Fetzima?

This is my 3rd day on this Fetzima and I think it is horrible! My head feels like it is going to bust from headache non stop, I've been sick to my stomach, throwing up, I am very irritable, jaw is hurting, ever bone hurts BAD! I have chronic pain and this is horrible! Does it suppose to reverse after so long or what's the deal with this stuff? I think I would rather be depressed than deal with this pain that is disabling me more. Help

I was told by a pdoc a year ago that when coming out of a depression it happens in stages. Maybe that is what is going on with you. For me I have always felt like I just snapped out of it like a switch went off. But if I look back honestly and look at my mood logs he was right. I came out of them in stages and would be up and down like a yoyo. Last year three days before I snapped out of it I wrote this long email to my parents about how horrible I was doing and that I was not OK. They didn't say much cuz from their point of view I had been doing better. Well sure enough three days later i was completely out of the depression. It was a miracle. I can't say that that one had anything to do with meds it was just that my cycle had run its course.

Now to my current situation. I have been up and down like a yoyo the last couple of weeks. Yesterday morning I was telling people that I swear half my brain is dead. then I felt great the rest of the day. Today i feel great. Overall over the last two weeks I have slowly been getting better. I think the Fetzima is kicking in. I started Fetzima March 13th....so how ever many days that is.

Hi-

I am back on Cymbalta. 60mg...I am so flat compared w/the manic behavior I exhibited while on Fetzima. I was able to obtain the Cymbalt through the PAP from Eli Lilly...they sent the PNP 4 months worth.

When she and T both saw me, they commented on my manic behavior while on Fetzima...My T asked if I liked it..well I did in a certain way, but I was so angry and ready for a fight...also the seizures had to be stopped.

I wonder what would have happened if I was on it for a month? maybe those symptoms would have gone away?? Pnp made me give back all of the samples.

I hope others have good luck with it!

For me the Fetzima is kicking in. I was fairly manic yesterday but calmed down by evening. This morning I feel really good and calm despite a lot of coffee. I think the depression is lifting finally.

Update-
After another very long depression I am having very good results with Fetzima and Lamictal. Two months on Lamictal and one month on Fetzima. In the last week a huge difference. In fact I am kind of manic but I always get that way for awhile when I come out of one. No serious side effects. Some difficult all over the map emotions the last two weeks. Feeling wired, getting all weepy and crying alot one day. A pdoc told me that there are stages when coming out of a depression. I had never really heard that and i just remember snapping out of them like a switch went off. If i think about it I think he is right though.

Hi, I am new to this site. Just wanted to give some hope to those that are trying Fetzima. Today is the 19th day I have taken it (40mg). It is also the 2nd day that I feel AWESOME!!! Not depressed (and the weather is disgusting which usually has me in bed all day, so something must be working), I have the drive and energy to clean my house and do laundry for the first time in 3 weeks, and feel overall "happy". I will say, the first 17 days of me taking this medication, I did not feel good, and, at times, I thought it was making my depression worse (which I never thought was possible). I almost said 'eff it' and stopped taking it, but I was so desperate to feel better, I continued taking it. I had many of the side-effects others have described (nausea, agitation, moody, worsening of depression, etc.) in the beginning, but decided to keep on truckin' and give it a chance. I am SO GLAD that I did! Today is really the first day I feel alive and well again, and I am so excited! I will re-post in another few weeks to let y'all know if my mood stays this way! (I have been keeping a mood journal so I won't forget )

Best of luck to all the rest of you. I know it sucks in the beginning of med changes, but sometimes if you stick it out for a few weeks and give the medication a chance, it really does work.

Please post in my Med Success? thread. we hear so few so I am trying to gather them in a thread. even if you just copy and paste the above.

http://forums.psychcentral.com/psych...ess-story.html

meds that work before poop out usually within 2 years with me are. PROZAC, SERTRALINE, LEXAPRO

Done

Thanks for the help!

