HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Reactions to SSRI's, but what about Remeron?

Support Forums
>
Anxiety & Panic Disorders
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 9/5/2014 2:16 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Guys,

I am new here but have read the forums and appreciate some of the answers people give.

I am struggling to find a med that helps me (rather than hurts me) and wanted to see if there are others in my situation. I had severe Anxiety with OCD elements (harm) brought on by work burnout a few moths ago.

I have tried enter level or sub-therepeutic doses Zoloft, Celexa, Paxil, Cipralex, Citalopram. All these make my anxiety worse within the first few days. Give me terrible hot flashes and panic attacks (worse than off). And generally make me feel like I am going crazy.

I can successfully take Clonazepam in small doses and it helps a little. Also Ativan but it make me very tired and dopey (both .5mg and 1mg).

My doc has now recommended Remeron, but with my past experience I am very skeptical to try another since it takes a few days to recover from the side effects.

Has anyone had similar negative experience with so many SSRI's or SNRI's and then had success with Remeron?

I just wonder if I am not meant for AD.

Thanks,
Posted 9/5/2014 6:23 AM (GMT 0)
Grey thunder

I have severe anxiety as you do and remoron did not work for me.... I replaced it with seroquel and it seems to be working a lot better.... I am also taking celexa and only about two weeks in. Still waiting for it to work.... But to answer your question I found remeron to be very weak and ineffective for sleep and anxiety... Hope this helps. Keep posting and let know how you're doing.

Cornell
Posted 9/5/2014 1:51 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Cornell. My concern is that I have reacted poorly to each of the SSRI's and SNRI's that I have tried. Each time sets me back for a week or two between started the med and it getting out of my system. So trying a new one again feels hopeless.


I have actually been able to better manage my anxiety as I am working on the root cause(s) but doc thought these meds would help to "speed up" recovery.

The hardest thing for me has been the OCD thoughts more so than the general anxiety or even minor panic attacks. Those I am working through. However, I am not at a point where I am back to regular everyday life (work, dining out, train into work, etc).
Posted 9/5/2014 1:57 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not personally familiar with that particular med, but from experience (as well as what we've seen here from so many of our members), the thing to bear in mind with any of these meds is that they take roughly 6-8 weeks to reach a therapeutic level in the blood.

In the beginning, for the first couple of weeks, it's actually more common than not for our symptoms to get worse and even new ones to pop up. But generally, (and if this is the right med for you) these ugly startup systems dissipate and they're no longer a concern.

Hope that helps! :)











M.
Posted 9/5/2014 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
Well said Merrida! Patience is key while waiting for the meds to work. And the phrase "sometimes you have to go
through hell to get to heaven" definitely applies. What works for one may not work for another as we are affected by medication differently. If your doctor prescribed it to you definitely give it a try... It may be just what you need and then again it may not... But atleast you can take that information with you while on the road to recovery
: )
Posted 9/5/2014 8:58 PM (GMT 0)
GT,
That's what keeping me away from lexapro and still on brintellix (though my body does not like it)along with sleeping pill ,i am having racy heart and i am anxious /scared to try lexapro(don't know what that will cause me )

it has been 20 days that i am regularly on poundy and racy heart !
SSRI and Rx sleeping pill -both can cause racy heart ----its so confusing and frustrating..

I am sick of thoughts about what to do,
anyways ..take care
Posted 9/5/2014 9:02 PM (GMT 0)
I know it's tough guys, I really do.

I know, because I've been down so many different versions of this road, and I've been doing it for decades. I was always a tightly-wound individual and had stress and anxiety since I was young. But I began my foray into being rx'd A/D's on what will be coming up on 30 years, give or take.

Been on different ones, off, back on,....

I've been on and off Prozac, for example, since it first came out in the 90's.

Regardless of the meds, each time I'd start one up and/or come off another one, it was always a rough patch.

Knowing that this is to be expected can help. No, it doesn't make it all better or make it go away, but it helps! :)











M.
Posted 9/5/2014 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Merrida,

I just it tough that it makes things way worse on such low doses. So tough that I cannot stick with it. So I have learned to fear each new one. I can't buy into the idea of sticking with it for a month to see if the side effects go away just not find out they don't. The problem is you hear so many horror stories of people staying on some meds for months hoping the side effects will dissipate but they don't.

My side effects usually have me close to being bed ridden or non-functional for hours. For me that is too much.
Posted 9/6/2014 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
My anxiety has made me non functional for 4 months... Just curious what are some of the side effects you are experiencing ?
Posted 9/6/2014 1:16 AM (GMT 0)
I am the same. Been non-functional since May. I can do small things around the house but often dread going out. Work is not an option. I have always had mild anxiety that I easily dealt with but in May I just burned out (it was a while coming and I just ignored it).

