Have antidepressants actually helped anyone?

[AWOL]

I've tried them all and then some. Have so called antidepressant medications actually helped anyone out there? I can't help but think they're all just a crock of shit, pushed on individuals to make money for doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and government campaigns. All listed don't give a shit about what actually makes you happy/happiness, they give a shit about the bottom line, theirs. What's your opinion?


(I'm sure it will be brought up, so I'll just pre-compose my response. Yes, it would be in the interest of pharmaceutical companies to give everyone mass quantities of opiates for a huge amount of reasons. No it could never realisticly happen in our lifetime.)

[Canis aureus]

Don't know. I'll take mirtazapine with methadone to make me sleep. Perhaps I will quit it when I'll get enough methadones.... That time will be soon, I believe.


For sleeping it helps, mirtazapine

[drugsaregood]

I used to be prescribed the max dose of Wellbutrin and Paxil. I definately noticed a change, I was more outgoing yet I constantly couldn't fall asleep and had this constant uppy buzzy feeling, I got the same effect with Prozac. Went to a new 'doc and was prescribed Effexor, have yet to taken the first dose but plan on giving it a shot soon, despite constantly hearing about the side effects and withdrawl symptoms. (Who wants to be controlled by a non-fun medicine?) Then again I guess some people actually depend on this stuff to make it through life...

[AWOL]

I've heard stories of antidepressants helping people out, but I don't know of anyone personally who would say they have helped them. Apart from all the interesting side-effects, they seem to do jack shit. And Utah has the highest % of population using antidepressants of anywhere in the nation, so there are plenty of people around here using them. But nobody really knows why?

[Papa Verine]

I'm sorry to say it but I did get good results from an SSRI for a couple years. Right now I don't take any antideppresants and I'm not depressed but when I was younger they really helped me. I think after a couple years though that they weren't doing much. There are much better ways to fight off depression such as the good 'ole self administered kick-in-the-ass!!!

Right now I'm depressed because I don't have ANY opiates at all. I'm not "sick" but I just don't like to be stone cold sober. It's a mild depression with sensitivity to pain and cold. I hate not being opiated!!! I feel slight withdrawls any time I don't have opiates in me. As soon as I get ahold of some cash I'm taking a train ride and getting some good Chicago dope!!! Then I won't have to be so jealous reading everybody's posts here. (For a while anyway... HAHAHA)

[AWOL]

I'm sorry to say it but I did get good results from an SSRI for a couple years. Right now I don't take any antideppresants and I'm not depressed but when I was younger they really helped me.

Wish I could say the same. I'm not against antidepressants, they just don't do anything for me but cause side effects.

[Papa Verine]

I know DV that's why I said "I'm sorry to say". Most of my friends who've taken them say the same things you're saying. I think if your depression is caused specifically by a lack of Serotonin they will help you but there are other causes for depression. I guess I was lucky and I really did have a serotonin shortage.

[candyshop]

i have tried 5 different ones 4 worsened the depression 1 caused panic attacks

[ZodiacKiller]

Both me and the Mrs have been taking Welbutrin for the past couple of months, and I've noticed some subtle, desirable effects. This is my first time trying an anti-depressant, and given the fact that we've been living a lot cleaner (ie. no opiates, except for a couple of relapses, well, maybe three:rolleyes: ) for the last two months, there has definitely been less of the post-kicking depression that usually accompanies our kicks. We've been realtively normal and happy and doing stuff, and not constantly obsessing and craving.

Maybe it's helped, in fact, this round of cleaning up our acts seems to be sticking, and the only different variable from all the other times is the addition of the Welbutrin. We've always used sub and benzos each time, so maybe the Welbutrin was the deal-clincher to getting us back to being weekend warriors. Yay.

[AWOL]

Wow, that's great to hear. I was on Bupropion (Welbutrin XL) for about 6 months. I took all the way up to whatever the max dose is supposed to be three times a day. It just didn't work for me, the same as all the other meds I've tried. Maybe it goes along with what papa ver was saying. My depression probably isn't related to seratonin / dopamine / gaba / whatever. It is constant, and a huge huge pain in the ass. I've had pretty bad depression for about as long as I can remember. Unfortunatly I have to resort to self medicating. However in all honesty all of my friends and people that I've talked to about this have all told me that long term they just quit taking the meds because they really didn't help them at all. I'm glad they at least work for someone, makes me feel a little better about pharmacutical companies .... a little.

