I need to go back on antidepressants - looking for recommendations.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I came off my ADs last summer - and have felt pretty OK since then - well, no worse off the tablets than on them, which I considered to be pretty good.

Anyhow, I think I have been sliding down hill for some time - and over Christmas I had a cold, which left me with that nasty post-viral sort of thing going on - I had no energy, couldn't do anything, felt down, headaches, achy muscles, poor sleep etc etc.

However, this is still going on - I missed choir last night (I have missed more rehearsals than I've attended this term) because I was too tired, achy and depressed to go - and I have got to face up to the fact that I am depressed again - not just getting over a virus (although I suspect that feeling so crap after the cold may have pushed me down into the depression again).

Anyway - I have an appointment at the GP next Tuesday (that was the first available, and as I am not suicidal at the moment, I don't think I am bad enough to need an emergency appointment) - and I don't want to go back onto the ADs I was on before - I don't think they did a particularly wonderful job. They leveled things out, and helped me carry on from day to day, but that is all.

I have been on both fluoxetine and citalpram - the latter was the most recent one, and I was on it for years and years.

Would any of you be prepared to tell me about the ADs you are on, and whether you feel they have really helped you cope?

Thanks in advance.

I have has severe depression and was suicidal about a year ago. It was the most dreadful experience. I was physically in pain because of it.

I'm now on ADs, fluoxetine. I've been on them for about a year and they have saved me I feel completely normal thankfully. I also go to the gym regularly, about 3-4 times a week. I can't bear not going and this really helps too. Hope you can get it sorted x

I recently started on fluoxetine a month ago. I feel like it's the best thing I've ever done. I feel like myself again.

I'm on sertraline, it's a godsend. I got much worse before I got better though, and they're the devil to get off once you're better.

I'd get an emergency appointment btw, it doesn't mean life threatening, that's what A&E is for. Emergency is when you need the drugs now. That's what the NHS is for, don't be shy to use it.

For me sertraline was the best. Just my experience. The psychiatrist I saw said if she had to prescribe anything for herself it would be sertraline ( saw a psych as was breastfeeding, do not see one now!)

I'm on citalopram, currently reducing them so I'm on 10 every other day. I feel pretty up and down at the moment and hope I can level out so that I can stop in a few weeks. This is the first time I've taken ADs so I can't offer suggestions for any others. Hope you get the right help

I don't know if this rings any bells with you but I got a referral to a psychiatrist last year who described my experience with citalopram as climbing a hill and getting nearly to the top but then sliding back down again. He suggested that I needed to get to the top and stay there for a good 6 to 12 months to allow me to get properly better. He prescribed venlafaxine which has worked fantastically but I believe it has a pretty bad withdrawal.

I am currently on fluoxetine and it seems to be working well for me with minimum side effects.

I also got on well with mirtazipine but it does put weight on you.

Thought this might be you, you poor dear ((hug)).

I took sertraline for years and got on very well with it. Am heading towards it again, I fear. Afaik, Citalopram is generally thought of as a "lightweight" AD, so they might want you to take something "stronger".

The most common second-line AD is Venlafaxine. Dh takes it and it's pretty good, for him, anyway!

anchovies the hill analogy sounds right to me. I think I've felt ok for about a month before reducing them; maybe I've done it too soon. This weekend I felt awful and cancelled things that I'd been looking forward too. I might go back up to 10 a day for a while longer.

Ive been on many different ADs and am currently taking sertraline and have noticed a real change in my moods over the past 2 weeks, I hope you can find something to make you feel better.

*to not too

Thank you everyone. MorrisZapp - I hear what you are saying about an emergency appointment, but as I feel a bit better this morning than I did last night, I will hold that in reserve. But if at any point I feel I won't make it to next Tuesday, I promise I will be on the phone for an emergency appointment asap.

I have done a bit of googling, and was wondering about venlafaxine, so it is interesting that some of you have mentioned it. I will make sure I discuss it with the doctor, and make it clear that I don't feel that citalopram was doing the job, and I want to try something stronger.

