Meds that work for me for treatment resistant depression

carnut · Dec 15, 2014 at 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellion

I forgot to mention I think psychedelic substances have potential...in my personal experience I notice after a good trip I have a noticeable mood lift that is ongoing after the drug effects wear off. I would never advise anyone take such things on a daily basis...but maybe when used sparingly they can have beneficial effects. It would be interesting if there was more research being done on this, especially since physically they are quite safe so for people it could help there would be minimal side effects. But I doubt they are going to star prescribing psilocybin and LSD anytime soon.

One of my best friends took LSD in the late 60's when it was popular. One trip and he was never the same again. He's functional but not all there. Thinks people are watching him all the time, even from outer space. very dangerous drug.

Hellion · Dec 17, 2014 at 02:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carnut

One of my best friends took LSD in the late 60's when it was popular. One trip and he was never the same again. He's functional but not all there. Thinks people are watching him all the time, even from outer space. very dangerous drug.

Well it's hard to say why it effected them that way...or if it triggered something already present. I've taken it multiple times and have not had any such experience...but have only had a couple hits at once, wouldn't want to go too far over-board since its very potent. Was it a bad experience they had? I could see how a very bad trip could be damaging like could be traumatic...which can have negative effects. But either way though some people get negative effects from what I've read up on and experienced I can see how psychedelic substances could help depression, probably would not help everyone's depression. Either way will be curious to see what sort of results studies on such drugs for mental health issues will provide.

Altered Moment · Dec 17, 2014 at 08:59 AM

Yeah I don't believe that pure LSD or shrooms cause lasting effects unless it triggers a pre existing condition that was gonna show up anyway. The problem with LSD is that when you buy it you really don't know what you are getting. Did the guy who made it know what he was doing?

I would definitely stay away from the new designer drugs. No one knows the effects really and they are dangerous. They are not something like lsd or shrooms that has been studied and people have lots of experience with.

See this thread-

http://forums.psychcentral.com/other...r-opinion.html

dfwsteph · Dec 20, 2014 at 06:52 PM

I just read this article on Medscape (I guess I didn't copy correctly to get the link) but it's in the psychiatry section on depression ... about potentially using nitrous oxide !!! Says anti-depressant effect last days long

I don't know about that, but I enjoy the short term effects.... last time my dentist became a long-haired leaping gnome ... still makes me laugh and that was years ago

stephanie

Altered Moment · Dec 20, 2014 at 09:38 PM

OMG me and my friend cleaned his Dad's dentist office when we were teens at night. No one there. What do you think we did after we were done cleaning.....yup. It wasn't hard to figure out how to turn the main bottles on, sit in the chair and crank it up. A couple hours.

Never heard of it for depression. Do you mean ketamine?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Altered Moment · Dec 20, 2014 at 09:44 PM

Your right. I want in.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/836727

http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjourn...910-X/fulltext

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sad eyed lady · Dec 26, 2014 at 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellion

though I should have posted my last post in here...but just noticed this section.

I have just joined this group also as I knew I needed some support with my depression. My doctor has been playing with my meds but nothing helps. Now Wellbutrin and Cymbalta. My depression is the kind where I hurt so bad that I can't stop crying. I have been depressed for many years but when I was young I used to do drugs to numb my feelings and "feel good" a temporary fix but I think what happened is that for years I numbed myself so much now the emotions and feelings are hitting me so hard I feel sometimes like I can't cope. I don't want to do this any more and I want some treatment that works. Does anyone know if medical marijuana would help and if a doctor would prescribe it or is it just for end of life issues. Anyway I am glad I found people who understand. My friends and family just say breathe and get over it but they don't understand Thank you for listening sad eyed lady

dfwsteph · Dec 28, 2014 at 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sad eyed lady

I have just joined this group also as I knew I needed some support with my depression. My doctor has been playing with my meds but nothing helps. Now Wellbutrin and Cymbalta. My depression is the kind where I hurt so bad that I can't stop crying. I have been depressed for many years but when I was young I used to do drugs to numb my feelings and "feel good" a temporary fix but I think what happened is that for years I numbed myself so much now the emotions and feelings are hitting me so hard I feel sometimes like I can't cope. I don't want to do this any more and I want some treatment that works. Does anyone know if medical marijuana would help and if a doctor would prescribe it or is it just for end of life issues. Anyway I am glad I found people who understand. My friends and family just say breathe and get over it but they don't understand Thank you for listening sad eyed lady

At one time I really struggled with the overwhelming emotions...couldn't stop crying at times. What helped me was Lamictal...it takes a while to ramp up to the full dose. Something which helped me in the interim was small dose of the anti-psychotic Seroquel...this has to be used carefully because it can tip you into diabetes, but it really helped my crying jags. A lot of us use Klonopin which could possibly have abuse issues I think, so doc might not want to use it.
You may find you need something on top of your anti-depressants...it takes most of us a long time to get just the right "cocktail" and even then it sometimes has to be modified over time.
For me, it doesn't get cured, but the edge is taken off where I can deal.
Hope it gets easier for you.

stephanie

Altered Moment · Dec 29, 2014 at 08:47 AM

My current cocktail is the best one I have ever been on. I have been at treatment for twenty years.

