Posts by Nathan Kim10

Charles James3 said:I’m still trying to wrap my head around why you can't touch alcohol while on this therapy—I mean, obviously, mixing booze with meds isn't exactly "healthy" in general, but what's the actual damage if I just have a couple of beers? Not talking about getting wasted or anything, just staying within reasonable limits. What's the real risk there?

Thanks!

It would basically crank up the effects of the AD. It'd leave you feeling dazed. And if you happened to be taking an anxiolytic too, it could potentially mess with your brain's respiratory center.
You really don't need that kind of extra trouble.

Charles James3 said:Hey everyone!

Look, I’ve got the exact same struggle as most of you, so I won't beat around the bush. 🙂

Back in the day—about four years ago—my doctor diagnosed me with panic disorder. Since then, I've been on 20mg of Deprozel every single day, plus taking Xanax or Misaar whenever things get bad. I actually managed to stay off the Xanax for a year and a half, but then everything just went south again. I started taking it daily, which obviously led to an addiction.
I saw my doctor recently and told him straight up—we agreed—that I desperately want to get off all these pills. It’s only natural, right? 🙂
He switched me over to Alvente 37.5 mg, but I’m still on the Misaar—taking 0.50mg three times a day, whereas a little over a year ago I was cranking out 6mg a day.

If anyone knows anything about Alvente, please let me know. I’ve only been on it for two days after finishing the Deprozel, so any info would be huge!

Also, I've been dealing with zero libido and issues reaching orgasm. Is that just the Deprozel doing its thing? And will Alvente be any better, or am I stuck with the same deal?

Seriously, if you can help, please do. Thanks!
🤷

Alvente—venlafaxine—is an AD from the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor group. Basically, it boosts those two chemicals responsible for mood (serotonin and norepinephrine) in your brain, which helps lower anxiety and PA. It's made by Niagara Falls. It's the same stuff as Velafax from Pfizer, which most people here probably know better. 😉
As for the sex stuff, unfortunately, almost all ADs kill your libido. Some more than others, I guess. 😢
Otherwise, I would've gone into more detail about psychology a long time ago. 😂🤣

Larry Howard8 said:No way,
I went through the exact same thing five years ago—honestly, it was even worse back then,
and I managed to get through it on just 75 mg,
so there's no way these fucking 100 mg won't work.

You stay on that dose for a month and still see zero progress. 🙄

Larry Howard8 said:How could I not? I felt so good that she actually wanted to taper me off completely,
but we decided to keep the 25 mg going as a sort of placebo, and we stayed there for a year and a half....
I didn't deal with any depression during that whole stretch.

Things only started sliding two months ago. Now, I've been on 100 mg for about a month.

If 100 mg isn't cutting it, you either need to bump the dose up or switch meds altogether.

Larry Howard8 said:It wasn't like I was stuck at 25 mg for five years straight. I spent some time at 75, then dropped to 50, and I felt great—so my doctor decided to scale me down to 25.
But then the depression came crashing back about a year and a half after being on that low dose...

I’ve hit 100 mg now, which is the highest I've ever gone, so I honestly don't get why I'm still struggling.

The 300 mg stuff is usually reserved for the really severe cases.
I'm out here living my life and going out like a normal person,
it's just that everything feels like total chaos inside my head.

Well, your doctor should have bumped your dose up. Honestly, it's better to take nothing at all than to waste time on 25 mg a day.

Larry Howard8 said:The max dose is usually 200 mg...😲

anxiety and depression

The instructions say it should kick in within 2 to 6 weeks,
but again, I've been taking it for five years—just 25 mg for the last year and a half.
I'm just worried that if it isn't working the way I expected, maybe it's not just simple anxiety...

👎

That's kind of like drinking water and wondering why you don't feel better.👎
You probably needed to be at the 300 mg max dose. If it doesn't work after 3 or 4 weeks at that top dose, then maybe you can say the med isn't doing anything.

Henry Harris6 said:Look. It’s not psychosis. Psychosis is a severe mental breakdown, almost on par with schizophrenia. You’re dealing with hallucinations, losing touch with reality, things like that. That is psychosis.
If you haven't seen results in five years, there is a massive flaw in your treatment plan. If you don't see any improvement after three months, the medication needs to be swapped out.
Furthermore, I have no idea why your doctor only put you on 25 mg. For what it's worth, I was prescribed 300 mg and I handle it just fine.
Right now, I’m managing three different types of antidepressants along with medication for epilepsy and schizophrenia, and I’ve been doing this for years—but we always adjusted the meds if they weren't hitting the mark.
My advice? Go back to your psychiatrist, because spending five years on an antidepressant that does nothing is a catastrophic mistake.

You don't always have hallucinations during psychosis. Conditions like bipolar mania don't necessarily come with them.
You can also deal with depression involving psychotic elements where there aren't any hallucinations at all.

fadedbear92 said:it isn't bipolar
Clinical Profile
We're looking at mood instability that persists over a long stretch of time—involving frequent bouts of mild depression and mild hypomania. It typically kicks in during early adulthood and can turn into a chronic condition, even though those "normal" mood stretches might last for months at a time. The condition is similar to bipolar disorder, except the symptoms aren't quite as extreme (mostly involving manic, depressive, or mixed manic-depressive episodes). These mood swings aren't triggered by outside life events. Cyclothymia can eventually evolve into full-blown bipolar disorder, where the intensity of the moods becomes much more severe.
Cyclothymic disorder involves chronic mood fluctuations lasting longer than two years (or one year for children and adolescents), characterized by numerous depressive symptoms and hypomanic episodes.

