maybe should even be doubled. This totally freaks me out. Last time we upped it it made me feel weird.
He said he had a client who had the same problem, and ended up having dose doubled and is now doing great so I will see what happens.
The reality with antidepressants is that even psychiatrists don't know for sure what will work with any given patient, so they are more or less poking around with sticks, although they like to pretend differently.
But there are always new medications coming onto the market, so don't lose hope. Also, people with anxiety/depression do get better without medication.
Yeah I hate it, I just have this fair that if my dose goes too high I will go totally manic and lose control. Just something that happen in the past.
Anyway I just need to get to a level where I can cope and have a good life, enough to enjoy my family and be able to work.
Hopefully I can also put some strategies into place that can help me cope with the anxiety and stop having relapses.
Okay, this is the first time I've noticed you mention the manic episode. Do you remember mentioning this to your doctors? I think you ought to make sure they are aware of this before you increase your dose.
Good luck, keep us posted! :hugs:
Sorry I didn't say this very well. Just one time when I went to high I got really worried, crying etc, extremely high anxiety. I did tell my doctor and that is when we agreed to swap to Effexor.
I hope things are going well for you Marie. I have increased my dosage feeling little more anxious especially today, but it could be because I am tired as my little boy has a sore shoulder and keeps waking me up in the night.
I think also last time I increased I might not have given it enough time. Who knows, I am going to try and give it a bit longer this time.
That's the stuff, Paula, give it the old college try! Were you able to go up 37.5 at a time? Sorry if you've said already, I just popped on here for a minute because I'm on my way to bed ... Aw your poor little boy, I have a sore shoulder that wakes me in the night, very hard to get past! Hopefully it will be gone in a day or two more, and you can both get your rest! Fingers crossed for you both on my end xx
Meanwhile, I'm doing really well on the Effexor, thanks for asking! I just do not find myself going off to the negative place anymore! I get a bit of a pang due to a bad memory (I'm wondering if this is what people mean by "intrusive thoughts") from time to time. But it is very fleeting these days, not the pain that would twist my heart and drag me down like before. This. Is. Huge. Such a relief, I cannot begin to tell you!
So, for now I am staying at 225 mg. I am more than willing to try to stay at this dose for this first "trial" winter, if possible. I am pretty excited that it is working, as you can tell! Normally I would have a constant, knawing sense of dread by now, and I haven't felt a bit of that fear! I am beginning, just beginning mind you, to even feel happy at times. Lol! I think I need to do a bit more confidence-building insofar as establishing boundaries and making sure to meet my own needs first and all that. That includes peace and harmony in my life, for sure. I am still wound pretty tight, but I'm okay as long as I don't go over the top to just what you describe (I was there before meds, this past February).
Try to remember that a lot of what you are feeling is due to the physical effects of the increase, with serotonin receptors in the gut and perhaps adrenaline now as well. The pharmacist told me that it differs with individuals. I did have the "butterflies" again but not as strongly, and they went away quicker this time. The occasional bit of jittery feelings, heightened anxiety, which I attribute to the bit of uptick in adrenaline, perfectly normal as I get settled, I'm sure. I think it's good in that I don't feel like just sitting and thinking too much. I have met with a friend for lunch twice in the past few weeks, which is really good. Feeling hopeful that I will be motivated to do it still when the real cold hits, ha ha! Try to look at it as "energy" to be expended, and do what you can to use it up! By the way, it's been a month or more on this dose, and just recently have noticed that I am really alert and am finding it way easier to not become upset even when I'm a bit anxious, (crying, talking too much like I used to do). Easy to just stay quiet. Easy to be positive with others. Very, very cool ... xx
If any of this sounds good, then try to keep going a bit longer, yes! Do you do deep breathing for tension? If you get palps and stuff, have you tried propranolol? I keep telling myself that if my anxiety gets too bad, I can ask the doc for some, but it hasn't stayed long enough for me to go in :D
Marie :bighug1:
Hi Marie, I am so glad you are feeling better, its good to see the effexor is working. I see from our news that weather has been bad over your way.
We unfortunately are still waiting for summer which is extremely annoying.
I think for me I just haven't found the right dosage level of medication. I am prepared to hang in there and see if this increase will settle and help.
My doctor has done a referral to a physchatrist (sorry spelling hopeless). I just want to talk to him about the meds. I think if I get a better balance of meds I can sort the anxiety out and then focus on getting off diazepam and zoplicone. It scares me that I have been on it for so long.
Going to polytech everday was fantastic for my anxiety but now I have finished the anxiety and depression is back it is worse.
Such an up and down battle. I am sure I will get there one day! I just have to hang in there.
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