NWR: Antidepressants? Effects?

Ive been on Prozac, Straterra, and Adderal. The last two were for ADD. Prozac was okay at first, but I was on it because I had major depressive disorder and I used to SI, and it made the SI worse in my experience. That was the biggest side effect I had with Prozac. Adderal sucked. It made me sick. Straterra gave me irregular periods and I still don't have regular periods, so I had to go on birth control. I had 2 times after being on Straterra where I had no periods twice for 6 months. Personally I didn't like Meds at all.

Ok, I am not a medical professional, but I have personally ingested pretty much all of the available antidepressants, so:

1. Typically, the first antidepressant tried is one of the SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, or Lexapro). These act on serotonin, one of three chemicals involved in depression. (The other two are norepinephrine and dopamine.) These can rarely cause either weight gain or weight loss, but it's not a typical side effect.

2. If the first antidepressant tried is not effective within a couple of months, the typical next step is to add Wellbutrin. Because Wellbutrin affects norepinephrine and dopamine, combining it with one of the SSRIs covers all three chemicals. If anything, Wellbutrin tends to cause weight loss.

3. Lingering side effects, after discontinuation, are pretty much unknown. If you have excessive side effects, you will most likely just get changed to a different antidepressant.

(cont.)

4. Withdrawal from antidepressants is not like withdrawal from addictive drugs. It's basically just a reaction to discontinuing too suddenly. So if it happens, you just go back to the last dose that did not produce the withdrawal effects, then reduce the dose more slowly. My psychiatrist tells me that he has never had a patient that had trouble getting off antidepressants; it's just a question of how slowly a given patient must proceed.

5. A lot of people are afraid of taking antidepressants. However, every episode of untreated depression changes your brain in ways that make it easier for the next incident of depression to occur. Typically, the first episode is triggered by something situational. However, after the first one, an episode of depression can occur even without any situational cause at all. Taking antidepressants not only helps you immediately, but makes you less likely to get into a cycle of recurrent depression.

Wow, thanks 2d bride! That was informative. I think this was caused by a situation. I can't tell if this is caused by my new bp med though. I have emailed my doc.

@January: Thanks for sharing as well. I used to be so scared of it and wary too. I know friends IRL who have taken it but I'm so hesitant to speak to them about this and always thought I would not need this.

The one thing I would advise you is that if you don't see a marked improvement in the first couple of months, complain and tell your doctor something more is needed. If your doctor can't help, then see a psychiatrist for meds. All too often, someone will say, "Well, gee... I think it might be helping... a little." Trust me, if an antidepressant works, you will know quite definitely. And if it doesn't, the likelihood is that a different one (or a combination of more than one) will help. However, the depression itself can make it feel like it's not worthwhile to keep trying if the first antidepressant doesn't work.

My ex-husband tried several antidepressants, but would give up on each one after a relatively short time. It was only when he got to the point of being disabled at his job that he really pursued getting treated. And when he did, the difference was magical.

I don't want you to be scared because of me though!! The best one I was on was Straterra. It says that suicidal thoughts and actions can be a side effect of the prozac, and it just happened that I got them worse on the medicine. Medicine doesn't mean your weak, unhealthy, etc. I wouldve stayed on Straterra if my insurance covered it, but we couldn't afford the $140 a month. I have since found ways to manage the depression and ADD on my own, with the help of therapy. I went to therapy for 6 years. I still have "episodes" but they aren't as bad as they once were. I highly reccomend therapy to anyone because it helped me alot.

Thanks for the additional info, Ladies! I have an appt with a psychiatrist and have seen a therapist once so far.

Good luck, and let me know if you have more questions after you see the psychiatrist.

Just wanted to let you know that the withdrawl from Wellbutrin is a you-know-what. You should be prepared to feel horrible for at least two weeks.

I have as has fs.... some possible side effects are sleepiness and grogginess... did i spell that right? Give it some time though... he took the abilify with the other and that seemed to help him A LOT!

I don't know if even still need this info anymore, 2d was very informative, but I've been on prozac since I was 18 for depression and to treat the symptoms of PMDD.

The first year or so, I was fine. I noticed a marked improvement, no obvious symptoms, except I lost a few pounds.. definitely couldn't complain about that; however, for the past year, I have taken it off and on, because for the first time, I HAVE experienced side effects. I had little to no sex drive while on prozac. Not only did I have no sex drive, I really didn't want any kind of intimate touch, everything kind of grossed me out. Since it all started within a couple weeks of starting the prozac again, I figured that's what it was. I went off of it, and I was fine within a few days/week. Then a little later I tried it again for a few weeks, had the same sex drive problem. Needless to say I haven't taken it in months, and if I decide I NEED to be on something in the future I'm definitely going to go see my doctor.

