Medications are not working

[sbindi]

I am currently being treated for depression and social anxiety disorder.  I have been going through treatment now for over 6 months.  I am getting both verbal therapy and prescriptions.  The verbal therapy has really shed a lot of light on my life and why things are the way they are and how to cope with my problems.  The problem that I am having is with my medication.  I have tried flouxetine, sertraline, abilify, paroxetine now bupropion.  The only thing that has worked was a combination of sertraline and bupropion, but I was told that the way I was feeling, I was in a hypo-manic state and that was not good for me.  
Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can do?  I am tried of trying different medications and getting nowhere!  

[joanna28]

Hi,i also have depression,ocd,social anxiety,i also am getting no where fast with treatment,im now 28 and have had it from my teens and its getting worse,i wish i also knew to where i go from here,takecare x

[badegg]

I have suffered through the same laundry list of medications, though I have not tried the combination sertraline with buproprion. I am currently on buproprion and klonopine. I just weaned off Paxil and started buproprion. I have had horrible side effects. I feel angry and have no feelings of happiness, though sexual side effects have diminished. I don't know what to do either.

[M4Y0U]

Hello there,

since you have tried so many medication if wouldn't be a bad idea to try to address to problem to the root.

I have some advices for you. You must do things that will make you enjoy life and you can't enjoy life if you can't enjoy yourself and you can't enjoy your self if your body doesn't enjoy your mind. You could try a subscription to a gym and try a healthy diet. Exercise will make your body produce several hormones that are considered essential for healthy mind-body and it will balance your hormones as well which could improve your mood significantly. Endorphins for example, a endogenous opioid. It is widely produced during physical exercise. It reduces tensions and stress, like other opioids reduces pain and create a feeling of well-being. It also have an impact on the GABA receptors which are related to anxiety and stress. That's only 1 hormone and you will produce at least 8 of hem that will have impact on your well being and overall health.

Healthy diet, why it is so important for someone depress? Good proteins, carbohydrates ( complex ones are preferred ), lipids such as Omega-3 and 6, vitamins and minerals intake is essential and it does influence your mood. With today's processed food and general malnutrition it is very hard to keep a healthy and balanced diet this is why supplements should be considered and you can send me a private message if you need information regarding vitamins and supplements. The healthy diet is crucial because of some simple and complex biochemical reactions that affect both the brain and the body and both are interconnected. I would not tell you this kind of information if i didn't have any knowledge in biochemistry and neurobiology. Healthy diet is underestimated just like physical activity and the results is more people are getting sick because of malnutrition and sedentary lifestyle.

There's another thing that might help you and it's luminotherapy. You can do this by simply staying out in the daylight over a prolonged period of time which will increase your Vitamin D production and it is proven that daylight and Vitamin D have good impact on your mood. Ever heard about seasonal depression? Well this is due to this fact. If you don't want to stay out over a prolonged period of time you can buy special luminotherapy lamps on the internet, pharmacy and maybe hardware store.

Third and final advice, find yourself some hobbies you like and stick with the people you like and stop reading about diseases on the internet because it's a bad hobby for someone in your situation. While i was suffering from anxiety i was doing like you and only reading about something i might get or have would trigger a panic attack. Also alcohol abuse is not a good thing and you probably know it and it's a depressant and damage your liver and prevent a good sugar's excretion.

Medications can surely treat symptoms but they don't address the problem to the root. Keep doing the therapy or even consider trying a different therapist unless you feel very comfortable with the one you are currently working with.

Best regards,
M4