New Meds

[Cecethat]

My new meds are amazing! Effexor and hydroxyzine. Great combo for me. What meds work for you?

[Nothingnoted]

Hi Cece, I feel that way too I'm seeing a new psychiatrist now and he put me on Lexapro andVraylar and it's taken away some of the really dark thoughts that I've had I'm glad your medications are working for you

[Mofro]

I've tried hydroxyzine a couple of times for anxiety. I was grasping at straws, but unfortunately it didn't touch the anxiety. When I heard they were an antihistamine I had serious doubts it would work. I'm assuming it must work differently than other antihistamines if it was found to help anxiety. I've never found an anti-depressant that works either in over 50 years, so maybe it's just that medications in general aren't what I respond to. (yes, I also tried Effexor). Still on the hunt for anything that will quite frankly. 🙄 Glad to hear you, or anyone on here, finally found something that works.

[Cecethat in reply to Mofro]

That can definitely be frustrating. Our bodies are so hard-headed. Lol

[bethelbee in reply to Mofro]

If you have trouble finding any meds that work, have you considered alternative treatment?? I am in my 60's and took antidepressants for decades. A few years ago became treatment resistant to them, nothing worked. Luckily my therapist recommended TMS and for me it was a game changer and literally saved my life at one point. I've had 3 rounds, the results of the first two each lasted about 6 months and the third, which I completed December of 2021 is still working. Obviously, as with any treatment, results vary and for some it doesn't work. It's a noninvasive treatment.

[Cecethat in reply to bethelbee]

I am definitely open to alternatives. What is TMS?

[bethelbee in reply to Cecethat]

It's transcranial magnetic stimulation; it uses magnetic pulses targeting a part of the brain to help reduce/eliminate depressive symptoms. Treatment is typically 5x/week for 6-7 weeks, a big commitment but well worth it if it works. You're in a comfortable chair with a part of the machine against your head(left frontal); each treatment is about 20 minutes with the exception of the first where they calibrate the dosage. Feels like tapping against your head(many of us like it to a woodpecker) . It cycles through taps and rest. No side effects and after each treatment you can go about your day. My Medicare covered mine. Call your insurance company to see what they cover. Usually the clinic or center where you would go does this as well.For me TMS was the best option. Personally I would not do ECT due to high risk of memory loss(had a friend who experienced it and it is not uncommon). Nor would I personally consider ketamine due to high risk of serious side effects especially having other health issues.

Hope this helped! If you have any further questions feel free to message me.

[Cecethat in reply to bethelbee]

Neat! If Medicare covered yours, Medicaid will moat likely cover mine. I will definitely look into it.

[bethelbee in reply to Cecethat]

Keep me posted!!

[Mofro in reply to Cecethat]

Yes I have, and am. In 2019 I had a series of 6 ketamine IV injections, because I heard it was effective for treatment resistant depression. I have TRD, or so I've been "diagnosed". I have a lot of problems believing most of what i hear from doctors anymore. I could have concluded myself that I had TRD, after years of trying different anti-depressants. I had high hopes for the ketamine treatments, especially because I paid around $600 for each treatment out of pocket. It seemed a small price to pay for the the new life I envisioned for myself.

For each of the 6 treatments, the dosage was increased a little each time. I can say I enjoyed them as much as I can remember enjoying anything in my life. After each treatment, I would tell the doctor I wished I wouldn't have come back. She would only reply, "That's not where we want you to be". It's where I wanted to be. If I find I'm wrong and there is a heaven, that was it. A complete feeling of everything being good and whole, and everything finally made sense. Yes, the world was lifted from my shoulders.

I've taken different psychedelics back in the 70's, but they couldn't begin to compare with the ketamine treatments. It was the most spiritual experience I've ever had. I used to think it was seeing the aurora borealis in Iowa, where it's typically never seen. It was on a hot, humid summer night, and I was at an age where I hadn't had my first true girlfriend yet (no, not 35 🤨). Not that there would be anything wrong with that .

And now the BUT... but they didn't improve my depression. I was asked if I wanted to continue with a 7th and 8th treatment, but it was decided between the doctor and myself, that if I hadn't seen improvement by the 6th treatment, it probably wasn't going to happen. I would probably do it again, even if I had to pay out of pocket again like before. Thinking back, I now wonder if it could have been more effective if I had a therapy session right after each treatment, to talk about my experience and how I felt. I don't know if anyone administering the treatments today even offers something like that. They didn't back then. As for the future, I would consider Spravato treatments, as I believe this is something my insurance would help with. Even though it's technically still ketamine, it differs in some way in which my brain can't remember.

In the past year, I tried to get TMS treatments, as I've been as interested in trying them for the same reason I was with the ketamine treatments. I went to a local psychiatrist that offered the treatments to see if I would meet the criteria for them, although I already knew I would. Seeing as how my insurance would help cover them, to me it was a no brainer. I went to the first appointment, in which I saw a NP for the intake questionnaires. At the end of the appointment, I was told that they would submit the treatments to my insurance company, and then someone would be in touch. I won't bore you with the remaining details, mostly because I'm lazy 😑. After far longer than I should have waited, and several failed times trying to contact the psychiatrist's office, I contacted my insurance company and asked them directly if anyone had submitted a claim for TMS treatments. They hadn't and I decided, even if they finally contacted me, that I wouldn't want to be under the care of an organization like them. I couldn't have felt comfortable after being dropped through the cracks. But hey, that's just me. That took the wind out of my sails, so it goes back on the bucket list temporarily.

