Posted by chemist on May 1, 2004, at 15:56:36
In reply to Re: Chemist, wanna muse on suggestions?, posted by Racer on May 1, 2004, at 15:04:37
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hi racer, i am sorry to hear about the depths of your despair....Scott's posts are, in my opinion, quite excellent, and his knowledge in particular about the meds you have taken and are considering is superior to mine: i defer to Scott. for the record, i would have suggested effexor, given that i have known some *personal* success stories and given that it is a second-generation SSRI...but again, i defer to Scott, Panda, and King Vultan on this one...apologies for not being more of a help, but i feel that these other posters are more educated and experienced with the efficacy of these drugs than i.....all the best, chemist
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> > What are you experiencing that indicates to you the emergence of depression?
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> Trust me, this isn't the emergence of depression, it's full blown depression with a side order of anxiety bordering on terror. This episode has been going on for about a year now, and treatment for it started last July, with relatively little relief from any of the drugs so far -- except for Wellbutrin, which is contraindicated for me, because of a history of head trauma and a possible eating disorder.
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> > Which drugs have helped?
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> Let's see, I had some relief from Nortriptyline 20 years ago, but it caused weight gain of over 70 pounds and insomnia.
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> Then, 12 years ago, Paxil helped, but at the cost of major sedation -- I didn't feel fully awake for the two years I was on it -- plus constipation, emotional deadening, weight gain of 50+ pounds, and sexual disfunction.
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> A combination of Effexor XR and Prozac helped, but there was a LOT of breakthrough depression. On average, during the 4 years I was on it, I probably spent one day per month unable to get out of bed during the first two or three years, with the last year being much worse: full blown depression for a pretty significant portion of the entire year. That was along with weight gain of somewhere between 40 - 55 pounds (I stopped getting on the scale), sexual disfuntion, that "brain zap" sensation, heavy sweating, and a few other less bothersome problems. Oh, yeah, and it took 8 months to wean off of it, during which time I had that Effexor withdrawal hell going on.
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> Provigil, as an augmenting agent, did seem to help, but it was too stimulating. I felt as if I were speeding all the time -- and other people noticed and commented on it, as well. (I was taking 50mg per day, along with a few other drugs.)
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> So, partial response to a few drugs, and it's hard to remember any of them being worth the adverse reactions -- although I know that that's the depression distorting my perceptions, it's still hard to consider trying again.
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> > Which drugs have hurt?
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> Desiprimine provided me some sudden, close up views of the carpeting. Lexapro was so deadening I stopped it because I just couldn't tolerate it. Serzone was a nightmare: within a few weeks, I was in the hospital with something that may or may not have been mono, but for months after that -- until I finally stopped taking it -- I couldn't walk across the room without holding on to something, and had problems with insomnia, anxiety, suicidal ideation (maybe because I felt so wretched?), nausea and vomiting, etc. Zoloft caused so much physical tension and muscle jerking I couldn't sleep, as well as doing nothing I could see for the depression.
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> > Have you ever been symptom-free?
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> That is a very hard question to answer. I don't know right now, because the depression is making it seem as if life has always been this bad, and nothing has ever helped. I don't know if that means that I'm too depressed to remember having felt better, or if it's a fairly accurate assessment of reality.
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> >
> > - Scott
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> Thank you for your warm and generous response to my question.
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poster:chemist
thread:342188
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040429/msgs/342238.html