As far as side effects, mine have been all over the place and usually very uncomfortable. They come about day 2 or 3 into starting. The longest I have been able to stay on a med was 2 weeks with no positive effect and only increase in symptoms.

Symptoms have been different for each (Paxil and Effexor being the worst for me - where I felt bed ridden and suicidal on them). But the common side effects I had on all the others is:
- Hot flashes (or feeling like I am on fire from my back up through my scalp
- feelings of electric shocks through my body
- flu like symptoms
- sudden panic / anxiety (even at home, just fel like.i need to get away)
- irritation (normal I don't get easily bugged) but the smallest thing make drive me nuts
- feeling like I want to crawl out of my skin in my arms and legs (sometime aches)

Those are the common ones I get. They typically a at 2 - 4 days after I stopped the med.
Posted 9/6/2014 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
Wow, you sound like me... It has been since May for me too... I also felt it building. We own a business and my wife has been running it so luckily we can still pay our bills because I have not worked. I hate to leave my house only if I absolutely have to (ie medical appointment). I have experienced depression before but nothing as debilitating as this is. I tried paxil and ended up going to the er because of the side effects...my doctor switched me to celexa and after a couple days I got a strong burning sensation all over my chest down to below my belly and I automatically stopped taking it. But here's the funny part... My wife has been very supportive of me but sometimes thinks I am super sentive to the everyday normal sensations we feel throughout our body so she continued to give the celexa - she broke the pill up and put it in my dinner each night. No more burning in the chest and the so called side effects went away. After 4 -5 days she finally told me what was she had done... I have continued the celexa without any problems but would have stopped taking it had my wife not "tricked" me!

It's been a little over a couple weeks and I am still hoping and praying it can help. I feel like I have a death sentence and that I am just waiting to die... My energy is gone, and my chest hurts each and every day along with a host of other concerns. I am in bed for nearly 20 hours out of the day. I would love nothing more than to feel like my old self and get back to a sense of normalcy. I have been doing a lot of praying and try to act in accordance to Gods will. I would love to hear your situation and/or story if you don't mind to share.. God bless. : )
Posted 9/6/2014 11:38 AM (GMT 0)
I am also new to all the SSRIs. All the docs tell me to be patient. I wonder if any of them have tried these. i am at the end of week #1 on Paxil and Lamictal. I am by no means cured but this morning, I avoided the 5-7 a.m. anxiety attack and am now just mildly anxious. The middle of the night anxiety attacks are gone. I have to remind myself of how bad it was and that it is slightly better now. I continue to hope for more improvement and continue my coping skills in the meantime. I have been going to my school every day to get used to being back with the kids. I miss being in the classroom with them. Maybe next week, I will muster the courage to try. I work as a substitute teacher which for me has been a great job for the past ten years.
Posted 9/6/2014 3:00 PM (GMT 0)
Circus Dog, if you are not getting bad side effects then give it time to see if it works. Some take a few weeks. I am just in the minority that cannot handle the SSRI's I have taken.

I also would suggest you pick up some other tools to help learn about it. I recently subscribed to the Anxietycentre.com site ($5 per month) and have found their chapter material to be very good. There is also an old book / audio from Claire Weeks (Hope and help for your nerves) that has been very good for me.
Posted 9/6/2014 3:18 PM (GMT 0)
Cornell, it does sound like we are very similar. I had a high stress management position at a bank and while I enjoyed it, it was becoming more stressful. I gradually developed mild symptoms such as mild dizzy spells in public or lines. Feeling depressionalization. Then it developed into mild panic while taking public transit or giving presentations for work. At that point I really started to investigate and tried to slow things down, but things just got worse. Eventually I had a few really bad panic attacks while driving or out with my kids. Then came OCD harm thoughts - this scared me as I didn’t realize it was OCD at first and I thought I was going crazy as I am not the least bit violent and gentle in nature. I thought as a Christian how can this impact me and where did this come from.

So I tried the SSRI's which made things worse. Every few weeks a new one but for the week of taking it I would have the same awful side effects.

Currently, I am reading a few books (Christian based - given your "pray" and "God Bless" I assume you have some type of faith). I am nearly done these and have found then to be a great help. Two are by Terry Wardle ("Draw close to the fire" and an ebook on his website c alled "Whispers of Love"). Both deal with his story through severe depression and anxiety.

Hope some of this helps. I have been gradually getting better, but a new Pdoc suggested the Remeron just in case it would help further progress my progress. But I have made great progress (however, it is a journey each day) and I don't want another med to mess it up for me. I thought I would check if anyone had experiences like me but then found success with a non SSRI like Remeron.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply