Which antidepressant is best?

[Godschild2002]

I found myself feeling tired with lack of interest in anything, sleeping 12 hrs at least and just sitting when awake. I didn't sit and cry or anything like that, just very tired. After going to my dr. And him running blood tests to rule out anything physical, I went on Prozac. I've taking anti depressants in the past many years ago. I could never continue on them due to side effects. I agreed actually begged my dr for something to help me get back to "normal" because I have gained over 40lbs in 5 moths due to lack of energy. Not to mention I cannot go on like this. Ok here's my question,  if any of you are taking or have taken Prozac could you give me your opinion of it. I had to skip reading side effects because I've found in the past if I read about them I tend to notice every little change in me, I cannot do that this time as I need help with this problem. PS I'm big on natural remedies which I've tried but it's only helped a bit. Your input will be appreciated.

[stephness]

Damn.. I Have been on prozac once.. All it did was give me strong suicidal thoughts.. I'm taking efexor now and it seems to be working better. Like the others said it all depends on each person. Obviously prozac wasnt the one for me so maybe it's not for you either..

[cdvr1]

I recently was diagnosed with major depression disorder & Borderline Personality Disorder. This is not the first time that I've been put on anti depressives however. Seem to think I've always been depressed & have no energy or motivation what so ever pretty much my whole life. I feel your pain! Dr's have given me pretty much every anti depressant they make & I've honestly never felt much better. I asked my psychiatrist last month as a matter of fact about whether or not she could up my dosage or give me something stronger. Right now I'm taking Cymbalta at a very high dose of 120mg a day. She said that changing it won't make a difference & she can't up my dose anymore. Her words were there's no magic pill that takes your depression away, they only help with the side effects. And that people just have to practice & learn to deal with depression. Everyone gets depressed it's how they deal with it. If that's the case then I don't know how to help either of us! If you can find a medicine that works with your body chemistry to where your able to get up off the couch & function to the closest thing as a normal human being is supposed to feel like. Please keep me posted because right now I'm riding in this boat right beside you. Good luck!!

[crazy_cat_lady333]

I had to stop prpzac because of intolerable side effects which ***** because it did help my depression very well. But I had severe restless leg syndrome from it and worse yet extremely severe acod reflux within an hour of takng it. I've been switxhed to Zoloft now and unfortunately I am not seeing any good results with it so far (about a month now) I'm still depressed and unmotivated . wondering how much longer I should wait before giving up on it and trying another med

[blahblahblsh]

I agree. Whichever medication works best for you is the best one. I was on Prozac for awhile and it did nothing for me. Other people it works like a champ for. It's really a matter of trial and error to find the right meds. I have been trying to find the right med for two months now. I may finally be on the right one given a couple modifications. Give it time and keep your doctors updated and informed and work together to find the med that works best for you.

[Paxiled]

First, the best AD is the one that works for you.  We're all different in how we metabolize them and how bad the side effects are, so there is no best one.  It's also nice to take those that you can stop taking more easily, such as Prozac.  But nobody can tell you the best one, and one person's experience on Prozac won't necessarily have anything to do with how your brain processes the drug.  As for natural remedies, they're obviously not nearly as strong as medication, but most people don't use them in a coordinated way.  They have to be combined to treat the different systems involved in the problem, can take a while to work, and have to be combined with lifestyle changes, relaxation exercises, meditation, dietary changes, and therapy to work.  In other words, a holistic approach.  There's a good book on it called Natural Highs by Hyla Cass, a psychiatrist at UCLA.  Natural medicine is just hard to do because it takes a lot of investment of time and the inclination to make life changes, which we don't do well when we're depressed.