Your Successful Medications?

Ok, so I was Mirtazapine 45mg (Remeron) and I stupidly came off it thinking I was feeling better, that lasted a month or so. Now I'm feeling a definite relapse coming on.

I'm going to speak to the phsycatrist next week and finding out what options I have in regards to medication (the Mirtazapine was fairly good, but was causing weight gain) But I was just interested to hear from others what medication has helped with their cases (I know everyone's different)

Thanks : )

Is weight gain the only problem? If so, then you should indeed talk it over with the doctor, as that could lead to another psychological problem (if you care about yuor weight, putting weight on will counteract any positive effect the drug gives you). I took a drug called Lexapro which caused no weight gain. Be aware though that drugs affect people differently but also that most of these drugs are slow acting. You might feel a pseudo 'high' when you first starting taking them, but then after a few weeks you might wonder what exactly the drug is doing to you? It took my Lexapro months to confer any noticeable help on my situation.

Kevin

I have not tried many - Buspar had no side effects. But it didn't seem to do anything. Paxil didn't seem to help either. But at least it had lots of awful side effects. Maybe that's the idea - the side effects distract you from your mental anguish?

My real problem will be that I will have a panic attack when starting a new job. I always thought a PRN of a benzo like valium would be best. But it's hard to get a doc to give me that. So I just ordered some from one of those shady online pharmacies. Lets see if I get the goods!

I have tried every ssri there is on the market, only had brief succes with paxil( 3 weeks of feeling oke). Since then they have produced some new ''wonderdrugs'' but im staying away from all of that . It doesent solve anything, it just covers up the problem . Say you are feeling good and one day you decide to quit your meds , you will be feeling like crap all over again. Then what?

During the paxil episode, it had some sever side eefect, I was sweating like a big, really really our of control . And was feeling noutious most of the day. Then it stopped working and I was right back there where I started

Chucky wrote:Is weight gain the only problem? If so, then you should indeed talk it over with the doctor, as that could lead to another psychological problem (if you care about yuor weight, putting weight on will counteract any positive effect the drug gives you). I took a drug called Lexapro which caused no weight gain.
Kevin

Nearly all the antidepressants have weight gain as a common side effect, but each brand effects different people differently. Chucky says Lexapro worked for him. But for me...oh man! Lexapro inflicted so much weight gain that I went into crisis! There are very few things in life I can control, but my weight has always been one of them. Suddenly I had no control over my weight at all. My fear reached existential proportions. When my doctor let me go off Lexapro, it took me two years to get my weight back down to a level I could live with. 4 months to put it on--2 years to get it off.

Paxil is the only antidepressant I've taken long term, but because of the weight-gain fears I take only half my doctor's prescribed dose. On the upside, Paxil holds back the volcanic anxiety attacks that plagued me for decades. On the downside, I find myself unable to cry--neither in sad movies nor at the funeral of someone close to me. Strong emotions were always important to me--sort of a barometer for my soul--and now that barometer is out of order.

And, like Nevergive_up said, they're not miracle pills. They don't solve anything. In my case I was better able to face my regular day, but still every bit as afraid of taking new risks and "getting ahead in life" as I've always been. In theory Paxil might make me less nervous, say, on a date. But it doesn't make me WANT to go on a date. It might make you less nervous to take steps in pursuing a dream. But you still have to HAVE a dream in the first place.

The one drug I truly feel is a freakin' godsend is Ativan (lorazepam, a valium cousin). I sleep. Me! Sleep! I didn't even know sleeping 5 or 6 hours straight was humanly possible until I was prescribed this! I take it at night, about 4 times a week, and it helps with sleep, anxiety, my neck pain, menstrual cramps, etc. All the benzodiazepines get a bad rap due to their addictive properties. But there are people out there who can be responsible with it. Yes, I have to take nearly double the dose I started with 5 years ago. But there are so many benefits I don't want to give it up. This in itself creates guilt.

IvoryBill wrote:[.

The one drug I truly feel is a freakin' godsend is Ativan (lorazepam, a valium cousin). I sleep. Me! Sleep! I didn't even know sleeping 5 or 6 hours straight was humanly possible until I was prescribed this! I take it at night, about 4 times a week, and it helps with sleep, anxiety, my neck pain, menstrual cramps, etc. All the benzodiazepines get a bad rap due to their addictive properties. But there are people out there who can be responsible with it. Yes, I have to take nearly double the dose I started with 5 years ago. But there are so many benefits I don't want to give it up. This in itself creates guilt.

Benzos! That's the ticket!! So did you ever try just benzos without the paxil? Who gave you the scrip for ativan? A GP doc? Or a psychiatrist?

Parador wrote:I have not tried many - Buspar had no side effects. But it didn't seem to do anything. Paxil didn't seem to help either. But at least it had lots of awful side effects. Maybe that's the idea - the side effects distract you from your mental anguish?

My real problem will be that I will have a panic attack when starting a new job. I always thought a PRN of a benzo like valium would be best. But it's hard to get a doc to give me that. So I just ordered some from one of those shady online pharmacies. Lets see if I get the goods!

Lorazepam seemed pretty good but the physc team won't let me take them as they're supposedly extremely addictive. I was only on them when the need required for a very short period.

Unfortunately it's the anxiety and the depression which are factors this time around. I'm guessing I'll just have to stick with Remeron (mitazpine) as it worked last time in helping the depression and also allowed me to have a good nights sleep.

Funny you should mention mirtazapine, of all the medications I've tried (and I've tried dozens), mirtazapine was the worst. Well, I guess it helped my anxiety and depression, but it also turned me into a slightly delusional, inanimate vegetable. Sometimes it took me hours of mind-fogged contemplation before I could so much as sit up, and even lifting a finger (literally) made me dizzy. Funny how differently drugs works with different people. Prozac's about the best I've had, and Valium, before I became tolerant to it.

Parador wrote:I always thought a PRN of a benzo like valium would be best. But it's hard to get a doc to give me that. So I just ordered some from one of those shady online pharmacies. Lets see if I get the goods!

My optimal dosage of Valium is two 5mg tablets before some major anxiety-producing event, such as a speech I had to give last year to about 25 people. It was the first time in my life I'd ever been relaxed in a situation like that. I needed to go home and sleep for a very long time afterward however.

Years ago I was prescribed a regular dose of Rivotril (Klonopin) and ended up on it for over 10 years due to physiological dependence. I was really thrilled when I found out that they should only be used for short-term treatment of anxiety say, 2-4 weeks, and that obviously I would have developed tolerance to them early on. I do however wonder if problems I now have with memory have anything to do with taking them for so long, as well as a loss of creativity which has only returned in the last year or so after I finally withdrew from them two years ago.

Antidepressants have never done anything for me, not a thing, except produce withdrawal symptoms.

Regarding 'habit forming' drugs vs non habit forming ones.....
My psych doc had me try like 20 different non habit forming meds all with unsuccessful results. Most the traditional beta blockers and anti depressants px'd to us avoidant types. During one conversation he was listing a few we hadn't tried yet and mentioned that one in particular was probably a bad idea since "it could be habit forming". He said there was a danger I could become reliant on it in order to live a more comfortable life. I asked, if one of the earlier drugs we tried had worked to ease my discomfort wouldn't I then likely be on that drug possibly for life? He confirmed the possibility. What's the facking difference? Habit forming or non, both would be taken every day. Both sound like habits to me.
Whatever works, I say.