Hello,
Over the past 15 years or so I have been on pretty much every SSRI and/or SNRI for my depression/dysthymia and anxiety. I gave them all a fair crack of the whip and was up at a therapeutic dose. They just haven't helped my depression, but they did help somewhat with my panic attakcs (and that is worth quite a bit!).
I recently weaned off Lexapro as it wasn't helping my depression and I was having some unpleasant side effects (restless leg syndrome and akathisia). For the past 5 days or so I haven't taken any psychiatric medication. I can still feel that the Lexapro is in my system a bit. I honestly don't know what to try next. My psychiatrist suggested Nortriptyline, an older Tricyclic anti-depressant. I have a hard time believing this will help me so I haven't started taking it yet.
I also talked with my psychiatrist about
trying a completely different class of drug, Remeron (mirtazapine). But I have read so much about
it causing dramatic weight gain in people so I'm very reluctant to try that.
So far I'm doing ok on no meds, but I've been on no meds before and after a couple of months or so I crashed badly and my anxiety/panic attacks returned with a vengeance (it's odd the way a med feels as though it isn't helping at all, but then, when you come off it, you end up feeling a whole lot worse).
I honestly don't know what medication to try next. Has anyone been in a similar situation? In other words, not been helped by SSRIs/SNRIs and switched to a different type of medication with positive results? I'm really worried I have treatment resistant depression and that it won't respond to any medication at all. I guess I'm lucky in that my depression is not so bad that I can't function. I can function, but my mood is consistently low and I feel very negative and hopeless (not suicidal though). Also, I am often very irritable, which is horrible for my husband, as he bears the brunt of it, and this makes me feel horrible about
myself. Pleasure is in very short supply and joy is a distant memory. Not to mention that I have really bad Generalized Anxiety and some unpleasant ongoing physical symptoms (migraines, sinus issues etc).
Sorry to have a pity party!! Thanks for any input!
PS: I know that medication is not the only part of this puzzle and I do try and do other things to help myself (therapy, daily exercise, a little meditation, journaling, for example).
Post Edited (dogstar) : 12/21/2013 4:44:33 PM (GMT-7)