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In your experience have you taken an antidepressant specifically an SSRI and it made you activated, agitated, irritable and unable to sleep

Hi guys, Been on Zoloft for over a year. Just increased from 75 mg to 100 mg 8 days ago. My anxiety is through the roof. First 5 days after the increase was fine. No problem, then the anxiety skyrocket. Is this normal?

Howdy i'm new here, Question. I'm on 10MG lexapro on week 7 (prescribed for anxiety!) and I never have really felt anything much either way from this stuff- (a good thing?) my anxiety continues (but perhaps not as bad?) and in some cases I wonder if if it's Lexapro causing anxiety...I feel like 7 weeks in I should be seeing results and as such I wonder if this is a wrong drug for me...I've taken it in the past and I don't really seeing it doing much either way.. The anxiety feeling is vaguely different- it's not a mind thing but a body high sort of thing- my mind is solid and not choosing to go to dark places or anxious about stupid shit, but my body anxiety is pretty significant- enough to make me lose my appetite and not want to eat, etc.... it doesn't push me enough to feel like I have to get up and go for a walk or run 500 miles or whatever...thank god..And I don't crash too hard after it goes away.. In fact sometimes I feel quite good after it disappears-- who wouldn't? I'm trying my very very very best to not take benzos but I get so damn tired of the symptoms that I just feel like I need relief- Benzos def work and in fairly small doses- 1mg of ativan is probably overkill, .5mg xanax will relax me, and/or .5mg of klonopin....(hours later of course)...I do not take benzos daily/frequently so whatever's happening isn't a withdrawal from one.. Thank you to all,

I am feeling so agitated at the moment that even Ativan isn't doing much to help... What do you do to help when you feel like this? I feel like I want to crawl out my own skin... can't concentrate enough to watch TV or read, can't sit still, can't string much of a sentence together sometimes... It's been going for about a week. I have no pdoc access for 2.5 weeks so how do most people get through this? I've been drinking a lot to help with it but i know that's a bad idea... I try to walk and run a lot and I'm writing a lot and eating a lot too and I feel ok during those times but when I stop it's hell...

I was wondering if anyone here takes an antipsychotic prn (as needed) for when you get irritable or agitated. I just really heard of this concept. I am on 80 mg of Latuda and it works well for me, however I still have some psychotic symptoms and I get extremely angry and irritable and there is absolutely no event to cause it. For those of you who have taken an antipsychotic prn, did it help you? What was the drug and dose? Should I talk to my pdoc about it?

Obesessive compulsive psychosis? No, it isn't something I'm diagnosed with. As far as i know it isn't a "thing", though it may possibly be. I don't know. I pulled it out of my ass. It describes what happens when my ocd starts to flare so much that it tiptoes to the line of mild psychosis and kind of stops there, taunting for a while, pointing it's finger: "i'm not touching you, I'm not touching you! hahaha". At least that's how it can start. I got this job, a part time job, and it's great. I can see that. It is a good job and a good place with good people. But its been really stressful. It's new and the POS is actually pretty complicated, more complicated than any I've dealt with and I feel stupid. And lately the OCD stuff, the obsession stuff had been starting up badly again anyway. I'm doing everything wrong. Like, everything. What I say, how I hold a pen, how I walk, how I breathe, where I put a piece of paper. I don't mean like social anxiety. I mean there is a right way to do EVERY SINGLE THING A PERSON DOES. But I can't constantly be trying out ways to do stuff. Everyone talks about me because I am doing these things wrong, because I am wrong, because I don't belong. See Luna's Top Ten List of Pure O Thoughts and Thought Patterns for reference ANd I know some of that sounds really mild. And it can be, when it's mild, just floating around, not hammering on my brain every second. But we're talking ocd here. Try to not think of a pink elephant and all you think of is a pink elephant. When it's bad, IT'S BAD. And work... work is getting bad. I feel like I'm always wrong, and I'm getting convinced I'm going to be fired, that they don't believe what I put on my application, and I'm also kind of getting afraid of one of the managers specifically there. I think he doesn't like me, doesn't want me there, and wants me to be fired. Any of which may be true, but there's NO way i can know any of it, and that's the stickiness of the situation. I can't know it, but I feel it to be true anyway. It's disrupting my functioning. I wasn't sleeping well before and I'm still not. I was nearly crying yesterday at the register. I'm rearranging things a long and it's troublesome, I don't often do that a lot. I put in a call to my tdoc and pdoc. This isn't an emergency but it's urgent, so I hope they understand that. I'm so frustrated. I want to be normal and have a job and I'm scared I just can't do that right now. It would be such a disappointment if I can't. But how much fear should I go through and anxiety and sadness to keep up a job or other people's expectations or mine even? I don't know. I'm scared and sad. I just could use some support if anyone has some to give.

