anxiety/depression

[Pollycricket]

I’ve been on several medications and none have helped. Any suggestions would help.

[Nothing_but_books]

Hi Polly, Talk to a Psychiatrist, they know more about these meds than general doctors do. Also talk to the head pharmacist. Knowing about meds is their specialty.

[Pollycricket in reply to Nothing_but_books]

Have talked to psychiatrist. Working with the local health center which is constantly changing employee. Now they no longer have a psyciatrist. I’ve been working with a nurse practitioner(third one due to their change). All meds seem to make me very lightheaded. Been going thru this for over four years,

[Nothing_but_books in reply to Pollycricket]

Even more important to have a serious talk with your pharmacist. Call and schedule a time they can sit with you. Take a list of all the meds you've taken and how you've done on them.

[Hidden in reply to Nothing_but_books]

I totally agree. Maybe try a much more detailed approach to find answers. We realize that it could be difficult to recall what you’ve taken and dosages and all that if you don’t have records, but in my case, I tried a lot of meds over long period of time too. I also tried a lot of holistic group ways of approaching my health, I just recently learned of some different ways that I didn’t know about all those years so that could be a possible approach but if you’re gonna stay in the meds approach, it’s good to know as best you can what you’ve tried how much the dosages how long you tried for and talk to not only one psychiatrist, but if they don’t help try another one, and then I like her suggestion of talking to your pharmacist. Anything you can do to find more information out because what happened to my case was all those years 20+ years I was severely under medicated and once I got the medication amount right through a hospital I’m 90% maybe 98% recovered.

[Nothing_but_books in reply to Hidden]

Amazing. Your persistance really paid off.

If you don't mind sharing, I'm interested in the new possible approach you recently learned about.

[Hidden in reply to Nothing_but_books]

Oh nothing new to many on this site.

I first heard of the Dr Weekes method and approach a couple months ago on here, so I’m educating and working on it.

Although I feel recovered for over a year I always want to continue to try and improve.

Never know when we will possibly need everything in our arsenal

[Nothing_but_books in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. I have a pretty good idea: soon. Very soon. Tick...tick...tick...

[Hidden]

Hello,

If there was one thing I would do for the rest of my life, it would be to meditate. So I would recommend meditating. You don't truly believe in its effectiveness until you practice and experience a change in your mind after a few days.

That means it is not an instant fix but a long-term natural solution of shifting your actions with thoughts and perspectives on them. A greater benefit overall for your life.

I started with a minute a day to understand how to do it. I now do it 5 minutes a day but because of that practice, I do it throughout the day. That is because meditation is essentially focusing on the present moment. That is either the task you are doing or engaging with your senses: sight, touch, taste, smell.

When meditating, I do deep breathing focus. Slow controlled exhales to reduce the heart beat and relax the body. From there I maintain the control but engage with the other senses. What can I hear mostly. Thoughts will come to your mind in an attempt to distract you and that is okay. Do not force them away as it will produce the opposite effect and make them return more frequently and more intensely. This is the whole practice. Every thought that enters and you allow to pass by as you return to present focus is going to make you improve over time. See each thought as a benefit when ignored, no matter what its content.

Or you can watch something like a flickering candle. Maybe you put on a guided meditation video on Youtube for instance and you focus on the sense of hearing.

Good luck and message me at any time to tell me how it goes or if you want a discussion about anything. Final note: it will not be easy but once you build this new good habit, it will become automatic. It is difficult now because you are overriding a bad habit you have had for a while.

[Hidden]

For me

in order for you to know where you want to go you have to know where you’ve been. Can you tell us what you’ve tried?

[Pollycricket in reply to Hidden]

Tried so many meds. Now on 15 mg mirtazapine and . 25 mg of zanax 3x day. For the last two weeks I cut the mirtazapine in half. Noticed no difference. Still very light headed and am not interested in doing a thing. Just flat.

[G95304]

Hi Polly ! I've been on many different anti depression medications and none of them are very effective for me. You need to stay away from as much junk food as you can. That means no sugar. I've been trying a daily probiotic. Daily Probiotics mood by wellmade of Thrive market. Most sertonin is created in your gut bacteria. If your gut bacteria is not healthy then how can it make sertonin for you? Meditation is very good. Sleeping 8 hours is super important. remember the name of that probiotic. I think it's doing very well for me.

[Lizzie6040]

Paroxetine 60mgs daily is very good

[Kinlay]

I would ask your psychiatrist if all the meds you have tried are in the same class. They usually go to SSRIs first, but there are a lot of different classes, or types:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) ...

Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) ...

Noradrenaline and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NASSAs) ...

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) ...

Serotonin antagonists and reuptake inhibitors (SARIs) ...