[oxymoron]

A shrink gave me some shit called remeron once and it sucked donkey dick. He told me not to drink with it, and of course I did, and felt like I wanted to die. Fuck drugs you can't drink beer with:finger4u::jerkoff:. I'll stick with those dangerous opiate based drugs thank you very much:p

[southernbelle]

I've been on prozac for many years. Not for depression, for PMS. Don't y'all dare laugh!:p j/k Anyways, I've got it so bad I turned into a screaming demon for 2 weeks every month. Finally, my doc suggested prozac and I've been "normal" ever since. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but it sure did the trick for me...

[antigonemuse]

Prozac goddess... said meds get be outta bed everyday

:krank: + :chillpill = :cloud9:

:angry-smi + :faga1: = :wasntme:

[youngcanadian]

I've been on many different ssri's, snri's, tricyclic, tetracyclic and good old welbutrin. Welbutrin was the only one to work and not cause side effects. What good is an anti depressant if it makes you loose your libido or ability to get it up. Shit, i mean no sex makes me depressed:( . As far as relieving anxiety all these drugs are a crock of shit. Has anyone else been forced to try these meds for anxiety before recieving a script for benzo's??

[candyshop]

yes tried 5 before i started on the xanex-the antis did not work -xanax does

[youngcanadian]

Welbutrin helps me with the depression and 6mg of clonazepam daily along with lorazepam as needed helps the anxiety.In a perfect world I would be treated with dilaudid or oxycodone for both issues:)

[zombiewoof23]

I was prescribed paxil for about a year, along with lithium. These drugs did absolutely nothing for me. The paxil gave me sexual dysfunction while I was on it. Who knows what the lithium did? The only thing that I've found that slow down my thought process and makes me think rationally, thus eliminating depression symptoms is amphetamines in the proper doses.

I believe the origin of my depression in the past is the inability to stay on task and also the large amount of death I've dealt with over the years. I've never been able to cope with losing family or close friends and I have lost a ton of em. If I got paid to be a pallbearer, I'd be rich. My inability to stay on task is a major issue, considering I am a perfectionist. I am not one to burn bridges, but procrastination has affected personal relationships in the past, and also not being able to stay on task because of my mind wandering has caused me to not reach my full potential. I am self employed and do fairly well, but you can see exactly what I'm talking about in my stats from year to year. Last year I was 31st in the United States out of around 6000 ppl and was asked to speak at the franchise convention and so forth. My second year in my field. This year, I'm not even on the board and I have been fighting depression most of the year. I did 5 times the volume the previous year in a very cut throat business.

Different ppl have different chemical deficiencies or imbalances. Some dopamine and norepinephrine, some serotonin, others a combination. Some other ppl may be dealing with current or past abuse, others traumatic situations that still affect their daily lives. All of these things will play a role in the composition of each individual person and antidepressants will work for some and not others. So the answer is no for me on antidepressants being any help to me.

[earthenone]

I was put on the "Serene" program serzone, whenst my brother died, it made me feel like a freak in my head, i hated it, i was supposed to ween down, but i just quit taking that crap.

[zombiewoof23]

I was put on the "Serene" program serzone, whenst my brother died, it made me feel like a freak in my head, i hated it, i was supposed to ween down, but i just quit taking that crap.

I quit both lithium and paxil cold turkey. It took a couple of years for my brain to recover. I'm sure the mass quantities of LSD I was taking at the time didn't help anything.

[Dexter the Meth Orphan]

I would say probably not for me. I base that off of the fact that I would have to keep taking the meds to keep being happy. Granted, I self medicate to be happy now...but I have found a happy medium between opiates and DXM that allow me to go a week or so feeling just peachy while being drug free. It is by my choice that I still self medicate. If I withdraw, I do 600-900mg of dex a day for a few days and I am just peachy.

[Papa Verine]

I quit taking paxil cold turkey after a couple years and I was fine. People talk about these terrible withdrawls they had quitting antidepressants but I didn't mind. I guess it's because I knew what REAL withdrawls were from heroin and benzos. I felt it but it just wasn't all that bad for me.

DXM also gives me great relief when W/D from opiates but WOW! I used to snort PCP in my younger years and that's very similar to what DXM does. I was pretty suprized the first time I went to CVS and ended up feeling like I did a fat line of PCP.

[AWOL]

Withdrawls from Zoloft are terrible. Electrical type seizure zaps starting in your brain and just spreading out. Depends on your dose, I was at 150mg and had been taking them for a while. Should have tappered. God damn that sucked!

