Are antidepressants supposed to be like this?

[lemons1988]

I have had a problem for years now that causes me to have no energy, no motivation, loss of interest, no desire to do much of anything/never leave the house, cant focus, anxious, depressed, and my head just feels fogged and messed up. Anyway, I have taken adderall for 6 months which has helped a little with the energy and focus but not much with anything else. I have been to many doctors and now a psychiatrist and they keep prescribing antidepressants. I first took lexapro which zombified me and had a bunch of other side effects too. The zombie effect is horrible though, I wouldnt wish that crap on anyone. Second antidepressant was wellbutrin and it helped for one week and then had no effect even with dosage increase and made my adderall ineffective. Last week was my first appointment with a psychiatrist who spent a whole 2 minutes with me and apparently from that 2 minutes knew the perfect antidepressant to prescribe cause "this one wont make you a zombie". She prescribed cymbalta and its doing the zombie thing again just not as bad as with lexapro but still bad. I called her office because she said to call if it made me a zombie and all they told me was to take it at night and it shouldn't cause that effect. It still does. I'll admit there have been a few hours here and there where my mind has felt more stable and like its working but that doesnt make up for the zombie effect i have now. I can barely type coherently right now cause my mind is zombied out.

Is this a normal thing with these meds or am I misdiagnosed? Doctors don't spend but 5 minutes tops with you no matter how much you stress your condition is causing you to not be able to function. I just want to feel normal, should I stick it out with this cymbalta or see a neurologist next or what?

[abnormalc]

  Sorry for your depression.  It seems so many people close to me are on the anti depressants.  Family, friends, etc.  I will not go there in spite of my psychologist diagnose of depression.  He being a twenty five year user of such, and an anger management person.  All of those family members etc all seem to be zombies.  You cannot trust their judgement.  It is strange and I would rather have a tough day 365 days a year.  Something about smiling while you escape the gates of hell that is so rewarding.   Not sure how all this started yet the one thing I can relate to is being addicted to Adderall for 6-7 years.  I am off of it now and "someday the world will confess to the abuse of this drug".  I feel so much more alive now.  I wish you luck and cannot address the depression thing.  it is way too controversial and the foe is the ever powerful psycho / medical world.      

[benprozac]

nursegirl6572 hit the nail on the head when she said therapy in conjunction is important. In my experience drugs simply mask an underlying problem and offer no cure.
Why does everyone put there faith in drugs, i have been down this road and it simple goes in circles. Psychotherapy exercise meditation are just as effective, and this is coming from someone with severe Gad and Severe Depression.
The only times i attempted suicide were from Lorazepam withdrawal, akathisia caused from effexor. I was never suicidal before drugs and am no longer after.

[Anneinside]

I was on Cymbalta for about 2 years and didn't have trouble with it as far as side effects go. But it stopped working so I moved to Emsam, an MAOI transdermal patch. Still waiting to see if it helps.

[nursegirl6572]

Welcome lemons!

It sounds to me like you might need a new perspective from a different doc, preferrably a psychiatrist.  You were put on Adderall, was that for a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD, or just to help improve your lack of energy and motivation?  The problem with meds like Adderall being used concurrently with an SSRI is the meds often cancel each other out.  

In my unofficial opinion, it sounds more like your motivation and lack of energy could have been caused by depression, and you may have done better on just an antidepressant.  It also sounds like you might be overly sensitive to medications, therefore you need a good doc on board willing to give you different options.  People that don't tolerate the SSRI's well sometimes do better on the older Tricyclic antidepressants, like Elavil.  I CAN tell you that once you find the "right" med for you, you should see noticeable imporvements.  I have been on a few different AD's over the course of decades, and they were life changing for me.  I had a doctor that listened to my concerns, including going ON the meds slowly, as well as coming OFF of them slowly, and because of that, I tolerated the meds very well with only minimal side effects.

My advice to you is to seek out a new doc who can look at your case from a fresh perspective.  Also, insist on therapy in addition to any medication you are trying.  The greatest success rates with these meds involves therapy as well.

Best of luck...keep us informed!

[dwt7let]

Hi

So sorry to hear your feeling like a zombie !!
To be honest my experience with effexor did make me into a zombie, I was on 150 mg's
and the tiredness and switched off feeling was awful. I had days were I couldn't get out of the bed and slept my like away at times I don't know how I got out of bed to feed my son.
All anti-depressants switch the brain off, but also I think it depends on the strengthen
and the potency of the tablet. I am at present on dolsulipin 75 mg's and don't feel
zombified, but I am also having withdrawals from the effexor. But I am so happy to be off
the effexor even though I have suffered and am still going through it.
Ask to change if your not happy or gently withdraw from them if you want to be anti-depressant free depending how you feel. A word of warning though do it very, very
gently and you will get withdrawals some emotional - mimic depression and some
physical eg not sleeping when you drop your dose. I am in a support group who have helped me enormously. If you need any help, or want to stay in touch that's fine !!
Take care
Lorraine x

[4Maddie44]

No anti-depressants should not make you feel like a zombie.  Obviously you have a strong reaction to them.

During the 20 years I have had depression, I have tried many different anti-depressants, with varying side effects, but never zombie.  I am on Effexor XR now and it suits me just fine.  No side effects.  

I know it is hard for you, but looks like you will have to keep trying different medications, until you find the one that suits you.  Don't accept you have to feel like this.

[remar]

I took Cymbalta and it was very stimulating for me. It did take awhile to start working so you might want to give it at least a couple more weeks to see if it works for you.  Remar