Depression/Anxiety/Medication?

Have you been or are you currently taking medication for depression and or anxiety? If yes, could you please share what meds you have tried or are on and how they have effected your life either positively or negatively.

Antidepressants don't work for me, I have terrible side effects (weight gain, tremors, headaches, night terrors, sexual death, manic behavior). These are the ones they've made me try:
Prozac, Lexapro, Zoloft, and Celexa (SSRI's), Effexor (SNRI), and Wellbutrin (NDRI).

Anti-anxietals intended to be taken daily don't work for me either, similar side effects as ADs. These are the ones they've made me try: Klonopin (sedative), Zyprexa (anti-psychotic), and Adderall (psycho-stimulant).

The only things that work for me, are "on the spot" benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium, Ativan). Since I have minimized my social/environmental stressors by staying at home most of the time, I'm not concerned about becoming chemically dependent on these because I only have a panic attack or anticipated stressful situation severe enough to require medication once a month or so.

i'd concur with plicketycat. i have bad side effects to almost all known medications now, including anti-biotics. i refuse to take any despite the pressures to do otherwise. but doctors often won't accept my reasoning for this and accuse me of being unco-operative. i now have a more sympathetic doctor.

one form of natural anit-depressant that is alleged to make a difference is cod liver oil in large daily doses.

the other bit of advice i'd offer is that prescriptive anti-depressants are now recognised to highten the risk of suicide in some people, particularly the young.

shock_the_monkey wrote:i'd concur with plicketycat. i have bad side effects to almost all known medications now, including anti-biotics. i refuse to take any despite the pressures to do otherwise. but doctors often won't accept my reasoning for this and accuse me of being unco-operative. i now have a more sympathetic doctor.

I'm very sensitive to narcotic pain relievers, and most anesthesia. I've always wondered if there was a connection. I refuse to take antidepressants or pain meds (other than Tylenol). Luckily, my doc now is very sympathetic to my chemical sensitivities... only took 36 years to find her!

shock_the_monkey wrote:one form of natural anit-depressant that is alleged to make a difference is cod liver oil in large daily doses.

I was reading about this the other day because I have a massive Vitamin D deficiency at the moment! Cod liver oil is packed with Vitamin A & D. They actually think it's the vit D that is key to the antidepressant part. I'm beginning a megadose regimen of vit D next week under the supervision of my doc (50k IU a day - 1250% higher than RDA). I'll let you all know if my mood improves

shock_the_monkey wrote:the other bit of advice i'd offer is that prescriptive anti-depressants are now recognised to highten the risk of suicide in some people, particularly the young.

Prozac was the worst for me in this regard... I went completely manic, lost all good judgment, put myself in some seriously dangerous situations (passively suicidal) and self-harmed more frequently and drastically .

Have you told your doctor about this yet? I find it hard to believe that any doctor would recommend such a high dose of Vitamin D. Excess intake has been shown to cause kidney-stones and can also make your bones become rigid and 'stiff'. No vitamin works better when you take them in excess. In the majority of cases, excess intake damages your body. The exception is Vitamin C, which is just excreted when taken to excess.

I'm just after stopping my Lexapro medication after three years on it and things have been going okay. I also take Cod Liver oil everyday and it's effects on my concentration ability are noticeable.

Chucky - I do need to stress that I am doing this mega-dosing of Vitamin D under medical supervision with monthly lab tests. Also, that I have had gastric bypass surgery which interferes with my abosprtion of certain nutrients, and that I currently have a clinically severe Vitamin D deficiency. The megadosing is intended to get my levels back up to normal as soon as possible to halt further damage.

Given all those factors: I will be taking 100k IU a day for one month, retesting, and if it is still low, continuing with 50k a day for one month, retesting, and continuing with a dosage that is adjusted if necessary. We are keeping an eye on my calcium and phosphorus levels, as well as my bone density.

Please note that the current RDA of 400 IU of vitamin D is currently under dispute as being TOO LOW for people who do not work outdoors, in the sun, for at least 4 hours a day. For comparison, 1 hour of sunlight produces (causes your skin to produce) 10k UI of cholecalciferol (Vit D3)... and that has never been shown to be toxic (the sunlight might cause cancer, but not Vit D toxicity).

Cool, I'm glad it's been supervised and it's true that Cholecalciferol isn't toxic directly. Howeveer, it is involved the control of Calcium and Phosphorus metabolism in the body. It also controls the absorption of Calcium from the gut and the release of insulin from the Islets of Langerhans. Having too much Cholecalciferol therefore results in the problems that I mentioned in my previous post.

Things might be different for you though, considering the surgery you had. Actually, I remember now that you mentioned having that surgery in another thread many weeks ago.

Vitamin D has been mentioned a lot recently in medical news, specifically surrounding depression. I think it'll be put to much more tests. For the record, the RDAs for Vitamins are typically below what the majority of people need.

I love studying the Vitamins... ...I learned every snippet of information on them in college recently. They have so many functions it's laughable... ...
Kevin.

I am about to start college and was wondering about this so good to know I shouldn't wast my time.

Pain killers in pill form have no effect even when I take max doses of drug that most people pass out from, novicane(numbing stuff dentists use) lasts about 1/4 the time it should and gives me a headache. With sleep aids I only get my normal 2-5 hours of sleep and then for some reason 16+ hours after I take them they decide to start working.

I fear college may be a nightmare no matter what I do...

I was taking cymbalta. It don't really work it just makes you sleepy. I think it does no use for people with aspergers. Now for NT people with anxiety and depression it might work.

The most important thing anyone can do for a man who may have depression is to help him get to a doctor for a diagnostic evaluation and treatment.most important thing is to offer emotional support to the depressed person. This involves understanding, patience, affection, and encouragement.http://www.mydepressionmedication.com/