Antidepressants don't work

Nothing works. On 20mg Celexa and all it does it take the edge off but it's minimal. I just feel blah all the time and I don't even want to do anything, including be social. I don't find joy in anything.

I've tried them all.. Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, etc. All they do is give me side effects or nothing at all.

I personally didn't find any of the SSRIs to be helpful either. Maybe you should try an alternative, like Wellbutrin, which I recommend trying. It has more of an energetic feel for me.

I've been on 12 different medications, and now I have to add one more on to that list... It is hard going through one after the next. There is hope, have you tried combing medications with exercise, or therapy, or CBT, or DBT, or mindfullness training. Or even aromatherapy.

There are other options besides medications. There's hope!!!

Perhaps you could try adding a mood stabilizer or even an anti-psychotic like Abilify. I know some people take Abilify for depression. I'm one of them. It works well.

I agree with you that no antidepressant has ever worked for me...I am so jealous of anyone who has found one that has worked. Depression is so evil.

I agree. Antidepressants do not work. Talking about it/having friends,family or company is the best therapy.

Lexapro, Abilify, Cogentin.
They worked very well at first but after a couple months the freakin side affects were as bad as my symptoms!
I quit taking them and was amazed how much better I felt.
Unfortunately the last couple weeks my symptoms have slowly been creeping back, although not as bad and there is a new twist, they leave for a few days then come back.
Today I had one hellacious anxiety attack...panic really...just couldn't function socially at all. Now some 14 hours later.....gone.

Hope you get to feeling better soon.
For me medications are not a cure for depression. They seem to help some of the time but not always. Three things that help me with depression are:

For me a short or long walk helps, you get outside, get freash air and get the heartbeat up.
I have one thing to do everyday to get me going: I go to my counelor's office every morning. This cost me nothing and I get up, out and dressed.
I try to be around other people just for a minute or two. You can do this by going to the postoffice or park. Most of the time the people there will not know me.

Hope this helps.

For me, therapy has been effective. There are often - maybe always - things underlying depressed moods. I have taken several antidepressants and antianxiety meds over the years, with mixed and usually disappointing results. Prozac was the best so far, but I got physical side effects and it finally stopped working. I am currently on Adderall (an ADHD med similar to Wellbutrin) and it is definitely helping reduce depressive symptoms.

Meds are often not a cure-all. Exercise, good diet, social connections, meaningful activities and therapy are all helpful too.

I posted this in the "other treatments" forum but its probably better suited in this thread.

My experience with psych. drugs is that they are the most depleting, bleak thing imaginable. It is like somebody has carved out your insides and there is the most uncomfortable feeling. It is unimaginable. People who have not taken psych. drugs can’t even imagine the torture of it. It basically just vacuums out your soul and everything. You can’t feel anything. You can’t feel your emotions, you can’t feel anything around you, and you can’t sit still. And everything is meaningless. It is an unimaginable discomfort, helplessness, and is anything except tranquilizing.

you can do a lot for yourself:

food: simply observe how you react. there's no universal diet (maybe try looking at your dosha type http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-1117/...Beginners.html

life philosophy: no, I am not talking "think happy thoughts". Try existialism or buddhism. find inner peace. don't chase happiness... instead learn to appreciate little things. if you are spiritual... go for this. discover yourself. love yourself. have faith in yourself.

finding sense of life: no, you don!t have to have a 9-5 job you hate. You don't have to be what others want you to be. Feel pushed into something? find your own way and you!ll breather freer.

herbs and all that. they are not cure, but they do help. and cup of lemon balm tea is much nicer ritual then popping a pill... it's very nurturing.
i swear by bach essences. they are homeopathic lite flower essences. there's 38 basic essences, each adressing one particular emotion... and can be combined.

+ 1 for what VenusHalley said.

First, I'm guessing you misunderstand how antidepressants "work."
They were only intended as a short term treatment for someone who is so depressed that
they can't respond to therapy.
They are not a cure for depression. They're an aid to psychotherapy, and hopefully but usually not, better physical health.
Depression can be psychological, physical, or both. No drug can effectively deal with it on its own.

BUT, the pusher man (pharmaceutical companies) found there's big money
in antidepressants so "short term" and therapy were pushed aside.
So, doctors pass them out like candy.

So, don't look to antidepressants for cure or even help.
There's a reason homicide and suicide rates are higher for people on antidepressants.

well, meds are never a cure=all--even the docs will tell you that.

Thanks for all the advice and kinds words.

I'm seeing a therapist, and I am active, I ride a bike every day (although I kind of have to because I live in the city and I don't have a car). I kind of forced myself to live far from the subway so it would be required to get exercise.. otherwise I'd doubt I'd do it. I don't know if this is a good approach. Once in a while I ride by the water just to get some air but now winter is approaching (I HATE winter - I hate the cold and the lack of sun) so I won't be doing that as much, obviously.

I haven't tried meditation or anything.. I just don't have the power of concentration for it.

I take Xanax every night to kill the bad thoughts and get to sleep. I know this is a bad habit but I'd get no sleep otherwise.. I suffer from terrible insomnia.