I have been clean and sober for twenty years but to be honest I have experimented with pot for depression and anxiety. What I found was that it was no good at all for my depression. Some people say it helps. I found that for anxiety it does help but it has to be the right strain. Some strains make me to paranoid. So I have thought about getting a card sometimes but I decided against it. Klonopin works much much better and I don't want to be a chronic smoker.

It depends on the state but it is not usually hard at all to get a card. Personally I never worried about it. It is very easy for me to get very good stuff if I were to want to.....not so legally. I don't care if I get it legally or not. Certainly never stopped me in my drug and alcohol using days.

Hellion · Dec 29, 2014 at 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinco14532323

My current cocktail is the best one I have ever been on. I have been at treatment for twenty years.

I have been clean and sober for twenty years but to be honest I have experimented with pot for depression and anxiety. What I found was that it was no good at all for my depression. Some people say it helps. I found that for anxiety it does help but it has to be the right strain. Some strains make me to paranoid. So I have thought about getting a card sometimes but I decided against it. Klonopin works much much better and I don't want to be a chronic smoker.

It depends on the state but it is not usually hard at all to get a card. Personally I never worried about it. It is very easy for me to get very good stuff if I were to want to.....not so legally. I don't care if I get it legally or not. Certainly never stopped me in my drug and alcohol using days.

Interesting, as you probably know by now based on my past posts...I find cannabis helpful. But yet I cannot handle klonopin...that is for sure, never heard of klonopin for depression though, or do you mean you take it for anxiety?

Hellion · Dec 29, 2014 at 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sad eyed lady

I have just joined this group also as I knew I needed some support with my depression. My doctor has been playing with my meds but nothing helps. Now Wellbutrin and Cymbalta. My depression is the kind where I hurt so bad that I can't stop crying. I have been depressed for many years but when I was young I used to do drugs to numb my feelings and "feel good" a temporary fix but I think what happened is that for years I numbed myself so much now the emotions and feelings are hitting me so hard I feel sometimes like I can't cope. I don't want to do this any more and I want some treatment that works. Does anyone know if medical marijuana would help and if a doctor would prescribe it or is it just for end of life issues. Anyway I am glad I found people who understand. My friends and family just say breathe and get over it but they don't understand Thank you for listening sad eyed lady

From my understanding you can get medical marijuana for mental health conditions including depression, however I think it is more difficult than getting it for physical ailments like chronic pain or to help cancer symptoms. My brother was saying you can't get medical MJ for depression but I think I've probably looked into it more recently than he has...for a time it was not approved for that but at least in my state I believe it is.

I more or less self medicate with cannabis and find it helpful...but have not obtained doctor recommendation, not to mention it a bit of a chunck of money to get an MMJ card and its legal here so, thus far seems more trouble than it is worth. But yeah I don't use the cannabis to 'numb' feelings kind of hard to explain but helps me deal with how I feel like instead of having racing thoughts and getting anxious or being consumed by the despair of depression I might look at it more objectively and calmly. Also it improves my mood even after the 'high' wears off.

Dec 29, 2014 at 02:30 PM

i actually want to try medical mj for a bit. nothing else is working yet.

Altered Moment · Dec 29, 2014 at 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellion

Interesting, as you probably know by now based on my past posts...I find cannabis helpful. But yet I cannot handle klonopin...that is for sure, never heard of klonopin for depression though, or do you mean you take it for anxiety?

Hey if it works for you that is great. Yeah the klonopin is for anxiety for me. I was crawling out of my skin with anxiety and it works soooo good. I know the dangers but I have never felt the urge to take more than prescribed and haven't had to increase dose.

In CA you can get a card for a hang nail. I don't know how hard it is to get a card in Michigan where I am now. Personally I wouldn't bother with it.

You guys may want to try CBD oil instead. It doesn't have THC and they claim that CBD is the stuff that helps. The THC makes some people paranoid or they don't like the high part.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Youdontevenknow · Jan 09, 2015 at 06:21 PM

I've had Prozac Paxil trazadone abilify elavil benzos cymbalta (current) and now low dose lithium, although I have never experienced mania, considering ECT but not sure if I can do it and not get fired for missing work, I already have FMLA for EDS chronic migraines and CD. I feel pretty hopeless

Fallindown · Jan 10, 2015 at 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunnyrose

I'm pushing fifty and have been in and out of treatment for nearly 30 years.

Some meds seemed to strengthen my coping skills for a while, but I am not so sure any of them actually lift the depression to any significant degree or length of time.

Ditto, and it's getting OLD! I do enjoy the few moments of mania I experience from time to time. I can laugh at nothing. Otherwise there are few options but to suck it up or get high.

