Did antidepressants really helped anyone?

[Deleted member 24097]

I took Effexor for about a year, it definitely did help in that I had to go one week without, and by day 5, I was back down at the bottom of the pit.
It was awful for me, and far worse for my children and my wife, whose courage and resilience in this nightmare are the only things that have been keeping me alive.
Effexor did have severe sexual side effects on me. As in, complete inability to get aroused or even interested in sex, despite being constantly horny before.

I was forced to move to another clinic after my former one closed doors, and the new doctor currently prescribes me Cymbalta. I've been on it for about two months I think?
It doesn't seem to do worse than Effexor, but not better either. The side effects might be a little less brutal if anything.

I wanted to take the opportunity to say the absolute worst part of this treatment is fucking Zolpidem tartrate.
My initial doctor put me on the stuff to help with the stress-induced insomnia and I'm now completely addicted to it. Unfortunately, this shit also causes complete memory blackouts - the instant I drink the pill is the last thing I remember the next morning. Every fucking day.
And it's been like that for over a year.
My family took a few videos of me under the stuff, I can't even properly articulate words, I sound like a person who just ingested an entire bottle of whisky.
This is apparently a seldom reported side-effect and I'm the unlucky asshole. Also, I'm no medical professional by any stretch of the word so I don't mean to give any kind of medical advice here.
But please, people, if you take Zolpidem and find out you're delirious before sleep, just stop ASAP. Don't even begin to think it might get better with time. THIS SHIT IS ADDICTIVE.

Having to get off of a medicine-addiction while fighting clinical depression is a fucking disaster.

 

[Calvarok]

yea dude. you still have to find your own reasons to put effort in and keep living, but when you've been ground down over and over, meds are absolutely necessary.

It's not all about mindset, nor is it all about chemicals. gotta figure out what balance of that it is for you.

 

[Aniki]

Well they stopped me from my worst impulses to harm myself, but to get back to a place where i felt comfortable with myself, no they didn't do much. That's what therapies are for. Nowadays i don't need to take any antidepressants anymore but i'm still visiting my psychologist every three months just to be safe.

 

[Aske]

Yep. Antidepressant medication changed my life profoundly. It sucks that meds don't help everyone, that they can be prohibitively expensive, and that they put your body and brain through the ringer while you and your doctor find the right cocktail for you. The process can take years. But none of those things have been anywhere near as bad as the disabling mental illness I used to live with.

The crucial thing to remember is that medication should make you feel more like yourself. Not numb. Not good. Certainly not bad. More like yourself. If the pills you're taking are right (or wrong) for you, you will know for certain after a couple of months. If your psychiatrist says anything different - and some do - get a new psychiatrist. If your psychiatrist is content to settle and you want to keep experimenting, get a new psychiatrist.

Right now I'm rocking a cocktail of five different medications every day. It's a lot, and it's taken seven years to get to this point. But every time we've figured out a refinement to that cocktail over the years, my quality of life has improved exponentially.

Don't give up on yourself, because if you're anything like me, you might pop a new pill, wait a few weeks, then wake up one morning and it'll be like your brain just pounded a super mushroom: improved abilities all around, plus you can take a psychological hit that would previously have knocked you out.

Edit: Anyone suffering from sexual side effects, ask your doctor about Wellbutrin (bupropion). It can be taken in addition to other antidepressants, or instead of them. Look it up!

 

[NickHyde]

I have been taking paroxetine for 2 weeks now and the sexual side effects have been pretty bad. I just can't come anymore :( what antidepressants have the least sexually relates side effects?

 

[Aske]

I have been taking paroxetine for 2 weeks now and the sexual side effects have been pretty bad. I just can't come anymore :( what antidepressants have the least sexually relates side effects?

Click to shrink...

Get amongst the Wellbutrin! I was like you - no impotence, but miserable anorgasmia. Now my orgasms feel significantly better than they did before I was medicated. Like turning off the volume limiter on an iPhone, and finding the music could be 50% louder. Not sure if that's an effect of the bupropion, or if it's the increased ability to experience pleasure due to a lessening of depression. This stuff can actually enhance sexual function in healthy adults of all genders; for more on this, read some articles by psychiatrists after you check out the Wikipedia page. But regardless, thanks brain pills!

