I’m so Unwell and antidepressants don’t work forme !,,tried nine different ones and nothing happens.. and yes I give than all a good long time some 8weeks and Others 5 months with no any help from anxiety or depression.i now stuck with Mirtazapine and is making more depressed than ever ,but doctors won’t help me ..this is the 3rd time I trying Mirt I’m now on week 6 and I fell very depressed and anxious doctor up my dose form 15 to 30 mg and it making worse on higher dose back to 15 mg again but nada ... psychiatrist suggested my doctor to prescribe me other medication for anxiety to try,Pregablin,Buspirone or Clonazepam but my doctor won’t prescribed it she said is because is highly addictive..so I said I cross that bridge when I get to it ...because at moment in time I’m drowning and there’s no bridge on sight.. the river is getting deeper and deeper and I have no more strength to swim.. please help me.. but no ... I. Not sure what to do next I wake every morning with this feeling of dread and life fells empty my heart feels nothing ,and I have a beautiful family that can’t give any love because I lost that loving feeling.. and I’m getting worse by the second.. 4 years ago I was one of the happiest woman alive and now I feel lost and this torture is going on for 4 years now ...yes I have spend so much money on counselling and nada .. I lost hope of getting better but I still praying that I will 🙏🏼
Way antidepressants don’t work for me ? - Anxiety and Depre...
Way antidepressants don’t work for me ?
I'm so sorry you're having trouble. Antidepressants don't work for everyone. Have you tried therapy?
There is something known as treatment resistant depression, in this case alternative therapies, treatments, etc. might can be looked at,
Can your physiatrist not prescribe meds or not refer you to a prescribing doctor like a therapist, etc that can prescribe these meds? Sometimes combinations of antidepressants are used not just one.
I did a quick search, maybe this will give you some insight into treatment options and therapies you can discuss with your doctor/physiatrist?
mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...
Hi hidden thank you so much for your kind reply much appreciated all you advice , thank you ..at the moment is impossible to see any doctors unless you go private..my doctor prescribe me Pregabalin 25 mg twice a day ..but unfortunately once again that did not agreed with me I was the one in a 100 For experience side effects ..and not a very pleasant ones ..now I’m back to square one once again..but at least I still taking mirtazapine and I get a okish night sleep taking it ,a little break from this nasty illness when I’m sleeping 🙏🏽But I’m a little fighter and hopefully soon enough this illness will be history 🙏🏽
hello,so sorry to hear anti-depressants,not working ......I think that you are needing to talk over your anxieties on here or with a good friend ,or if you can afford it a therapist ,depending on the source of depression,as to how you were before it stared ,there are I believe ,3 main types of depression,and clinical,endogenous --and Im not an expert but have read several books about depression......years ago and still have a few there........its usually triggered by a traumatic event;think I have said enough;you certainly sounds as if Anxiety about the future and of course this horrific vVirus--- escalates your fears.feel free to pm if you need to talk.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reed my post ..and yes is always good to talk specially with someone who can understand that depression and anxiety is real illness..once upon time I never believed on that ..I used to think that depression and anxiety was something that people just made it up !! I’m ashamed of my self for thinking like that at the time ..because now I can feel the pain of all those people who suffer from this horrible illness 😢 unfortunately I still don’t comprehend how I go in to this dark tunnel...but I’m 100% sure that there’s a light A very bright light at the end of this tunnel 🙏🏽Once again thank you 🙏🏽 and yes I would love to chat with you . Wish you a lovely weekend. Bella
Hello Bela, I don't use the forum much since it went international and seemed to move towards members with less serious depression IMO. However as you are UK I'll try to help as you're certainly going through a bad time and if its really been that way for 4 years , you also have my admiration for your courage. Courage IMO is very important and you obviously have a lot of it. That will be a tremendous help. 1st thing you need.
Firstly I'm quite old and have had bipolar 2 for 40 years and have an appreciation of what you are going through. Mirtazapine has one advantage in that it does help with sleep (I take it you take yours just before bedtime which is best). Good sleep is valuable in itself. Secondly medical science is nowhere near the stage where you can go to a GP with depression and get any pill which will guarantee to banish your depression immediately or even within a short period . so don't expect too much. From the history you've given it may well be you need a cocktail of antidepressants, maybe two different ones in a lower dosage of each, say mirtazapine (or similar to help sleep) with something else. I've taken many ,many a/ds and mood stabilisers over 40 years and have no evidence they do anything for me, but I usually come out of it for a spell after 6-12 months but I don't know if the pills have worked, it just happens. However I keep taking them because things might get worse ,or have been worse ,without them. How do i or my GP know ? I won't mention my NHS psychiatrist who I regard as near useless. Not knowing your circumstances except that you are suffering a lot of pain I would offer the following in note form so this is n't too long,it won't be short anyway.
