Has anyone found an AD has helped when you don't think they will.

[JebDog]

Hi All, 

Strange question, I'm going through a tough time at the moment with depression/anxiety. 

One obsessive thought I have at the moment is that AD's won't work for me because I don't believe they will. 

Its a strange one but what if I have to believe they will work for them to have a positive 'placebo' effect.

To try and reassure me has anyone been skeptical or not felt an AD would work/improve things and found it did improve things.

sorry for the bizarre question. 

 

[jt07]

I took practically all antidepressants (except for Luvox and the newer ones), and the only one that I have found to have any effect on my depression is citalopram (Celexa). No other SSRI worked, and of course I didn't think citalopram would work either but it did work to a degree. With Abilify added to it, it is amazing.

Don't give up. If antidepressants don't do much for you, there are always the anticonvulsants and the atypical antipsychotics which have helped me immensely when antidepressants have failed. And don't forget about lithium. It is an old school augmenter to antidepressants.

[Flash]

Yeah, after trying about 10 ADs (plus a number of other meds), none of which worked, I became very skeptical. But then the last one did work, and it worked REALLY, REALLY well. So I actually had no expectation that it would work. I was ready to give up, because I was really sick of the med-go-round. Luckily I didn't give up after the previous med failed.

Unfortunately, one of my meds was making my hair fall out, so I discontinued them. And then everything went to hell. I immediately couldn't sleep at all, then I became psychotic, then manic, and now depressed. I started up on my AD again (doxepin) and I'm at the maximum dose, but it isn't working very well so far.

I am just hoping it's because I did a very rapid titration this time (about 45 days, I think) whereas last time it took me 6 months to get to this dose. Hopefully it will really kick in soon. If it turns out to be the hair loss culprit, I will try some other meds, but hopefully that won't happen.

Anyway, you do not have to believe in a med in order for it to work. If you're only getting relief because of a placebo effect, there might be other things that can produce that for you, and without the side effects (e.g., homeopathy or acupuncture). I hope you find relief soon.

[JebDog]

Thanks JT07. 

Unfortunately, I do over think these things. There is a lot of negative press for AD's over the years and so I think 'well if it is a placebo effect' then if I believe that none of them will work for me.

Did your Citrolpram work on its own for a while? (Before the Abilify was introduced)?

My history is back in 2006 I started getting Anxiety/Depression probably in that order. I kept getting better myself but it would come back. Eventually I tried Fluxotine for a while but it didn't really do much.

Then I moved to Citrolpram. I was on that for a bit I think and I'm not sure if it worked as I had a lot of life events, such as meeting my partner. So from about 2012 i came off Citrolpram and have been fine until this October. 

In those 4 years I achieved a lot, but now I'm back in Anxiety/Depression world again. I guess it's worth trying the Citrolpram again as it can't be any worse than how I'm feeling now.

[heilmania]

I take Effexor, which is a bit different, as it is an SNRI rather than SSRI, so it just so happens to work on another happy chemical, norepinephrine, not just seratonin. At its highest doses it works on dopamine as well. 

I take the max dose. It works really well. I have to take it with Abilify, Adderall, and Klonopin as well, as I am a sweet mixture of (at least) four distinct MIs, but I can tell the difference that comes from taking the Effexor. It's like a big base for everything else to work off of, if that makes any sense. 

[jt07]

5 hours ago, JebDog said:

Did your Citrolpram work on its own for a while? (Before the Abilify was introduced)?

Yes, it did. I've been on citalopram since 2001, so a long time. Abilify was added only in 2011.

5 hours ago, JebDog said:

I guess it's worth trying the Citrolpram again as it can't be any worse than how I'm feeling now.

I didn't mention citalopram as an endorsement that it is better than other SSRIs. I just wanted to show that even though I failed on every other SSRI, I did have success with citalopram. That is to say, citalopram was the only SSRI that worked for me. For you, it might be different and you will find a different med that works for you.

I am like you in that I have tried so many meds and failed that I am kinda like you really have to prove it to me now that it will work. But we have to be careful not to fall into the "nocebo" trap where we are so convinced that a med won't work that even if it does we deny it because we are so convinced that it won't work.

I must say that my current cocktail works the best of anything I have ever taken. The backbone of my cocktail is an antidepressant plus an anticonvulsant plus an atypical antipsychotic. It has really cracked the depression. 

[alawyerperson]

I never wanted to go on meds in the first place, so I was VERY VERY dubious that they would work. I was also desperate at the time, so I agreed to try. Now I fully endorse better living through chemistry, although as others have mentioned, it can take some time to find the right med/right dose/right med combo. It definitely did take me several weeks to feel the effects of whatever AD I was trying, so keep that in mind, but yes, as jt07 said, try to be as open-minded as you can be to the the possibility of them working. I promise, they can work. It just requires patience. 

[Kerry3]

Maybe just cut out refined sugar from their diets. That would help alot. 

[jt07]

2 minutes ago, Kerry3 said:

Maybe just cut out refined sugar from their diets. That would help alot. 

While eating more healthily is always a good idea, it is not likely to do much for major depression. Depression is not due to diet. How many times have each of us not heard that already from people who have no clue what major depression is like. It's not just a bad mood after all. It's interesting that you took the time to register on this site and your first post was that comment.

[heilmania]

1 hour ago, Kerry3 said:

Maybe just cut out refined sugar from their diets. That would help alot. 

Aight, sure. That's definitely the root of depression- not like we know kooky brain chemicals are the reason or anything. Jerk. 

[WinterRosie]

1 hour ago, Kerry3 said:

Maybe just cut out refined sugar from their diets. That would help alot. 

Funny how folks with diabetes, who treat it by cutting out refined sugar, also seem to get depression at rates that mimic the non-diabetic population.

I wonder if you have a source for the sugar/depression theory?

[browri]

Something to consider to is that citalopram is a racemic mixture, which can be split into two parts. And thus escitalopram was born. What's interesting about these meds is that some people find escitalopram works better than citalopram. You may find this to be doubtful, but they have found that the part of citalopram that ISN'T in escitalopram actually had an antagonistic effect on the component that WAS in escitalopram. Meaning that escitalopram for some people is more potent and more effective. Lots of studies have found escitalopram to be more effective for severe depression that needs to be addressed quickly.

For me, I found Lexapro to be the one thing that stops my depression in its tracks, but for someone who is Bipolar II, it wasn't the best idea considering that I was having trouble keeping my mood stable and it may have been playing a role in my increased weight and definitely had some sexual side effects that disappeared when I stopped taking it. However, I switched to bupropion which can increase your sex drive. So not sure if the improvement in my sex drive was going off escitalopram, starting bupropion, or both.