[zombiewoof23]

I quit taking paxil cold turkey after a couple years and I was fine. People talk about these terrible withdrawls they had quitting antidepressants but I didn't mind. I guess it's because I knew what REAL withdrawls were from heroin and benzos. I felt it but it just wasn't all that bad for me.

DXM also gives me great relief when W/D from opiates but WOW! I used to snort PCP in my younger years and that's very similar to what DXM does. I was pretty suprized the first time I went to CVS and ended up feeling like I did a fat line of PCP.

I'm still not exactly clear what was going on in my brain chemically. I was also taking benzos at the time, ketamine, mass LSD, mass cocaine, ice, nitrous parties at the house and whatever else I could get my hands on. No opiates at all in those days. I also lost a couple of very close friends to OD at the same time, so that played a factor in my mindset. What I call withdrawal, was severe depression and major anxiety, and snapping during stressful situations. It hit me shortly after taking myself off of both lithium and paxil, and continued for almost 2 full years.

Benzos by far cause the worst depression for me after I take them for too long. I have learned to respect them.

[Sumocat]

They're a mixed bag. I've tried probably 6 or 7 of them over the past 6 years. Cymbalta is the only one I truly responded to, but its got a hell of a lot of side effects.

I don't think its totally cut and dry, either. Very much depends on what's really going on with the person. If there are co-occuring factors like environmental stress, unresolved emotional issues and additional "disorders" like attention deficit, anxiety, etc... then just one med alone usually can't take care of it all.

There's also the issue of what people expect to get from the medicine. There are certain symptoms I've had that I eventually realized were caused by *habits* I'd fallen into while I was depressed. I kept expecting the drug to fix that until I saw what was going on.

So, yes, they can make a real difference...and they can also be complete crap.

[Narkotikon]

I voted no because my definition of happiness and what those pills can provide in terms of happiness just aren't the same thing. I don't expect and never thought that Prozac or what have you would make me euphoric, but I did buy into them making me feel normal. The only thing I've found so far that has made me feel normal has been opiates. Now, I don't really get that euphoric rush from them anymore, but they never cease to make me feel normal. Now, if you're talking about an illegal drug that makes me joyful or happy, I'd say cocaine, but that stuff is so damned expensive and the comedown really does suck.

I've done the SSRI's, Effexor, Wellbutrin, some of the tri-cyclics, and I've done some of the mood-stabilizers and anti-psychotics. Some just made things worse. Like the anti-psychotics. You tell a doctor that you've got anxiety issues, and then your damned family tells them behind your back that you're a drug addict, and you get prescribed risperdol rather than valium. I hate anti-psychotics. They just make me worse, not better. Shouldn't that tell them that I don't need them? As far as the mood-stabilizers, I don't believe I need them either because I'm generally not an angry person other than with my family, and I don't think it's rational or even right to make me take a med just to get along with my family. Why shouldn't they have to take meds? God knows they need them. I guess you could say I self-medicate with opiates and other drugs to deal with my family, which is valid, but at least they make me feel normal / better, whereas the others don't. I'd be all about taking morphine for anxiety or anger management issues with my family.

[AWOL]

So, yes, they can make a real difference...and they can also be complete crap.

Not to dump on your opinion, I just dissagree. A placebo can also make a real difference, and often times does. Sometimes with near the same percentage as an antidepressant. Package it up nice and tell someone what the pill will do for them, and it's amazing to me how often times that's exactly what the person will report. I'm not going to get into religion in this thread here, but I could draw some comparisons of the placebo affect.

[Dexter the Meth Orphan]

Not to dump on your opinion, but a placebo can also make a real difference, and often times does. Sometimes with near the same percentage as an antidepressant.

Indeed, not to mention that SSRIs and other forms of anti depressants can increase thoughts of suicide. I can vouch for that too...got a scar going up my cephalic on my forearm from when I was depending on anti-Ds to make life better. Quiting anti-Ds is the best thing I have done for my sanity...ever.

[Duckfeet]

I've tried them all and then some. Have so called antidepressant medications actually helped anyone out there? I can't help but think they're all just a crock of shit, pushed on individuals to make money for doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and government campaigns. All listed don't give a shit about what actually makes you happy/happiness, they give a shit about the bottom line, theirs. What's your opinion?


(I'm sure it will be brought up, so I'll just pre-compose my response. Yes, it would be in the interest of pharmaceutical companies to give everyone mass quantities of opiates for a huge amount of reasons. No it could never realisticly happen in our lifetime.)

