Experiences of antidepressants

[LeeAnn]

I do not know abut Cymbalta but if you are a male, Paxil interferes with "how can I say it" ones natural male abilities. Does the same thing for women but its not so noticeable. Lithium made me feel like a zombie and made me shake so bad I could not hold a spoon. Depakote gave me drug induced hepatitis. I took Nardil (an Maoi inhibitor) for nine months, that worked till my shrink died. What worked the best of all was not chemical --DIVORCE.

I read in a very old psychiatric manual that back then the best treatment for depression was amphetamines. Then some drug company clown came up with Elavil and the good times were done for. Now i take a lot of phentermine and 300mgs of wellbutrin/day. And I haven't been in the hospital since my divorce. One of my doctors once told me that in 200 years we will look back at today's psychiatric treatments and feel as horrified as we do now when we look back at the practice bloodletting for just about all illness.

[SteveEast]

I don't like any....All that I've tried made me feel horrible.....If you can count tram as an antidepressant then they're cool I guess......

[meduza]

I don't like any....All that I've tried made me feel horrible.....If you can count tram as an antidepressant then they're cool I guess......

Technically, I think tramadol can be described as an SSRI of sorts, in addition to it's main desired effect on opiate receptors.

[zephr2026]

So I've been on Cymbalta 30mg for 6 months now, and it's working well for me. Good for depression/pain, not 100% effective for anxiety but I really don't want to go up in dose.

[elphex]

I've been on mirtazapine for a year now. It's an older non-SSRI so it lacks those awful side effects. It was a life saver for me, the only thing that helped me quit a decade long Seroquel dependency. I think it's moderately effective for depression and stability, but I mainly like it for the increased appetite. It's atypical, so there is no sexual dysfunction due to its 5-HT2A antagonism, despite enhancing serotonergic neurotransmission through 5-HT1A. It has some antihistamine effects but paradoxically those get weaker with increased doses above 15mg. 5-HT3 antagonism helps/prevents nausea too.

Before that I was on tianeptine for years, I still sometimes take it but it has become less effective over time while dosage required has increased. Still, it has an almost instant effect and I would say it's one of the most effective out there, at least in the short term if you stick with medical dosages. After 15 minutes I suddenly feel "oh! I'm not depressed anymore, not even a little bit!" It does have agonist effects at the mu-opioid receptor so tolerance can build, but that's only part of the antidepressant mechanism. It also has neuroplasticity-inducing effects that can really help a damaged brain. That along with ketamine nasal spray (Spravato) and IM infusions rewired and repaired my serotonin-toxicity-damaged brain. Now it's all gone and I feel normal again.