depression discussion

[ggbean]

Depression is a bitch. Looking back mine started at an early age - probably around the age of 10. However, I wasn't officially diagnosed until last year. I was once rx'd Zoloft which made me feel like an emotionless zombie so I stopped taking after 6 months. During a recent stint in rehab I was rx'd Remeron which made me feel like sticking my head in a bag of sugar. Unfortunately in doing so I gained a lot of weight which made me even more depressed. After doing some research and hearing positive things about Wellbutrin i started taking it. What a world of a difference it has made! I feel like this is the way I should have always felt. No longer does it feel like a huge chore to do the simplest task. Best part is it didn't cause weight gain. In fact, I lost weight! I believe it is sometimes referred to as the happy, horny skinny pill. Now I know why! 

 

[dbc23]

Depression is a bitch. Looking back mine started at an early age - probably around the age of 10. However, I wasn't officially diagnosed until last year. I was once rx'd Zoloft which made me feel like an emotionless zombie so I stopped taking after 6 months. During a recent stint in rehab I was rx'd Remeron which made me feel like sticking my head in a bag of sugar. Unfortunately in doing so I gained a lot of weight which made me even more depressed. After doing some research and hearing positive things about Wellbutrin i started taking it. What a world of a difference it has made! I feel like this is the way I should have always felt. No longer does it feel like a huge chore to do the simplest task. Best part is it didn't cause weight gain. In fact, I lost weight! I believe it is sometimes referred to as the happy, horny skinny pill. Now I know why! 

​That's great, bupropion is so well established a lot of doctors seem to avoid it these days as a first choice.  They give it out for weight loss and smoking cessation more often than for depression, I've seen it help lots of people with different things.  It's amazing what a tiny chemistry tweak can do to improve a life.

 

[headbanger]

Depression is a bitch. Looking back mine started at an early age - probably around the age of 10. However, I wasn't officially diagnosed until last year. I was once rx'd Zoloft which made me feel like an emotionless zombie so I stopped taking after 6 months. During a recent stint in rehab I was rx'd Remeron which made me feel like sticking my head in a bag of sugar. Unfortunately in doing so I gained a lot of weight which made me even more depressed. After doing some research and hearing positive things about Wellbutrin i started taking it. What a world of a difference it has made! I feel like this is the way I should have always felt. No longer does it feel like a huge chore to do the simplest task. Best part is it didn't cause weight gain. In fact, I lost weight! I believe it is sometimes referred to as the happy, horny skinny pill. Now I know why! 

​I take Zoloft and it's works okay for me. But it's common for these SSRI's to work for one person and not another.

I really wanted to comment on the Remeron. I too did try that one and gained a shitload of weight. And it was from overeating. It was like my brain could not tell me to stop eating. I was not hungry but kept eating.

 

[PTFC]

I found the same problem there HB, I managed to take it easy with it though, but I certainly dropped quite a few pounds after I stopped them. On another thread I see smoka saying it is being prescribed to gain weight also, don't know if that's on or off label though. Worked a treat for me though, i had went through a few of the SSRI's and I was getting worse and worse, anxiety increasing as well as the glums, and the night I took that first mirtazipine was relief like I hadn't felt in so long. 

 

[sociopathicbombshell]

 I am prescribed prozac. With regards to pain, I do think that depression can make you dwell on the already existing chronic pain, but, even after working in the medical profession for a long time, I'm not a firm believer that neuropathic pain being dealt with successfully using drugs like lyrica and so on. You can certainly sedate someone using seroquel and such, to the point that day stop complaining, but I would far rather deal with the consequences of withdrawing physically from pain medication rather than possibly committing suicide after a long term use a potentially unnecessary antidepressant. it always puzzles me that most have these black box warnings.. for any of you dealing with generalized anxiety disorder along with depression, I can tell you that Prozac has been successful for me for a few reasons. First, it is one of the few antidepressants that does not affect your libido. Second, it is also one of the few antidepressants that has the side effect of weight loss, rather than bloating like a drowning victim. Third, it exacerbates the effects of benzodiazepines. and finally, Unlike quite a few anti depressants, I can stop taking it if I am just simply too lazy to go to the pharmacy for a week without getting brains zaps or other strange side effects from going cold turkey.

