[Realized]

Hi,

For 2 years I have been suffering from fairly serious depression. I am 26 years old, and I was always one of the most positive people in my family, but the depression came on very suddenly and I have been a totally different person since.

I have been doing psychotherapy consistently for 2 years, but thus far none of the medications have worked. The closest I got to feeling somewhat normal was a combination of prozac and nortriptilene. Unfortunately, extreme fatigue and memory problems caused by the nortriptilene eventually caught up to me and made me more depressed.

I was most recently on a prozac- 60mg/day and wellbutrin - 300mg/day combination . This helped a bit but didn't get me functioning normally. I am in the process of switching to wellbutrin and Effexor. So far I am starting to feel extremely fatigued and lethargic on the Effexor. I notice this becuase I keep up a regular running schedule, and the prozac/wellbutrin never drained my energy, but since switching the prozac to Effexor 10 days I ago I feel very fatigued, weak, and I have trouble getting up even after 10-11 hours of sleep. I feel totally drained if I attempt any exercize.

I have been reading about 5htp, and I am almost tempted to try this instead of medications. Maybe medications aren't for me. I feel like there has got to be something out there that has benefits that outweigh the negatives for me. Shouldn't I feel relaxed and positive without feeling totally dull, fatigued and unmotivated?

I have not tried Zoloft or Celexa. I was reading about Luvox and it sounds like it is less sedating than others, and it is indicated for OCD, and I have some obsessional tendencies. Anybody ever try Luvox and Wellbutrin? How about 5htp and Wellbutrin? Any ideas?

Thanks! I really appreciate all of the helpful people on this board.

Hi,

I have been on Celexa for over a year, maybe two years, and it's been a real miracle drug for me. I think it's fantastic, though it felt a bit weird in the beginning - I stopped caring about anything, and that bothered me, and I lost some sensuality - but those things came back after I got used to it and my energy level is up. I use nortriptilene some nights to sleep, but I don't use it every night because I feel groggy in the morning if I use it all the time. The combination seems to work well.

If you don't want to use medications you could try over the counter St John's Wort, which I've also used (health food stores have it), but the effect for me was less, although it did help - 3 times a day I would take a 300mg capsule. I used it before going on Celexa, it works like other SSRIs. Also I quit drinking coffee entirely and that evened out my moods. For two years I went on a restricted diet with no processed foods or sugar, no gluten-containing grains, no dairy products other than acidophilus yogurt. I felt way better - then when I went off it I noticed the difference.

Sara

[morning8glory]

I struggle with Chronic Fatigue syndrome at least 12 years.
After having it for so long my main problemt is the chronic daily unrelenting fatigue.
An allergist found I was allergic to almost every thing 12 years ago and was causing a good bit of fatigue so since treated by allergist.
Shots for 3 years and medication and avoidance.
Life style changes.
A neurologist found that I had a disorder that kept me from resting well at night.
The medication Klonopin helps to calm my restless limbs that were waking me up.
Two machines to breath with at night now take care of the low oxygen levels I had at night that were causing me not to rest well.
I can sleep now if I do not have too much caffene or not overly excited.
Blood test have shown I am Hypoglycemic so I need to be carefull about my diet. Low blood sugar makes me very tired.

I still struggle with feelings that maybe I am just depressed.
I question it many times.
I do get depressed at times PMS is bad every month brings it on.
Temperature changes make me regress.

But the 5 times I have tried medicine the type used for depression including Welbutin and Zoloft did not help me with the fatigue.
Maybe you have some thing else going on .
Maybe those kinds of medicines are not the answer.
That is a hard thing to except I still am struggling with complete exceptance that I am a person with low energy.

!3 years ago before I went through many test I had a doctor tell me that some people do have less energy than others and she helped me to change my diet and exercise more.

I did not completely except her answers so I searched out more cause's.

Today is a good day.
M8G

[deepthinker]

Yes!!! I can't believe anyone has even heard of Luvox. I use to think my doctor put it together out in his backyard *laughs*, because no one I ever spoke to had heard of it.

I took it for a year and then hopped off because I felt I was becoming to dependant on it. At first it made me really sick for about 4 days and really zonked out (tired). But after that I started to feel heaps better. It helped me out a lot, but it took me a while to notice it wasn't all so great for my health habits.

I weighed 48kg's for about 4 years.... Then when I went off Luvox I went straight up to 58kg's.
The drug is a little funny. You don't think your hungry so you may find it hard to eat. (But this is just my case).

I was taking 100mg a day. I would take it early in the morning and be fine for the rest of the day. I didn't ever take anything else with it.

Like you stated, it is also prescribed for people with OCD's. I never really had anything that bothered me, except for having to use the same coloured pegs when I hang out the washing. (that stopped when i went onto luvox). hehe

Anyway.... I hope this helps in some way. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help.