Yep, I got diagnosed with different forms of mental illness many years ago. I was in a war, what the fuck... And over the years have been prescribed lots of anti-psychotics and anti-depressants. I don't buy it. I mean, I know some people really are psychotic, have something physically wrong in their minds...but I think most of the rest is just philosophical. We finally see what life is about, and what our fate is, and that is terrifying and impossible, so we twist reality one way or another.

Consciousness is a curse, a disease. Imagine what a dog, or a rat would do if all of a sudden they became aware of their condition. Man's fate is to lie, fornicate and die (Celine), and that's just too unbearable for words so we nut up or get depressed. Meds just stupify us a bit. Opiates work best for me, beer used to work... religion works for some.

..like Bukowski said: life is pretty hard to take straight.

[AWOL]

Yep, I got diagnosed with different forms of mental illness many years ago. I was in a war, what the fuck... And over the years have been prescribed lots of anti-psychotics and anti-depressants. I don't buy it. I mean, I know some people really are psychotic, have something physically wrong in their minds...but I think most of the rest is just philosophical. We finally see what life is about, and what our fate is, and that is terrifying and impossible, so we twist reality one way or another.

Consciousness is a curse, a disease. Imagine what a dog, or a rat would do if all of a sudden they became aware of their condition. Man's fate is to lie, fornicate and die (Celine), and that's just too unbearable for words so we nut up or get depressed. Meds just stupify us a bit. Opiates work best for me, beer used to work... religion works for some.

..like Bukowski said: life is pretty hard to take straight.

Well .... I'm now ready to start shootin smack again. Gotta go get me some rigs, brb. :D (Wise words duckfeet. Life deffinetly is damned hard to take straight)

[oxymoron]

Welbutrin helps me with the depression and 6mg of clonazepam daily along with lorazepam as needed helps the anxiety.In a perfect world I would be treated with dilaudid or oxycodone for both issues:)

Fuck yeah it would be a perfect world if I were treated with dilaudid and oxycodone:)
I would have no anxiety or depression if I was given these drugs daily and didn't have to pay for them. But unfortunately it's not a perfect world, far from it actually:jerkoff:

[HistoryofMadness]

Yes, tremendously, and what do you expect if you're using depressants and taking anti-depressants, to get better? At least do what I do and find some that don't get cancelled out by the shit you ingest (trial and error, and we're all different) if you MUST (and I must) partake.

[AWOL]

Yes, tremendously, and what do you expect if you're using depressants and taking anti-depressants, to get better? At least do what I do and find some that don't get cancelled out by the shit you ingest (trial and error, and we're all different) if you MUST (and I must) partake.


I never said anything about my using any substance while taking those meds. :)

[robojunkie]

I've tried pretty much every class except the old MAO-A's. Most made me hyper and need benzos to deal with. Doxepin, amitryptiline, clomipramine, imiprimine, prozac, remeron...fuck all that serotonin/norepi shit. I would be willing to try a pure Dopamine reuptake inhibitor since that actually seems to make logical sense to me. My doctor wants me to go on some anti-D but the only ones that seem to have positive effects from this thread (and other places) are the bupropion and deprenyl. Like cocaine would be a super ultra dopamineRI and I would have to imagine something that could increase those levels of dopamine that make you care about and enjoy life supposedly would be cool. But those serotonin/norepinephrine, SSRI's, etc. just end up sucking. And they just take to long to whatever the hell is they're supposed to do. Anyone on deprenyl/selegeline? better/worse than bupropion? The current "dopamine RI's" being taken just can't be done for long with retention of sanity.

[SpecialGuy69]

You know what suprises me the most? That only ONE person hasn't tried antidepressants. I havent taken 'em since highschool, and then it wasn't willingly.

[slugbone]

Withdrawls from Zoloft are terrible. Electrical type seizure zaps starting in your brain and just spreading out. Depends on your dose, I was at 150mg and had been taking them for a while. Should have tappered. God damn that sucked!


yeah i had that experience too. i had zoloft and trazadone. felt like a fucking weirded out zombie, plus i was still drinking daily which didn't help.

[Hoss]

yeah i had that experience too. i had zoloft and trazadone. felt like a fucking weirded out zombie, plus i was still drinking daily which didn't help.

I was first given Effexor but stopped that because of the immediate side effects I experienced, until last summer when I was administered Lexapro 10mg daily - I had a hell of a time sleeping so they also prescribed me Trazadone - that stuff made me feel like SHITE the next day! They switched me over to Ambien but then I started abusing those like an idiot so I had to kick those.