I guess I'd love to find an AD that makes me feel like life is worth living and not just alter my mood. I feel like I'm already doing everything else I need to do and that a good med should supplement that and make me feel happy, finally. This depression is kicking my ***. It's just this uphill battle and I am losing.

Oh and the sexual side effects SUCK. Even on 20mg it dampens everything. Having an orgasm is damn near impossible and that's something I NEVER have a problem with when I'm not taking meds. Not that it matters I guess because I'm always single, but when the opportunity does arise I can't even enjoy it.

benzos are downers.... could you look for other solution for sleep?

I agree. They don't seem to do anything for me. I'm currently on Bupropion (generic Wellbutrin) and I have also tried Cymbalta, Lexapro, Zoloft. I think they make me feel more tired, and this is already my biggest struggle, my lack of energy. It seems like I can only do very little before I feel extremely worn out. I feel stuck in my life, my situation.
I'm debating whether to quit with the Bupropion. Usually, I feel a little better after I quit a medication, at least for a short time.

Venus, I've sought every alternative.. I hate taking Xanax every night. Nothing works. I'm seeing a sleep specialist and got a sleep study done, of which the results were I have a circadian rhythm disorder and I'm just plain bad at sleeping.. I'm working with her to find a solution and working on getting a medical exception from work so if I have to miss days it doesn't become punitive. But literally nothing else works. I've tried all the herbal remedies, white noise, eating or avoiding certain foods / drinks / caffeine, therapy, antidepressants, antipsychotics.. nothing works, I'm just bad at sleeping, and I've built up so much anxiety from sleep that the problem is far worse than when I started... I've gotten into screaming matches with my neighbors because I hear them walking around above me and it makes me crazy.. I'm so damn sensitive to everything.. I sleep with earplugs.. I still hear and feel everything and get maybe four - six hours of sleep on a regular basis even when given the opportunity, like a day off from work. So the short answer is yes, I have tried and nothing works.

The antidepressant I take definitely helps me but I quickly found out that it isn't going to "fix" the depression all by itself. There are steps that I need to take to feel better. I agree, they are definitely not a cure all.

yeah, even my therapist says that my meds are only supposed to "help"--but if I dont take the steps to do help myself and make some life changes, then I might as well not even take the meds. I take an anxiety class and a depression class at the same clinic, and even the ones leading the classes tell us the same thing.
It's like if you take medicine for pneumonia, if you are still not eating healthy or resting, and running around barefoot in the rain, and such, then the meds are of no value. Same thing with antidepressants.

I haven't read through the entire thread of posts. I thought I'd give my perspective without that filter first.

Antidepressants or any of the psych meds work differently and at different degrees for different people, and sometimes just don't work at all. First thing, is that it sometimes takes trial and error to find the right combination. Be patient and work with your doctor.

Second of all, I'll say that antidepressants aren't a cure, they aren't a miracle drug and don't fix everything so you can just go on with life and not have to worry about it again. Even temporarily at best they take the edge off the depression and soemtimes they only work temporarily, causing you to have to up the dose (by dr. recommendation of course) or change meds. Any mental illness, whether physically induced or environmentally, I believe requires work on our own to learn to deal with and cope with life differently. Even if at worst, you stay on meds for long term, I think it's only a partial remedy and without therapy or work on our own part, they have only limited results.

Just remember meditation is just a practice not a perfect. Even the greatest monks loose their concentration ( well it's not really concentration.. more not doing than any doing ), find the mind wandering and have to pull it back. Even if you have to keep pulling the mind back hundreds of times you will still reap the benefits. In all things we practice we do usually get a bit better at doing.

Man you have a way with words! Love it.

Here's sort of an alternative viewpoint.
Don't look at your distractions as something you need to put out of your mind.
Look for how they connect or are related to your focus. Look for how they are
helping you to focus.

That removes the inevitable frustration, mental conflict, and feeling like a failure.
You will still have periods of unconsciousness when you're not aware of your
focus or your distractions. That's normal and possibly where the real relaxation happens.

I'm taking Citalopram (generic form of celexa) and at 20mg it wasn't working well for me. The Psychiatrist then upped me to 40mg and that seems to be helping however I can relate to the no sleep!! (symptom of the depression that I had before I started taking meds). To help me sleep at night I was prescribed Trazodone which is an antidepressant to take as needed for sleeping. The side effect of Trazodone is sleepiness. I took one pill before bedtime the other night and I was out cold within 30 minutes and slept straight through the night for the first time. I thought I was going to pass out before I made it to my bed.

I hope you find something that works for you. I've been on meds now for 5 weeks it does take time to work. Hoping for you to have a speedy recovery.

I also have a sleeping problem until I was put on Trazodone 200mg, Temazepam 30mg. These babies knock me out. I am now taking 100mgs and 15mgs and they still put me to sleep. The down side: 15 minutes after taking these meds I am as hungrey as a horse. I am not gainning weight but it sure is weird. Anyway that is how I get to sleep, sleep can last up to 10 hours. With depression on my shoulders I wish I could sleep longer.
Alway check with a doctor before taking any meds, let them know all the medications you are on, there may be some side effects you do not want to have.
I wish you luck and hope the sandman comes your way soon.