Anyone care to share their experiences with anti-depressants (and going on/off them)

[AprilBaby]

I have been on Effexor ER for years with no problems except weight gain. I was on Zoloft before that and it was hell to taper off. I have lowered my dose several times with Effexor with the only side effect being the anxiety came back. One nice thing about Effexor is that it stops hot flashes in menopause. I wish I didn’t need meds but it is what it is. If I can’t sleep Benadryl or melatonin is my go to.

 

[VRBeauty]

I should add, to my previous post, that I am now on a low dose of Wellbutrin. It keeps the depression and seriously negative thinking pretty much at bay, though not totally so - it feels like a help more than a solution. But I have zero side effects at this level, which is important to me.

A friend had electro magnetic therapy, which has had good and lasting effects.

 

[Mreader]

I have anxiety, and from time to time my doctor prescribes me antidepressants. A course of treatment lasts differently, based on some factors.
When the course ends I have antidepressant withdrawal almost every time, but I've been having psychology sessions for a while now, so it helps me a lot to minimize the effect of that withdrawal on a psychological level.
But it also depends on what's going on in my life, so everything depends.
But I'd recommend getting a professional help because it's for sure be beneficial

When you say a course do you mean the doc prescribes an AD but specifically for a shorter duration?

 

[missy]

If it is OK I just want to share a PSA...many types of anxiety and/or depression are actually physiological and can be caused by low thyroid hormone (free t3-the active thyroid hormone) or low sex hormones (estradiol, progesterone and testosterone). I recommend for anyone for who this might be an issue to run a full blood panel to evaluate

CBC, CMP, estradiol, LC MS progesterone, free testosterone and total testosterone, free t3, free 4, TSH, TPO and TgAB to get you started. And remember within range does not mean optimal. Our goal is always optimal

 

[Lschneids01]

@Lschneids01, my doctor wouldn’t give me Xanax, he gave me Klonopin instead because he said Xanax is so dangerous.

