Medications!!

[Emsnavvv]

Hey guys, just wanting some input here about medications for anxiety and depression! I have currently been on 100mg Zoloft for seven years, for the most part I can say it has helped me a great deal, I went through what I call a mental break down right before I took it and I was hopeless and just wanted to die, living how I was living just was not worth it. Anyways not until recently I started experiencing a lot more anxiety again, don't get me wrong I would still have little panic attacks, and actually be anxious for a week but was able to eventually get out! I have been almost at a constant state of anxiety at some point everyday, my trigger is my health and I am a ER nurse...:riddle me that? Anyways, just wondering if anyone has had this happen, and if they had switched medications with success after being on one for so long. My doctor seems too think that there is not much success when doing this...I'm just so tired of feeling awful , as I know you all know! Also, anyone take multiple meds with success? I've also got Ativan for panic attacks but rarely take them unless I have the impending doom feeling! Ugh anyways any input much appreciated!!

Much love!!!

[Dolphin14]

I was on Zoloft for 17 years. I had a bad situation happened and had a breakdown. All my meds got changed around. Since 2014 I can't tell you how many meds I've been on. The problem for me is after the initial incident lots of other things piled up. Family things that set me off again.

I have ptsd anxiety and depression.

Anyways right now my " cocktail " is Effexor, klonopin tid, lamictal, prazosin and recently started on abilify.

I'm a tough one to crack lol

[Emsnavvv in reply to Dolphin14]

Hmmmm how you feeling since your new cocktail started?? I've heard pretty good things about Effexor

[Dolphin14 in reply to Emsnavvv]

I'm doing ok. Certainly better than a few years ago. I just recently started the abilify.

I'm in three types of therapy

Talk, EMDR and IFS sometimes I really think I just need more time to get a better handle on my coping skills. I just get too anxious when things happen. If I learned to cope better Mayb I wouldn't need all the meds.

[Emsnavvv in reply to Dolphin14]

Yeah it sucks to have to rely on medication! Hopefully therapy is helping you as well I'm about to jump back in as everytime I go I seem to stop when I feel better! Let me know if you need anything 😽

[Dolphin14 in reply to Emsnavvv]

Thank you

I'm here for you too

[Boby4]

Hi, I am also an RN. I take Venlafaxin for depression, it also works for anxiety and panic attacks. However, I was put on Librax in 1996 for IBS. Then put on Clonazepam, for the last 5 years due to constant stress with PTSD. I am a travel nurse and have been away from my permanent address for six months. So I tried to slowly taper off of Librax and Clonazepam, on my own. I now have slept very little In a month and am having constant anxiety, with frequent, long lasting panic attacks. I could not take Zoloft, it was of no help to me, at all. I was living a high functioning life, dealing with stress on Clonazepam. I had absolutely no thoughts that withdrawal from Benzos, was so horrific. I learned in the ER, when after a month with no sleep, that Benzo, withdrawal was as bad a Alcohol. ER Doctor, put me on Diazepam 5mg/Po twice a day. Guess what, outside of three hours relief twice a day, I am still in bad shape. I was functioning great being what ER doctor called a drug addict. Now I barely function at all with out great discomfort. So be careful staring Benzodiapines. I am on contract and have to work. It's a nightmare, being alone, and have no one who understands. I'm to the point of begging to go back on meds, until I retire in four years, because I can barely cope. I switched anti depressants many times, until I settled with Venlafaxin. So might be a worth the change. Not that any antidepressants are a fix all. Doing yoga, and brain entrainment, enhanced it. Now, I have no relief. Do to darn Benzo withdrawal.

[Dolphin14 in reply to Boby4]

I'm a nurse also .... interesting isn't it?? Let's talk about stressful, right?

Benzo tapers need to be tiny increments please be careful. They may help but were never meant for long term treatment. Now I'm stuck with the same future, tapering off a tid dose. My expectation is it's going to be hell.

[Dreamie in reply to Boby4]

I too went through HELL withdrawing from Benzos!!! Severe panic and anxiety. Quit my job because I couldn’t function. Cried and panicked for days on end. Spent a day in the ER because I thought I was going to die from it. It’s been a year now and I’ve come a long way. It wasn’t easy. And I still experience anxiety and milder panic but I survived. It took support from my loved ones and distraction from my anxiety by getting an easier low paying job. I had to let myself off the hook for the minimal amount that I could manage. I definitely can relate. Don’t give up. It takes time for the severe effects to wane. 💗

[Dolphin14 in reply to Dreamie]

Dreamie

I'm expecting just what you said, a year of hell. What dose were you on and for how long

I know we are all different. My md is trying to amp up the other meds to keep me stable during taper. But honestly I've had so many family issues etc that keep knocking me down.

I'm glad you made it through.