Those are the treatments I would be interested in trying, as they seem to be the most available to me, and the most promising. As for the ketamine treatments, I still believe there's a lot of promise with them. Just as there's a growing interest in the mental health community in psychedelics. You might say it was just the effect of a powerful drug, and that reality is a fine blur at best. But after experiencing what I did, I feel there’s much more to it than that. I'm sure there are many people that have benefited from them, but that's the rub about medications and maybe everything in life. Everyone is different, as well as what works for them or not, and YMMV. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they finally found something that worked for absolutely everyone ( I can't think of anything quite frankly, but my brain is in night mode) .

Thanks for the read, and I hope the best for you and everyone on here.

[Toddzen in reply to Mofro]

I call Ketamine the God Chemical. But after 15 IV treatments it was just a fantastic high followed by a return of my Illness within a day or two. I am now taking 60mg Ketamine lozenges everyday. This is working. It feels like a mild LSD trip. The cost is only $129 for one month supply.

[Mofro in reply to Toddzen]

It would be as good of God as I could imagine, given what I've experienced during my lifetime, and one where having faith wasn't a prerequisite. Of course I can only go on my own personal experience with it. It's sad that everything has to wait for FDA approval before insurance companies will even consider providing coverage for it. Meanwhile they cover a lot of other claims for issues caused by depression and anxiety. I would have to believe it would be cheaper in the long run to cover "experimental" treatments for both of them. With the current state of the world, this is becoming more true by the day. Why must we always find wisdom in hindsight? I'll stay away from other conspiracy theories as well as "we're all but slaves on the same big plantation". Except for the filthy rich. I digress. 🤐

[Toddzen in reply to Mofro]

I agree. Medicare didn't pay for my Ketamine treatments. My 3 Psyche Med, that don't work, only cost me $5.00 a month. I can't find a Psychiatrist that will accept Medicare. So that's $325 per visit. Same with Therapists.

[Mofro in reply to Toddzen]

You make a great point. Yeah, it's a cheap $5 for the meds, but sometimes we get what we pay for. Unfortunately in this case, you didn't get what you paid for. On the other hand, we may choose to pay out of pocket for something that isn't "approved" and "allowable". Unfortunately it's also expensive, which makes the risk of not getting what we paid for even greater. It's a double whammy.

Don't get me started on doctors...please.

Now I'm sitting here scratching my head 🙄, wondering if what I typed even makes sense. Really puts the pressure on my decision whether to hit the Reply button or not. 😮

[Toddzen in reply to Mofro]

It made sense. Thanks for your understanding. 😊

[Cecethat in reply to Mofro]

That is so true. They make it so difficult.

[Brian1981 in reply to Mofro]

I never tried Effexor or hydroxyzine. Anyone else have success with these drugs ?

[Cecethat in reply to Brian1981]

It works wonders for me, now that my body is used to it. Perfect combo for me.

[RMHiker]

The combo that finally worked for me is Auvelity for depression and gabapentin for anxiety. It took almost a year to get there, so like you, I'm very grateful 🙏

[Cecethat in reply to RMHiker]

That is great to hear! Finding the perfect combo is the hard part. Once you do, it is much smoother of a ride!

[Mofro in reply to RMHiker]

With the time you said it took to finally work for you, how did you ever have the patience to wait that long. I'm sure I would have given up far before that. Unless you saw enough improvement to warrant waiting as long as you did.

[RMHiker in reply to Mofro]

It was horrible, for sure. I was going through cancer treatment, that's what triggered everything. I switched doctors and meds several times. The anxiety and depression would break at night and I'd get some relief, so that helped. Lots of prayer and Douglas Bloch videos on YouTube gave me hope that something would finally work!

[fiddlerontheroof2]

I was on cymbalta and rexulti for almost 4 years. But I got terrible tremors from the rexulti that spread from my left hand to my whole body. So I had to be taken off the rexulti. Without the rexulti, I spiraled into a major depressive episode. The doc started me on vraylar 4 days ago, in combination with the cymbalta. I'm hoping that it works. MDD is hell.

[Brian1981]

Rexulti did nothing for me. Never tried Cymbalta. Anyone else have success with this combo ?

[Cecethat in reply to Brian1981]

I took Cymbalta. It did nothing for me at all.

[applejax7]

Hydroxyzine came in super handy for me when I was having anxiety attacks. I'm currently taking Propranolol for the same purpose, as well as Zoloft and Wellbutrin.

[Cecethat in reply to applejax7]

Oh yes. Hydroxyzine is awesome. They raised me to the 50mg dosage 3 times a day. They save me! I feel so much more balanced. My body is now used to the Effexor. Those two together are awesome for me.

[Hb2003]

Laughter and a dose of humor and hope