Psychotropic medication discussion thread

mljac 😁

So, you mentioned that things might feel worse initially...
From what I have read, there is a common idea that antidepressants can actually cause a temporary dip in mood before things start to stabilize and improve...
Please correct me if my understanding is flawed...
At the end of the day, we are talking about potent chemicals, and I find it difficult to grasp exactly how they interact with the system or why the process takes such a long time to manifest...

Rebecca Lopez11 said:So, you mentioned that things might feel worse initially...
From what I have read, there is a common idea that antidepressants can actually cause a temporary dip in mood before things start to stabilize and improve...
Please correct me if my understanding is flawed...
At the end of the day, we are talking about potent chemicals, and I find it difficult to grasp exactly how they interact with the system or why the process takes such a long time to manifest...

Basically, after being under high stress for a long time—and everyone's breaking point is different—the brain just kind of "forgets" how to produce serotonin naturally. It’s like a system malfunction. Sometimes, things like exercise, getting some sunlight, or lifestyle changes aren't enough to jumpstart that production again (and without that balance, it's hard to feel like life is actually going great)... So, essentially, the antidepressants act as a sort of training wheels to help the brain learn how to chemically produce serotonin again. And yeah, it can definitely feel a bit rough in the beginning, but eventually, everything settles back into place. Also, just a heads up, Coaxil isn't particularly heavy-duty—it's actually one of the milder options out there.

👍

@casuallynx982 I think you might have things a bit mixed up because Coaxil isn't like your typical antidepressant—its effect on serotonin is actually pretty unique.
While SSRIs work by blocking serotonin reuptake, Coaxil actually speeds it up, so it doesn't just sit there holding onto the serotonin.
It seemed like a solid med to me. I was dealing with intense anxiety and panic attacks 24/7, so I asked my doctor to prescribe it, but since I live in Italy, it’s just not available here. My doctor hadn't even heard of it! He searched through his medical manuals and everything, but nothing. If I remember right, back when I was looking a year or two ago, there wasn't even anything about it on Italian websites; I finally found some info on French sites. It’s basically the only European antidepressant out there, manufactured in France. A few of my buddies used it for panic, anxiety, and physical symptoms, and they were super happy with it. I also read somewhere that it's used for addiction treatment.
I'm seriously glad it worked for you too!

Look, everyone, just try starting with herbal supplements first if you can...

I wouldn't recommend them. I was on Sanvale for a bit, but I’d wake up feeling absolutely exhausted... my doctor said that's just how they work. Maybe try Persen instead? 👍

Honestly, I’d tell the OP to steer clear of all those pills and "forced" sleep methods...
I'm not saying they don't work... nothing beats the sleep I get after a couple of Xanax or Praxiten... but man... it's just not a long-term fix.

As for Sanvale, I actually had hallucinations from it, and the pills weren't helping anyway... my sleep was shallow, I had nightmares... or I’d just wake up constantly.

In my opinion, the core issue with insomnia is basically mental entropy—you just have to get your thoughts organized.

It would probably help if you found a single, calming thought to latch onto right before you drift off.

Don't go digging through the drama or the crap that happened to you today, or even last week... there's always time for that later... but that window right before bed? Definitely not the time for it.

At least it works for me... I can be out in 10-15 minutes.

feralranger22 said:nephthys???
How's everything going? 😉

Well, hello there—I’ve been somewhat absent from the conversation lately.
But I am back now.🙂

On a more positive note, the constant crying spells have finally subsided, and my mouth feels normal again; I suppose that is how the equilibrium is supposed to function.