[Emsnavvv in reply to Boby4]

Omg I'm so sorry!!! I don't know what I would do that literally sounds like a nightmare! When is your contract up??

[Dolphin14 in reply to Boby4]

Bony 4

Ya benzos are so bad. I've known it for years but actually had to increase my dose due to a re trauma.

I'm sorry you are alone and dealing with all this.

[Iamworthit]

I admit it- I love my benzo. My doctor wants to take away my clonipin, even though I’m only allowed .75 mg daily! They’ve really helped me cope with crippling anxiety. Also on Zoloft, lithium, quentapine, Wellbutrin

[Emsnavvv in reply to Iamworthit]

Yes benzos help when you are in the midst of a panic attack, I like having them around just in case, which is typically what I do, but the last few weeks it's just been almost a constant anxiety, not nearly as bad as seven years ago, but it's bringing me back to those days, I'm just scared to be addicted to those and have to rely on them, I just wish we could come up with something better!! 😔

[Dolphin14 in reply to Iamworthit]

Oh yes they def help.

[Hidden]

Last year my psychiatrist put me on Abilify. I had been on Prozac since 2002 but suddenly i felt like the prozac wasn't working. I've been taking Abilify for a year now along with the prozac and I'm doing great. I also recently started on propranolol to help control the shaking which is a side effect of the Abilify.

[maaslider]

Hi Emsnavv,

I’m also an RN and yes benzos do suck trying to wean off is so different for each person and you’d think our prescribers would understand this...but this isn’t That forum! I’m surprised your doctor thinks there is little benefit from switching medication after being on it such a long time. Our bodies, I believe, get to a point where they don’t respond like they used to with meds used for very long periods. I tried quite a few for Depression and Anxiety. When I was sure I wasn’t benefiting from the current one, I’d tell her I was going to stop it. Or if I gained more than the 2lbs I said I was willing to gain on a med, I said no more. I currently have been on Fetzima and I did a meditation DNA profile which shows what meds work best and I’m a poor metabolizer of folic acid, so I’m on a supplement called Deplin. As a very skeptical person, especially when it came to medication for help, I’m really surprised and happy at how well this is working for me. I also need Adderall or I wouldn’t be around without it, but alone it didn’t help my depression, it just kept me from staying in bed all the time.

I also have had chronic pain since I was 10, so for 45 years I have dealt with CMP. It’s the same with that- medications that worked for long periods, I became tolerant and it wasn’t effective any longer and I needed to change. I think it’s completely likely that you have just become immune in a sense, tolerant and see if you can get your prescriber to understand this concept! I wish you all the best and hope you find something new- there are so many newer meds available now to not have someone willing to find one that could greatly benefit you! Please keep us posted! I’m routing for you, fellow ER RN! M

[Emsnavvv in reply to maaslider]

Thank you for all your input and your story!!! We got this!!!! I just got back from the beach, and I tell you after all the panicking to get there and alla that, it really has helped my anxiety ease a bit!!!! Maybe we just all need the beach lol it's a nice thought

[Moonira]

Good morning Emsnavvv.. I just read your post and my heart reaches out to you because my story my experience is similar to yours except I was on Effexor for 20 plus years and it stopped working. Of course what I think tends to happen to people who take medication is we begin to rely on it too much. As my doctor and psychiatrist have emphasized to me medication is meant to provide some relief but we have to continue working on Solutions and take active action such as doing sports, meditating Etc. Right now I am on Zoloft and I went through the whole switch. I can say it took about a year to stabilize me. But they know so little about the human brain. All I can tell you is that I went from Effexor and tried Celexa, Wellbutrin and in conjunction with buspirin in addition to taking Ativan to help me through severe anxiety attacks. Right now I have settled on a dose of 2 mg of aripiprazole and 100 mg of Zoloft. Things were going so well I decided I wanted to try the experiment of going off meds and was in the process of weaning myself of course with the assistance of my psychiatrist and his approval. Then I had an arthritic episode which was very painful at the same time I have been trying to help a sister of mine who has complex problems. All this to say I started to become very depressed again. I have the double whammy of suffering from MDD, Gad and PTSD also that's a triple Whammy! Funny I felt like I couldn't get out of bed but today it's a beautiful sunshiny day and I've decided I want to go for a walk. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist next week and we will be discussing a new medication called Cymbalta which apparently helps with MDD Gad along with arthritic type or fibromyalgia type pain. I feel for you and I know exactly what you're going through. I have always found that exercise provides great relief. But when I started having my bad arthritic pain I stopped exercising recently. It's a vicious cycle my doctor wants me to exercise for 40 minutes three times a week intensely. I think I got discouraged. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't even know if I'm helping you but at least you know that you're not alone. So I'm sending out prayers and hugs and just want you to know that you're not alone. God bless