Hi! Klonopin, Valium , and Xanax are all in the same category of drugs- Benzodiazepines. Hardest known drug is Xanax to get off because doctors give it to you but don’t ever tell you this is what you’re going to experience down the line if you stay on it long term and take it every day. Then your tolerance may go up. I was up for a month straight when my doctor put my mother ( after my dad passed)and I on Xanax. I was on .5mg a night. Never abused it. Took it at night only. Never during the daytime. My doctor never told me you should only take this short term to get you through your dad’s death. Kept writing me scripts and I figured hey why not I’m sleeping. Well I did want to come off it. And I didn’t know back then you couldn’t just stop it. I was up for almost three weeks straight without sleep, my eyeballs I felt like were bugging out of my sockets, I had brain zaps, restless legs. But I was I’m sticking through it to get off it. This was probably in the year 2000. The reason Valium is so hard to get off of is because it has a short term life of fours while Valium has a long term life of 12 hours. Meaning the quicker it leaves your system the quicker and harder the withdrawals. A lot of doctors will taper people over to Valium which I didn’t know at the time to help wean you off slower and doses go down month by month then you cut the lowest dose in fours, then the fours in half etc. You get the idea. I’m glad your doctor said no Xanax. Like I said I have a script for 10mg and f Valium that I even cut in half some nights and take a half if needed. But everyone is definitely affected differently due to your genes and metabolism and what enzymes you have in your body that one person may have more of do they metabolize a certain medication faster or slower. You also have to look into what enzymes your meds are metabolized and broken down in the body with. For example, Cymbalta I think is metabolized by the cytochrome CYP450 system (enzymes CYP1A2 and CYP2D6). So let’s say (a imaginary scenario) also on low dose of Prozac which is also metabolized by the CYP2D6 enzyme, those two medications will compete with that enzyme and you will metabolize both, meaning they will stay in your system longer and your doctor should adjust your dosages accordingly. And there is a chart I have saved on my phone now where every medication is broken down by which enzymes it is metabolized by and some medications may be metabolized by more than one enzyme. A good idea is to run your medications through drug.com googling “drug interactions checker” and you put in your medication and it says if there is a mild , strong or severe interaction between the drugs and your doctor should lower the dose of which ever one of them is a strong inducer of that same enzyme. An enzyme is what turns the medication into its active state in your body. So I bet a lot of you didn’t know that Pristique is actually the active ingredient for Effexor. When Effexor is metabolized into its active state with its enzyme it turns into Pristique. Big Pharmaceutical companies due this after knowing one medication was a hit after the FDA approved it but this is the kicker, they will run trials for the other drug for different reasons. For example, the main difference when Pristique came out it was FDA approved for depression not anxiety, which Effexor is approved for GAD - general anxiety disorder. Meanwhile they both are SNRI’s so doctors write scripts “off label” for medications meaning not what the FDA approved them for after the big park companies ran trials for. So all the SSRI’s are approved by the FDA only for certain things because the pharmaceutical company that made them wanted to market them for a different reason then another SSRI was approved for. Celexa turns into the active state in your body which is Lexapro. But some people try both and say they can’t handle Lexapro but can celexa and vice versa. So Cymbalta is well known for Fibromyalgia pain because the Pharmaceutical company was smart and was the first to run trials using cymbalta on people who have Fibro and got it FDA approved for that specific condition. Meanwhile Effexor is a SNRI too so why would it not work on pain? Just because it’s pharmaceutical company chose not to market the drug for that purpose. But now you have another SNRI drug come along called Savella which marketed itself for Fibro too because it saw how Cymbalta took off in sales. So they say if you can’t handle the side effects of Cymbalta try ours Savella! I know Lyrica is approved for Fibro too but it’s in a different class of medication like Gabbapentin which isn’t approved for Fibro only because they chose not to market for it and run the trials to
Get it Fibro approved but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t work on Fibro too just like Lyrica. Sorry I went on a rant. I’m not a doctor. I’m a teacher. So these are things that I myself researched on the internet for to keep myself informed of what I’m putting in my body because I don’t trust (not every doctor) some doctors to tell you everything about that med. And yes CVS and pharmacies attach all the info on the bag when you pick the medicine up but I never understood what it says. So I look up and research both sides of every medication before going to the doctor or taking it. I read about Cymbalta being hard to get off of but everyone is differently made up chemically so what might have side effects for you might not have them for me. I also gained a ton of weight on it. I didn’t stay on the Amitriptyline 25mg at night because I think at the time once school started, being a teacher, it was very hard for me to get up in the morning. I would have to take it no later than 12 hours before I had to wake up which meant I was taking it at 5:45 at night. Too early for me. But that doesn’t mean that’s going to be the case for everyone tho. TCA’s are overlooked a lot as being the first generation antidepressants because they aren’t safe due to heart palpitations. That’s when SSRI’s came out. But I think at low doses and I’m sensitive to everything they might be a good choice for people. Noritriptyline is the active state of Amitriptyline I think, do not quote me on that. But it is a more activating drug that it’s partner and is taken in the morning. There are so many good TCA’s I researched out there. My old doctor was old school and was not afraid of old medicine before I moved than the doctor I have now which was like why would you want a tCA with all the new drugs out there. Newer does not mean better in my mind.

 

[Lschneids01]

Thank you for sharing all this info. It sounds like you have really been through the wringer at times! I have heard of this Amitriptyline before: I believe it’s been around for a very long time. How come you went off of it if it works for you? And what you say about Cymbalta as interesting as well because that’s the drug. I was thinking of trying if I have to go back on only because anecdotally at least people say it’s the best for weight. And some people say that helps with migraines which I also have.

Hi! I went off Amitriptyline because I’m a teacher and have summers off but when school was in I was so groggy and it was hard to wake up
In the mornings. So my doctor said take it 12 hours before you have to wake up. I was taking it at 5:30 at night. Too early or I would forget. Then before you know it , it was late when I did take it. I think but sure if they have 10mg. But the 25mg was acting as my antidepressant, anti-anxiety med, and sleep aid all in one. I remembered going any lower and it wasn’t working on all
Three. Any higher dose of it I was a zombie. I couldn’t believe how many people were on 100mg for depression. It shows how everyone is different. I gained so much weight on Cymbalta but the worst was the continuous sweating. But. Don’t let me sway your decision I’m sensitive to all medication and always on low doses. I was only on 20mg of Cymbalta. I had no problems getting on it like I did Lexapro but I cross tapered to Prozac 20mg which I’m on now so next month I will start cutting the tablets in half to get off the Prozac. Prozac has a longer half life than Cymbalta so that’s why a lot of doctors cross taper people to Prozac to get off the Cymbalta if only if they are finding it difficult to get off of. I think I’m just going to take a break for a while from medicine and see how I do. Valium has a long half life too unlike Xanax which is why Xanax is hard to get off too. Doctors will cross taper patients over to Valium to get off it. Xanax was the worst medication by far for me to get off of. The Valium 10mg I might just take half some nights or not even realize I fell asleep without out it and won’t take it for three days and I don’t have any withdrawal symptoms. So everyone is different. My fiancé takes Xanax at lowest .25 dose and can stop taking it for days without withdrawals and has been on it for five years. If that was me and I took it three nights my body would be physically addicted to it. So weird!

