Success stories with meds

tecknohed · #1 26th June 2013, 22:02

I have 2 success stories. I've always suffered from SA & depression. NONE of the new meds worked for me. Then I was lucky enought to try Nardil (phenelzine). WOW! For the 1st time ever I felt like myself. Or how I wanted to be. Pro social, craving company, chatty & my 1st girlfriend, 1st flat, 1st job in 7 years. Lasted a good many years until it pooped out.
Now I've hit jackpot for the second time only. This time its a daily mix of meds:
Marplan (isocarboxazid) 90mg, Rivotril (clonazepam) 4mg, Zyban (bupropion) 300mg, amitriptyline 100mg & Seroquel XR (quetiapine timed release) 100mg.
Jobs a good'un! Very similar to how I felt on Nardil. This Sat night I'm off to a techno club, 11-5am, BY MY SELF & a bottle of water. Can't wait!

So come on, no matter how many meds it took, lets hear some successfull medication stories regarding SA or SA/depression.

Appear · #2 27th June 2013, 14:35

This is great tecknohed, I'm super pleased everything's going well for you!

I ranted on another thread about it, but I started Citalopram around eight weeks ago now and couldn't feel better for it! Although the side effects were pretty intense the first month or so and I'm still having trouble with sleeping and feeling tired most of the time, it's a trade off I'm willing to put up with if I continue feel the way I do. I just feel so much more positive and motivated to take the steps towards making things a bit better for myself.

Techno club sounds awesome, hope you have fun!

Concept · #3 27th June 2013, 16:06

Yeah, to echo, glad to read they're working out for you teknohed. Same to you DisappearHere.

Until I ran out a few days go (and my sleep pattern went supiciously to pot), quetiapine has been helping me feel much more together.

tecknohed · #4 28th June 2013, 04:04

Yea thanks guys. There's a lot of stigma around taking 'mind-altering' medications. Even within the SA community. But I've waited long enough and deserve a break. Plus, it is NOT simply a 'short cut' too happiness! Far from it. It took several years to get on Nardil, and 4-5yrs getting my current combo right. I do plan on doing intense CBT very soon. I may want to quit medication one day, or the meds quit on me! But if I've already made positive thinking a 'habbit' then theres less chance of falling back to square 1. My mind will have a healthier outlook on life and a lot less fearfull. And NOT being depressed is the 1st step to recovery, as its hard, if not impossible to work through therapy such as CBT if you're depressed. IMO depression should always be the 1st thing to sort out.
Anyway. More success med stories please!
Sorry about the rambling

teck

tecknohed · #5 28th June 2013, 04:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Concept

Yeah, to echo, glad to read they're working out for you teknohed. Same to you DisappearHere.

Until I ran out a few days go (and my sleep pattern went supiciously to pot), quetiapine has been helping me feel much more together.

Yeah, quetiapine is a comforting medication. Also can enhance many antidepressants. I love the stuff

Ludo · #6 28th June 2013, 04:41

Cymbalta- much better than anything I have tried. However, to get to Cymbalta took the crushing anxiety of Fluoxetine (which had worked in the past) and trying Mirtazapine (zzzzzzzzzzzz.... zzzzzzzzzzz... and donuts).

Cymbalta does make you sleepy though, but mood wise I have found it to be the only thing to give me the slightest ease in melancholy.

tecknohed · #7 28th June 2013, 11:39

I never got to try Cymbalta (duloxetine) coz I had already started on MAOIs. It came out whilst I was taking Nardil. That would be a choice I would try tho. Dual Serotonin/noradrenaline Re-uptake inhibitor. Something Efexor (velafaxine) was meant to be but at the doses normally given by GPs its just another SSRI. Strangly, if you add mirtazepine (zzzzzzz) to venlafaxine it makes a cocktail commonly called ROCKET FUEL. Go figure!

indielad · #8 28th June 2013, 13:58

I tried mirtazapine and venlafaxine together it didn't help if anything it made things worse, on paper the combination looks ideal in practice however it often fails. Apologies this is no success story just it was mentioned

.
I take seroquel and venlafaxine at the moment wanting to add bupropion or something to address adhd.