Lexapro helped me out immensely last year after a post Methadone crash ('twas my own doing), and with the combination of Bupe I started to feel much better. After about 6 months, though, I began feeling like a "shell" of my old self; sure, I wasn't feeling much depressed, but I was feeling very bland - almost like a "diet" version of my old self.

I finally stopped taking Lexapro last month cold, no tapering; the withdrawals I experienced lasted for approximately a week and mainly consisted of being VERY light headed and extremely DIZZY when standing up; laying down and watching TV was ok, but I was essentially limited to such. After the week was over, so were the withdrawals.

Mental history runs deep in my family's history, namingly Manic Depression. I believe that many medications work, but at the same time I couldn't stand how Lexapro was making me feel after awhile.

Hoss

[aj11]

Meds don't work for me, even when I am clean. Opiates have been the best supplier of chemicals I have ever found. My dumb-ass even did ECT!! didn't work just fried my memory, and brain

[AWOL]

Meds don't work for me, even when I am clean. Opiates have been the best supplier of chemicals I have ever found. My dumb-ass even did ECT!! didn't work just fried my memory, and brain

Wow, that's rough dude, ECT is harsh. But we gotta do what we gotta do. Hope things are going better for ya now days my friend.

[flipside]

I'm going to go with the consensous here and agree that opiates by far have done more for my depression anxiety and PTSD than any RX'd anti-depressant ( as long as I have them).

However, I have been on one form of anti depressant or another since the age of 12, and have been on Prozac, Zoloft and an anti anxiert for the past 12 years, dosage changes as do my symptoms, but with or without opiates, I can honestly say I could not function without my Prozac.

No I don't get euphoric or even most times feel normal whatever that is, but it certainly has kept me from being suicidal most of the time. Allowed me to get up in the morning instead of lay in bed for days on end and be fairly productive.( disregard pain that does this for me instead of the depression), but even with the pain I can usually be productive from my bed, instead of sleeping and crying all day 24/7.

I don't think without them I could handle my current diagnosis and make any decsions about treatment other than to opt out and let nature take it's course.

[tonyk]

Now there's the perfect idea! If Dr.s would prescribe narcotics for depression we would all be much happier, but they tell you that "narcotics are bad, they are addictive" But they think nothing of putting you on an anti-depressent that they would cont. to prescribe the rest of your life if you wanted it. Isn't that the same thing as addiction?? And I'm on hypertension meds for "guess what" the rest of my life. But the Doc's think that is ok since the drug companies push these new high priced BP meds. They just can't make any money off of plain old narcs. The system sucks.

[Seedy]

Well I just checked out this thread for the first time. Haven't bothered until now because I've never taken anti -d's.I'm the second person in the poll to vote never. Crazy! Reading through it all has confirmed what I already guessed. Depression & anxiety are in my genes. Both my parents and my bro have taken 'em as well as most of my friends. Fuck, I guess everyone gets depressed sometime in their lives. I guess my opiate use is pretty much self medication. I still get depressed but it's not like my old cycles of say 3-4 days depressed 2-4 days normal 5-6 days depressed 4-5 days normal...

Usually except in the lowest troughs of my fucked up cycle of moods if I take enough opiates I can get on top of it.:rolleyes:

[tonyk]

A friend of mine had a stroke a year ago at 57 yrs of age. She is a good friend, but as straight as an arrow & doesn't drink, do any drugs or even swear. I know, how can I be her friend? But anyway she had the same hyperactive, short attention span you described having & her Dr. said some people get this way post stroke. Actually she was always that way. So her Dr. prescribes her Adderall. She has no idea that it has "speed" properties, doesn't really even know what speed is. She is now happy as a snake! But no one can keep up with her! She says she can't go without it cause it "helps her focus." She just has a great speed buzz on & isn't even aware of it. I did get one pill off of her but she was very adament about no more. So I guess they do prescribe this to hyperactive adults in certain situations. That one pill certainly gave me a hell of a buzz.

[AWOL]

I'm usually always depressed, I just pretend otherwise.

It's my honest belief that everyone feels like me but that they don't openly admit it. Obviously opiates pretty much take care of that.

[HistoryofMadness]

It's my honest belief that everyone feels like me but that they don't openly admit it. Obviously opiates pretty much take care of that.

I used to think that too, but turns out, people do have bad days, but for the most part shouldn't feel like shit on a regular basis...

of course often I suspect someone may have depression because they don't eat right or exercise enough, and in those cases, meds are not the answer...

I think doctors should have some sort of short-term med treatment process that could just get people who are suffering from depression up and moving, maybe exercise, and being able to get things done that make them feel good...

but that's a chicked/egg situation... are they down because they don't exercise or do they not exercise because they're down...

