add trazone to wellbutrin or drop all and take samE?

[theresamc]

I have taken anti-deprasants for a long time. I am currently on Wellbutrin 100ml, any more than that  and I get more aggitated, also have anxiety.
  I have just been prescribed Traazone 50ml to take a night but cut in half to start.  
Question:  I am sick of this **** and all the side effects , trazadone can cuse musle pain (having chronic back pain) and headaches , not to mention sexual inability to do a damn thing.  I want to try samE but I don't know much about it.  does it help with anxiety and depression and not give you all the other bad effects.  I am so depressed over trying to figure out what to take.
I did try Cymbalta that helped with pain, but got mirgaine's (might have also been due to sinus infection), so who knows , but stopped them , although I did feel better on Cymbalta.The Dr.'s jsut throwing differnet med's at you.
    Has anyone tried samE and dropped all the other heavy anti-deprassants?  I am desperate for answers.  also, do not want weight gain.

[LeftCoastChick]

I should mention that lithium is one of the safest drugs out there, it really is. I'm on 150mgs Wellbutrin and 300mgs of Lithium after trying a couple of other drugs that didn't work. What causes folks to gain weight usually is the depression, we want to emotionally eat. I know I do, before I went back on the Lithium I was shoving food in my mouth more then I should.

I was originally diagnosed BP when I was 16, and totally denied it. I went 10yrs after that w/out any meds and was hypomanic until I was about 30.The next 10yrs I've spent in anxiety and levels of depression, but I never felt good.  I've been on all the major meds except paxil and prozac and none have worked on their own, it was termed as "drug poop out". DPO happens with folks with BP, if folks got over the stigma of the label of this disorder, people would be getting better treatment. I didn't get re-diagnosed until I was 39, I feel like I lost many years of my life.  If you've had a diagnosis of BP previously, chances are that you do have it. There are different levels of BP, from Bipolar 1, Bipolar 2 and Bipolar Spectrum (or sometimes called Cyclothemia).   I'm glad I've been diagnosed, I'm on better meds, understand my moods better and I have much better coping skills from therapy and group therapy, the group therapy has helped the most.

I was pulled off meds that are generally used to treat major depression then I was put on a mood stabilizer and one for my hypomania. I've still had mood swings so they are tweaking my meds, which is pretty common, but I've felt tons better. I get a major depression every spring, and both the shrink and I thought the meds I was on would catch it, but alas it still showed up, that's when they added the Wellbutrin (wasn't happy about being put on an anti-depressant again because if the side effects of dry mouth and no libido). I've refused to go further then 150mgs, so I've not had the sexual side effects and then I had 300mgs of Lith added. I'm actually feeling pretty great, I have more energy then I've had in ages. I'm getting out of the house, enjoying the sunshine and I've started cleaning which was an almost impossible task for me.

So to make a loooooong winded story short, you might want to revisit that diagnosis and look at mood stabilizers such as Lith as an example, don't be scared of that drug, it's got fewer side effects than many anti-deps like prozac, paxil and even Wellbutrin, the med is also much cheaper if you are worried about finances. Now I have to say this is only my experiences and personal opinion, but I've had some rough things go on in my life as well.  Have a chat with your doc when you can. Have you thought about going to a group of grief support?

I hope you get good zzzz's tonight, it may make you dopey and hard to wake up the first few days but that effect will go away!

[ILADVOCATE]

Makes sense to try what your psychiatrist suggests. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right combination of medications. Some websites we have linked up such as "Depression Central' might be of help in understanding them. The problem is with natural remedies they are an unknown quantity and often an unsafe one at that and there's a lot of misinformation on the web that often appears accurate but is far from it.

[theresamc]

thanks for posting.  I have been seeing differnet psy's for years. But they jsut keep throwing different pills at me which cause so many differnet side effects.  I am glad to hear you are good on trazadone.  I will be taking Wellbutrin with it.  Are you real tired?  They say to take it at night starting with 25ml.  How much are you taking?
I did not realize I coudl get worse on samE. I actually ahve been diagnosed for clinical depression, but way back when, a psy told me he thought it was bi-polar but I would not take lithium becasue it makes you fat. and it is such a HUGE MEDICATION, i AM SCARED OF IT.
  I recently, a year ago, lost my oldest sister, and she was my rock and best firend, and I am devastated and miss her so bad, that is a big part of more depression now.  she had helped me with losing my son in 1996 due to suicide or I never would of had a life at all.  I miss her terribly,and my insurance only lets you see a thearpist once a month if that.  I am on disability with my back so , no money to pay.
anyway, I guess I should try the trazadone tonight.  I jsut wish I could stop taking all this genny pig trails. thanks for writng me.  T.          sorry, I can't type good.

[LeftCoastChick]

If you've had long term depression, generally it means you have a chemical imbalance. Sam-E is not well studied long term, as well, it's not regulated like a pharmaceutical, it's considered a food.  What I do know about it is, is that it can cause severe issues with folks with Bipolar.  Are you seeing a psychiatrist or just your family doc? If you haven't seen a specialist, I highly recommend it. There are a multitude of combinations of drugs out there. I've seen many folks with depression that need more then one drug. (like me). I've been on Trazadione 4+yrs, and I've never had a sexual side effect, nor has it increased my chronic back pain at all.  You need to have some patience with these meds, it may take 4-8 weeks for any AD to work.  I can only tell you my experiences, but get in to see a psychiatrist - they are the best at drug combinations and diagnosis and it's especially important because you've been on a few and you are having the reactions that you are having, it could mean you have a diff. diagnosis.

Keep in touch!