Desperate for help - just can't do this anymore :(

[kristivera]

Hi all.

I apologise for all the posts lately.

I'm so over all this.

I live to go to sleep at night time.

It's all I think about all day long.

How long until I can finally go to sleep and it will all stop?

I'm just so broken and at my wits end.

I have a beautiful, wonderful, precious 10 year old son who also happens to have depression, anxiety, and aspergers.

I need to keep it together for him if nothing else.

This is such a stupid question - I'm a drug and alcohol counsellor, with a background in medicine (somewhat) and I'm very aware all anti depressants (and all meds in general) have a totally different impact on different people.

HOWEVER, that said, I'm searching for the holy grail answer.

In YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE, which anti depressant have done the most for you, in terms of helping depression (obviously) and the least, or most managable side effects?

As some of you have probably read, I'm currently cutting back my anti depressant of 5 years, Pristiq, from 100mg to 50mg.

I was doing this as I was going to start Valdoxan, as I haven't tried it, but after talking to my psych yesterday, according to HER, its a pretty weak anti depressant, so she made me feel pretty discouraged about it.

That said, as I said and we all know, each med affects us all differently.

But now I feel like I'm at a massive cross road.

I can't afford to be on meds that make me tired (who can? But I have CFS etc) or one that causes weight gain, as I've got PCOS and need t keep my weight in check, as well as recovering from eating disorders.

I am praying for your help.

Please.

xox

[malachite]

I am having some luck with tricyclics and a mood stabilizer at the moment. I am also doing other things, like acupuncture, weekly therapy, weekly anxiety group, mindfulness, breathing exercises and visualization. I have realized there is no holy grail of medication for me, and it must be augmented with other strategies.

[Unstrung Harp]

I know you've been asking about Brintellix. Not sure what you've found out about Australian availability. I have found it somewhat physically and mentally energizing relative to other things I have taken (and have seen others report this as well), and weight neutral, though irritability has come with it. It has helped somewhat reducing the dose to 15mg.  If it's available to you it might be worth a try, though as you said, it seems to be a crapshoot as to who gets what effects.

[jt07]

I'm not quite sure what you are looking for here because meds affect us all differently. What works for one person may not work for another (you know this).

 

With that in mind, the only antidepressant that ever did anything at all for my depression has been citalopram, and I've been on nearly all antidepressants of all classes with the exception of the antidepressants that came out in the last couple of years. Antidepressants just don't help me much. Even citalopram helps just a little. It helps a lot more with anxiety than depression. I am kept stable by a cocktail and the backbone of that cocktail consists of citalopram, Tegretol, and Abilify. Again, that is what helps me. Your brain chemistry is no doubt very different from mine.

[melissaw72]

Prozac really works for me, and I had no side effects with it.

[upset.the.world]

I did great on Wellbutrin with minimal side effects for seven years and it has worked great for my mom as well. Very mild for us and didn't cause weight gain or make us tired. I've been on Lithium since I was fourteen and it's also been effective with depression.

[CeremonyNewOrder]

Effexor wiped away my suicidal depression.

[Girlfriend in a Coma]

I just started Brintellix on Tuesday. I switched doctors and this new one raves about Brintellix. No weight gain, no tiredness. But unfortunately I've had bad nausea and a headache. She gave me some tips to help but I just have to suck it up for a bit. She told me her patients love it. Its very new, came out this year. I'm trying to be optimistic :-) I also take a low dose of lamictal with it. I've tried a few ADs, it can take some time to find the right one.

[butterfly430]

Cymbalta works for me but it's not a cure all. It just keeps the depression from getting severe. Just know that the process of switching meds can be pretty disruptive, so prepare yourself. My dr gave me something called Deplin, which made me feel great, but I couldn't sleep. However, I have a lot of anxiety too, so it might not be that way for everyone. I think it's worth looking into. It's a formulation of folic acid, so it's pretty harmless. 

[Girlfriend in a Coma]

I tried another new one in February called viibryd. I liked it at first, but it was given to me by a GP and the pdoc I saw after that took me off it. It's another one that claims little to no side effects. I started getting anxious when it was increased but everyone is different. People either love it or hate it.

[Jessamine]

I primarily suffer anxiety but do get bouts of depression. I've tried a few and so far the only one that's worked for me has been Citalopram. It greatly reduced my anxiety, I had almost zero depression on it but after about a year I found that I wasn't really happy either. I wasn't sad or depressed but I just felt a bit blah. There was no weight gain though and not everyone will get the blahs obviously. It did kill things in the bedroom though (not sure if that's a concern or not).

[saddest]

10-40mg cipramil or cipralex have been the best ones for me over the (many) years. Was ok on a few others, but the above is what I know best and have used longer etc.

[rnohou2010]

I am on 40mg Viibryd and it's the most effective a.d. I've ever been on. And I have tried almost all of them over the past 30 years or so. It has excellent anti-depression and anti-anxiety qualities. Weight gain has been an issue for me (although most people don't get this side effect) but my doc put me on Topamax to reduce appetite.