I've taken both Zoloft and Prozac. Zoloft gives me wicked, wicked headaches and bizarre nightmares. With both of them, my sex drive disappeared... and, for the times that I "gave in," I found that I was unable to orgasm. Both Zoloft and Prozac also made me feel emotionally numb... I called it "don't-give-a-isht" mode.

Bump

anyone else want to share their words of experience?

thanks!

I took Effexor for some time a few years ago. It treats anxiety and depression. It also was being used to treat my severe migraines. It worked on all three accounts (possibly because some of the headaches were stress related). I was on a very low dose, but I still felt more or less numb. In other words, emotionless. (I did NOT lilke that). I also had NO sex drive, but lost weight. It took about 2 weeks to build up in my system and actually work, and more than a month to get off. The withdrawl symptoms were awful; dizzines, lethargy, blurred vision, and headaches. All in all though, it really helped. My doctor told me that it is one of the very few medicines used for this that can actually permanently change your brain chemistry, even after you are off of it, and thus change depressive patterns. It worked for me.

I've been on antidepressants for 3-ish years. My doc and I talked about this at the beginning of the year when I had to go in to get it refilled and we're going to try to go off of them when I'm done planning the wedding, finding a job and all that jazz. Basically, when I'm more stable.

Anyway, I was first on Prozac and hated it. It gave me diarrhea (TMI), made me awfully sleepy, and I was actually feeling worse than I was before. I felt emotionless (and I thought I was emotionless before I went on an antidepressant). I was on this for about 2-4 months.

So, I went back to my doc and told her my concerns and I've been on Wellbutrin ever since. I take it twice a day and it's really helped me. It's also helped with my social anxiety, which I never thought would be solved (I thought I was just shy). I take it for depression and anxiety. Anyway, side effects would just be at the beginning it made my heart race and for the first week I was very energetic and couldn't sleep very much.

(cont.) But that went away after a week or two. It has also affected my sex drive--but I was also on birth control and that messed with my sex drive as well. I just don't ever feel in in the mood but that's a small price to pay when I actually feel alive and well. I'm actually afraid to go off of it next year because I don't want to be depressed again, but I also want to start TTC in 2012, so I want to have it all out of my system by then.

I have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression and mild bi-polar. I started off on Pexeva, it made me very jittery and shaky, I didn't see a marked improvement. Then I started Lexapro. Made me feel emotionally numb and no sex-drive, very hard to finish, didn't want to be touched or cuddled, had nightmares, made me off balance, had very very angy mood swings, I actually was not able to cry even if I wanted to, no motivation, irritablity. Then I switched to Well-butrin (but the generic version) and it made all the symptoms worse! I was on each pill for at least 6 weeks so that I could get the full mecicinal effect. Then my dad's company switched insurances and I couldn't go to the dr for a while to get refills or new prescripts. I had horrible episodes where I would cry hysterically and have panic attacks. This was bc I went off suddenly and didn't wean off onto smaller doses. Now I'm on Cymbalta for depression, and Clonzapan ( sp? ) for anxiety. I like them for the most part..

I work for a psychiatrist. There are different classes of antidepressants, each medication has different side effects but the classes of medications have similar side effects but just because a medication in the group had poor side effects does not mean that all of them in that class will. It's kind of trial and error but with an educated assesment. The best is to get medication straight from a psychiatrist rather then a primary care phsyician because they are more familiar with the medications.

And I am on a VERY high dose of the anti-d's. I still feel numb at times, and have panic attacks but they are mini size. The main side effect of it was that I now have insomnia. So I was prescribed sleeping pills, which I didn't take after the first couple of nights bc I didnt like them. I was able to fix my sleeping problem by using good sleep hygiene. I still will probabaly need a higher dose of Cymbalta but so far it's the best thing I have found for me.

The main thing is not to be afraid to be labeled "depressed" ( DUN-DUN-DUUUN )

I was so scared bc I thought it meant it was worse than it was. But just embrace the fact that there are things you need help with. It is a MEDICAL condition, it's bc you want attention or are "sad" which is what I was thinking. Ppl take meds for cancer and diabetes, so why shouldn't youtake them for depression? Hope this helps a little! Feel free to PM me or any of the other girls.

What does DS say? Supportive? Scared? Worried?

I meant it's NOT bc you want attention, or are sad.... Sorry about the confusion!