[AWOL]

I used to think that too, but turns out, people do have bad days, but for the most part shouldn't feel like shit on a regular basis...

of course often I suspect someone may have depression because they don't eat right or exercise enough, and in those cases, meds are not the answer...

I think doctors should have some sort of short-term med treatment process that could just get people who are suffering from depression up and moving, maybe exercise, and being able to get things done that make them feel good...

but that's a chicked/egg situation... are they down because they don't exercise or do they not exercise because they're down...


Well now you're just thinking outside of the box HoM :rolleyes:

[Hammilton]

I didn't realize there were so many angry feelinigs toward antidepressants. If it weren't for those, I wouldn't be alive. literally.

I've gone through so many bouts of severe can't-get-out-of-bed depression I can't count. I've been going through one for the last three months. Even having psychotic symptoms.

Wellbutrin blows! I never had so many problems with one pill before. Like being drunk without having fun.

Need to get on something else like Effexor, which I like, but I haven't had the electric shocks or withdrawal symptoms

[Seedy]

^^
Sorry to hear it, man. Hope u get out of it soon. Depression is a bitch, for sure. I can't imagine how shitty it would be to have prolonged bouts.

[betmylife]

I have been diagnosed with depression....since I began taking opiates, it has subsided......opiates are my anti depressant....unless I dont have any........the only real junk dilema, is not having any junk....


BML

[dirtdog]

fuck anti depressiants
im pro opitates
(yes im on lexapro)
but thats not the point....

[Synack]

yay for bumped threads... but I'm on prozac now..

[Dr. Oxy]

Was on Lexapro for 6 months, now on Cymbalta, yeah if you use them as a buffer, while you get your life back in order from whatever trainwreck caused you to become depressed, then they work.

If you just pop em, and keep surrounding yourself with depressing situations, things aren't going to improve....

[tui]

Paxil has helped me in the past.
and now i'm on it again... to help with PAWS... which it has... immensely.

t

[resorcinol]

In my experience they help, just not enough.

I'm functional on duloxetine 40 mg/day without opioids. Drugless, I want to die and I'm a mess with anxiety.

I could put it this way... drugs - mood

none - bad
duloxetine - decent
duloxetine and an opioid - fantastic (obviously, i'm high then)

[vanilla_mlkshake2007]

All anti depressents ever gave me was a dry mouth, a yucky taste in my mouth and the last one I was on made me talk about things that were totally bizarre like "a boy running around in ared t-shirt in a river" (we don't have a river or a boy in our apartment) so I was quickly tooken off this medication.I hate the side effects but my husband swears by Cymbalta.I prefer self medicating w/ opiates therefore I am never depressed.

[Curio]

http://www.hedweb.com/gooddrug.htm

I found a lot of good info RE: a/d meds on this ^website,
including the driving factors ($$) including manufacturer issues
that aren't doing Americans any favors.

Our country refused to allow Survector (amineptine)to be released,
and later even went so far as to get the EU to stop making it
so that US citizens had ZERO chance of getting the drug!

The med has a peculiar side effect/problem
which the "gestapo" feels will make it abusable.
They decided not to grant approval for this reason
only -- even though it is proven to be more effective
with less side effects than nearly EVERY other a/d.


Q: What exactly is the "problem" with it?
A: It can cause spontaneous orgasms!:D


Quoted from the site:

Amineptine (Survector) is a cleanish, (relatively) selective dopamine reuptake blocker. Higher doses promote dopamine release too. Amineptine is pro-sexual and liable occasionally to cause spontaneous orgasms. It is a mild but pleasant psychostimulant and a fast-acting mood-brightener. Unlike most other tricyclics, it doesn't impair libido or cognitive function. Unlike typical stimulants and other activating agents, it may actually improve sleep architecture. Scandalously, amineptine isn't licensed and marketed in Britain and America. For it is feared it might have "abuse-potential". FDA pressure led to its withdrawal in Europe too. This drove it onto the pharmaceutical grey market, discomfiting doctors and patients alike.

[Seedy]

For the last few years opiates have been doing a pretty good job of keeping my depression at bay but as the ammount I have to take these days has been getting out of hand I've finally decided to give ssri's a go. I've been on citalopram for about 6 weeks and I don't seem to have any more of those days that I just can't bring myself to do anything, those days where absolutely nothing interested me enough to leave my room.

