Aspergers and Anti Depressants

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I recently was given Effexor to treat my depression and anxiety. It has caused vomiting and nausea. I have also had episodes of memory problems and increased blood pressure. Because of this the doctor told me to stop taking it. So, that's what I've done. I have been sick for two days. Headache, stomach ache, elevated blood pressure.

Does anyone else on the spectrum have problems with experiencing side effects more then other people?

I'm not sure if it has to do with me being on the spectrum, never actually thought about it, but I've not been able to find any anti-depressants that work. They tried me on effexor but due to the side effects had to take me off. I'm currently getting off Celexa, which also did nothing. They have deemed me as being treatment resistant. Other drugs they tried me on were welbutrin, zoloft, prozac and things like ambien and trazodone to see if helping me sleep worked (apparently sleeping drugs don't work either).

I took it after my mother kicked off for me it caused irregular heart beat and even worse depression I was giving paxel I wound up in the ER with irregular heart beat as well which wasn't fun

I seem to be relatively insensitive to the side fx of various drugs. that said, Strattera aggravated my GERD something fierce which was a shame as it was the only drug to clear the cobwebs outta my noggin with almost no side effects.

A psychiatrist that I saw years ago told me that anti-depressants work very differently for different people. You need to try different anti-depressants until you find one that works for you.

I tried some over a period of time and none of them worked at all. The doctor told me in the end that I'm one of those people who don't benefit from anti-depressants. When I stopped taking it, nothing changed at all.

My shrink has me on a tiny dose of seroquel - anti anxiety rather than anti depression. seems to help.

And no. I've only ever taken Anafranil (Clomipramine) and Lovan (Fluoxetine) for my depression and OCD, however, many of the people who were in hospital the times I've been in who were on Efexor XR (Extended Release) (Australia). The XR is supposed to reduce/eliminate the nausea. I never heard them complaining about blood pressure or memory problems. Sorry.

You learn a lot about people and their medication when you're stuck in a loony bin and there's nothing else to do but sit outside in the gazebo and smoke all day and night.

Last edited by ImAnAspie on 19 Oct 2014, 3:32 am, edited 3 times in total.

I take Seroquel at night to help me sleep. In hospital, that's what they used to use. I've still got a massive box of it but it really knocks me for six. If I take two 100 mg tablets at night, I'm still groggy and dizzy the next morning to the point that I can't even drive to the station. I don't like how they leave me feeling.

What dosage is considered a tiny dose?

I've been on Sertraline for 6 months and I have not had any major side effects like that. I have drowsiness, but that's to be expected as it's a common side effect. But Sertraline is good for me because it has noticeably improved my self-esteem and has practically ''cured'' my depression. I still get mini bouts of depression from time to time, but not like I did before. I feel more in control of my emotions now.

I'd never heard of Sertraline before but according to Wikipedia, we do have it here in Australia under the brandname Zoloft (which I have heard of but don't know anything about).

Thanks Joe90. I'll ask my Psychiatrist about this because I really could use a boost to my self-esteem (in some areas).

Anafranil didn't do much for me.

Fluoxetine did better but... I don't know why I stopped it.

Sertaline, like Fluoxetine is another SSRI but it may be more beneficial. We live in hope!

Perhaps whoever said they don't think antipedressants work on Auties/Aspies was right. I noticed the Lovan (Fluoxetine) did make a dent in my depression but... actually, now I think about it, it did bring me back from considering suicide but it didn't restore life back to anywhere near normal. It still isn't but the return just seemed to happen naturally, gradually.

Isn't life MARVELOUS?!?!

I had some really bad side effects from Clomipramine also known as Anafranil - years ago so I stopped taking it. It would give me jitters and shakes. . Fluoxetine also known as Prozac did not agree with me either. I felt quite unnatural. However I started on Sertraline also known as Zoloft about two months ago - and I have not had any bad side effects. It really has helped stabilize my moods and thus reduce my anxiety.

It must be a me thing then. I'm still sick and having bad withdraw from it. I went to a Urgent Care and got something for the nausea. It is having a negative effected my routine. I can't wait until it is no longer in my body.

I have had nausea and vomiting with antidepressants too. In fact some of them made me seriously ill. I'm not sure if that's because I was also ill with Crohn's at the time or if I was put on too high a dose. Which brings me to my point - if you get nauseous/sick, reduce the dose. Start off with the lowest dose pill (37.5mg for Effexor) and cut that in half if need be. Titrate your way up to a standard dose. If there is no improvement after a week, then you probably just can't tolerate that particular drug - it happens.

I tend to be oversensitive or undersensitive to drugs in general. Had ridiculous intolerance reactions to the mildest Crohn's meds - mesalamines - and no reaction to the strongest Crohn's meds - biologics. Had an anaphylactic reaction to an iron transfusion. And so on, and so forth.

Anti-depressants are prescribed fundamentally in the belief that there is something deficient in the person's neurochemistry. The evidence for this approach is not conclusive nor compelling. Also it is a "one size fits all" approach, which fundamentally ignores the wide natural variation in individual biochemistry. It's a very primitive approach; it is used by practitioners who, by and large, have never troubled themselves with weighing up the objective evidence. Easier to take the drug company freebies and also payment from the suppliers for each individual prescription.

But I know that very few people want to think about or believe this. They want to believe that there is an easy fix and that anti-depressants are that easy fix. Studies don't actually support that belief very well either.

A lot of the despair and depression (IMO) that the wrong planeteers experience is reactive, not biochemical. It's a response to the daily barrage of ignorance, discrimination, stigmatisation et al. There is no pill that can cure cultural conditions like normocentric bias and oppression of minorities. However people are trained from an early age to feel personally responsible for any difficulties they have - the dark side of individualism. So you're depressed = so what is wrong with you.

We really need to look at the big picture of depression and its "treatments" rather than the trees and individual failures of treatment on a case by case basis. Though I don't think this will happen.

We're finally bringing our 12 year old son in for another look, and we have a renewed suspicion of aspergers. The reason we're doing so is that he's having trouble with other kids at school, we have suspicion of aspergers, and I'm afraid he's borderline depressed. Possibly just plain depressed. I'm not blaming him in the least. But please understand that it's just hard to watch the pain.

I was on AD once for a few months a few years ago and it got me through. I fought against taking them for months, but was happy in the end that I took them. Of course I don't want to give my son pills to pop for god knows how long. Both on principle and because of side effects. Even for the simple reason that I don't want him to be someone else...I would miss him. But at what price? Isn't it selfish of me?

I'm thinking ahead here, by the way. Our psych visit is today. I just know the topic will come up, however.

http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/inf ... ed.0050045

This link takes you to a scientific meta-analysis which studied a large number of research papers as to whether anti-depressants were effective as claimed. It is a rigorous and important study that found claims of efficacy were mostly unfounded by the actual scientific evidence.