Terrible side effects from all psychiatric drugs?

I have had anxiety and depression for 4 years now. I have tried soo many different kinds of drugs. Celexa, Pamelor, Remeron, Paxil, Ativan, just to name a few. Every single one gives me horrible side effects. At their worst I have to quit after taking just the first pill. Why do I get every single side effect? I'm about to give up, but I have such horrible anxiety I can hardly function. I'm at a loss what to do. I am fairly small and have heard being underweight can affect side effects of drugs. Perhaps I am just getting too large a dose of these pills. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I'm so sorry you're strugling so much to find the right meds for you. I hate hearing these stories of people who just can't find the right thing, it's just really sad.
For me, zoloft has worked the best for depression. Except for when my primary care doctor gave me too high a dose in the begining (not using a PC for psych meds, bad idea!) and it made me very anxious, I haven't had any bad side effects from it. I don't know if you've tried it, it's in the same class I believe as Paxil.
Also for anxiety I take tenex, and again no bad reactions for me. It's a beta blocker and so not dependent forming like benzos. Hope this helps.

the reason your meds are working is your not giveing them time, you are falling at the first fence with side effects. EVERY ONE gets start up side effects you are no different to anyone else, when takeing AD,s you get a lot worse before you get better, you have to have the will to see trough the side effects or dont take the AD,S . i have had 12 weeks of murderouse side effects till a med worked . if yor really ill you will walk through fire to get well so stick out the side effects or your not that ill , because a real depressive will put up with anything

side effect , dont just happen to you, there the start up to every med, i have suffered 12 weeks of unbearable side effects on a med , for it to work on the 13 week. you havre to have the willpower to see through side effects or forget AD,S AN GETTING WELL

It looks like you've been on some older meds like pamolor you may want to approach your doctor about newer classes of meds with fewer if any side effects. I went through med changes recently and had no side effects other than sleepiness for awhile but that's subsiding as well. Good luck to you.

Yeah, that really looks like a list of mostly older meds. Perhaps some of the newer meds would be a better fit.

You might also want to talk to your Dr about starting with a very low dose and building up slowly. It will take longer for the med to help but it will give your body time to adjust. Sometimes Dr's start off to high with the dose and then want you to double it after a week and all that does is make you quit taking it because it hits to fast and makes you feel 10 times worse.

You may have a genetic drug sensitivity. Have you tried any alternative methods? Herbs, vitamins, sunlight? I would talk to your doc more about this. I think the study they did showed around half of Americans to have a drug sensitivity.

sewerrats...I know you meant well, but you really came across as being mean in those posts. I get that you have a hard time writing and all...but not everyone knows that. Telling someone that they just don't have the "willpower" is rude. You can't see her willpower, so don't judge it.

SORRY but sometimes you have to shock people into keeping to there meds . mabye willpower is the wrong word . They have to know you get 10 times worse on start up of meds before you get better, If you going to quit every start up because of side effects no matter how bad ,your lost.

First, I would suggest that you see an actual psychiatrist and not a GP. I don't know if you are seeing a pdoc or not, but I thought it was worth mentioning. You need to work with someone who rx's these types of meds all day long. GP's can work for the simple cases, but they get in over their heads fast (and rarely admit it). Since it seems like you have had many frustrating experiences with meds, you need a specialist.

That said, my understanding is that many people with anxiety tend to have the issue you do with meds. Perhaps it is due to a genetic link between anxiety and drug sensitivity. Also possible though is that the anxiety is causing the side effect-like symptoms. For example, some people read all of the possible side effects and then sure enough, they develop every one. One pdoc advised me not to even read the possible side effects of a med for this very reason. Talk to your doctor about this. Also, if you have a therapist, it might help to discuss it with him/her. If you don't have a therapist, you might consider getting one.

I understand your frustration, though. I am a person who struggled through many drugs (not so much side effects, but they just didn't work). Hang in there and good luck!

EJ

I don't think sewerrat is off base at all. You have to suffer through the side effects of the meds and then you will adjust. It may require making adjustments in your life, I couldn't drive for a while I was so dizzy, horrible nausea, but it passed. Most food made me sick, and I could hardly work. Took 6 weeks, then for the most part gone.
If the benefit received outweighs the price you have to pay, try to make it through.

I think what sewerrat said was put to harshly, but their end point is correct. I do understand having to quit some almost immediatly. I've had two that made me throw up within ten minutes at a quarter the dose the doctor wanted me on. Obviously I couldn't keep them down long enough to really see if they worked. The other ones also had horrible side effects at first. By 'at first' I mean first two weeks to three months. The one that has worked best for me is Zoloft but it took two weeks of massive dizziness and nausea and three months of tremors that made it hard to sleep, write, and made my muscles hurt so bad I cried. But I was desperate and it has been worth it in the long run. Most side effects will lessen to a bearable level after a few weeks so you really should try to stay on them for a few months before slowly withdrawing and trying another. I agree with some of the others about these seem to be some pretty old ones, there are a lot more modern ones, but they all will have side effects. After a few months on one, you should know if it's worth continuing.

You have to struggle through some side effects but not severe ones tell your doc what they are and decide together. I have side effects that have lasted awhile and the benefit outweighs the side effects so far.