So that's great, right but the problem is e doesn't work on SSRI's. A couple of weeks back I had a pill which I knew was a fucking good one, about as good as I've tried (had the same one on my birthday), and I got a bit of a rush but it just didn't kick in. So just stop taking e, you say? But I love e. What a dilemma.

[SurfRat]

They can sometimes help for a while but there are always side affects. Paxil and Prosac made me think I was coming seriously unglued. Lithium takes away everything. Remeron was ok but all it does is make you want to eat and sleep a lot. The brain shock thing is wierd that was with uh... some other psych drug, I can't remember them all but none of them were worth it to me.
If a drug works for you, then it is definately something to look into, I mean do some research, and if it seems safe then give it a go. Everybody is different.

[Duckfeet]

Whatever mental illness might plague me--and part of my pension comes from one--the only medicine that really works is opiates. I've done bunches of the other ones...nothing, really, except side effects....boring, kinda like smokin rope

[george123]

Some really helped, some didnt at all. Effexor had absolutely no effect on me. But Prozac, after three weeks, made me get out of bed, I stopped sleeping 15 hours a day, and completely erased the everyday suicidal thoughts i was having.

[zenpunk]

Yeah, years ago I've been put on nearly everything, from prozac to zoloft to lexapro to xanax...the list goes on and on and nothing really helped.

[limitless_euphoria]

In the short term, the SSRI class of meds make me zippy and they lessen my appetite. Over the long term, their effect seems negligable at best. I don't know, maybe they're just not for me. Wellbutrin seemed cool at first too... by the third week I'd lost interest and stopped taking it. I've given up on them basically. I mean, at least I gave it a go. It just cracks me up how I know these people who will smoke rock and/or blunts, shoot dope, drink booze and chain smoke cigs but antidepressants must be the witchcraft or something! Seems kind of silly to me.

[Curio]

In the short term, the SSRI class of meds make me zippy and they lessen my appetite. Over the long term, their effect seems negligable at best. I don't know, maybe they're just not for me. Wellbutrin seemed cool at first too... by the third week I'd lost interest and stopped taking it. I've given up on them basically. I mean, at least I gave it a go. It just cracks me up how I know these people who will smoke rock and/or blunts, shoot dope, drink booze and chain smoke cigs but antidepressants must be the witchcraft or something! Seems kind of silly to me.

Yeah, sometimes it is silly contradictions, but there are certain illicit drugs that folks enjoy which can greatly conflict with a lot of these meds like the a/d's. Many of the Rxs have to be taken daily to be therapeutic and have a long half-life or can completely nullify the drugs people may want to enjoy on their weekend warrior adventures.;)

[Duckfeet]

My take on this is that the docs rarely have the time or inclination to find out which illness, or what is really wrong, with those of us that don't have full-blown psychotic breakdowns. Borderline anxiety disorders, neuroses, manic-depression, depression, PTSD...a lot of these illnesses seem to stem from different problems, and are not always easily diagnosed or treated. Particularly if you don't have a lot of money. I do to the Veteran's Admin. hospitals, and they try, but they don't really know, and since the bid on the meds in bulk, they often have "one size fits all." Right now, it's generally Prozac and Trazadone, for PTSD and a few other stuff that a lot of vets have...

I mean, I don't *totally* buy into EDS, even tho it's a good defense for much of my behavior, because one, I"m libertarian, and don't think I *need* to justify doing any drugs I please...and two, I think the problem is at least partly philosophical, and if you have a sort of existential "life has no real meaning" view of life, it can be pretty grim, and opiates make it not matter so much.

Same with PTSD. And I've been told I have "classic" case, and was diagnosed with "combat fatigue" and "combat neurosis" in a damned war zone, and again, it gives me a good excuse for much of my anti-social behavior over the years...but sometimes I wonder. If there weren't a pension, would I really give a fuck about it? Probably not. And most vets that were into heroin over there came home, and never had anymore problems.

So one size definitly does not fit all on this, and you often have to go thru several docs until u find the right one, and for some, the anti-depressants make life worth living, for me, they never did a thing...