 

[dbc23]

Ok, EVERY SINGLE THING you just said about prozac makes me want to try to switch. That's one ssri I've never been on.  

 

[sociopathicbombshell]

Ok, EVERY SINGLE THING you just said about prozac makes me want to try to switch. That's one ssri I've never been on.  

Super cheap too. Everyone seems to make fluoxetine.

 

[idan1120]

I was on Lexapro for 5 years. It was prescribed to me for GAD. After taking it for a couple months, I got to the point where if I forgot to take it for a few days, I'd be losing my mind. 

Remember, he only prescribed them to me for anxiety. I started just taking xanax, and as long as I took enough, I could deal with stopping Lexapro. I will never take another SSRI again. They may work for many, but for me they produced problems where there were none. I was never even depressed until I tried to stop taking them. Then came crushing depression.Since then, I've been able to cope quite well with xanax, but they obviously won't prescribe me something that I actually need. Lol

 

[dbc23]

I was on Lexapro for 5 years. It was prescribed to me for GAD. After taking it for a couple months, I got to the point where if I forgot to take it for a few days, I'd be losing my mind. 

Remember, he only prescribed them to me for anxiety. I started just taking xanax, and as long as I took enough, I could deal with stopping Lexapro. I will never take another SSRI again. They may work for many, but for me they produced problems where there were none. I was never even depressed until I tried to stop taking them. Then came crushing depression.Since then, I've been able to cope quite well with xanax, but they obviously won't prescribe me something that I actually need. Lol

Yes, went through the same thing and I'm on a low dose. It's happened a few times if I can't make it to the pharmacy in time for some reason. 

Worst was when I came off my escitalopram and tram at the same time, worst wd experience I've ever had. Learned what restless leg really was that week. 

 

[sociopathicbombshell]

I believe the ceiling on Prozac is 60. I always try for the ceiling after reaching chemical rehabilitation to save in copays. Im the worst medic/ nurse ever. I also don't ever finish my antibiotics. ;-)

 

[extrabreit]

I started with vals 15 years ago. then the doc died and a young doc tried nearly everything I've just

seen in the long list above. more than 10 years they changed and changed for several reasons.

now I'm on vals again and it works but makes me sleepy. ssri I had all I think. Is their any benzo which

just calms me down (social anxiety) and let me be on real living without getting sleepy all day long?

 

[rp2011]

I am taking fluoxetine right now, but it is more so for my anxiety than depression. But I guess anxiety can cause some serious depression can't it! Its a pill I just take once a day and it seems to do the trick decently.

 

[timothy329131]

extra - clon@zep@m does that for me. It's not that sedating but works on anxiety with a long half-life. It's more evenly paced than other benzos, so even compared to di@z it feels mild, but it's there in the background. Almost mood stabilizer like, good for constant background anxiety during the day. There's no real need to take more than 0.5mg per day so it's also an economical option.

 

[sociopathicbombshell]

Start trying to remember your old passions.  For me. scrapbooking...buying clearance bulbs and making hodgepodge secret gardens. Tile mosaics. Charcoal drawing. Pets. Clean ur house and clear ur mind. One foot in front of the  other. Avoid the news. Dont take on others negativity..im horrible with regards to this, as I always want to fix people. But the joke is, it's me that needs fixed. Once you have enough interests outside of drug use to talk to people about, you will find that you will meet people that share interest with you other than this black hole of pharmaceutical use. Seems to attract the worst kind of friends.

 

[sociopathicbombshell]

I found the same problem there HB, I managed to take it easy with it though, but I certainly dropped quite a few pounds after I stopped them. On another thread I see smoka saying it is being prescribed to gain weight also, don't know if that's on or off label though. Worked a treat for me though, i had went through a few of the SSRI's and I was getting worse and worse, anxiety increasing as well as the glums, and the night I took that first mirtazipine was relief like I hadn't felt in so long. 