I am dealing with UNREAL agitation, restlessness, jitteriness and anxiety that will not allow me to sit still, sleep or rest. It is absolutely relentless and I have never felt anything like this before. It's definitely more than just my regular anxiety. I wake up with it and it lasts all day. I have recently added a second antidepressant (Viibryd) to my regular AD (Pristiq) to pull me out of a slump I have been in for the past 3-4 months. It has helped with the depression but I'm still crying on a regular basis due to the intense agitation/restlessness so I'm not sure if I'd call it a win yet. I have tried almost all of the major anti-psychotics (risperidal, geodon, saphris, zyprexa, trazadone, seroquel) out there over the past 3 months and nothing is working. I have been on benzodiazipines for years off and on (mainly klonopin) and now my doctor is really trying to stay away from them due to their high potential to become addicting and also because the klonopin really wasn't working anymore and I was definitely building up tolerance/needing more and more to get the same effect. My doctor is now trying medications with off label uses to treat anxiety (gabapentin/lyrica) but they don't seem to be working either. I also take Topomax for migraine headaches and it has been an absolute God send. I've been on it now for 3 months. I would much rather be dealing with depression than this overwhelming jitteryness/agitation. I just want to be able to sit in a quiet room without wanting to rip my own skin off and gouge out my eyes. I can tell my doctor is at the end of his rope as well and isn't quite sure what to do with me. I've even looked into possible serotonin syndrome due to the added AD + tripitan medication (maxalt) + trazadone however I do not have muscle rigidity, fever, confusion, etc. although my pulse and BP are up (VERY vague symptoms). I'm just grasping at straws now. Desperetely searching for some kind of answer to end this suffering! I have an appointment to see my pdoc next week but I don't know what else he can prescribe. It seems like we have tried just about everything and are running out of options. If anyone has any sort of insight into this or any sort of suggestions it is much appreciated.

As the title says really, why would lorazepam 1mg (3 per day) not help for either agitation or social anxiety. I'm completely new to benzos having previously tried loads of other meds. I was expecting the benzo to help me cope with social interaction but so far I've used a few times with no success at all. Today I tried a double dose (2mg) and still wasn't able to talk or ask questions in class and in the end I left early. The benzo was my doctors idea and a bit of a last resort option as everything else has failed to help with the agitation and anxiety. - I'm talking years of various therapies, antidepressants, meditation, exercise, etc. Maybe my expectations were too high but I feel quite disappointed right now and I'm not sure where to go from here. My Dr said go back in 1 month but I think I need someone different as lorazepam just isn't hitting the spot. Anyone else had similar experiences?

I'm just wondering if a Benzo can help over the short term (few weeks / months maybe) for severe stress, agitation, restlessness, lack of sleep etc. I've been cycling through a load of different antidepressants lately in the hope of finding something that may help. The thing is I'm not totally convinced I am properly 'depressed', it is more I have chronic pain, long standing mental health issues and a load of family and life stress going on. On top of all that we have just discovered my step dad is sick and going to require major surgery (not for the first time in recent years)..... and basically I feel like I am bordering on going insane with worry/anxiety. I'm trying meditation, exercise, eating right but nothing is helping. I really feel the need for something just to 'take the edge off' for a while, if that makes sense. I'm wondering if it is even worth raising the subject of short term benzo or if that is completely inappropriate. I rarely drink but I tried a small drink last night just to try and relax a bit and that helped for about an hour but then obviously as it wore off I had even more difficulty sleeping. This is close to unbearable right now.

i've just started latuda about a month ago. it does seem to be doing some positive stuff. i'm not thinking of dying, i'm not crying anymore, i can feel things in a sort of blunted way rather than at a ridiculous volume. i do stuff around the house without as much procrastination, and it doesn't seem like a herculean effort to get into the shower every day. for that matter, i actually care about getting into the shower, which is great. but i spend about half my day in the weirdest state. i feel like i have to do *something* all the time, and yet nothing is pleasing or holds my attention. i am bored beyond bored, constantly thinking about what i could do next to occupy my mind and body, never coming up with anything satisfying. there's a restlessness to it that's uncomfortable. like if i could just keep physically occupied, the feeling would go away. but i can't stay occupied not only because i sit here in a stupor not knowing what to DO (everything is boring, pointless, or just too hard), but because i am so goddamned tired it's nuts. it's like i have one foot on the gas pedal, revving my engine and raring to go. but the other foot is on the brakes - i can't move because my body is too exhausted. so it all just swirls around in there making me feel frustrated. i'm going to start taking my latuda at night to see if this changes anything, but for today i just wanted to vent i guess. and also ask if anyone has ever felt these two feelings simultaneously, and if so what did you do about it? thanks for listening.