 

[Lschneids01]

I should add, to my previous post, that I am now on a low dose of Wellbutrin. It keeps the depression and seriously negative thinking pretty much at bay, though not totally so - it feels like a help more than a solution. But I have zero side effects at this level, which is important to me.

A friend had electro magnetic therapy, which has had good and lasting effects.

Wow the electro magnetic therapy is interesting. I read about it. I like Wellbutrin a lot. I can go on and off it without and side effects or withdrawals. I think it’s a good drug for me but when I went off it I didn’t notice a difference like when I was on it so I was thinking what’s the point then of me being on it. Haha. Everyone is different though. My mom is on it and loves it.

 

[autumngems]

Im so sorry you have gone through this. We have too. Nothing strikes fear as badly for me as when debilitating depression is affecting my children. It feels so helpless to see the suffering while trying to get them help that is ultimately not working! Im glad you were given this suggestion and I truly hope your daughter is doing well.

Thank you

 

[jaqjaqjaq]

Thank you for sharing all this info. It sounds like you have really been through the wringer at times! I have heard of this Amitriptyline before: I believe it’s been around for a very long time. How come you went off of it if it works for you? And what you say about Cymbalta as interesting as well because that’s the drug. I was thinking of trying if I have to go back on only because anecdotally at least people say it’s the best for weight. And some people say that helps with migraines which I also have.

Late to the game on this thread but I’ve been off PS for a little bit because I was going through horrible Xanax withdrawal and could barely function! Xanax is easily the worst thing I’ve taken and had the displeasure of getting off! I’m 38 days off as of today.

 

[jaqjaqjaq]

@Mreader i know I’m late to this thread but I wanted to share some of the things that I did in 2023 that helped me with depression, complex ptsd, and anxiety. I have/had lifetime trauma and started seeing a therapist weekly and we’ve been doing EMDR which is a type of behavioral therapy for ptsd. I started practicing deep breathing (I also carry a kumoso “whistle” that helps with breathing exercises) and some days meditation. I also started to incorporate CBT exercises to help tackle the anxiety as it comes (free yourself from anxiety is a great book). In terms of sleep, I started taking magnesium (blend of 3 kinds) at night shortly before bed because they’re supposed to help with relaxation and calming the mind. I didn’t do this all at once because that would be overwhelming but I did start to slowly incorporate things so I could get to the point where I could make the jump of Xanax which was pure hell. I know you’ve received a lot of excellent advice and different perspectives but I thought I’d throw in a few more I hope you’ve found some bit of relief!

 

[Mreader]

@Mreader i know I’m late to this thread but I wanted to share some of the things that I did in 2023 that helped me with depression, complex ptsd, and anxiety. I have/had lifetime trauma and started seeing a therapist weekly and we’ve been doing EMDR which is a type of behavioral therapy for ptsd. I started practicing deep breathing (I also carry a kumoso “whistle” that helps with breathing exercises) and some days meditation. I also started to incorporate CBT exercises to help tackle the anxiety as it comes (free yourself from anxiety is a great book). In terms of sleep, I started taking magnesium (blend of 3 kinds) at night shortly before bed because they’re supposed to help with relaxation and calming the mind. I didn’t do this all at once because that would be overwhelming but I did start to slowly incorporate things so I could get to the point where I could make the jump of Xanax which was pure hell. I know you’ve received a lot of excellent advice and different perspectives but I thought I’d throw in a few more I hope you’ve found some bit of relief!

Thank you for checking in and sharing your experience. I ended up not being able to stay off the AD and starting again. I am more at peace with it; I realize it’s something I do need and makes things so much more manageable for me.

 

[jaqjaqjaq]

Thank you for checking in and sharing your experience. I ended up not being able to stay off the AD and starting again. I am more at peace with it; I realize it’s something I do need and makes things so much more manageable for me.

I think it’s wonderful that you were able to make a decision that you feel is most beneficial to you and that you feel good about it. I know it’s not an easy decision but I hope you’re proud of yourself for taking that step again! Super big hugs!