1/ It will end , impossible as that might seem now and when it does you'll be so glad your own courage has been the main thing in getting you through it. You'll deserve a medal but they don't give them. There wouldn't be room on my chest for all the ones I've earned.
2/ When I'm in the pits and can't give love to myself or anyone else I think ,OK , I can't make myself happy but at least I can make the world a happier place for others by giving cheap unexpected presents, stroking cats,complimenting people, doing the odd favour. That is n't easy when in mental pain but at least it helps keep one's mind off our own dreadful problems.
3/ I had a long correspondence (on this site ) with a very well known GP who took all the right pills (a lot of different ones over time), did all the right therapies,exercised a lot, had privileged help from at least one top psychiatrist . etc etc. Thats what he told me anyway and I believed him. He was a very long service GP and used the medical contacts and friends he knew to try everything. Nothing worked for a similar period as yourself. He had a lot of courage too, probably not as much as you or I as he was richer , money helps with all problems. Eventually he came out of it, I think because something changed dramatically in his life . I'd told him that would bring him out of it eventually. I told him I hoped the change would be a good shock , but warned him it might be a bad shock. It was a bad one,a terrible one, as it happened but it did bring him out of it. I hope yours is a very good one. No life stays the same for ever and eventually something will change ,hopefully very much for the better, and if you're not already better by then, that will do it. Just use your courage to hang in there until it does.
4/ Walking is cheap and nearly everyone can do it. Even in the winter there are sunnier days when you can walk safely, preferably in a park or the country. Even better if you can get company on the walk, family member or friend. It will help you sleep and it won't cure you but it will help a lot. Try it.
5/ Give your mind a little holiday from thoughts of depression by trying to get immersed in something else, a good book, a dvd, a radio or TV program, knitting. Maybe even something new. , Skydiving would be good and would give you the dramatic change in life. Not as easy when you're depressed and interested in little but give it a go. (not skydiving, you fool, one of the others). Eventually I hope you'll find yourself thinking of something else and your mind will appreciate the short holiday.
6/ Remember its character building. I have character in spades now and don't need more depression but it still comes back. Just as well ,everytime it does,my huge character ( it was n't very big when I started) means that I'm better equipped to deal with it. After 4 years you must have a huge character too. If you've really had 4 years you might have had some of mine too , so thanks. If it ever comes back (I hope it does n't) you'll have all that character to help fight it.
Sorry a bit long, I could write for hours on tackling depression, notice I don't say beating it. Its a very tough enemy maybe the toughest, but usually you can get a draw which means you leave each other alone for a while, hopefully for ever. Not for me -there's no cure for bipolar but hopefully you have n't got that. Even thats not the end of the world, I'm now pushing 80 and intend to be around a few more years yet.
Olderal
Wow thank you so very much for all you kind words ..I don’t know who you are but for some reason when I was reeding you story and you kind advise I almost cud feel you presence and hear you voice ....you have given me so much hope I cannot thank you enough ,, you seem to be a very kind person who also have suffered for so many years I admire how strong you are ..and yes we do deserve a medal and you my friend deserve millions of it !!not only for you strength but also for you kindness ..💫I would love to hear from you more ,and able to learn from you how to coupe with this horrible illness....you have inspired me so much And I’m very grateful for that .thank you 🙏🏽Take care of you self and I wish you a lovely weekend ....sending lots of hugs to you. ...Bella
OH , nearly forget , keep your time keeping up with news minimal for a while,( unless you are a Coronavirus). Thay are winning easily at the moment and nearly all news is depressing.
Olderal
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I too have had limited to no relief with antidepressants. My provider recently replied to a message I sent saying this just isn’t working, what next? He has now labeled me with treatment resistant depression and wants to discuss me changing to someone experienced is it. He also mentioned transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). I don’t know enough to tell you it’s good or bad but at the very least depression that resists drug treatment is recognized as a problem. At least ask about it and see what they say your options are. If they say it’s nothing and try to throw more drugs at you, find another provider. By the way I am also doing therapy but for me that is not enough either. Good luck.
Thank you I think o might be same as you ..doctor just keeping giving me antidepressants that doesn’t work..I tried so many now ..the only medication that help the anxiety a little bit is Oxazepam 10 mg but doctor won’t prescribe it for me ..my friend grandma have been taking it for 35 years and she never had any problems with it ..she is now 88 years old and still taking it because it help her so much with anxiety and depression..I have no intention to abuse any medication. I actually hate taking medication even if I have a bad headache I only take it as last result..but doctor said no no to benzodiazepines..😔
I think Oxa... is the one where I gained over 30 pounds. I wish there was one cure-all to end-all. Wouldn’t life be grand?
