What antidepressant really works?

I have clinical depression and have been on antidepressants for over 25 yrs and have tried just about all of the meds that are out there.  I am on Zoloft 112 mg/day but it's not enough. I also get headaches and HP from it. I have sleep apnea (use the CPAP machine) and am under 50.  I'm overweight but not obese. I cry all the time and it's hard to keep the tears back when you're at work.  I feel that over the years I just keep adding more weight, mostly due to the antidepressants.  I crave sweets and am afraid will be diabetic sooner than later.  My question is:  is there any antidepressant that really works?  that doesn't have major side effects like feeling so anxious and tightness/heaviness in your chest?  that doesn't affect your libido? that doesn't increase your appetite? that makes you feel normal.....it's been a long time since I've felt normal.  

[benisnotmyname]

Antidepressant are in categories based on how they function, but pretty much they work on one or more of the three "feel good" brain chemicals--serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.  Zoloft is pretty fluffy and works only on serotonin.  Lexapro is a much stronger one in the same category as Zoloft and is supposed to have fewer side effects.  It made me so agitated I could stand to be in my own skin.  Oh well.

Effexor and Cymbalta increase levels of both serotonin and norepinephrine, so in a sense you more feel good chemical being affected.  If you add Wellbutrin to one of these it covers even more since it acts on both dopamine and norepinephrine.  If that ain't enough, add some lithium (900mg) which tends to increase the effectiveness of anti-depressants while reigning in extremes (even if you aren't bipolar) and you have a cocktail about as good as you can get.  I was on these three, max doses of each, and it pulled me out of hell.  I droped wellbutrin and I've cut back from 450mg Effexor to 225mg just to try to find the lowest effective doses.

They are always coming up with new drugs, so maybe they'll get one that doesn't have the libido side effects, sleepiness,  etc., but I know of no such miracle drug yet.  I can tell you that forcing yourself into regular exercise helps fight the side effects and depression overall (bike, run, tennis, volleyball--something where you work up and sweat and move around alot).  Good luck and let us all know if you find the miracle drug (and it's legal!).  God bless

[jmana]

I have been on Paxil for 8 years. It has helped me with my Panic/despression and OCD issues. But now paxil has givin me other issues. I have gained 50lbs in the 8 years. I am doing Weight Watchers and following it religeously. No weight is coming off! Grrrrrrr   Also, I am sick of the lack of sex drive. I want to come off Paxil. My Dr say's I can switch to Prozac. I have dropped my paxil by only 3mgs and I am dizzy and keep waking up at 3:00 am with anxiety and tremors. Can anyone relate?

Julie

[benisnotmyname]

I can relate.  I was on Paxil for 8 yrs too.  My dosage was upped the last 2 years and it helped awhile but then tapered off.  When I cut back to half and then start up effexor I still got real dizzy, really tired, depressed, and missed a week of work while I slept most of the time.   It was not fun at all.  You need to cut pills, whatever, to taper off as little at a time with 2-3 weeks before tapering down again--you can tell when it's okay better than a doc because different people have way different reactions to reducing meds.  As far as sex drive, I think they all mess it up.  I have found that you need to really follow the "use it or lose it" approach to sex and supplements help.

[wermy]

I just don't understand why I feel like this..it's almost like a cycle.....in the summer I'm sleepy all the time, in the fall I'm more anxious, get depressed and cry uncontrollably (at which time I get scared thinking crazy things like "maybe this will lead to suicide? or me doing something crazy?) and I'm afraid of what I think of?  Is that crazy of what?  I am perfectly sane but yet I am afraid of what my mind can come up with to scare me?  That's the one biggest fear I have.....always wondering if I'll act on it....but don't want to deep down.....I had horrible thinking patterns back when it all started 25 yrs. ago and am deafly afraid of My thinking...I know it's crazy cuz my mom says just don't think about it, but I can't it's always in the back of my mind....and when I'm feel very anxious, depressed it just can go too far and I started crying thinking what's going to happen next....if only I could break that vicious cycle of "I;m afraid of being afraid."  does that make any sense?  anyone else like that?