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)

For me, mirtazapine, a tetracyclic, worked (I take it at night so sleepiness/dizziness isn't an issue). Also, keep in mind that many side effects (such as lightheadedness) go away after a few weeks, so it may be worth riding it out.

There are also alternative therapies out there that you may want to consider :

webmd.com/depression/altern...

I take fish oil, probiotics and NAC to boost mood, and I also do yoga and get regular massages. In addition, I use PEMF forum.fluxhealth.co/ and AVE mindalive.com/collections/a...

Keep in mind, what works for one person may not for another, so there IS a lot of trial and error in finding the right mix of treatments.

Good luck!

[bethelbee]

After decades of being on meds I became treatment resistant to them (did gave great success for quite a while). The last few I tried either didn't work or gave me intolerable side effects. Luckily my therapist recommended TMS, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. It's a noninvasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses targeting a part of the brain to eliminate depression. You are awake and alert and after each session, about 20 minutes, can go about your day. Treatment is typically 5x/wk for 6-7 weeks, a big time commitment but well worth it. I had 3 rounds; the positive results of the first two each lasted about 6 months and the 3rd is still working after 2 years. I've had minor setbacks but only because of other health issues. As with any treatment results vary and for some it may not work. For me TMS literally saved my life.

[Sunrisetabby]

I believe that the FDA-approved Spravato esketamine is a game changer. Many medications and TMS did not work with me. To be fair, I did not see much benefit until my fourth month of weekly eskrtamine. It sounds trite and not really believable even to me, but by unveiling brief glimpses of enlightenment, my perspective has been subtly but radically changed. What has been so meaningful about these noetic experiences is that I know that they are real. I actually hadn't heard the word poetic until this morning, while listening to Michael Pollan's book How to Change your Mind.

[designguy]

You might try doing a psychopharmacological test which uses your dna to determine which meds are best suited for you genetically. My test showed that none of the half dozen meds I had tried previously were right for me, I started on one it recommended (Pristiq) and it has worked well for me. My test was from Genesight and paid for by my insurance. I live in the US and am not sure if it's available elsewhere, although there are other brands of similar tests available.

[Hidden]

designguy mentioned, I took the psychopharmacological test. It narrows down what doesn't work and what MIGHT work. Very helpful so you are not trying so many meds. So that column that suggestion what might work is just that - that column does not mean for sure the medication will work but it is worth a try and I love how it narrows things down so you don't waste your time. I would like to try TMS. Katamine is a bit scary to me.

[CalmSeeker1]

Hello Pollycricket - I'm sorry to hear you are having a hard time finding medications that are effective with minimal side effects. It sounds like you are also having difficulty getting a consistent psychiatric provider to manage your medications which is certainly making the situation worse. I don't know what your diagnoses are but I have bipolar 2, anxiety and panic disorder. I'm struggling with depression and anxiety for months now, but have had challenges for 30 years. For me recovering from an episode of intense symptoms includes a whole wellness plan. Medications are definitely important but so are the following for me: regular exercise (even a 10 min walk), talking with family/friends openly about situation, therapy, weekly online support group, short meditation, distraction, breathing exercises, educating myself through books/podcasts/blogs, 8 hours sleep (if possible - insomnia sucks!), doing something normal even when I feel like I want to die. Somedays it feels impossible to do anything and I have to force myself to do anything, but I tell myself that these things are vital to my recovery even though they feel terrible/impossible right now. Somedays it is easier to engage and I try to hang on to hope. I also allow myself time for rest and occasionally I just can't cope or do anything. Those are the days that give myself an emotional hug and say "this is hard and you will make it through." After 4 months I'm finally starting to feel a bit better. I'm so grateful for this forum and the amazingly supportive people here. I hope you find the information and support as helpful as I have. All the best to you!

[Pollycricket in reply to CalmSeeker1]

Thank you so much for your reply. It’s been about five years for me. I’m 74 and it seems like they chalk everything up to old age. Yea, in my area there is little or no mental health help. I did go to a high priced psychiatrist from Albany. She was so rude to me but I had to take her abuse as there was no one else, as it was Covid time. She diagnosed me with depression, then anxiety, then anxiety and depression. Then she had me go to a neurologist and he said it was from the meds. She didn’t like his answer and told me to go to a more professional. I did, the best at St. Peter’s. His diagnosis was severe anxiety. She insisted and called my daughter and said she thought I had Parkinson’s. She then told me I had onset of Alzheimer’s. No meds she was giving me was working, So the last day I spoke with her she said omg you’re bi-polar. That’s when I finally got in the local mental health clinic. Everyone agrees I have anxiety and depression but I can’t seem to find an answer. Anyway, sorry I wrote a book here but I’m hanging in there. There has to be help at some point and I’ll keep trying till I get help.