Take care.

[hopeman8877]

has your doc checked your thyroid to rule out probs with it that might be causing the depression?

it sometimes takes a long time to find out the meds or combo of meds that work. i know it's hard to be patient when you are not feeling well, but try.

[splash]

hi Realized,

Unfortunately, it does take some people a while before finding a medication that's helpful. After suffering from severe depression for practically all my life, and having been on numerous antidepressants, I'm finally stable, and doing quite well, on Effexor XR (along with life, behavior and thinking pattern changes). I'm not recommending any particular medication but just pointing out that it may take a while to find what works for you. Also, sometimes it takes several weeks for medication to take full effect, and if side effects are bothersome, your doctor may make adjustments so they're more tolerable.

I also agree with hopeman that it could be something physical that's causing your depression. Has this been ruled out?

Maybe medications aren't for you. Some people do well with therapy alone. Also, doing things that you enjoy can be helpful, too.

Take care,

splash

[Bigred]

If you can find that miracle drug...please let me know...
Bipolar, Anxiety disorder and a tinge of OCD..
Taking 400mg Wellbutrin per day, 3mg Klonopin, and 15 mg Buspar... None of it seems to be working...doctor want to try a few more weeks because it one of the safest medications.

“Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."””

-John Prine, “Hello in There”

[aloneinrp]

Hey Realized,

Hang in there. There are still many more meds out there. i have tried zoloft and celexa and they both worked fine, but for me celexa has worked better. I remember for each of them it took about a week before i stopped feeling "strange". Also, depending on what's going on in your life, meds may not relieve what you feel inside. Meds work overtime to balance your insides (brain chem) out, but they can't solve external problems that effect your life.

My best advice is to live life even if you don't feel like doing something, do it. Take a deep breath and try to relax and not to worry. Just do stuff, do stuff for you. Treat yourself good and realize that you are important to yourself. if you got to, don't be afraid to try another med.

[Bigred]

Bipolar & GAD, OCD currently on Wellbutrin 400mg, Klonopin 3mg and Buspar 15 mg. If you can figure out the chemistry puzzle let me know. We are all different, take to different meds...but let me know what your on???
Hopefully we are changing meds at next appt??? Keep my fingers crossed. Wellbutrin definately not working for depresssion. Bupsar & Klonpin together doing better for anxiety.

“Sally used to play with her hula hoops
Now she tells her problems to therapy groups”

-John Prine, “The Sins of Memphisto”

[CamW]

Realized - You ave to give the meds a chance to work. In reading your post a couple of things came to mind.

Ten weeks is often not long enough to determine if the Effexorª [venlafaxine] (hopefully the XR version) and Wellbutrinª [bupropion] (hopefully the SR version). I am assuming that the doc is raising your Effexor dose slowly, to avoid severe, sometimes debilitating side effects (which often leads to discontinuing a potentially effective drug).

A "rule of thumb" is that it can take 4 to 6 weeks of treatment ¥after¥ reaching a target dose (eg 225mg of Effexor XR daily). To reach a 225mg dose while minimizing side effects is a slow process in some people. In people who are sensitive to the start-up side effects of Effexor XR (eg GI disturbances, "fuzzy head", lethargy - ie. the "blahs") I recommend that the dose increase be on the order of adding 37.5mg of Effexor XR every 4 to 7 days as tolerated, and continuing this until the target dose that the doc has chosen. Unfortunately, the start-up side effects may recur with every dose increase (in some people).

The upside to Effexor XR start-up side effects is that they eventually fade, no matter how quickly the upward titration is. As I have said, the start-up side effects usually disappear 4 to 6 weeks after reaching the target dose, but I have seen some people have absolutely no start-up side effects, while others had to put up with them to 12 to 16 weeks before disappearing (BTW - I saw the latter person a few weeks ago and this person's depression is still in remission after 3 years and there are no side effects worth mentioning (a little bit of a delayed orgasm, but this person considers this a bonus).

Wellbutrin SR is often added to Effexor XR (especially since some preliminary studies have appeared in the literature - the April or May/02 ed. of J Clin Psychiatry, I believe). I have found that the Wellbutrin SR augmentation of the Effexor XR does increase energy and brightens mood in many treatment refractory cases of major depressive disorder. Hey, it's working for me.

<font color=blue>"Education is is overrated. I'd rather sit with intelligent people than be educated any day. - Erik Pierce</font color=blue>

[Realized]

Hey Folks,

Thanks for all of the great advice in response to my post. They have been very helpful. I am going to see my doctor soon and look at my medication options. I'll keep trying until I get it right!

Take care

[Realized]

I forgot to mention - I did get my thyroid checked and ruled out possible physical causes of the depression.

Thanks for the info!