I always figured it was just a milder version of bipolar. Authors don't really agree, though. Usually, you just end up having to switch up your meds

fadedbear92 said:Look, I’m not even going to stress about it—I’ve got cyclothymia, or whatever they call it these days to make it sound more official... I just have my cycles.😍

Listen, if you actually have bipolar disorder, then your medication is completely to blame.😢😲

Larry Howard8 said:Was that Ativan AD or what?

🤷

Helex is actually an anxiolytic😉

fadedbear92 said:And that’s really all you have to say to me?!😲

I don't even know what to tell you. I mean—you've already cycled through a ton of different meds. 🤷Have you tried Ambien? It’s a hypnotic—you just take 10 mg before bed.

dustyangler2 said:A little bit of alcohol, like a glass of wine or maybe a beer, shouldn't really mess with you too much. Just don't do it right after taking your meds, though. Maybe wait until somewhere between 👍

It’s a whole different story if someone goes overboard with five beers and a bottle of wine 😁

Anyway, if anyone can help me out, feel free to shoot me a DM...

I'm on Effexor XR 2 x75mg and Xanax SR 2 x1mg. I've been on Xanax for about 3g, and Effexor XR 3 mg. Basically, at first, I couldn't sleep at all—like, I didn't feel anything even after 5 weeks. Then things started looking up a bit. But then I just crashed hard for maybe 2 weeks, and now, for the last few days, I've been sleeping almost all day. Like, I seriously can't stay awake 🤷

I'm starting to think this might be more than just depression! And man, the dreams 😲

Just talk to the psychiatrist who prescribed those antidepressants. That drowsiness might just be the depression itself. It's probably just a way of shielding yourself from reality.

fadedbear92 said:Hey there, Roman gladiator—is there actually anything stronger for sleep than Ambien? Apparently, that stuff just fries your receptors.
I was practically a walking Freud textbook—super lively and restless😉 while on Paxil, and now my doctor is cutting me off because I can't catch a wink of sleep!

You’re just like my mom. Honestly, you two should probably swap stories. She's dealing with terrible insomnia too.🙂

Drinking just makes antidepressants hit harder. You might feel dizzy—could even throw up. 😢

Of course, briskmoose7—we aren't all cut from the same cloth. But I guess you could look into trying Celexa? It’s not quite the same thing, even if some people might disagree with me. It just seems to have a much better, more effective mechanism of action.👍

briskmoose7 said:So I went to see a psychiatrist because I was dealing with some mild depression, and he put me on Prozac and valium. Well, after my third dose—half a pill of the Prozac—I felt absolutely terrible. Now? I can't even look at the stuff without feeling sick. Anyone else here actually dealt with Prozac? What was your experience like?

What kind of symptoms were you having?

Larry Howard8 said:Five years ago, I started at 50 mg, then bumped up to 75, so I'm glad I
went slow getting up to 25.

I've been on 100 mg for 13 days now, and I really don't want to increase the dose,
since this whole process is such a drag.

Does anyone know if 13 days is enough time for a 100 mg dose to actually kick in?
🤷

Hard to say for sure. The max dose is 200 mg. Usually, you just keep bumping it until you see results. I guess you'll just have to see how your head feels.

Larry Howard8 said:But I'm wondering, should it have started working by now,
or have I just built up a tolerance since I've been on it for years?

🤷

If you're only on 25 mg, of course it hasn't worked yet. If you'd been on 200 mg for a long time and still felt nothing, then maybe we could say the Zoloft isn't doing anything for you. Once you actually hit a full dose—wait 3 or 4 weeks, then you'll know.😉

Larry Howard8 said:I'm not talking about skipping days; I've been on them daily for two years now.
I am seeing a therapist.
It’s just frustrating because the increased dosage hasn't really kicked in yet.
🤷

You mentioned somewhere that you stopped taking it for a while, if I caught that right.
And honestly, 25 mg isn't even a real dose. You were basically under-medicated. It’s almost like you weren't even taking anything at all. That's probably why things went downhill. The max dose is 200 mg. Your psychiatrist is probably just scaling you up slowly so you don't get hit with all the side effects at once.
Just hang in there a bit longer.😉

Larry Howard8 said:It’s been about five years, though I haven't been on it constantly.
For the last year and a half, I was just on 25 mg—my doctor actually thought about tapering me off completely.
But then a month ago, I hit a really dark patch with depression, so they bumped me up to 50.
Then, about thirteen days ago, they moved me up to 100 mg.

🤷

Antidepressants either work or they don't. You can't just cycle through them with breaks—it’s like you aren't even taking anything. Are you doing any psychotherapy?
Just slowly get back on Zoloft. The max dose is usually 200 mg.