![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Enigma on March 29, 2006, at 10:59:06
I'm on yet another AD, and quite honestly, after so many have failed miserably over the years, I have 0 confidence this one will fair any better than the others.
Has anyone, who's tried many diffent meds, without success, then tried Celexa, and found it to help their depression?? Seems like a needle in a haystack...
Anyone know when the MAOI patch will be available? As of Monday, 3/27/06, my useless, yes, USELESS, doctor hasn't even HEARD of it. Jeez, I thought my old doc was bad.. at least he told me about it over 2 YEARS ago. Of course he did tell me it would be approved "soon", and that took 2 years.
Nardil is the only drug that has ever helped my depression, but the side effects made it non-viable (as a permanent solution). The insomnia and 'broken' sleep it caused (+many other side-effects) ruined any chance of it being a semi-cure for me, at least enough for me to go back to work again, and get my life back. Tried Parnate before that, and it was even worse!.. much worse actually. I won't even get into it.
Tried ECT, 10 treatments, 8 bilateral, which was partially effective. Not enough to gain my health back though.
Tried changing doctors, over the years, and none are any better than the last.
Tried therapy, too many times.. basically useless for me.
Tried the vitamin/mineral overloading approach, and that did nothing for me.
Not sure what else to try. Don't have any more patience with meds. Many have made me much more ill than before I started them. One almost ended my life - Cymbalta. That caused a suicidal reaction, and I was admitted to the hospital. Under its "sick" effects, I had to use every shred of willpower I had not to kill myself. That's a day I won't soon forget.
Been on Celexa for 3 days, low dose to start, and I actually feel more depressed.
What else is there?
Chinese medicine? Actupuncture? Homeopathy? Would any of these do anything for "chemical"-based depression (which I have). I seem to highly doubt it.
Signing off, for now...
-Enigma
Posted by nellie7 on March 29, 2006, at 13:42:18
In reply to Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by Enigma on March 29, 2006, at 10:59:06
Hi Enigma,
Sorry to hear you have not yet found relief from your depression.
I am on Celexa and it helps me, but everyone responds in a different manner.
Has a physical cause for your depression been ruled out? If so, sometimes other kinds of meds, such as mood stabilizers or low dose neuroleptics help people with atypical depression.
Have you tried tricyclics, Effexor or Remeron?
Don't give up. Eventually you will find something that will help you.Take care,
Nellie.
Posted by blueberry on March 29, 2006, at 17:33:21
In reply to Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by Enigma on March 29, 2006, at 10:59:06
Hard to tell, but from your post I get the general feeling that serotonin meds probably aren't going to help you much and may even make you feel worse. What you might do is look at dopamine meds. For example, once you get stabilized on celexa, try adding low dose ritalin or adderall, or maybe low dose zyprexa or risperdal, or wellbutrin, possibly even buspirone medium to high dose. As an experiment you could even go to the health food store and buy some tyrosine. It converts to dopamine. Take 500mg in the morning as a test. If you feel nothing, try 1000mg the next day. If you feel something you like, you'll know it's dopamine you need to be looking at and not serotonin. If you feel something you don't like, it will wear off in a few hours, and you'll know I'm totally wrong.
I think it makes sense after many AD failures, especially when some made you feel much worse, to look at totally different classes of medications. Just because you are depressed doesn't automatically mean you need an antidepressant. It could very well be that a med from a different class and a different mechanism is what you need.
Posted by Phillipa on March 29, 2006, at 21:32:46
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by blueberry on March 29, 2006, at 17:33:21
Have you had an MRI of the brain no seriously. You could have something pysically causing the depression. Chronic lymes disease and MS can also cause depression. Love Phillipa
Posted by Enigma on April 3, 2006, at 13:59:19
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by blueberry on March 29, 2006, at 17:33:21
Thanks for the responses.
I've already tried the following, with no luck:
Wellbutrin
Zyprexa
Risperdal
Adderall
Effexor (with horror stories)and many others, like:
Lexapro (more horror stories)
Parnate (more horror stories)
Nardil (only AD that WORKED, but with intolerable side effects! :( )When is the Deprenyl patch going to be available? Dying to try it..
I'll try the tyrosine you mentioned. Will try to pick some up today.
Still got another 2.5 weeks on the Celexa to see if it does anything. I'm not confident either. Why would I be... After trying 20+ drugs and none of them working, where would I get confidence in meds?
Posted by ed_uk on April 3, 2006, at 14:40:51
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by Enigma on April 3, 2006, at 13:59:19
Hi
What side effects did you suffer on Nardil?
Ed
Posted by AnotherAnon on April 5, 2006, at 15:24:16
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by Enigma on April 3, 2006, at 13:59:19
If you've tried Lexapro, Celexa probably won't work. I was under the impression that Lexapro was a version of Celexa i.e. they isolated specifically what made Celexa work (they singled out the isomer or something) and made it into Lexapro. That's why the drug maker began pushing Lexapro over Celexa.
