Anyone struggle with antidepressants?

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Hi All! I'm new here and not sure if this is the proper area to post. This is a mental health area I struggle with but does anyone here struggle with taking antidepressants? Also this is if you don't mind sharing. Just to kind of give some background but the areas I struggle with Anxiety, low level of Panic Disorder, Depression and OCD. I've been on antidepressants for 23 years. 20 years I spent on taking Paxil until it "quit". Then I used Prozac as a bridge to get off Paxil due to bad withdrawal. I tried Prozac for a while but had some bad effects with that (disassociation). Another year I took Lexapro and had side effects with sweating that I couldn't tolerate. I finally now am back on Paxil.

I tried to quit numerous times and went cold turkey which I know is a bad idea but I did it because I truly couldn't stand to be on them any longer (side effects just grew intolerable due to sensitivity) I know this is a sensitive topic for many but just wanted to see if there was anyone out there who struggled taking them and who struggle being on them due to side effects.

I hope this topic is ok to post as a newbie still to the forum and if not I can or the mods can feel free to remove if this is too sensitive of an area *As a full medical disclaimer I never recommend anyone change or stop taking medications without advice from their provider and to seek medical advice from a provider

I was on Celexa for about a decade but I'm not sure if it really helped much; I had more energy but I also felt that I was angrier.

I also tried Effexor after I developed severe anxiety (usually depression is a bigger problem, but SNRIs target both); it definitely helped with my anxiety but I felt restless and was grinding my teeth a lot.

right now I'm not taking anything; I still feel depressed and anxious often but right now it's manageable. I would go back on Effexor if needed.

I don't know if this is helpful to you--but everyone is different and there are always other medications you can try. I just think it's important to know that the medications should help you feel better, but they won't solve all your problems.

p.s. I have different diagnoses including OCD and recently ADHD (I can't actually afford an autism assessment), traits of schizoid PD, pervasive depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. I was previously diagnosed as type 2 bipolar and BPD, but both these have been rescinded.

I tried Zoloft once, bad reaction. I stayed up for 3 days straight and had terrible headaches, I stopped taking it after the 2nd day. &^$% that!

Currently I am on Ativan (when needed) and take Lamictal daily, to control meltdowns and for anger problems.

I don't blame you! I took Zoloft too about beginning of this year in January. I ended up having stomach pain which at the time I thought was Zoloft but it may have been my gallbladder. I ended up having my gallbladder taken out on Martin Luther King Day. Ativan works great! I take it about every other day or so and at night when anxiety gets bad. I am glad it works great for you too! It really helps to lower anxiety and panic attacks. I hate nighttime anxiety. I never used to have it and now I have it almost daily. I am very curious about Lamictal! I heard it works really great for a lot of people! Glad it works great for you too!

I've had issues with some, but have been successful for a while with Sertraline. Unfortunately, it still seems like a gamble with each.

I'm glad Sertraline is working well for you! it definitely is a gamble with each one and it's always good when you get one that works well.

I've had bad effects from all SSRIs, NSRIs, and Wellbutrin. SSRIs make me feel more depressed, and also have a weird effect, kind of disorienting, not sure how to describe it. It's been a very long time since I've taken them. I'm currently taking risperidone (which is an antipsychotic but I am not psychotic, it has an antidepressant effect on me) and Depakote, which is a mood stabilizer and I think also used for epilepsy (which I don't have). They are only mildly effective. Risperidone has a remarkable effect when I first start taking it which only lasts two months, during which I am like another person, happy and optimistic, even a bit too much. Then the effect goes away completely, even if I continue taking it or increase the dose. I should take it intermittently so I can at least have a good effect for two months every few months, but my doctor insists I should take it regularly, I guess because he doesn't believe me. (?)