Fetzima update.

For the last week it has been getting me really wired and kind of manic. Which is not uncommon because it is an SSNRI and acts on nor epinephrine and is very activating. And sometimes is causing me to overheat which is sometimes common for me because serotonin regulates body temperature. It only lasts a short time and I think I will get over that.

I was getting really worried about the wired mania thing and didn't know if I should try to get my dose lowered or if they even make a lower dose. So I figured the caffeine in the morning couldn't help and yesterday drank decaf and I felt much much calmer. So the caffeine was definitively making it much worse or interacting to cause it. So here I sit this morning drinking caffeine again.....what an idiot.

Fetzima made me hypomanic... I blogged about it. It was mixed mania, depressed and crying, hyper sexual, but shaky and weak. I just stopped it a couple days ago.

Http://livinginthewell.wordpress.com

I am wondering if my hypomania with it is mixed mania or if I am bi polar II. I was diagnosed with bi polar I at one time but that was totally false for reasons that are a whole other story. But I was also tagged with bi polar II for a long time. When I moved to a new state and new pdoc when I did an intake (2 hours long) I convinced them I was MDD only. I am taking Lamictal anyway so maybe it doesn't matter. I think he suggested Lamictal because I was rapid cycling but I assumed it was as an augmenter for MDD. I may get my diagnosis changed.

The more i think about it though I have had a lot of hypo mania when I am feeling really good and not in a depression. Even when I have been on the same meds for months. And sometimes I get rapid cycling. And now Fetzima triggering hypomania. It has totally took the depression away. And actually the hypo mania wired feeling is balancing out. I am going to stay on it. I know there is a difference between wired and hypo mania but I have been having both.

TheWell can I ask you what your diagnosis is? I ask because we are having a discussion in another thread about AD induced mania and "switching mania" and whether AD's can cause bi polar long term in someone who has always been MDD only and so on. Both of our cases and the Fetzima thing seem relevant.

Here is the thread. It didn't start out on the topic but it got off track. It is towards thee end of the thread.

http://forums.psychcentral.com/psych...lexa-real.html

Hi Zinco,
Bipolar with mixed mania last I heard. But I've been bounced around a bit on diagnosis. For a while it was borderline personality disorder but with all the jumps into mixed mania from the antidepressants my doc is leaning towards atypical bipolar with mixed mania.

He just told me that we need to stop throwing antidepressants at this and call it what it is and prescribed me Depakote. My first day on it and I just spent almost the entire day in bed. Not a good start.
I've been on Lamictal with antidepressants to tame down the mixed mania but the lamictal always made me super depressed. I don't even know which way to turn anymore. I've been on so many antidepressants, atypical antipsychotics, mood stabilizers.

Meds are a pain. I am still having hypomania with the Fetzima. Is he gonna try another AD with the Depakote?

Not sure if he's going to try another antidepressant. Just one med at a time. It is a mess when we throw too much at me at once.

I was on Remeron for a long time. 40 pounds later and urinating constantly we finally stopped it. It really worked for a long time but then seemed to peter out.

Yeah probably smarter to do one at a time and see what it does.

And yeah Remeron is known for weight gain. i am 30 to 40 over but i think i was even before the remeron.