I was on citalopram for years - since before I moved to Scotland, which is nearly 6 years ago - so I think I gave it a fair go.

I found venlafaxine okay, the only thing I didn't like were the brain zaps if I forgot a dose or was late taking them, they did help at the time though.

Mitrazipine helped ease my anxiety but I detested the weight gain.

I hope you get a good doctor with experience in different meds and I agree with getting an earlier appointment if you feel lower.

Best of luck.

Hope all the suggestions are helpful SDTG.

Hope you can find something with your doctor that's helpful

Please avoid Venaflaxine sometime back I was terribly ill coming off of these, thought I was losing my mind and feeling very sick. My dh found me rocking on the floor absolutely distraught, he was so worried he called an ambulance. Cant say that I felt wonderful on them either so the downer wasn't worth the frightening experience that it was.

I think everyone has diffferent experiences but Venlafaxine saved my life.

My GP twiddled with the citalopram and fluoxtenine doses for years with no effect. I went through a brutal episode of depression after my father's suicide. My OH dragged me to a psychiatrist who took one look and prescribed Venlafaxine. He was very insistent that I use the branded version (Effexor) and not the generic - not sure why as they are chemically identical. Anyway, I have been on it ever since and it's like someone has turned the lights back on.

Not looking forward to the withdrawal but given the family history I suspect I will be on them for life anyway.

I hope you find the one that suits you.

I've been on many different ad's. Some worked for a while (sertraline 7 years, venlaxafine 1 year), others didn't work and/or had terrible side effects. You just cannot predict how you will react to any given ad. What works brilliantly for one person is terrible for another. Duloxetine and Paroxetine didn't work for me at all. Can't even remember all the others I've been on. A friend of mine ended up hospitalised while coming of venlaxafine. I transitioned from venlaxafine onto fluoxetine and it was a non-event. Currently stable for more than a year on venlaxafine, lamotrigine and olanzapine.

I'm not in the UK so don't quite understand how your medical system works, but I believe that if you've tried 2 ad's and they didn't work well then it's time to move from gp to psychiatrist for treatment. I also believe that talk therapy in conjunction with meds is very important.

I've tried most anti-depressants over the last 15 years but the only one that has ever worked is venlafaxine it literally gave me my life back a lot of dr's don't like prescribing it as it's the most expensive AD the side effects are not good but ease up after 3-4 weeks I've been taking if for 10 years now as I have a panic and anxiety disorder xx

LastingLight - I have had 2.5 years of group psychotherapy, courtesy of NHS Scotland - and I thought it had made a real difference. It was some months after leaving therapy that I decided to come off the ADs, and it did seem to be OK at first. It is just over the last two or three months that I have been sliding back.

I could have a course of CBT through dh's work health insurance , but I would have to find a therapist myself, and I don't think I can face doing that right now.

When you see the gp, ask about a therapist, maybe they can recommend someone.

That is a good idea - thanks.

Martazapine has been of most benefit especially at treating my insomnia and hypervigilance but my major concern is my weight gain due to increased appitite thats uncontrolerble thats severe enough iv decided to taper and withdraw discontiuing it gradually all together. Iv tried been happy and overweight and it just isnt happening. Iv gained over a stone pretty quickly too. I have a history for been quite underweight so been overweight is causing quite a lot of distress and anxiety. Ive tried fluxertine without any improvement hence the trail on mirtazapine but i feel the weight gain is just too much to ignore.i cant wait until next week when its out my system.
Im going to go AD free to see if my appitite is reduced.

One that rarely gets mentioned is agomelatine. Most GPs don't know much about it - it is for severe depression and prescribed by psychiatrists. I was put on it when I became resistant to mirtazapine . I think it is v good - worked within a week, no side effects but I know its expensive. I take it alongside fluoxetine. I just want people to know about it because I think it's being held back a bit by NHS for funding reasons but actually it can change lives.