Posted by Enigma on April 6, 2006, at 12:24:31
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by AnotherAnon on April 5, 2006, at 15:24:16
> If you've tried Lexapro, Celexa probably won't work. I was under the impression that Lexapro was a version of Celexa i.e. they isolated specifically what made Celexa work (they singled out the isomer or something) and made it into Lexapro. That's why the drug maker began pushing Lexapro over Celexa.
Interesting!.. Well, Lexahell, as I like to call it, did a number on me. I couldn't even deal with the side effects. From what I remember, it made me into a zombie, lethargic as hell, like the walking dead. I quit it pretty quickly after that. There were other side-effects, but I don't remember what they were.
I think Celexa might be causing anxiety. I'm only on 10mg, and I'm supposed to go to 20 soon. Not sure if I'll make it to 20... The anxiety has been getting worse just recently after moving to 10 (did 4 days of 5mg to get used to the med).. I can't take Prozac for the same reason. Gave me *severe* anxiety. I couldn't live like that.
Met a bi-polar person at a bar last night. What are the odds? :)
Posted by Enigma on April 6, 2006, at 12:30:26
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by blueberry on March 29, 2006, at 17:33:21
Hi. I hit the GNC and picked up some multi-vitamins, Tyrosine, and some multi-amino acid bottle.
I tried the Tyrosine like you said, and didn't feel anything. 500 one day, 1000 the next. Actually, I'm feeling a lot of anxiety, but that could be from the Celexa. Prozac did the same thing to me and I had to dicontinue it.
I'm in sad shape. So hopeless that nothing is going to work. I go back to the doc in a month (3 weeks) so maybe I'll try to get Remeron. She mentioned that when she mentioned Celexa.
Sad that after giving her my huge list of previous meds, she didn't *immediately* see a pattern of what didn't work, and try a different class of meds. Odd that I have to do my own research and suggest drugs to HER. Shouldn't she be paying me instead?
Can you believe she's never even heard of the Seg. patch? Sad!!
Posted by Enigma on April 6, 2006, at 12:38:39
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa? » Enigma, posted by ed_uk on April 3, 2006, at 14:40:51
> Hi
>
> What side effects did you suffer on Nardil?
>
> EdSorry for the late reply.
Let's see..
Super increased sweating from even the smallest bit of activity (like vacuuming!)
Totally broken sleep. Insomnia, but I'd wake up all through the night every 30mins-1hr, and have a hard time getting back to sleep. The whole night was like this. My dreams were *intense* too, and nightmares! I *never* have nightmares normally.
Lots of lightheaded-ness, dizzyness.
Headaches, I think..
And other side-effects I can't remember.
It was a *real* shame, and Nardil *worked*. It might not have made me 100%, but it did the most out of any med I've taken for depression.
Parnate, which I tried first, had all he above side-effects, but much worse, meaning, much more intense. I could barely get 1-2 hours of contiguous sleep while on it. I could only stand being on that for 1-2 weeks and just had to quit.
Hmm, I should change my log in name to "hopeless".
Posted by ed_uk on April 6, 2006, at 14:38:54
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by Enigma on April 6, 2006, at 12:38:45
Hi
What did you try to combat the side effects of Nardil?
>Super increased sweating from even the smallest bit of activity (like vacuuming!)
Did you try an antiperspirant?
>Totally broken sleep. Insomnia, but I'd wake up all through the night every 30mins-1hr, and have a hard time getting back to sleep. The whole night was like this. My dreams were *intense* too, and nightmares! I *never* have nightmares normally.
A hypnotic such as Lunesta or Ambien CR might be effective.
>Lots of lightheaded-ness, dizzyness.
There are various strategies used to combat this.
>Headaches, I think..
Acetaminophen might help.
Regards
Ed
Posted by Enigma on April 6, 2006, at 19:19:51
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa? » Enigma, posted by ed_uk on April 6, 2006, at 14:38:54
Hiya. Of course, I tried all the obvious things to combat the Nardil side-effects.
I can't use anti-persperants, and they make me itch like crazy. I can only use (and do use) deoderants.
Wouldnt matter much anyway, because the sweating would occur all over.. neck, back, etc.I've tried everything for headaches. The light-headness and dizzies was much worse than the headaches. I'm a software engineer, so being lightheaded doesn't mix well with that. Couldn't think clearly enough.
I tried some sleep aids, but they didn't help. The strange type of insomnia that the nardil and parnate caused was way too overpowering.
Thanks for the help anyway.
Posted by ed_uk on April 7, 2006, at 17:07:12
In reply to Re: Anyone had luck with Celexa?, posted by Enigma on April 6, 2006, at 19:19:51
>Of course, I tried all the obvious things to combat the Nardil side-effects.
OK. Sorry.
Ed
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.