I'm sorry to hear you had trouble too bee! I had issues with pretty much every SSRI and SNRI I've taken. When I was on Lexapro it did help my Depression a good bit and lowered my anxiety but had some sweating side effects that felt like were intolerable. It's weird because it wasn't quite sweating but it felt like you were running a fever. I've heard risperidone works great and glad it's working for you! I saw a psychiatrist a couple months ago who mentioned Depakote. I am curious about it!

It's a shame the effect of Risperidone dosen't last very long. I hope your doctor takes your concerns seriously. It irritates me that sometimes doctors don't seem to trust what their patients are telling them. I don't know if maybe asking the doctor to explain why the effect with Risperidone seems to last a couple months and then it goes away would help him or her to explain their reasoning more. It can definitely be frustrating. When i was working with my first Psychiatrist it seemed like she would be dismissive sometimes when I mentioned side effects to her.

I've tried many antidepressants over the years. First was Lovan (Prozac) which did nothing, then Lexapro which was fine but I had sweaty hands all the time. I was self conscious about shaking hands with anyone. I was on that until it wore off. Then I tried a number of antidepressants in hospital. They took me off Lexapro first which gave me withdrawal symptoms (hot and cold shivers and brain zaps). I tried Effexor which did the opposite of what it's meant to do - give me anxiety and panic attacks as well as very high blood pressure.

Next was Cymbalta (duloxetine), that was good for about 2 years. Then mirtazepine, which made me hungry and tired 24/7.

Finally my psychiatrist put me on lithium which can be used for just depression by itself. It gave me terrible tremors until benztropine (anti-parkinsonism med) was added and that stopped.

Finally, during another stay in hospital, the doctors gave me moclobemide (Aurorix), which has been the best antidepressant I've ever been on. I've taken it for 11 years now. It's a reversible MAOI which means it doesn't cause irreversible changes to your digestive tract like other MAOIs can. I take it twice a day.

Prozac made me uncomfortable, venlafaxine made me suicidal. Eventually Amitriptyline did the same thing.
I didn't last the course for Bupropion...after a month of only 4 hours sleep...per week.
The adrenergic effects were far greater than the dopaminic.

I was prescribed Risperidone for anger control (it's an antipsychotic) but I stopped taking it when I read the product info and saw one rare side effect listed was "sudden heart death"

So now I'm on nothing, but I can appreciate the difference between depressed and suicidal.

Nothing I've ever been on has worked well. I'm just a fatter f**k than I was before going on meds.

Was going to say "nothing has worked well thus far", but perhaps I'm beyond medicine.

I have been on a few different antidepressants over the years. All of them were somewhat useful in terms of clearing my mind slightly but ultimately none of them have changed the fact that I overthink everything and tend to spend a lot of time analysing any situations that occur or planning scripts for interactions. I previously though this was just due to the antidepressants not being very effective but now I realise that's just me.

I have tried:

Fluoxetine as a teenager, stopped after a couple of months as I didn't see the point (not sure I needed them in hinsight)
Sertraline - improved my mood but didn't change my over analysis and anxiety, which made me feel more depressed so the dose was increased, which made me even more anxious.
Mirtazapine - switched from Sertraline due to the above, some problems - mood seemed a bit better but then I had a few KGs weight gain and symptoms of low blood sugar whenever I exercised which was intolerable and ultimately once again made my mood worse. I stopped it cold turkey and didn't notice any issues, lost the excess weight and was able to exercise again.
I am back on Fluoxetine now and once again, my mood is perhaps a bit better but I'm still very anxious, and I also feel that I have stopped enjoying some of the things I used to like. I am not sure how long I will keep going with this for.

Clearly antidepressants have a use but I have always found it difficult to deal with the thought of needing medication to tolerate my existance, that is a really depressing thought in itself!

Definitely speak to your Doctor if something doesn't suit though, there are a few choices.

Relatable, and being off of them hasn't helped with losing the weight.

Working on improving my coping mechanisms has helped in some ways, but that doesn't really change the dysphoria and anhedonia, it just changes how I respond to those feelings.