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Re: What drug worked best for your depression/anxiety? » Dysfunk

Posted by HannahBeGood on December 29, 2002, at 1:35:04

In reply to What drug worked best for your depression/anxiety?, posted by Dysfunk on December 26, 2002, at 14:16:10

> I have been on so many of the older anti-depressants and then Prozac. Prozac was a miracle, I never felt better, then one day just stopped working and threw me into an awful depression. Since then I have tried a couple new drugs and ended up back on low doses of Prozac.Nothing seems to give me the same feeling I once had on Prozac. I recently combined Prozac and Effexor, and I am still trying to decifer if it works. It takes so long to go up on a drug and find the correct dosages.Very frustrating process!!
>
> I am just curious, in your experience with general ongoing depression and some anxiety, what has been the best drug treatment?

Dysfunk~

Oh lord, it's the waiting 4-6 weeks and titration and eating like a pig and then feeling like you've been doibg absolutely n/t different exceopt spending money and swallowing pills til ya gag and s/time's nothin' seems to work at all, just nothin...
I've had depressive episodes since puberty, which I tended to by either actually getting physically sick (mono-AT 14) I was quarantined in my upstairs room for 6 weeks-I loved it, just books, art, sleep and dreams-FOR DAYS AND DAYS. Couldn't climb stairs with a swollen spleen & in the 70's it was believed mononucleosis was highly contagious for much longer than they do now.
Even now, only sleep and solitude for sev'l days (plus meds) can stabilize me for at least a couple of weeks.

Wellbutrin helped me keep my head barely above water off & on for a yr. and a half. I have atypical depression and ADD (have only been dx'd w/that for 'bout a yr.). Remeron gave me good sleep, no a.m. grogginess and was a terrific, fast (one week) anxiolytic. Didn,t help depression, though.
Effexor at 300 mgs. 'helped' carry me thru unmanageable grief when my parents died. But did not help w/dep, mood, excess sleeping, ADD, or general inertia.

I *must* have a dopamine safety net and booster to quell any significant part of my depression, plus a benzo, or I wd. startle every time the wind blew.

After a yr, my p-doc and I are still fine-tuning, but he is on the right track, knows I see a therapist and g.p. as well.
It's not perfect, but I am up and moving most days, can enjoy the world again and am not in the dark pit I was in for 3-4 mos. of summer'01.

My med schedule:

15-60mgs. Dex spansules allowed per day
Us'ly take 45

1-4 mgs. Klonopin (I use clonazepam) allowed daily
take2-4 daily, but lately it's usually 3-4

15 mgs. Lexapro per day (can't tell any dif. after
8 weeks.)

IR 40 mg. propanolol up to 3 a day (migraine prevention)

350 mgs. Soma (carisoprodal-a truly effective muscle relaxant), up to 3 x's a day-depends on whether I am in a pain 'flare' or not-often skip them, but when in pain, they are a ncessity.

darvocet , forgot the mgs, 350/100 or vice-versa, up to 2 daily (has some tylenol in it)

-the soma, propanolol and darv. are all for pain relief or prevention, so I don't take them every day, the propanolol, at least 40 mgs a day as it does quiet my physical anxiety symptoms best, theKingKong is clutching my heart' feeling which can totally immobilize me. The Klonopin is hard to explain, since it gives me more of a mental /intellectual smoothness or at least leveling, so my irrational thoughts have a harder time taking over my brain and leading me to say or think things that are just plain painful and unproductive. It has good mood stabilizing properties. So, if u used the prop and the klono together carefully, w/ur doc's guidance, I believe they can combine effectively.

I really believe the dexedrine/klonopin/prop'l combo has been my only "med" that has truly relieved me of about 55% of my symptoms. The small dose of Darvocet enhances this combination. But, I cannot take pain meds constantly due to tolerance and the dreaded "slow and or no" movement effects (constipation).
Of course, I am a chronic pain patient and I need those weak little darvocets to help me simply 'move' period. My p-doc allows me to keep 5mg dex IR on hand, so I don't crash and burn before my child does at bedtime. I sometimes will take 1 in the morning w/a (slow-release) spansuleor 2, as I am very difficult to awaken before the sun rises.

I aspire to greater heights, but the past 5 yrs. have been very turbulent, and I believe I am still recuperating emotionally from unavoidable life events.

I still have tremendous bouts of fatigue, I isolate and I worry. But, I do have hope for the future.I think, w/patience, I may have a decent one. Hope u do, Too!

Hannah


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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021223/msgs/133617.html