Mirtazapine that one med docs seem willing to prescribe,they've knocked me on my ass when I've had em though I suspect that will lessen in time right?

im suffering terrible depression at the mo,I feel like jumping off bridge,whilst it's not something I'm likely to do I've got not feeling of self worth whatsoever.

my depression isn't some chemical imbalance I don't think?id say it's more circumstantial in that my life is a mess with my opiate dependence at an all time high,I'm supposed to be on Citlopram but I struggle to keep taking something that doesn't have immediate effects(I'm the same with antibiotics) not sure why I do this?

Anyway I guess things can't get any worse and I do have help in the promise of a detox n rehab,gonna say though re my depression,no pill or med out there has the effect a walk in the countryside can do,it's the only place right now where I'm peace with myself.

U are dead a long time

 

[sociopathicbombshell]

Go on and sign off and see if you can make a list of anything that you used to enjoy.not things that you enjoyed doing hi, which was a hard thing for me to differentiate between. Makes me sad to hear you like this. Give me a p_m if things get hard for you. If you have not tried it before, prozac is an excellent medication. My ptsd was caused by something that was quite humiliating as well as horribly horribly painful and things no person should ever witness. Its been a God send. 

 

[PTFC]

I found the same problem there HB, I managed to take it easy with it though, but I certainly dropped quite a few pounds after I stopped them. On another thread I see smoka saying it is being prescribed to gain weight also, don't know if that's on or off label though. Worked a treat for me though, i had went through a few of the SSRI's and I was getting worse and worse, anxiety increasing as well as the glums, and the night I took that first mirtazipine was relief like I hadn't felt in so long. 

Mirtazapine that one med docs seem willing to prescribe,they've knocked me on my ass when I've had em though I suspect that will lessen in time right?

im suffering terrible depression at the mo,I feel like jumping off bridge,whilst it's not something I'm likely to do I've got not feeling of self worth whatsoever.

my depression isn't some chemical imbalance I don't think?id say it's more circumstantial in that my life is a mess with my opiate dependence at an all time high,I'm supposed to be on Citlopram but I struggle to keep taking something that doesn't have immediate effects(I'm the same with antibiotics) not sure why I do this?

Anyway I guess things can't get any worse and I do have help in the promise of a detox n rehab,gonna say though re my depression,no pill or med out there has the effect a walk in the countryside can do,it's the only place right now where I'm peace with myself.

Yeah I found it helped almost instantly, the sedation lessens over 3 days to a week, but is always there. Sociopathicbombshell has hit you up with top notch advice there too though. 

 

[sociopathicbombshell]

You've really hit on something there as so many of my hobbies like fishing involved me using beforehand,in rehab they said I wasn't a typical user in that I still had hobbies that one wouldn't associate with drug users,I'm a country person it's too deeply in me to let it go,every weekend as kids my sister and I were taken on walks and whilst I maybe complained at the time it's given me many happy memories and a love for the countryside.

i think I could get into gardening actually.

Buy bulbs and make no rhyme of reason as to how you plant them. Its great fun. AnD..you can always dig em up  start over. ha! Always grow green beans because they're quick and help you not want to give up. ;-) just up for a pee. Do crosswords. Take naps in the sun. Do whatever strange things make you happy. I like to run to mailbox in between cars coming as though Im a ninja. why? Why the hell not?

 

[timothy329131]

Gardening actually helps to put my thoughts on things on the outside if that makes sense, rather than dwelling on things internally.

 

[Phrenicz]

Depression is like being forced to wear a cloak made of lead...

You don't get to choose when to put it on, or when to take it off. We just have to wear the fucker, regardless!

It's almost like a second skin which gradually seeps into your own, real skin and poisons everything that you used to be and more importantly 'want' to be! Once it appears, it will always be there in some form or other, waiting to attack you when you are at your most vulnerable..

Recognising depression is the easy part.. The hard part is trying every day, to fight your way through the unnecessarily sticky, awful, crappy swamp that it creates around everything in your life..

But, it doesn't have to rule your life, or even change the way you think. In fact, it can make you strong, resilient and a damn fine human being... Granted, it does make things harder, but at least it makes things interesting : )

So, as a very good friend of mine once said:

good luck, chin up and keep moving forward : )

~P~