Help Should I try another antidepressant?

[hellworldprincess]

I feel like I've tried everything by now.

My psychiatrist told me that for any antidepressant he prescribes me there's about a 50% chance that it'll make me feel better.

I'd like to know what your experience with antidepressants was like and what you've tried that might have alleviated some of your symptoms.

I'm going to my psychiatrist's in about an hour and I really don't know whether I want to try another one

So far I've tried SSRIs (Fluoxetine, Escitalopram, Sertraline, Paroxetine), SNRIs (Venlafaxine, Duloxetine) and the TCA Opipramol.

I haven't noticed any positive impact for any of those with the possible exception of Opipramol. It kind of sedated me and had a pleasurable interaction with the weed and alcohol I use to self-medicate, but other than that I only got annoying side effects.

Thank you for any advice

 

[Average Joe]

I'm sorry you still haven't found the right one yet.
I wish I could be of better help to you but I'm in the same boat, at what point do you say fuck it?

I've tried Fluoxetine, Sertraline, Citalopram, Mirtazapine, then Sertraline and now just starting Venlafaxine.

The side effects weren't noticeable with any except Sertraline which gave me bad sweats, and mirtazapine which made me so angry at the slightest thing.

Spoiler: nsfw side effects

The only thing that the anti-depressants have done is either kill my sex drive or just straightup break my dick.

 

[apearl]

I mean I would say its worth a try as long as its not too expensive for you, I've been on 4 different SSRIs and 2 SNRIs and none of those worked for me but I think the dxm I'm on now helps a little. I get how you feel about the side effects though, I've had some really annoying ones. (mostly with cymbalta) I hope you can find a good way to cope, medicines or not. :)

 

[hellworldprincess]

I mean I would say its worth a try as long as its not too expensive for you, I've been on 4 different SSRIs and 2 SNRIs and none of those worked for me but I think the dxm I'm on now helps a little. I get how you feel about the side effects though, I've had some really annoying ones. (mostly with cymbalta) I hope you can find a good way to cope, medicines or not. :)

DXM as in Dextromethorphan?
Is that prescribed as an AD?
I've only taken it as a recreational drug, but I haven't done that in quite some time.

 

[Hvergelmir]

There's really no universal answer. Either trust your psychiatrists judgement, or find one that you can trust.
Be open about your concerns. You've tried quite a bit of different anti-depressants, and maybe there are better ways to go about it.

How anti-depressants worked for myself or any other one individual is largely irrelevant,

I've only taken it as a recreational drug, but I haven't done that in quite some time.

Stay off recreational drugs, at least while you're still dialing in other drugs. If you mix drugs, you can't really know what's working and what's not.

 

[apearl]

DXM as in Dextromethorphan?
Is that prescribed as an AD?
I've only taken it as a recreational drug, but I haven't done that in quite some time.

Oh no its a small amount u dont get any high from it really. The drug is auvelity, a mix of dextromethorphan and wellbutrin (which enables the dxm to metabolize in the brain better I think?) It's the only medicine that actually did any good for me.

 

[Average Joe]

Stay off recreational drugs, at least while you're still dialing in other drugs. If you mix drugs, you can't really know what's working and what's not.

Yeah I have to agree with staying off recreational drugs. I'm a massive hypocrite in agreeing but it definitely compromises the antidepressants.

 

[untraveler]

I tried different antidepressants prescibed to me for years, but they didn't really work fo me. Maybe a little, but not really. These eventually were becoming stronger and weirder and more scary. I didn't like it and didn't believe in that direction. I decided and managed to get off antidepressants slowly on my own with a success. No withdrawal syndrom, not much of a difference in felt depression.

I also thought I've had tried everything. Years of therapy with good therapist I trust, lots of hard work on myself, lots of good changes, too. Still depression and only growing strong si in me with no hope. I did believe I gave my best.

There was another option which slowly grew in me to try. Psilocybin, golden teacher. I waited around 9 months after not taking antidepressants, did some professional paid psychological tests in meantime and did long research for around 2 years if this is something that could help me in my case or maybe harm me in worse way than just ctb.

It worked best for me. It actually worked I'd say. I'd say in my case the antidepressants only tried to sweep the problem under the rug. Psilocybin changed the way I think and gave me lots of positive changes which countered my depression. I'd compare it to years worth of very good therapy.

