can anyone recommend an AD that doesn't leave you zonked and sleepy?

[MrsMolesworth]

Hi

Long term depression here. Years ago was on seroxat. Made me very organised and bossy but totally lacking in creativity (I work in a creative field, so that was a problem. Also I didn't feel depressed but felt nothing else either. Just neutral, like a machine.

Then was on citalopram for about seven years. Loved its effect emotionally - got myself back again - felt happy and relaxed. But it slowed me down physically. Ended up sleeping 16 hours a day, put on 20lbs and moving at a snail's pace.

Came off for a year. Got depressed again. Now on sertraline. Anxiety has gone, but the deep laziness and lack of effort that descends during depression hasn't shifted at all. And I could still sleep 16 hours a day. And still eat my body weight in carbs.

Any advice? I long for a drug that will take away the depression and anxiety but give me some energy back so I can just get on with daily life and achieve what normal people can in a day, instead of 1/10 of what normal people do. I'm sick of living a half life.

bump

Hi I take Dosulepin. It is described as a sedating ad. It really helped with my insomnia and pnd and anxiety. To start off with it made me slightly tired in a morning but I have no drowsiness now and can get by on 7 hours sleep. It has made me put on weight (perhaps a dress size) but other side effects are minimal. Hope this helps.

I have been on most of the anti depressants there are available over the years for anxiety depression and the only one that didn't turn me into a zombie was one called venlafaxine. Did have some horrendous side effects though.
Have you looks on crazymeds.com? It's a web site with every antidepressant known to man on it with personal experience reviews from people who have been on them.
Your best option though I to discuss your problem with your Dr.
Hope you find a solution to your problem.

I'm finding that taking my sertraline at night is helping me feel brighter and more motivated. I'm also sleeping better.

Thanks for the replies. GirlWho do you mind my asking what the awful side effects were?

I take my sertraline at night too. Feel fine during the day

I'm on agomelatine which doesn't leave me sleepy, zonked, numb, starving, libido-less or any of the common side effects with other ADs I tried. Can't recommend it highly enough TBH.

Another Agomelatine fan here - only one I've never had side effects plus it works in days not weeks

I thought at the time it was a brilliant anti depressant, the best one I'd ever taken but apparently it made me completely manic, I spiralled on it between feeling amazing to crushing lows, although at the time I had no idea that it did, I just couldn't see it. I was so happy that I wasn't a zombie all the time, I was not feeling constantly anxious and so depressed that I couldn't even face anyone (which is what i am normally like when i'm having a depressive episode) and honestly thought it was working really well.
Looking back though it was really bad because the lows were horrendous. Much worse than normal as I couldn't even speak when I was low and apparently they could last for a few days at a time.
My partner said I was a completely different person on it and since I have come off it I can see what he meant.
Sadly for me anti depressants do not seem to work but I will always believe that they are the best solution for people who have depression.
I still suffer from anxiety depression but have beta blockers for my anxiety which definitely help if I take one when I get up feeling anxious. I still have really low days but I now just ride them out. If I find in the future that I am getting really depressed again I do not discount taking an anti depressant again. I really do think that they have saved my life.
Good luck with finding on that does work for you and I hope that you feel better really soon.

I keep seeing Venlafaxine on here....have any of you ever tried coming off of it?

I did Fluoxetine - no sedative effects and crazy dreams (though now coming to the realisation that the dreams were me and not the meds)

Citalopram - walking dead on it. Slept every time I sat still for longer than 5 minutes.

Setraline - hives

Venlafaxine - ehhhhh it worked. But after 3 years at the strongest dose withdrawal started kicking in after 16 hours, and jesus christ the hardest thing to come off. When I came off it, I realised that whilst it worked, it dulled everything off. Like I was wearing dirty glasses and ear defenders.

Am now on mirtazipine, knocks me out at night, and after the initial couple of weeks, can get up fine and no drowsiness during the day. Also, no withdrawal effects.

Alternatively, could look at other options as opposed to the typical SSRI's.

Welbrutin is meant to be some kind of wonder drug. No sexual side effects and no sleep effects.

Venlafaxine has legendarily bad withdrawal effects. The ANP keeps trying to get me on it, but it's the last thing I'd ever consider taking.

I'd seriously recommend you don't.

Because of a thick GP who decided on a whim I "didn't need them anymore" after taking max dose for 2 years, and nearly max for a year previous, I had to go cold turkey.

By day 4 I was an absolute wreck. It was like watching someone coming off heroin (so my DH and closest friends said). They were all seriously scared and considered taking me to A and E because I was so unwell.

Luckily I saw my psychiatrist on an urgent appointment, and he put me back on it straight away and weaned me off of it over 12 weeks. Still hurt, physically and mentally.
I'd always tell people to exhaust all other options first.

Upon reflection venlafaxine is probably not a good idea. The thing with anti d's is what works well for one person doesn't necessarily work for another.
Welbrutin is supposed to be a good anti d, lower side effects but is not available here in the UK, sadly. Oddly enough it is prescribed as a smoking quitting medicine here.
Talk to your doctor and explain the problems you are having.

I know - it's frustrating about Wellbutrin. (Maybe I should pretend I'm on 60 a day ) I hear such good things about it.
Agomelatine sounds helpful though.

I have a few friends all on sertraline and they all get on well with it but it just doesn't feel right to me. Wondering about going back on seroxat, if they still prescribe it. I didn't feel anything - no emotions at all, while on it. But I was hyper efficient and organised, like a different person, and could probably get loads more done. Don't remember being tired or putting on weight at all.

Is anyone else on seroxat?

I used to be on Seroxat. It made me suicidal, but it worked well in other ways. It's shit to come off though.

I don't remember having problems coming off it. But I googled it, as I haven't been on it since before DC were born, and was a bit alarmed to read that it has a side effect of possibly creating heart problems and misshapen heads in babies, both of which DS2 had. Now I'm wondering...

Venlafaxine works really well for me - finally!: I've been on it for over two years, but the side effects have only just let up in the last couple of months.

From September last year through to June this year, I was only sleeping every third day, and then only for about four hours - it can disrupt your sleep. It messes with my eyes - it's like having permanent vertigo some days, and the road swoops up and down in front of you (I don't drive at the moment, mainly because of a stress-related neuro condition, but I'd be hesitant with this, as I don't know when it will strike). If I take it late, I notice quickly - and for the first couple of days, taking it without eating is cue violent and long-lasting nausea. It also makes me ragingly hungry, which isn't great, because I have terrible form for EO and binge eating.

HOWEVER - since about July, for the first time in nine years, I feel quite like me. I can read a book, I can bear to answer the 'phone - hell, sometimes, I even switch my mobile on! I have been out for drinks with other people, I haven't thrown up on the bus to work (was previously a daily occurrence- I love my career, but freaking loathe my job, which doesn't help), haven't had a single panic attack. I'm not crying involuntarily, and no longer multiple times a day - and whilst I'm not exactly hopeful, in a positive sense (ie, there's nothing I'm actually hoping for) I am no longer in total despair. So for me, the side effects have been worth it, as has the couple of years finding the right dosage: because nothing else made a difference in the end.

It's worth pointing out, though, that it's a different class of AD to Citalopram: SNRI not SSRI