By
thebakerbunny
Hi, all. I feel like a newb oldie: been on here a while, still feel dumb as shit with all the o chem breakdowns and acronyms.
Anyway- I've been maxed out on effexor xr for years now. I've taken it pretty consistently for...12 years? with a few breaks to try something new. There aren't many details I can remember well (always had a bad memory, now it's basically a vestigial feature), but here's what I've garnered:
*SSRIs and i seem to not mix. Not just some side effects, but all the side effects, and no or negative improvement.
*wellbutrin did nothing for me. Not good, not bad- just nothing.
*Effexor was good- great, even- before I tapped out. I've just been staying with it till I can figure something out.
*currently, I take 225 mg Effexor (and several doctors have told me now that they flat out won't go above that), 150 lamictal, and klonopin and Ambien as needed. (And as I've been mightily depressed lately...I've been "as needing" them a lot more.)
I've been wanting to change for a while now, and I've been studying up to see what might be some better options, but haven't had a tdoc or pdoc in the meantime. I'm meeting new ones shortly and I want to take some suggestions to them. Problem is that I'm allergic to a few things, with varying degrees of severity and type of allergic reactions. Any suggestions of SNRIs, TCAs, or MAOIs that aren't:
*sulfa-meds (full body hives. Like...full body- between my toes, in my buttcrack...😬)
*compazine (difficult breathing, light anaphylaxis.)
*darvocet, Vicodin (full-blown anaphylaxis.)
I have been given morphine with no reaction (so, what- does this mean that synethics cause issues, but cleaner natural versions don't?), and take imitrex regularly. I'm not smart enough to understand all of the individual components, and too ADD to have the patience to learn which causes what.
I feel like it's got be something pretty potent, since I've been middling- to severely-depressed pretty constantly (easily 8 out those 12 years), but I also don't need anything that's going to make me lethargic. Apathetic, fine- just please, no serious drowsiness.
I defer to you guys and gals and pals for what your thoughts are on what might be most effective, but also won't send me to the ER.
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