[Drgnflylv]

Reading your post felt like I was reading somethin I wrote. I so understand what you wrote cause i feel the exact same way.

[africanzoey]

I so relate to what everyone has written.  I to have been on just all the anti-depressants out there and it is tough t live with the side effects that you get.  As far as Prozac goes I would recommend it if you can switch to it and tolerate it.  It seems to help with weight which is good.  I am also on Neurontin, which has caused me to gain weight.  It is like no matter what you do the weight does not come off with the use of ad.  

I will say the thoughts and the anxiety are weird and scary.  I too wonder about acting on them.  I get scared and feel like I should move to the middle of nowhere and be a hermit and not be around people.  What scares me is that I have thought of this often and feel like my family could not possibly want me around, which logically is not true.  But that is what my anxiety makes me feel like at times.  

My depression and anxiety is the result of a job injury and I just want to get back to normal enough again that I can have a more normal life.  I guess the big part is that I have the normal on the outside but not on the inside.  A cocktail of meds certainly does help becuase of covering the various areas.  Paxil is one drug that has scared me because of the weight gain problem as opposed to other meds.  I appreciated the candor in talking about how they feel with the anxiety and depression it has helped me to hear how others feel.  I too do have days where I have no energy and need to sleep a lot.  If I don't I get sick (cold flu type stuff) and it is just a battle that is not going to be won.  I would like to get out of that but it has just not worked.  I used to exercise all the time but now am pushing to get back to that.  

Best of Luck to all and thanks for sharing.  

[Taffycat]

Oh my gosh...let me tell you about my TERRIBLE experience with Paxil.  My doctor prescribed it to me over 10 years ago for a "situational" depression, while never telling me about the withdrawal/side effects.  While I haven't needed Paxil for almost 9 years, I have continued to take it because the withdrawals were so bad they made me  virtually dysfunctional.  I felt flu-ish, dizzy, nauseous - all I wanted to do was lay down all day every day.  I tried taking a razor blade and slivering off little bits of my pill at a time to "decrease" my dose very slightly but gradually.  My body STILL reacted.  Finally, I have a vet friend who told me to decrease my dose (in my case 5 mg) every other day.  After about 1 month of doing this, I went down to the new lowered dose (now down by 5 mg.).  I stayed on this for 1 month or 2 and then did  the decrease again.  My body still fought the final discontinuation of the last 5 mgs., but now I'm finally - FINALLY - Paxil free.  NEVER AGAIN!  It helped me too, but ultimately the depression was better than those horrible withdrawals!  Good luck.

[wermy]

thank you all for sharing your experiences, it really helps to hear what others have gone through and that you're not the only one...i keep thinking if i've never gone on the antidep., i'd be fine now....and possibly use xanax once in awhile to calm down.....but that's not what has happened...my dr. told me i can try getting off the meds, but it's almost impossible after using them for 25 yrs...i've tried cutting back.......but the withdrawal is soo bad that it's hard to function especially if you're working.....one thing i'm going to do is find myself a therapist i can talk to openly about my problems, depression because i know talking it out with a therapist i hear usually helps.  Also, just wanted you to know that for anxiety, instead of popping another antidep., trying using xanax or klonopin..just a small dosage....it really helps.

[Venora Moonwind]

different meds will work for different people.I take celexa/zyprexa for bi polar and it works great but it might not work for you.I went therough lots of meds before I got on this combo.So you have to find what works for you. be open and honest with your doc  and tell them all your concerns there are lots of good meds out there. you just have to find the one that is best for you.
Love venora

[azwo]

Next time a Jehovah's Witness comes to your door.....let them in! It's the truth and nothing but the truth. If you heart is in the right place and you need answers they can help you find them for yourself. All other religions have left me in a state of wonder. The JW's teach from the Bible and nothing but the word of God. I have anxiety and all the crazy thoughts that go with it and through their organization I have hope and happiness. All the cult **** you have heard of them is not true and I can't tell you enough how bad we need God in this horrible world. I am not fooling myself anymore and none of you need to keep fooling yourselves either.

