Posted by Pfinstegg on October 18, 2005, at 0:40:32 [reposted on October 18, 2005, at 7:20:55 | original URL]
In reply to It was fun while it lasted, posted by Camille Dumont on October 17, 2005, at 19:46:35
I'm so sorry that happened to you, but I know exactly what you are talking about. There is a sort of "loss of self" that comes with taking SSRI's or SNRI's. I think psychopharmacologists are starting to be more aware that having so much serotonin floating around causes one's brain to lose dopaminergic neurons, so we lose joy, excitement, sexual desire, etc. at the same time that we are controlling the severity of the depression. Can you add a medication which might help with dopamine, like Wellbutrin, and maybe keep the Effexor at a very low dose? An additional thought: psychiatrists are now recommending that people with depression take Cytomel in tiny divided doses, so that their TSH levels are at about 0.5. This is really safe, and sided-effect free, and can really help with depression. The only difficulty is that you could develop osteoporosis from this if you take it for a number of years, and so should get occasional bone scans, take a lot of Calcium and Vitamin D, and, if any bone loss occurs, take Fosamax or Actonel.
SSRI's work pretty well for me, but do make me very apathetic- I don't feel like my real self at all. I won't take them any more because of that. Wellbutrin, Cytomel, tianeptine and rTMS have turned out to be much more effective- and therapy, too, of course!
poster:Pfinstegg
thread:568457
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051017/msgs/568458.html