However, my goodness, when you combine this with alcohol... last night I had two glasses of Bamboo. It was weak, half-and-half stuff. This is problematic because I am someone who usually requires half a liter of brandy just to feel a buzz, and I used to drink quite heavily in the past. Yet, after those mere two glasses, everything went sideways. When I arrived home, I heard something—someone said something to me that cut deep. I managed to blow the whole thing entirely out of proportion, spiraling into a paranoid state and weeping like a child for hours on end; I even felt a flicker of suicidality, which is something I have truly never experienced while in my right mind. Honestly, I don't think I have ever felt quite as wretched in my entire life as I did last night. I genuinely feared I wouldn't make it through the night to see the sunrise at the local hospital or end up in a morgue. I eventually drifted off from sheer exhaustion caused by the crying, and now I am suffering from a headache and a hangover so debilitating it feels unnatural.

To be fair, I hadn't eaten all day, so those two glasses likely hit me with the force of four, though I wasn't technically drunk. A friend of mine who previously dealt with ADHD told me that medication interacts terribly with alcohol, and she actually quit drinking altogether until her ADHD was under control, but I certainly didn't anticipate this level of volatility.

Looking back, I truly cannot find a logical reason for such an extreme mood swing. I mean, I have certainly endured bad episodes before, but typically people would have to say something far more egregious than what happened to trigger such a catastrophic narrative in my head. This was not normal. To top it all off, I am having a miserable few days where it feels like everything is hitting me from every direction at once. Ugh, well, I suppose it will pass eventually.

How are things on your end?

stormymaker24 said:Well, hello there—I’ve been somewhat absent from the conversation lately.
But I am back now.🙂

On a more positive note, the constant crying spells have finally subsided, and my mouth feels normal again; I suppose that is how the equilibrium is supposed to function.

However, my goodness, when you combine this with alcohol... last night I had two glasses of Bamboo. It was weak, half-and-half stuff. This is problematic because I am someone who usually requires half a liter of brandy just to feel a buzz, and I used to drink quite heavily in the past. Yet, after those mere two glasses, everything went sideways. When I arrived home, I heard something—someone said something to me that cut deep. I managed to blow the whole thing entirely out of proportion, spiraling into a paranoid state and weeping like a child for hours on end; I even felt a flicker of suicidality, which is something I have truly never experienced while in my right mind. Honestly, I don't think I have ever felt quite as wretched in my entire life as I did last night. I genuinely feared I wouldn't make it through the night to see the sunrise at the local hospital or end up in a morgue. I eventually drifted off from sheer exhaustion caused by the crying, and now I am suffering from a headache and a hangover so debilitating it feels unnatural.

To be fair, I hadn't eaten all day, so those two glasses likely hit me with the force of four, though I wasn't technically drunk. A friend of mine who previously dealt with ADHD told me that medication interacts terribly with alcohol, and she actually quit drinking altogether until her ADHD was under control, but I certainly didn't anticipate this level of volatility.

Looking back, I truly cannot find a logical reason for such an extreme mood swing. I mean, I have certainly endured bad episodes before, but typically people would have to say something far more egregious than what happened to trigger such a catastrophic narrative in my head. This was not normal. To top it all off, I am having a miserable few days where it feels like everything is hitting me from every direction at once. Ugh, well, I suppose it will pass eventually.

How are things on your end?

Things are okay—some good days, some bad. I don't feel like I've made any massive leaps forward, but I am doing better. I still deal with certain issues and occasional depressive dips or symptoms, but they hit much less intensely now. It's only been about five weeks, so I'm hoping things stabilize more over time.
As for the alcohol, I cut it out completely as soon as I started Coaxil, since that's specifically used for alcohol cravings... so it's really no wonder you felt that way.
And judging by your post, it looks like I won't be testing that theory myself either! :-)

I certainly had a suspicion that they didn't play particularly well with alcohol and were often utilized to assist with weaning oneself off it... but this was nothing short of a violent reaction akin to taking Antabuse. I mean, for just two glasses... I had absolutely no intention of getting drunk, truly...

It’s much more manageable for me now that the side effects have finally subsided. What actually caused my setback was the direct influence of external stressors; that would have impacted anyone regardless of whether they were struggling with depression or not.