[limitless_euphoria]

My take on this is that the docs rarely have the time or inclination to find out which illness, or what is really wrong, with those of us that don't have full-blown psychotic breakdowns. Borderline anxiety disorders, neuroses, manic-depression, depression, PTSD...a lot of these illnesses seem to stem from different problems, and are not always easily diagnosed or treated. Particularly if you don't have a lot of money. I do to the Veteran's Admin. hospitals, and they try, but they don't really know, and since the bid on the meds in bulk, they often have "one size fits all." Right now, it's generally Prozac and Trazadone, for PTSD and a few other stuff that a lot of vets have...
I mean, I don't *totally* buy into EDS, even tho it's a good defense for much of my behavior, because one, I"m libertarian, and don't think I *need* to justify doing any drugs I please...and two, I think the problem is at least partly philosophical, and if you have a sort of existential "life has no real meaning" view of life, it can be pretty grim, and opiates make it not matter so much.
Same with PTSD. And I've been told I have "classic" case, and was diagnosed with "combat fatigue" and "combat neurosis" in a damned war zone, and again, it gives me a good excuse for much of my anti-social behavior over the years...but sometimes I wonder. If there weren't a pension, would I really give a fuck about it? Probably not. And most vets that were into heroin over there came home, and never had anymore problems.
So one size definitly does not fit all on this, and you often have to go thru several docs until u find the right one, and for some, the anti-depressants make life worth living, for me, they never did a thing...

I agree and I might add very well said. I think these damn pharm reps get in there and push their wares on some of these naive docs and they give them out like the nice lady gives out lollipops at the bank's drive-thru window to the little kiddies. After going to countless shrinks/psychiotrists I was finally accurately diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But before they reached that conclusion they tried me on the whole gamut of SSRIs, SSNRIs, neuroliptics (antipsychotics), and a bunch of other crap. The sad part is... I was excruciatingly honest with so many of them... so what's the first thing they do when they found out I liked to experiment with drugs... give me more drugs to experiment with... sheesh, sounds a bit QUACK-ish to me DUCKfeet, eh? Forgive my lame-ass attempt at humor. :)

[Moonrock]

xanax helped reduce the intensity and frequency of my panic attacks

[Saint]

I had 4 different psychs and tried 4 different SSRI's in the past because of physiscal problems that didn't go away and they couldn't find the cause for them, but none of them worked. They said I probably had PTSS but I don't have any vivid dreams of pasttime horrors or the like. Didn't go through that many trauma's anyway as far as I'm concerned.
I never had any problems on methadone, it's off the methadone when problems begin. Hell, I'm not even depressed. I just feel like shit. I'm not a superhappy, outgoing kind of person but a real depression is something else entirely.
Benzo's help a little but anti-depressants do absolutely nothing for me.

[tui]

For the last few years opiates have been doing a pretty good job of keeping my depression at bay but as the ammount I have to take these days has been getting out of hand I've finally decided to give ssri's a go. I've been on citalopram for about 6 weeks and I don't seem to have any more of those days that I just can't bring myself to do anything, those days where absolutely nothing interested me enough to leave my room.

So that's great, right but the problem is e doesn't work on SSRI's. A couple of weeks back I had a pill which I knew was a fucking good one, about as good as I've tried (had the same one on my birthday), and I got a bit of a rush but it just didn't kick in. So just stop taking e, you say? But I love e. What a dilemma.



hey seedy is that true? cos i can barely ever feel e or p -thought i kept getting shitty drugs- and someone said to me, my ssri meds will block the p... but i thought that seemed a bit unlikely...

another thing, i don't want to seem all mum-ish, but e will give you SEVERE depression- so that might've been a trigger for you before you started the ssri meds. seen suicides from too much e-use. that shit fucks with your head... and reality... be careful lovely

t

[Seedy]

^^ I know it's a fact that ssri's stop mdma working it's magic (did a whole lot of reading up on ssri's after my trip to auckland) but it seems strange that they'd have any effect on amphetamines.

So is it proven that e will give you severe depression? I know it does in the short term as a result of seratonin depletion. I guess the start of my career as an opiate addict was just after about a year of taking e most weekends - I was probably more depressed than I've ever been but that was a pretty tragic time for me. And I've suffered depression on & off all my life. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Anyway I only take e a few times a year these days so that shouldn't be a problem.

You take care too, Tui. And keep in touch. :)

[Narkotikon]

I'm going to say no, but to be honest, I've not really taken some of them long enough to find out. I'm the type of person who wants an instantaneous result. I'm used to having opies work in five minutes. I don't have the patience to wait 4-6 weeks for antidepressants to work.

Prozac, gave me more energy, but didn't really make me happy.
Paxil, did nothing.
Luvox, did nothing.
Zoloft, did nothing.
Celexa, gave me more energy, but didn't really make me happy.
Lexapro, gave me more energy, but didn't really make me happy.
Anafranil, helped calm me down because it's sedating, but did nothing else.
Trazodone, helped with sleep.
Elavil, helped with sleep.
Effexor, made me wound up and anxious.
Wellbutrin, made me loose a lot of weight, but nothing else.