BritishPeace · #9 28th June 2013, 14:11

Vodka tends to cure most ills

tecknohed · #10 28th June 2013, 15:10

Indielad, what doses of each did u try when on effexor and mirtazepine. normally 60mg mirtazepine & 300MG+ of effexor for the noradrenalin to kick in. although noradrenalin is important in ADHD. aside from dopamine, stimulants block the reuptake AND produce more noradrenalin. Also, NRIs are often used in ADHD treatment. maybe the combo slowed you down because of the ADHD- after all stimulants usually calm sufferers down and help focus, right?

indielad · #11 28th June 2013, 15:34

Ahh well only low doses tecknohed 150mg venlafaxine and 15mg mirtazapine I couldn't increase the mirt at all everytime I tried to step up to 30mg I couldn't handle it really didn't suit me. Managed to increase the venlafaxine upto 225mg recently which I don't like (I'm off mirtazapine completely) so dropped back down to 150mg and I'm still taking 50mg quetiapine/seroquel. I wish I had a success story for everyone I think I need some serious adhd medication!

tecknohed · #12 28th June 2013, 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by indielad

Ahh well only low doses tecknohed 150mg venlafaxine and 15mg mirtazapine I couldn't increase the mirt at all everytime I tried to step up to 30mg I couldn't handle it really didn't suit me. Managed to increase the venlafaxine upto 225mg recently which I don't like (I'm off mirtazapine completely) so dropped back down to 150mg and I'm still taking 50mg quetiapine/seroquel. I wish I had a success story for everyone I think I need some serious adhd medication!

You'll get there. You just have to keep on trying. If at all possible, you could ask your doc to refere you to your local Psychopharmocology clinic, if you have one. If you truely have diagnosed ADHD then I do not understand why your current doc is trying to treat it with antidepressants! Or perhapse he/she is trying to treat your depression but not treating your ADHD. If either of these is the case he/she should be reported for malpractice.

tecknohed · #13 28th June 2013, 19:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by BritishPeace

Vodka tends to cure most ills

Yea, dont I know it!

indielad · #14 28th June 2013, 20:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by tecknohed

You'll get there. You just have to keep on trying. If at all possible, you could ask your doc to refere you to your local Psychopharmocology clinic, if you have one. If you truely have diagnosed ADHD then I do not understand why your current doc is trying to treat it with antidepressants! Or perhapse he/she is trying to treat your depression but not treating your ADHD. If either of these is the case he/she should be reported for malpractice.

Adhd isn't really diagnosed I'm seeing a bi-polar specialist got diagnosed with bi-polar type 2 rapid cycling which I now think was just medication/steroid induced. When the depression and anxiety is treated adhd gets worse now I really just want that treated. Moods are stable on 50mg sr seroquel.
Psych is just treating bi-polar depression I finally realised adhd was more of a problem when the medication didn't have the desired affect it kinda makes my head cloudy, kills any motivation, difficult to concentrate I'm basically couch bound all day when indoors I used to enjoy music, games, films, Internet shopping etc. now nothing.
I think I want some of that Nardil!

tecknohed · #15 28th June 2013, 23:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by indielad

Adhd isn't really diagnosed I'm seeing a bi-polar specialist got diagnosed with bi-polar type 2 rapid cycling which I now think was just medication/steroid induced. When the depression and anxiety is treated adhd gets worse now I really just want that treated. Moods are stable on 50mg sr seroquel.
Psych is just treating bi-polar depression I finally realised adhd was more of a problem when the medication didn't have the desired affect it kinda makes my head cloudy, kills any motivation, difficult to concentrate I'm basically couch bound all day when indoors I used to enjoy music, games, films, Internet shopping etc. now nothing.
I think I want some of that Nardil!

Yep, Nardil does wonders for many conditions especially SA, depression, OCD. Its been used for schizophrenea when depression is present. Never seen any info about ADHD, tho it does boost dopamine, and I've never researched it for adhd so I can't comment on that. Thankfully you CAN add NRIs and psycho-stims to any full MAOI. Good luck!

Ben · #16 19th August 2013, 00:48

I got some ritalin which was a great stimulant and in slow release form is fantastic. It takes away the tightness in your throat and makes you just aggressive enough to override neg thoughts that would usually make u keep ur mouth shut. I have tried other non approved stimulants and the effect is different, and much more condusive to sa.

Coming of as tolerance developing and you can have mini mood crashes when they wear off. They are awesome slimming aids btw.

Going on nardil probs this week.

Both these meds won't be prescribed by gp. I got referral to private psych and seen him within days. Unless u got medical insurance you can expect to pay £100 per hour. Otherwise you may wait months to see NHs for30 min appointment. Maybe an idea of getting a directory of sympathetic pyschs only available to peeps who been here a couple of years

IMO ssri, I been on 3-4 are waste of time and all they did for me was make it impossible to get an er@@@@tion

tecknohed · #17 19th August 2013, 14:53

If you're in England, try to get an appointment with a psychopharmocoloy team. My current psych doc is running a mental health ward and can no longer prescribe, but I still get referred to him to watch over my meds, then after GP receives a letter from him with any specific med changes and then my GP can prescibe them.
Also, If in UK you can contact Professor David Nutt or one of his team. Used to be my pdoc. He's based in London, but anythings better than wasting £100 and leaving without a script. Ask for advice and chat to your GP for a referral. Otherwise search & find out YOUR closest Neuropsychopharmacology dept, sometimes spelt without the Neuro, and get a referral.

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/AP/faces/p...55542357420077