I only write this because this was my very question I asked myself, too. Should I try another antidepressant? Which might help, or might not. This "50%" chance might be a reason to try one more time as well as not to try. It is ultimately your decision. I also don't want to say that shrooms magically solve all the problems. I treat it very carefully and with respect as a therapy tool, not impulsively nor for fun. I did lots of research on my own to try to understand it best I could if it's for me.

I wish you luck with your new antidepressants. It seems luck is very much needed with antidepressants having 50% chances.

 

[zulu123]

DXM as in Dextromethorphan?
Is that prescribed as an AD?
I've only taken it as a recreational drug, but I haven't done that in quite some time.

Look up Auvelity. It's a mix of dxm and buproprion and is prescribed as a fast acting antidepressant. Its pretty new and it made me manic. Maybe it will work for some people though

 

[Higurashi415]

Spoiler: nsfw side effects

The only thing that the anti-depressants have done is either kill my sex drive or just straightup break my dick.

haha same here.
@hellworldprincess, what I'd say is that the logical thing to do it to try as many as you possibly can, and don't focus on the fact that antidepressants don't seem to work for people here in general. Every situation is different, and statistically speaking antidepressants do work for most people, as in: for most people there is an antidepressant that works. They are also NOT a magic pill, if you are otherwise unhealthy or live in a very bad situation this could be the reason why they may not work, but I'm sure your therapist has already told you all about that.

 

[hellworldprincess]

Thank you all for your replies.

Oh no its a small amount u dont get any high from it really. The drug is auvelity, a mix of dextromethorphan and wellbutrin (which enables the dxm to metabolize in the brain better I think?) It's the only medicine that actually did any good for me.

Look up Auvelity. It's a mix of dxm and buproprion and is prescribed as a fast acting antidepressant. Its pretty new and it made me manic. Maybe it will work for some people though

My psychiatrist told me that Bupropion isn't right for me because it doesn't treat Anxiety.
So now I'm simply not taking any antidepressants anymore. (I'm not willing to take anything that has a >10% chance of giving me anorgasmia like all the other antidepressants)

Incidentally I've also take Bupropion recreationally about 4 years ago.
It was pretty good and no, I'm not gonna stop taking recreational drugs. They are the main thing keeping me alive aside from my partner.

There was another option which slowly grew in me to try. Psilocybin, golden teacher. I waited around 9 months after not taking antidepressants, did some professional paid psychological tests in meantime and did long research for around 2 years if this is something that could help me in my case or maybe harm me in worse way than just ctb.

It worked best for me. It actually worked I'd say. I'd say in my case the antidepressants only tried to sweep the problem under the rug. Psilocybin changed the way I think and gave me lots of positive changes which countered my depression. I'd compare it to years worth of very good therapy.

I only write this because this was my very question I asked myself, too. Should I try another antidepressant? Which might help, or might not. This "50%" chance might be a reason to try one more time as well as not to try. It is ultimately your decision. I also don't want to say that shrooms magically solve all the problems. I treat it very carefully and with respect as a therapy tool, not impulsively nor for fun. I did lots of research on my own to try to understand it best I could if it's for me.

I wish you luck with your new antidepressants. It seems luck is very much needed with antidepressants having 50% chances.

Personally I haven't tried a macro dose of shrooms yet, but regarding psychedelic therapy / self medication I have some experience with LSD.
It didn't do anything about my depression, anxiety, general self loathing, misanthropy or anything else, but it did help me find some answers in some ways.
I'm glad I did it, but I'd never do 2 straight weeks of acid and ketamine again, no matter what realization I come to.

Anyways thank y'all for your input

 

[grapevoid]

If nothing has worked yet, maybe it's worth trying a mood stabilizer?

My personal experience was that medication never worked, it always worsened at least some symptoms and caused me to have huge mood swings. I am better off without psych meds. But I see they work for a lot of people in conjunction with other recovery tools

Thank you all for your replies.



My psychiatrist told me that Bupropion isn't right for me because it doesn't treat Anxiety.
So now I'm simply not taking any antidepressants anymore. (I'm not willing to take anything that has a >10% chance of giving me anorgasmia like all the other antidepressants)

Incidentally I've also take Bupropion recreationally about 4 years ago.
It was pretty good and no, I'm not gonna stop taking recreational drugs. They are the main thing keeping me alive aside from my partner.

