Antidepressant

[Ikeeptrying]

Hi Everybody,

My doctor wants to put me on an antidepressant. She thinks Effexor would be good. Would this effect my RLS? What antidepressant would work w/o harmful effects on my pitiful legs? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Hidden]

Hi Effexor is not a good anti-depressant to take for your RLS. There are three that are more RLS friendly...wellbutrin (not available if you are in the UK ) Trazadone and Remeron.

[Ikeeptrying in reply to Hidden]

Hi Elisse, thanks for the heads up. I'm already taking Trazadone for sleep. Think I'll skip the anti-d's for now. Seems most of them aren't good for RLS anyway.

[Hidden in reply to Ikeeptrying]

That depends on whether you NEED a anti-depressant or just because of having RLS. If you NEED a anti-d then you cant not take one. If its because of your RLS and its made you depressed then trying to get your meds right so you sleep you then wouldnt feel depressed so wouldnt need it. Gosh i hope that made sense.

[Hidden in reply to Ikeeptrying]

Does your doctor want to put you on an antidepressant solely because your RLS??

Similar to what Elisse is saying:

If you have a diagnosis of depression (and said diagnosis isn’t the result of of a sleep disturbance) I don’t recommend «skipping» on the antidepressant. I take antidepressants for depression not caused by a sleep disturbance, and I need those puppies!

[Ikeeptrying in reply to Hidden]

What do you take?

[Hidden in reply to Ikeeptrying]

I take Lexapro (Escitalopram), Stavzor (Orfiril), and Wellbutrin. Stavzor (Orfiril) is a mood stabilizer and the other two are antidepressants.

[Neverquitting]

Wellbutrin. Give it sometime to build up in your system. Take it in the AM. Good luck

[DicCarlson]

Geeze - whether it helps RLS is immaterial - it's a horrible drug and withdrawal or discontinuation syndrome is EPIC. Mostly no better for depression than a placebo. Much more natural ways to deal with this - exercise, Fish Oil, B Vitamins, etc. articles.mercola.com/sites/...

[lauraflora in reply to DicCarlson]

I'm with you, Dic. I often check Dr. Mercola to see what he has to say about various things. However, I am adding some info on the benefits and risks of 5-HTP, bebrainfit.com/5-htp-benefits-side-effects, and that taking tryptophan is a better alternative. Also, lifeextension.com/magazine/2013/5/Better-Brain-Chemistry-with-Tryptophan. This one also tells how much tryptophan one can take safely. (Sometimes articles are vague @ this.) (Both tryptophan and 5-HTP are good for depression and anxiety as well, since they are both problems with low serotonin, as are sleep problems.)

My own experience with 5-HTP was this - it worked very well with my long time sleep problems/anxiety in the night. For a few months. Recently I had been having a return of some of those problems which I couldn't figure out. (I had one night where I could not sleep at all and thus was awake for 36 hours straight.) But upon reading the above article by bebrainfit.com, I figured AH,HAH! maybe that is what is happening, and switched over to tryptophan. First night - I could sleep again. and this has continued.

So, my take on this is - not that 5-htp is bad, but maybe one has to cycle these things. According to things I read, tryptophan is safer for long term, but only time will tell. At least I will pay attention and perhaps mix them up. Or alternate them. (This happen with many drugs as well.)

Also, a bit of pregnenolone and Dhea help keep the adrenals quiet at night. Also when I am sleeping well, RLS is quiet; if I am not sleeping well, RLS kicks up. (The chicken or the egg...) This, I understand from reading and experience, is the sympathetic nervous system being over- stimulated and dominant. That is why my approach is from the other way around. I have not changed what I take for RLS - iron, folic acid, magnesium. But I have focused on sleep/anxiety in the night. And that has worked out better.

A trick I earned from Julia Ross's book is to take 5-htp or tryptophan in the late afternoon and in the middle of the evening, to start building up the supply of serotonin as it would normally, and then before bed (and if awakened in the night.) Rather than just before bed.

There it is! I hoped to keep this short, but.....

[DicCarlson in reply to lauraflora]

Here's my latest sleep therapy - an app! The jury is still out...

pzizz.com/

[lauraflora in reply to DicCarlson]

Interesting! Let us all know if it works.

[marsha2306]

I️ take Wellbutrin slow release without any problem.

[Ikeeptrying]

Thank you all for your replies. I have several health problems of which RLS is only one, though it's pretty horrible. I don't know if I need an anti-d but hate taking any more meds. I'll sweat it out for now and when some of my other health problems resolve I'ill see how I feel. I appreciate all your help!

[lorrinet]

Avoid Effexor if you possibly can. The withdrawal symptoms are Hellish, it was months before I got over them. Below is a link to a forum where you can read some horrific stories about this drug (which doctors deny has any harmful effects). One of the worst symptoms is truly dreadful acid reflux, which led to me almost having my gall-bladder removed (in the end I saw a medical herbalist, whose treatment was, to my relief, successful). I was put on antidepressants by a neuroloist who said my strange problem (RLS) was all in my mind!

patient.info/forums/discuss...

[Ikeeptrying in reply to lorrinet]

Thank you. This doctor didn't know anything about RLS. Don't know what I'd do without this site where people know more about RLS than doctors for sure.

[Ikeeptrying in reply to lorrinet]

After reading the horror stories on the patient forum I think I'm just going to try and get along without any. I'm doing OK and don't want to get started on anything else. Thanks again for the link!

[Hidden]

Not every body has horror stories from taking anti-depressants. As has been said Effexor is one to avoid anyway when you have RLS. All meds can have people talk of horror stories, so if we listened to everyone who has had a bad experience we wouldnt take any meds for anything.

[lorrinet in reply to Hidden]

Yes, that's true of course, but Effexor does seem to be one to avoid, if you look at the comments on the forum (and others), and from my own experience. I did read a post from somebody who said that symptoms lessened when he/she changed from Effexor to Prozac when going through the process of withdrawal.