Posted by lucy_fyrr on November 3, 2003, at 23:39:35
In reply to Serious Problem: SSRI's making depression worse, posted by John1022 on October 1, 2003, at 10:58:59
Hi, I really do sympathize with you. I have experimented with many classes of illegal drugs over some years, and have had my share of bad reactions, and bad trips that never seem to wear off. But I'll get to that in a bit...
First off, you shouldn't be worried about Effexor XR not working the same way it did before. I've been told by my doctor that a drug will not necessarily work the same way if it is discontinued and then used again for the second time.
Secondly, you sound like you've had quite the combination of drugs in you. I don't know how much time u let go by b4 trying a new med, but part of the problem may be that your body is being thrown out of balance constantly.
If your main problem has to do with sleep and anxiety, then why don't you ask your doc about an antianxiety med, like Lorazepam?
If SSRIs aren't working for you and actually are putting you into a depressed mood, you might consider going off antidepressants. I tried Effexor XR about a year ago for depression and anxiety and I noticed it didn't help my depression at all, although it did calm me down and help me sleep a bit. In the end I felt better off without Effexor.
But about your state being a result of illicit drugs... It is very possible. Even weed has put me into bouts of depression and the expected sluggishness, let alone any other drugs. What you describe (trouble sleeping, anxiety, racing thoughts) reminds me of times when I'd be coming down from cocaine and amphetamines. Did you mention something about using ecstasy? If so, becoming depressed and anxious could be from that. Coming down from stimulants is a horrible experience, and it often sticks around for a while. I'm really not sure if mushrooms bring these sort of reactions out in ppl, but then again everyone's chemistry is different. I would try to talk to my doc about trying to be sober from all meds for a little while. And if that's unbearable, then try something new to treat whatever symptoms you may have at that point. For myself, I was best off once I took myself off my antidepressants, kept my mind on one thing at a time, and made sure I exercised. Exercise helps many ppl, so if you're not already going to the gym, or being active, it would be good to do so.
I hope some of the above is useful to you. Either way, I hope things start turning around for the better.> Hello,
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> I am having a very serious problem with depression. I have had two bouts of depression in the past 4 years, each of which was effectively treated by Effexor XR with only minor side effects (ringing in ears, sexual dysfunction).
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> The symptoms of my depression when it sets in have nothing to do with feelings of sadness or guilt, but I just feel extremely off/foggy, racing thoughts, anxiety and my sleep is not triggering at all.
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> About three days after a concert in August 2003, I simulatanously got ringing in my ears (tinnitus) that hasn't disappeared in 2 months and the exact feelings of depression I have had in the past started at around the same time a few days after the concert.
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> Over the past 2 months, I have tried 5HTP together with St. John's Wort, Wellbutrin by itself, Effexor by itself and Amitriptyline after that in that order, obviously not together. All have made the depression about 10 times worse except 5HTP which seemed to calm me, make me feel more balanced and helped with my sleep. (But I worry of it not being FDA approved)
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> The other 3 (Effexor, Wellbutrin and Amitriptyline) seem to be having the opposite effect on my seretonin causing me to have more severe depression, anxiety, less able to fall asleep and a very deep almost non-functional depression where I am to the point where I might lose my management job. I start to feel better again when I stop taking them and they clear out of my system, but my brain balance does not go back to normal as my sleep is not triggering.
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> There was a point after taking the 5HTP and St. John's where my psych asked me to stop and clean out my system for a week before starting Amitriptyline (to possibly help with tinnitus and depression) where I felt almost fine, except my sleep was still not triggering and I still felt a little off.
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> I stopped taking the Amitriptyline three days ago and I am hoping I start to feel better, but right now it has really caused a serious deep depression and has me feeling terrible. When I stopped taking the Effexor (which also made me feel even worse, opposite effect than intended?) before that, I felt better after about a week, almost felt normal except my sleep was not triggering.
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> I know my body and I know I am giving these drugs time to act as I feel them starting to act, but they are just having the opposite affect making the depression worse.
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> I am now almost positive that the tinnitus is caused by noise damage and that is something I will have to live with. But the medications I have tried have all made me feel extremely, almost non-functionally bad, have created more anxiety, make my sleep worse, increase the tinnitus and seem to have another side affect on my ears and jaw.
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> When I took them (especially Effexor and Amitriptyline), my nose would run, my jaws would crack, my ears would pop and they would all make the tinnitus worse. It also made my hearing a lot more sensitive to noise and I could begin to hear tv's and computers ring. It is almost like the drugs were having an opposite affect on my seretonin causing it to be extremely depleted and make me feel terrible.
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> I am pretty sure this depression and past depressions have been caused by stress of a new job, or more likely using magic mushrooms twice, which I know manipulate seretonin levels have each time have caused depression days later after use. I am almost thinking it is probably the later (mushrooms). I have always thought mushrooms were harmless, but now I know they manipulate seretonin as I am evidence of that and it upsets me that everyone talks about them being harmless, which for most I am sure they are, but my brain's chemistry seems to be sensitive to them.
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> I didn't put the two together and probably made the worst decision of my life by trying them again, which is my fault. I have now sworn off all drug use and I am simutanously quitting smoking marijuana at this time as well, because it too is having an opposite effect of causing more anxiety when it has also worked as an anti-anxiety agent for me.
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> I am almost affraid to try anything else and have it make me feel as bad as these have. I am worried that any SSRI is going to make me feel terrible.
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> My question are these:
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> 1) Has anyone ever heard of these medications making the depression much worse, when something like Effexor has worked for me in the past?
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> 2) Is there a medication anyone can recommend that I try to help boost my seretonin that might not have these devasting affects as the medications I have tried?
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> 3) How long does Amitriptlyine stay in your system? It has been 3 days and I still feel devastatingly depressed and anxious.
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> 4) Should I try 5HTP again because it seemed to work with no side effects? Are there any brands that have proven to be less toxic or not having peak X?
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> 5) Are there any medications similar to 5HTP that might work that are approved by the FDA?
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> 6) Could traces of St. John's Wort in my body be causing any of these reactions when I take the prescribed Effexor or Amitriptyline?
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> 7) Could the ringing in the ears and subsequent intolerance to Effexor and Amitriptlyine have anything to do with each other? (because of the fact when I take them my ears pop, jaw cracks, hearing sensitivity increases)
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> 8) Is this some kind of seretonin toxicity that won't allow me to take to Effexor? It almost seems like the Effexor and Amitriptyline are making the seretonin problems much worse.
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> I know this was long, but I very much appreciate any feedback on any of these questions as it is almost the point of being debilitating. My psychiatrist is at a loss for words of why Effexor worked at one point years ago, and now it is having the opposite effect.
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> Thank you very much,
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> John
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poster:lucy_fyrr
thread:264703
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20031014/msgs/276351.html