Also its worth noteing , that zoloft or sertraline in generic form. It has a good anti anxierty agent , but does not start working for months after start up.ZOLOFT fisrt hits your depression an may even increase anxierty at the start, an patients panic an give in. But thats just the way zoloft works, it is near the top best ssri if not the best. i have taken it for 5 years, i sometimes up my dose from 100mg to 150 mg if hit a low patch , then get back to my 100mg when chilled. The 150MG down side is SEXUAL you just dont want to do it , an if you do orgasm its 2 hours away.Cool if a porn star

A side effect that you can muddle through is kind of different than one that is really serious. Only the person taking the med can know.

Like if you get nonstop severe panic attacks or really bad suicidal thoughts, it's simply not safe to try to push through. Or if you stop peeing which also can happen. That is kind of worse than nausea and that stuff.

I wonder what side effects come with meds like ativan, because benzo meds are usually very well tolerated.

I agree. It doesn't sound like the OP was talking about the standard side effects we just deal with until they go away, so saying things like just deal with it or have more will power are useless and unhelpful if that is that case.

I think some people really do have serious problems with kind of extreme reactions to treatments, meds, etc. My sister was always that way. Nothing ever was a "normal" reaction with her. I'm on the other end othe spectrum; I rarely have any side effects from meds at all (which also calls into question those who say "everyone" has side effects with every med; it just isn't true necessarily).

Unfortunately, it will probably come down to trial and error to find a med that will be helpful to you without completely making you so ill you can't function. Again, some newer meds may have fewer of those kinds of side effects (although there is no hardfast rule about that.) Good luck to you on finding something that will help you. Keep us updated.

None has i know i take 4mg of ativan a day, an once when not on an AD just before i new i was going to have another breakdown 12mg a day an 1 ltr vodka , i new i was going to crash so i thought do it in style. ADDICTION is your benzo side effect an they dont come much bigger than that, oooooooo yes they do trying to stop benzo,s is worse than death, i detoxed 8 of the 12 mg first with a back up of 40mg valium 2 times a day , made it worse so did it cold. Worst year of my life, SUISIDE was nearly chose many times

YES!!!!! I'm not the only one who it takes about two hours on Zoloft to orgasm.
Sorry, It's just really hard when people say "well maybe your not doing it right", or "maybe your husband isn't any good."

p.s. sewerrat: Zoloft worked after about two weeks on the anxiety for me, but never helped with my depression.

Ickeydogg,
What have u tried besides Zoloft sense it causes such bad sexual side effects? I found Paxil does not hold the same negative side effects for me. Good luck. Tam

celexa is simular, but made me a little nasty tempered, so a swapped to zoloft, mabye they work the oppisite on you. How much zoloft do you take. 100MG useually kills depression50mg just dont have the guts ,100mg long term but if i get freaky at times i move up to 150mg for 1 week to level, then back to 125mg then 100mg

Most side effects occur in the first few days or week. If you can make it past that stage, you may do OK on these drugs. But if your side effects are super severe, this may not work. What are your side effects? Maybe you could start with a lower dose and persevere, if it is possible. Did you tell your prescriber about getting side effects like this before he/she prescribed for you? That might make him/her want to start slow, with a lower dose. What did he/she say?

A med I see prescribed a lot for anxiety that ususally has few side effects is Neurontin. People seem to tolerate it really well. I see it frequently prescribed with an SSRI for people with depression and anxiety. Tenex, a blood pressure medication (an alpha receptor activator, not a beta blocker as someone else mentioned) can also help with anxiety and is typically well tolerated.

Good luck.

The OP said "horrible side effects". That kind of rules out the normal stuff to me. Some people are really sensitive to medication, and just muddling thru not only isn't an option, but can be dangerous.

If you are prone to addiction (which you must be.. a liter of vodka would KILL almost anyone), you should never been put on benzo. Also your doc should have done follow ups. Someone must have overprescribed for you to overmedicate to that extreme. Also, any good doc will stop prescribing, if the patient develops tolerance. You must have had a crap doc, and maybe you should have told them more about your issues.

If you think that is dangerous, so is starting up an antidepressant. IMO, it should ALWAYS be done with daily followup for a month, or in a psych ward. Tapering up those meds killed a lot of people, especially teens.

Sorry but i have been scripted ativan for 35 years on a repeat script,I hundred,s of them i saved from what was left over if not needed, you see 35 years ago when ativan was new you were scripted like M-M,s has many has you wanted there ws not a lot of AD,S used in ENGLAND, i ws asked but refused as deemed mad 35 years ago to take shrink meds. Stigma was UNTAMED , I used to survive at working constuction as a bricklayer an made a shed load of money at break neck speed an suffered breakdown.s which i worked through. A bottle of vodka was introduced when i reached max levels of ativan. ALCHOL dont affect your brain in c;linical depression like it does when well. If really bad i could drink a bottle straight down like a glasss of water , it Knocked me out but that was what i was after, the hour of piece.OF course it effects you i was hospitalised 4 times with pancreitis , removed my gall bladder , ruptured my bile tract, well the surgeon did that. NEVER effected my liver but kidney,s are half strenth. I have thyriod probs that need med ajustment monthly , high colesterol, an take stomach linner pills to stop crippling pain, other than that i am jumping for joy.ATIVAN now is near part of mt DNA after 35 years an to stop it would kill me. an what if i did stop i still have anxierty so i would need another benzo anyway, NO 4 mg atvan a day an 100mg sertraline is pretty cool. 2 mg ativan 100 setraline 6am back to bed 2hours wake great lasts all day an 2mg 9pm ,sends me to sleep about 12pm sorted