Youdontevenknow · Jan 19, 2015 at 07:58 PM

Hi, I have only been successful w cymbalta, too, which kinda sux bc it interacts with a lot of medications and I haven't been successful at tapering off and onto another medication. So, other than trazadone, have you heard of any meds that could supplement the cymbalta? I tried low dose abilify and it caused movement disorder, now I have RLS, forever, I guess.. And I tried deplin but felt no difference, other than it burned my stomach. Now I'm trying low dose lithium, btw I have never had a manic episode, ever, if it helps, I can't tell.. Although it has the lovely side effect of changing my sense of taste and causing wicked weight gain.. I've been considering restoril, thinking if i sleep more than 4 hrs a night my symptoms may improve.. But also considering lamical.. Any thoughts?

Iguanadon · Jan 19, 2015 at 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Youdontevenknow

Hi, I have only been successful w cymbalta, too, which kinda sux bc it interacts with a lot of medications and I haven't been successful at tapering off and onto another medication. So, other than trazadone, have you heard of any meds that could supplement the cymbalta? I tried low dose abilify and it caused movement disorder, now I have RLS, forever, I guess.. And I tried deplin but felt no difference, other than it burned my stomach. Now I'm trying low dose lithium, btw I have never had a manic episode, ever, if it helps, I can't tell.. Although it has the lovely side effect of changing my sense of taste and causing wicked weight gain.. I've been considering restoril, thinking if i sleep more than 4 hrs a night my symptoms may improve.. But also considering lamical.. Any thoughts?

I was on a low low dose of lithium to treat my depression and it ZERO for me, or made my moods worse. The only thing that's seemed to help with my depression and mood lability (not bipolar) has been lamictal. I love that stuff. I had previously been on all the SSRIs in the book (paxil, Prozac, Zoloft), cymbalta, risperidal, seroquel (AKA poison) neurontin . . . and I think that's it. I was pretty much ready to give up on meds all together before I found a good match with the lamictal (and lorezepam added in for good measure . . .for the anxiety portion of my moods).

Aiuto · Jan 25, 2015 at 08:55 PM

If I was in a "green state" I would be all over that! I had tried the pain pills for the chronic pain I have. Then it started to really backfire a 10 fold of pain when wearing off. I cannot take one when the depression gets horribly bad, because my body goes threw a withdrawal so easy since I took pain pills roughly 2 1/2yrs. I have fell into I believe the worst of all pits for me. I have been in this state of mind for almost 2 months now. I stopped the pain pills a few weeks ago. Now the depression has me 24/7 pain, plus mentally and emotionally. I will see my psych this week and demand changes. Try that if he does not comply I am going back to pain pills.

I am stuck....all I want is some relief! Maybe have some energy to get to any appointment. I am not even dragging my feet. I cannot get myself together and go anywhere or think straight!

This really Sux! And I just want to try to live and get out of my siblings house.

Jan 26, 2015 at 12:34 PM

I took opiates for a while earlier in my depression. Even though I wasn't as depressed then as I am now. But the opiates didn't do anything to lift the depression, and quitting the opiates didn't worsen the depression.

betse · Mar 21, 2015 at 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheOriginalMe

I've tried several different anti-depressants across three classes with a few "class of their own" thrown in. Some have failed or pooped but I really struggle with side-effects that I find intolerable and incompatible with living a "normal" life. So does that make my depression treatment resistant or medication resistant or am I medication intolerant?

I've tried talking therapies in the past, not particularly effective, am trying CBT right now (too soon to say, but my gut instinct is that it isn't right for me) and I've had ECT which DID work. I'm not sure whether I'd want to go through ECT again, but even if I did it isn't an option where I live, neither are antidepressant combinations or augmentation.

So given that I haven't tried everything and there is one treatment that has worked well it would be unrealistic to describe my depression as treatment resistant even though the clinical definitions would suggest so.

What is ECT and DID?

Menu

My Support Forums - Mental Health Support Groups

Get emotional support and friendship from others like you!

Meds that work for me for treatment resistant depression

My Support Forums

Anonymous100185 Guest Posts: n/a	Dec 29, 2014 at 02:30 PM #52 i actually want to try medical mj for a bit. nothing else is working yet.
	Reply With Quote

Youdontevenknow Member Member Since Jan 2015 Location: Nc Posts: 29 9 9 hugs given	Jan 09, 2015 at 06:21 PM #54 I've had Prozac Paxil trazadone abilify elavil benzos cymbalta (current) and now low dose lithium, although I have never experienced mania, considering ECT but not sure if I can do it and not get fired for missing work, I already have FMLA for EDS chronic migraines and CD. I feel pretty hopeless
	Reply With Quote

Anonymous40413 Guest Posts: n/a	Jan 26, 2015 at 12:34 PM #59 I took opiates for a while earlier in my depression. Even though I wasn't as depressed then as I am now. But the opiates didn't do anything to lift the depression, and quitting the opiates didn't worsen the depression.
	Reply With Quote