So as the title says really, I've tried a whole load of antidepressants recently and over the years and felt worse on most of them. The SSRIs seem to make my really agitated, restless and generally uncomfortable in my own skin and it was the same with one of the tricyclics I tried. Others I've tried either haven't helped or have had intolerable side effects. Now I'm on Moclobemide which is a reversible and therefore safer MAOI. OK I'm only 1 week in but these last 3 days I've been feeling tearful which is unusual for me and even more sad/depressed than I was previously. Plus I can feel a subtle agitation starting to build up, not as bad as with previous drugs but it is still there. I have been thinking more thoughts about suicide/death and I've had waves of tirdness/fatigue. So basically a weird mix of activation and demotivation (sorry can't think of a better word) at the same time - identical to what has happened previously. Not sure where the f*ck I go from here if this med isn't going to help. I'm starting to wonder if my DX's are correct or if I have some other issue, as surely antidepressants should HELP not make things worse. I know you have to try new meds for 6+ weeks to see the benefits but I'm not sure I have the energy to see it out. Last 2 meds I tried I stuck with for that length of time and just felt increasingly worse the longer things went on.......... plus the washout period, etc. ughhhh maybe I need to see a Pdoc rather than my GP. Any thoughts? Anyone had any similar experience and found ANY med that can help anxiety/stress/agitation?

Hi everyone, yes, I'm new and my story is a long one - as I suppose is the case with most people here - and I won't tell all of it, not for now anyway. I know I've been mentally ill all my life. Always the odd one out. Past and current issues include anxiety, panic attacks, clinical depression, PTSD, Bipolar 2, alcoholism. Current diagnosis is Bipolar 2, so I'm more on the depressive side of Bipolar. Right now I am going through menopause and that does NOT help with my mental illness ... I'm from Germany, live in the USA since 1991. I'm married and my kids are 20 and 17 years old. I live in Austin, TX and have a lot of animals that help to keep me sane - at least as sane as possible. Here in Austin I'm a member of Dual Recovery Anonymous, for folks with mental illness and addiction issues. It's a good place to be and I met a lot of cool people there. Where can I post questions about medication? I just try it here and you can always tell me to go someplace else with that topic ... I am taking Lamictal for a long time, for the past 3 years or so I'm on 300 mg/daily. Over the last months I became very depressed and cried a lot. My psychiatrist raised my Lamictal by 25 mg, to be taken before bedtime. At my next appointment she told me to take another 25 mg. So I am on 350 mg now, for the last 8 days. I started to feel worse, not better. I'm all over the place. Crying, laughing, hating, loving, anxiety, energy or no energy, I cannot settle on any feeling and my family is driving me nuts. Twice I had that sensation of going crazy, which is so horrible and I haven't had that in a long time. Last night I was out with some friends and I couldn't stand the conversation anymore and excused myself to go outside. The same thing happened a week before, but yesterday was much worse. I started to lose it. I cried, I got nauseous, scared, I couldn't talk coherently, I shouted, I was shaking and altogether I felt like checking myself into a hospital (mental health facility, which is coincidentally right around the corner from the restaurant where we met). My friends came outside to sit with me and I got worse and worse. One of them suggested to call my doctor, which I did. I talked to the doctor on call, which was o.k., because he was really nice. He told me to immediately go back to my initial dose of 300 mg Lamictal and also stop a herbal sleep remedy that I started taking about a week ago. It was Bach Rescue Sleep Liquid Melts. So here's my question: have any of you experienced similar effects after going on a higher dose of Lamictal? Any experience with Bach Rescue Sleep Liquid Melts? Thanks for reading, sorry about the long intro. Gabriela

Hi all! So first off, here's my cocktail. (I posted this here because my question relates to my Lamictal.) I'm BP2 with ADD and depression with anxiety. -100 mgs of Lamictal 1x/day -100 mgs of Zoloft 1x/day -40 mgs of Vyvanse 1x/day -Xanax PRN For the longest time when all was well, I was doing pretty well. That's pretty amazing considering this year has been full of crappy hoops to jump through. I lost my job on the 31st of August, and that was when things started going seriously downhill. Now I'm going through agitation. Everything my boyfriend does annoys me to the point of making me want to get in my car and leave. I feel like I'm up "too high," like I'm constantly wired and ready to explode at any minute. I feel like I get gallons of adrenaline dumped into my system, and I freak out when my boyfriend tries to hug me or soothe me. I'm anxious, I'm jittery, and then out of nowhere, BAM! I'm depressed. I have a rash that started out on my arms that's itchy. It goes down my stomach a little and then down my back and on my butt. It's sore on the back of my thigh and butt but not to the point where I can't sit down. It's just uncomfortable. I have sinus issues already, so the scratchy throat is normal for me. I had the Lamictal rash initially when I first started taking it a year ago, but it wasn't itchy. I'm normally a bright and happy person, not this angry schmuck that wants to choke people! I don't have insurance at the moment, so I'm only seeing a general family doctor, but I do have an appointment for today, and I'd like to have an idea of what to discuss with him. I took Abilify for a few months and did okay but put on 30 pounds that won't come off. (As I type this, I'm eating M&Ms. It's that time of the month. =P) So, I know that you guys don't know my medical history, but what would your general opinion be? I'm stumped. Thanks in advance for any support/info/cookies you might have. =)