Personally I haven't tried a macro dose of shrooms yet, but regarding psychedelic therapy / self medication I have some experience with LSD.
It didn't do anything about my depression, anxiety, general self loathing, misanthropy or anything else, but it did help me find some answers in some ways.
I'm glad I did it, but I'd never do 2 straight weeks of acid and ketamine again, no matter what realization I come to.

Anyways thank y'all for your input

Please try shrooms if you're considering psychedelics. It is so much different and controllable compared to lsd. I won't do LSD again as I'm sure the depth of the trip would make me worse but microdosing psilocybin is much lighter on your mind

 

[GeminiButter]

This is a few months old, but thought I'd put my update incase it's helpful for anyone else, specifically about duloxetine.

I've been on 60mg duloxetine for 13 years, tried going up to 90mg once years ago and it didn't do anything except give me side effects.

A few months ago I went up to 90mg and waited it out - this is after a very bad period, getting progressively more unwell for months, v bad suicidal plans, a stay in hospital - and after about 2 weeks of side effects (mostly headaches and feeling sick, so just took painkillers and tried to take it a bit easier) I do think the increase started to have a positive impact, albeit very slowly. Although it's worth saying I had made some pretty firm CTB plans and was just waiting it out, so I was still very unwell.

After about 2 months, I've gone up to 120mg, the maximum dose. And it has definitely made a difference. I've had the things I needed to CTB for about 2 weeks but haven't made any plans, haven't tested them, haven't done anything with them after i opened the packages. It's no longer always the most painful fucking difficult thing in the world to get out of bed or get changed or take the dog out. I've been able to get into bed and read at night, my sleep still isn't great but it's significantly better than it was. it's been about a month and I'm surprised that it has helped like this - obviously there are external factors going on as well - but I'm just writing this here in case it helps someone else looking for info about the medication.

I resisted going up a dose for a long time because it felt pointless or that nothing would work, I'd been on it for so long, and I know medication can be a minefield. But even if you've been on something for years and years, increasing the dose might help, and it might not - but you're worth taking the chance that it might, if you can, because you don't deserve to be so unwell.

 

[Britney Spears]

I'm currently taking sertraline. But I'd like one that improves cognitive function. I don't know of any. But oh well

 

[usernamesarehard]

I feel like I've tried everything by now.

My psychiatrist told me that for any antidepressant he prescribes me there's about a 50% chance that it'll make me feel better.

I'd like to know what your experience with antidepressants was like and what you've tried that might have alleviated some of your symptoms.

I'm going to my psychiatrist's in about an hour and I really don't know whether I want to try another one

So far I've tried SSRIs (Fluoxetine, Escitalopram, Sertraline, Paroxetine), SNRIs (Venlafaxine, Duloxetine) and the TCA Opipramol.

I haven't noticed any positive impact for any of those with the possible exception of Opipramol. It kind of sedated me and had a pleasurable interaction with the weed and alcohol I use to self-medicate, but other than that I only got annoying side effects.

Thank you for any advice

Since you're in the recovery section I'll assume you don't want to ctb, so if you can afford to try new medications and psyc appointments, then, yeah keep trying. There's no reason to subject yourself to being miserable for the rest of your life if you don't have to. Maybe nothing will work, but at least you tried.

I'm currently on welbutrin. It helps greatly with my energy and motivation levels, but doesn't really help with depression. Maybe I could try to add some more meds in the mix. But I'm fine for right now.

I haven't had too many different meds (I've tried 3 so far including the one I'm on now) so I can't say one way or the other whether meds actually help with depression or like me, it only helps with specific symptoms and you kinda just have to deal with the depression on your own. But yeah, one thing to consider is instead of looking for meds that cure your depression you could focus on finding meds that make living with depression bareable.

 

[spero_meliora]

I know this thread got bumped after being a few months old, but I wanted to also mention vortioxetine... it's been good to me. From what I understand, it unfortunately might be cost-prohibitive for a person depending on country (my country is reasonable), but it's the only one that has worked for me in a laundry list of antidepressants.

The only side effects I had were in the first two weeks, and it pretty much was just killer nausea that started on day two or three and disappeared after about eight days. No other side effects.

 

[NearlyIrrelevantCake]

It took me trying many SSRIs before the first SNRI I tried finally worked. I've been stable-ish on Effexor for almost a decade. However, it also led to my first manic episode and a bipolar diagnosis. I have to take Seroquel along with Effexor now, but the combo is working alright.

 

[vitbar]

Once I found a combination that works for me it made life worth living again. Difference is night and day.