My story - medical professional with severe multi-drug resistant major depressive disorder, and general anxiety disorder.

I am glad to find this community. I just signed up, and it prompted me to tell my story. What I put down in my profile, with some edits, is a good intro:

I am diagnosed with multi-drug resistant major depressive disorder, aka, treatment resistant depression, general anxiety disorder, and substance abuse disorder. I have had these issues, to one degree or another, for most of my life, but was unfortunately only diagnosed after suffering from them for decades. The late diagnoses meant late treatment ... too late to prevent them from almost destroying my life.

I also happen to be a medicinal chemist and hold four science degrees in various fields, so I have good knowledge of disease and medical technology, with a specialty in drug therapy. I have investigated my diseases thoroughly, and have decent knowledge about them, so if you want to talk about treatment (both drug therapy and psychological therapy), I am generally happy to share the information I have gathered and to help with researching solutions.

I will share my experience and the information I have gathered in the forums, so other people don't have to go through the unbelievable suffering that I have gone through. You can also chat with me if you have questions. I can give tips, references to peer-reviewed research, etc., but my best advice is to find an excellent psychiatrist and therapist (which is not always the easiest thing to do). With TRD, however, we have to look at the very latest scientific research.

[kenster1]

welcome aboard BDZ lets hope in you sharing tips and experiences can help the many.

[Clynn34]

Hi Welcome, I am very interested in your story and research. I will definitely send you some questions. Thank you for sharing.

[strugglinginAZ]

Welcome.

I would like to talk with you about my situation and hear your thoughts about it.

[Dell12345]

Hi, thanks for posting, sorry to hear about your troubles, and welcome. 🙂 I've been doing a bit of research myself and am starting to wonder about the benefits of being on a medication for multiple years (for unipolar recurrent depression and anxiety).

I've been taking venlafaxine for about 14 years now. A couple of years ago I had a severe episode of anxiety, and venlafaxine seemed to have stopped working for me. Even increasing the dose a lot seemed to have a very minimal effect.

I therefore had to add other medications.

I'm wondering now if there is a benefit to continuing with venlafaxine, having started to read about the potential biological effects on the brain which may cause treatment resistance.

Any thoughts?

How did your treatment resistance come about?

[Hidden in reply to Dell12345]

Hi Dell12345, I have the same question about the medication after being on them for a long long time. I was on prozac from 1993 to 2003 and then it stopped working so they switched me to paxil for a while and then celexa and now I'm back on prozac all these years later. I wish I could be normal without medication.

[woodpeckers1 in reply to Dell12345]

Hi there, I have the same as you and been on venlafaxine for couple of years was on 375mg and reducing but doesn't seem to work this time round had severe episode 2 years ago and now come back last year , can I ask what other medications you added and are you better now ? Hope ok to ask this , I like these forum to get tips and help from like-minded people Thanks Avril

[Dell12345 in reply to woodpeckers1]

Sorry to hear that, it's a right pain. I tried a few but currently take venlafaxine, mirtazapine, Buspirone and Atomoxetine. All seem to have helped a bit. I'm in the process of dropping the mirtazapine or venlafaxine, seeing which is easier at the moment. Both are hard to taper off.

[Teaching]

I'm ready and open to learn from you.

[LongestBlue]

Welcome! Sorry to hear about your situation. Thank-you for sharing your journey. I’m sure many will benefit from your knowledge. I am interested like many about the benefits of being on a medication for multiple years for depression and anxiety, (venlafaxine, prozac) and the potential biological effects on the brain which may cause treatment resistance.

[bethelbee]

Welcome to the community! After becoming treatment resistant to meds after being on them for decades my therapist recommended TMS and for me it has been successful. I've had 3 rounds. The positive results of the first two each lasted about 6 months and the last one is still working after 2 years. For me it was a lifesaver, literally.

[Sunrisetabby]

Thank you, BlackDogZion, for sharing your story. Welcome to the HU community. I have found a lot of support here. I appreciate your advice regarding finding an excellent psychiatrist, but for me like many on this forum, that has proven impossible, especially when l have also been facing sleep, cognitive, and focus challenges, ala sleep hypnopea, long-COVID, and ADHD, in addition to the fun, fun, fun of long COVID. My main focus now is on improving sleep, and I confess that I am completely lost. I have good doctors (not excellent) and I recently completed an in-lab sleep study. The study report conducted by the doctor at the lab confirmed my sleep was poor but said that I didn't meet the definition of sleep apnea and they suggested that I work on lifestyle changes and lose weight. I had another one of my doctors, who has experience with sleep apnea (and seems excellent) look at the same report and say, hmm, that is surprising that they didn't recommend a cap machine or an oral appliance due due clear impacts on quality of life. Now, I am meeting with a third doctor, a neurologist, to again discuss the same report, which with no medical training, I respectfully don't really understand at all. How can I figure out what to do? Now, obviously, I am not asking you for an answer, but I, and likely many others on this forum, would love to hear any input you can offer on trying to figure out how to navigate conflicting medical opinions and peer-reviewed research that seems to be able to find what the donors want it to find. Now, I am left buying tongue sleeves, mouth tape, cheap sleep mouth guards, and really with no idea of what I should be doing but realizing that Inhave increased my anxiety about my poor sleep that clearly won't help solve anything. Argh. Sorry that I'm frustrated and just ranted. Like many its now been almost three years of depression and inability to work and Inreally want to get better. Thank you and welcome again

[Aloneandupset]

Hi I think I can relate to a lot of what you've said. I also suffer from TRD. I've also struggled w substance abuse issues. I'm not here looking for medical advice or TRD/substance abuse related stuff. I'm just here trying to build ig some kind of support network. I think I have a lot of things to say Abt my own experiences and struggles but I'm also willing to listen to other ppls struggles and experiences. I see you've already got a lot of replies to this post but if you want to chat, I'm open. Ig that goes for anybody else reading this. I'm a 38 yo male living in the eastern US. I've experienced so much trauma and tragedy in my life and I can't remember a time when I didn't struggle w mental health issues but I just put my dog down the other day and that's just rly sent me over the edge. I just say all that to let ppl know where I'm at rn.

[Hidden in reply to Aloneandupset]

Hi Aloneandupset, I'm sooooooo sorry you had to put your dog down. I had to put my best dog ever/heart dog down in Aug 2022 and I still haven't recovered. I had a heart attack right after that happened and ended up in the hospital. Then I went on a rollercoaster ride of different meds for depression and anxiety and my brain got so messed up. A bunch of other life events happened (a couple of deaths in the family and a major move to a new town) and all I can say is it is a miracle that I'm still alive. I'm glad this group is here and that we can share our lives with each other and know that we are not alone. I used to think I was the only one who had these thoughts or feelings or struggles with mental issues and medication side effects. Thank you for sharing.

[Bakerssquare]

I also have TRD and have tried many avenues for treatment. Some include ect, tms and I am currently on five different medications. Do you know if any medications that are better others?