I was already overweight before the Remeron. Now I'm really overweight. It sucks

My history consists of a spiritual and love for personality. I have suffered panic disorder for 20 years. I am able to control the irrational thoughts without meds. But my body and biology have a mind of their own... heart palpitations and high blood pressure. The stress had my cholesterol in an high and dangerous zone. I have taken Zoloft in the past. Two years ago i wad put on Celexa. Four weeka ago my doctor changed it to Fetzime. Im on week four now. Cold turkied Citalopram per docs order and started on 20mg for two days then increased to 40mg.. First week I was so energetic. I was manic. I felt like nothing could stop me. I was able to wake up on first try in the mornings. Normally it takes 2-3 hours to get out of bed. Week 2. Felt the mania decrease. Started leveling off and feeling " normal." Week three the agitation and irritability sets in. I am so irritable I want to get into a fist fight. This is bazaar. I'm not a fighter at all! I have never understood that type of anger and rage... until now. Now I get it. Now I understand how people "loose it". I feel so angry thay i a And I have thought of wanting to die. I'm angry because I not even afraid to get into a verbal confrontation or fight a man. I am lifeless in the morning and getting fatter by the day. I still have anxiety. My dreams are graphic and hell'ish. Today took over an hour to get out of bed. All I want is to have enough energy to wake up and go to work without being exhausted by the struggle of waking up. I am a health fanatic. I'm now 40 lbs overweight. I feel like I've lost my identity and joy. Fortunately I work in mental health and understand this I all biochemistry. I am not going to actually "loose it." I am just going to request my doctor take me off of it. I am not downing Fetzima. It may work for others just not me. On the bright side I have more insight on anger and impulsively which I feel will help me to be not only more compassionate but cautious around "flighty" individuals. If I was younger and not experienced in this field if be concerned I might actually get into a dangerous situation out of anger and rage. Not saying this to scare anyone. Just saying be very aware of your emotions and responses as you ween into this medication.

I am happy for the people that SSRIs & SNRIs work for.I am antidepressant FREE!! And managing ok better than on the antidepressants''s! I feel like I know who I am now! I am on a new regimen for ADD/ADHD and it is nice to not be trapped in antidepressant's trial & error BS withdrawal after withdrawal! Sorry I had been to hell and back on antidepressant's just to find out they were not a good mix with my chemistry and put me places I never imagined. I will do anything to try to fight the depression without medication.

Just finishing up my sample pack of Fetzima. Will start with the 80 mg in a day or so. I had been on Pristiq 100 mg for 2 yrs. then stopped working for me. I am noticing it harder to fall asleep now w increased agitation, but I take .5 Klonopin for that. I can't afford to fall back into a full blown depression, I hope Fetzima will keep me functional in the long run. Any other thoughts on Fetzima from current users would be greatly appreciated.

How long on the Fetzima? Are you happy with the results? Just finishing my starter pack and it's hard to to tell. Do u remember how u felt week 1 w Fetzima?

See other thread you started.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

haha I love yr indomitable spirit first thing n the morn. Since I have been so miserable and bound to the house by this awful depression I was curious to see if there was something out there that works....no surprise that it doesn't/

FYI, Fetzima may be a new drug in the US but gas been approved and used in France since 1996. I would search French websites for more in depth information.

Any psych drug will take weeks to start providing a benefit. If you take it for a week and quit, you have concluded nothing, other than giving your body an unnecessary "toxic" shock, because, after all, most meds are toxic if not taken properly.

Your doctor should keep tabs on you, the patient. But you are ultimately responsible for yourself. If your doc doesn't pay attention, tell them so. If it doesn't improve, fire them and find another. Or, bug them, schedule as many appointments and medical test as you deem appropriate.

Information on forums and websites are far from the absolute truth. The PDoc doesn't have all the answers (my doc today had never heard of Fetzima...). The pharmacist will know the side effects and interactions, but they can't tell you which med is best for you. YOU have the responsibility for your own wellbeing. The more knowledge you acquire, the more capable you will be to ask appropriate questions and take a proactive position with regards to your mental health.

I started Fetzima about a year ago and now have recovered from a very deep depression. Doctors had tried about every drug they had but none had shown any improvement. Then Dr G said we will try this new drug. I don't think she had much experiance with it. After a couple weeks I was slowly feeling better and had recovered some interest in a few things. One day I heard an old song that we used to sing many years ago, "Smile On Your Brother...eyerybody get together, try to love one another right now". Ever since then I've been on top of the world like I was several years ago.

I haven't had any side effects other than .

Peace and Love for All,
Michael