Yes me too..did Oxazepam helped you apart from causing you gaine 30 pounds? It must been very frustrating for at the time !?
Yes it was. When they me off of it, quite a bit came off quickly. I read more of your posts. I have a multi-nodular thyroid that’s been diagnosed as Hashi’s. Fibromyalgia, diagnosed as a teen which is relatively unusual. I was in a roll over accident and now have fused disks in my neck. MRIs show there something wrong at almost every level of the spine from bulging disks to arthritis to bones spurs not to mention desiccation and the degenerative disks. Sucks to get older. And I still have a ways to go. Add a serious grief issue on top of a naturally depressive personality along with the pain, some days I almost wish I had a manic up side. Or a drinking problem to be able to zone out from it. Almost every day I say oh today would be a good day for a drink, but by the time I finish work I’m too tired to bother. So don’t worry, drinking isn’t a problem. Fur balls, now those are a problem. And no I’m not the one hacking them up... that would be a real problem. Anyway as bad as it seems, you’re not alone. I feel alone, isolated, abandoned, but this site gives me... a good feeling, I guess, that there are people who understand, if not exactly how I feel... it’s close enough. Someone understanding is new for me. It’s interesting.
Have you tried trazadone? It is not addictive, the same dose has the same effect no matter how long you are on it (over 20 years for me). It makes you a bit drowsy so it's best at night, at which time its downside becomes an advantage.
As always, check for drug interactions. I have GAD and dysthymia and am looking for something that can have a similar effect during the day without the drowsy. Dysthymia is a notoriously tough one to cure so anyone out there is free to throw up a prayer or two for me too...
I'm going to guess that you haven't yet tried irreversible MAOIs like Phenelzine or Tranylcypromine? They can sometimes be effective for anxiety and treatment resistant depression. Not all doctors like them, and they can be difficult to get prescribed. Right now they would be especially hard to get on the NHS as there are supply issues for Phenelzine.
There is also the newer generation MAOI Moclobemide if you haven't tried that one.
Tried tricyclics? So Amitriptyline / Nortriptyline / Imipramine? At a reasonable dosage?
If MAOIs and tricyclics both fail, then you can try antidepressant combinations or combinations with an antipsychotic.
No I never tried those..I have tried amitriptyline 25 mg for five months but doctor changed it to duloxetine ..big mistake .as it made me 10 times worse..I would like to go back to amitriptyline but I think it interfere with the medication I have to take at the mo for overreact thyroid ..carbimazole.. I just wish and pray that I will soon find the answers for this nasty illness..thank you so much for those suggestions much appreciated ..I will talk with my doctor about it ,but I very much doubt he will listen 🤦♀️Once again thank you
I hope you find something. I have been trying Nortriptyline but because of another medical issue I'm not able to go up to a real antidepressant dosage at this time.
There is maybe some luck involved with doctors as some of them are better at going along with patient med suggestions than others.
I should mention that for a couple of things I mentioned, so irreversible MAOIs like Phenelzine, or the (newer) reversible MAOI Moclobemide, you need a recommendation from a psychiatrist before a GP will likely prescribe.
Do you think that nortriptyline is helping you though? I’m so confused about antidepressants.. because in my case it seems to make me more depressed rather than helping.. have you tried any natural remedies before ? .. please Alex any suggestions is welcome 🙏🏼 this illness is a beast.. and yet invisibility one ... i called the crisis line today for some help.. and they supposed to call me back to arrange me an appointment with a psychiatrist..but once again i find myself waiting and full of anxiety ..is not fun .. btw tanks so very much for taking time and give some advice.. wish you well
Bela
Thanks Bela. Yes the Nortriptyline seems to be doing something a little bit, so it's annoying I can't go up in dose on it and properly try it.
I tried St. John's Wort a long time ago, but only like 1 bottle of the stuff and I don't remember it doing anything. I have tried amino acids such as tryptophan but again I didn't really persevere with it. For energy levels, I did get some success with combining carnitine and coenzyme Q10.
As far as I'm able to suggest anything, I would suggest asking a psychiatrist to let you try Moclobemide. It was previously out of stock in the UK but it's now available again. It's supposed to be well tolerated for most people. Of course there is no guarantee it does anything for you; but if Duloxetine isn't working you need to switch to something else.
Thank you Alex I will mention that to whatever psychiatrist I see when I managed to get a appointment!? very hard to get psychiatric help and doctors is not really educated for mental health..I’m living in total rollercoaster with a very minimum help , Is shame that you can’t put the dose up on nortriptyline .. as is helping you a little have a great day
Bella
I know some people that take high doses for a normal person. I don't recommend it but it's the only way they can get thru the day. They always look so strung out. I know I need it but I had gotten bad thots and told my doc I do not want them. So I go without and try to live my days as best as I can. Hope you find something that works for you.
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