Trust me, I have researched everything I have been reading from every Bible under the sun, this is the truth! Pray for the right direction and it will come to you....that's what happened to me :) knock knock

[Mistygirl]

You can find several great churches out there. Really God is the only true answer to unhappiness. Going to church and reading the Bible is the only thing that has kept me going. When you stay true and have faith and hope that Jesus will pull you thru when you've done everything that you can, it is true happiness and hope.

Wake up with the attitude that it is a new day with new possibilities and Jesus is there. When life throws things up in your face, just hit it back and go with what you can do. If nothing else, church is a great place to get some council and advise. If they try to leave you out in the cold, it's not God, its the people. Just try another.

JW are great people. I have let then in, but not gone to the church. I go to a more modern, music wise, Baptist church. They reach out to the community and have a great kids program. The only way to get out is to get involved. Good luck to all!!

[Phtartist]

My Dr. has a communication problem.  She can be preoccupied and she has an accent that can be difficult to understand.  I needed help with a still nagging undertow of depression even though I was on 225 mg of Effexor and 225 mg of Wellbutrin plus 150mg Topamax for migraine!
She decided to put me on Pristiq, an AD like Effexor.  "You take this only once a day, 50 mg.". So I did, along with the other meds.  I have Fibromyalgia, and take a hydrocodone med and a muscle relaxant to help with the widespread pain of that.  
HERE IS WHERE THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS.  The Dr. did not, as she did admit, make it clear that I should have gone off the Effexor the next day because the Pristiq was comparable but works better.  I was POISONED.  Serotonin Saturation Syndrome is what it is called.  It took four days and then I woke up one night feeling like I was about to pass out and die.  I had to go to the bathroom and I passed out. I slept the whole next day, the next and then the horror, which is still occuring. I am having  BRAIN ZAPS which are like your eyes and your brain are shifting simultaneously in your head, you can hear this in your head, your eyes do not focus, you cannot handle light, any exhertion makes you sweat, and if you are among people, you feel like you have dementia.
That started June 8th. It is now July 5th.  My Dr. was of no help.  To quote her "Oh gee, what it going on?"  I had to tell her.  Nevermind her.  She has gotten an education from me.  Plus her walking papers, not because this happened, but because I had to figure out how to get myself through this.  I had to figure which brain chemicals were in excess and which dropped and then feed myself a slight bit of the one I was suddenly low on. This lessened the Zaps.  Her advice was to drink water.  
My advice people, You have computers, do your own research, not your own doctoring, but be informed before you let anyone put medicine in your body or brain.  
There are only a few catagories of antidepressants and only a few brain chemicals that are used to work on depression.

[malleigh]

So many medications out there and so many combinations.  And it does take time to get it right. I am now working on another combo myself.  I was on Paxil and gained several pounds. I got off of it lost most of it and got on Celexa.  I liked Celexa. I didn't gain any weight from it but I couldnt' lose that last five-ten pounds.  I was ok with that.  I then changed from Celexa to Lexapro.  That has been a night mare. As much as I loved how i felt on Lexapro I gained fifty pounds in two years.  I'm 5'2, that doesn't work. I got off Lexapro and went back on Celexa ( i did find on it not sure why i changed).  Again, I hadn't lost any weight before I got on Celexa. I stopped gaining but couldn't lose. Dieting, exercising and the exact same weight for six months. I'm off of Celexa, miserable.Now trying wellbutrin(not sure about it).  I just have to get some weight off!!!! If I could lose the weight I would have no problems going back on Celexa, as i didn't gain weight. Oh i have been on lamicatal the last three years also.