A range of studies demonstrate that bupropion not only produces fewer sexual side effects than other antidepressants, but can actually help to alleviate sexual dysfunction.[42] According to a survey of psychiatrists, it is the drug of choice for the treatment of SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction, although this is not an indication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There have also been several studies suggesting that bupropion can improve sexual function in women who are not depressed, if they have hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).[43]

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[Kaelan]

So I've been taking antidepressants for almost two years. Prozac was the first one, then Wellbutrin, Effexor XR and now Cymbalta. The thing is that the meds seem to make living manageable, but I still lack happiness, ambition and motivation. My doc says that they aren't a magic pill and I should work on myself, but everything seems so mellow and washed out.

Dunno, maybe I should try new ones or perhaps I've reached peek therapeutical effects and the rest is my hard work? Anyone battling/won with depression? Share your stories, Era.

Click to shrink...

Sadly, this is the norm. I'm about to be a therapist in the field. The problem is this, once you get on the medicine, you feel "meh". You don't feel depressed anymore, simply "meh". You still aren't happy, etc, etc. My girlfriend encountered th esame thign. At that point, you need therapy AND medicine. Typically CBT therapy or something of the sort. This will help solve underlying issues and pretty much get you to a better place with the medicine.

I wish there was a magic pill, but there isn't. Sorry I don't have better news.

 

[NickHyde]

Get amongst the Wellbutrin! I was like you - no impotence, but miserable anorgasmia. Now my orgasms feel significantly better than they did before I was medicated. Like turning off the volume limiter on an iPhone, and finding the music could be 50% louder. Not sure if that's an effect of the bupropion, or if it's the increased ability to experience pleasure due to a lessening of depression. This stuff can actually enhance sexual function in healthy adults of all genders; for more on this, read some articles by psychiatrists after you check out the Wikipedia page. But regardless, thanks brain pills!

Click to shrink...

Thank you man! This was really helpful. Will talk to my doc about this :)

 

[Deleted member 21411]

I took Zoloft way back but it made me a zombie. It fixed the depression but i really felt nothing.

Click to shrink...

Mine pushed it until i couldn't fucking move but it didnt fix anything. After that she gave up on me so i have no medicine except for small stuff for flashbacks even though i need something for sure

 

[Yasuke]

I'm on Lexapro and Its probably the reason I'm alive today.

Click to shrink...

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[Umbrella Carp]

They're a good starting point, but not a silver bullet. Before I started taking Zoloft, I was pretty close to insufferable. Extremely introverted, moody and cynical. Nowadays, I'm on a combination of Zoloft and Marijuana and feel the best I've felt in years. Still not great, but far better than about a year ago.

 

[Aske]

Sadly, this is the norm. I'm about to be a therapist in the field. The problem is this, once you get on the medicine, you feel "meh". You don't feel depressed anymore, simply "meh". You still aren't happy, etc, etc. My girlfriend encountered th esame thign. At that point, you need therapy AND medicine. Typically CBT therapy or something of the sort. This will help solve underlying issues and pretty much get you to a better place with the medicine.

I wish there was a magic pill, but there isn't. Sorry I don't have better news.

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure how typical this is, and maybe you'll be able to explain it better than I can, but I'd done years of CBT, DBT, and talk therapy before getting on medication. To me, it did feel like a magic bullet to some extent, because the only thing that was missing was healthier brain chemistry. So being unable to do certain things due to anxiety suddenly flipped over to being able to do those things better than most normal people, because the medication was the final piece of the puzzle. As we refined the best medication for me, my brain moved from incapable, to capable but "meh", to capable and "hey, okay!" as the drugs finally worked on the anhedonia.

To be perfectly clear, I don't want to give anyone false hope. But I do think it's crucial to share my unusually awesome success story just so people know it's possible. So many sufferers give up on meds completely after trying one SSRI. So many doctors do too. I believe I actually went through every SSRI/SNRI available before I hit on one that worked for me (escitalopram). Then it was a matter of finding the right dosage, and after that, trying to augment it with other meds to see if we could do better; because there was a ton of room for improvement. My brain is still far from perfect, but its an order of magnitude better than it was, and my quality of life has increased beyond anything I could have hoped for.

 

[p_xavier]

I've tried all of them available by my Dr., and besides gaining 55lbs, they did nothing. I'm out of ideas now.

 

[Supa Necta]

Day 3 of Zoloft. I'm having mid afternoon drowsiness at work which sucks. Feeling pretty good. I did have what felt like a manic episode that I channeled into playing guitar and having an epic pillow fight with my 7 year old son.

 

[Bob Beat]

Wellbutrin keeps me going. Tried to come down off of it and could tell immediately.

 

[ZSeibar]

Personally, yes they have :)