I am currently six weeks into my regimen, which is precisely when one should expect to see real results, at least regarding those physiological responses and general reactions to my environment. As long as it provides enough stability for me to regain my footing, I'll be back on track.

I’ve been using Adderall XR for social anxiety—which, honestly, has spiraled into full-on agoraphobia at this point—plus depression, OCD, and ADHD.
I’m not even sure if the ADHD part is actually a thing, but three different psychiatrists have told me I have it, so... who am I to argue?

The whole headache is that my doctor won't just prescribe the Adderall.
Every single medication she keeps trying to push on me, I’ve already tried, and none of them did a damn thing for me.

Here’s the rundown of most stuff I’ve taken (and yeah, for most of these, I was just following what other people suggested rather than actual medical advice):
Paxil
Zoloft
Sulpirid Valium
Valium
Xanax
Paxil
Nardil
Velafax
Percocet
Codeine

They're more or less listed in the order I went through them.

If anyone knows of anything else that might actually work, thanx.

Hey there. Quick question...
I've been on Celexa for about a year and a half now. It helped—don't get me wrong—but I'm really itching to just stop taking everything. Honestly, dealing with my doctors is such a long, drawn-out saga; it basically feels like nobody is actually monitoring my dosage or checking in on me, so I'm stuck second-guessing my next move. Should I just quit cold turkey and try to live a "normal" life, or is this a lifelong thing? I've tried skipping doses before, and let's just say the panic attacks hit hard. I usually just stop all at once, but wouldn't it be smarter to do some kind of gradual "intervention"—you know, tapering off slowly?

Anyway, it looks like it's been a few months since anyone posted here, so I'd love to hear your experiences. 😉 thanx!

It didn't do a single thing for me, and honestly, the side effects were absolutely brutal. Usually, you're supposed to feel those things taper off after a week or so once your body adjusts, right? Not for me. For me, they just got progressively worse every single day until I finally had to call it quits. That said, I have heard plenty of people swear by it...

I've been on it for about a year now. It’s really helped me out—those sudden panic attacks and crying spells just aren't happening anymore. Honestly, I have no intention of ever stopping.

I was wondering if anyone here has experience using Zoloft. If you have, did you notice any positive shifts in how you were feeling? Also, what was the situation with side effects?

I’ve been hearing all sorts of stories lately... Some people swear they felt a shift almost instantly. Like, even while dealing with the nasty side effects—you know, the nausea or stomach issues—they could already sense things feeling just a tiny bit different. But then you have others who say they didn't feel a single thing, even after two weeks on it...
But honestly, I think most folks agree that for those first two or three days, you should probably just take half a dose instead of the whole pill. Zoloft can really kick your ass with side effects right when you start...
Like, waking up in the middle of the night, maybe around 2 or 4 AM... I mean, obviously, you eventually drift back to sleep... but I read somewhere that even that kind of wakefulness, which is technically a side effect, might actually be part of the process helping the treatment work better...

So, he’s taking Zoloft right now. After just one week, it’s already starting to bring some light back into his life—you know, that feeling of actually being okay again? It’s a start. As for side effects: there's some occasional nausea and a bit of digestive stuff, but honestly, it's nothing major. It hasn't been overwhelming. The real issue, though, is the impotence and the total loss of libido. That part really hit him hard... But then again, we’re all different, aren't we? One person might find relief with Xanax while someone else needs Zoloft. It’s all very individual.

frozenbear52 said:I was wondering if anyone here has experience using Zoloft. If you have, did you notice any positive shifts in how you were feeling? Also, what was the situation with side effects?

I’ve been on Prozac for two years now. I dealt with side effects during the first few weeks—basically the time it took for the medication to actually kick in. Those first two or three weeks were brutal. I had my first panic attack back then, couldn't sleep, couldn't eat... I just spent most of my time paralyzed by fear in bed. It almost landed me in a psychiatric ward. No one warned me to start with a lower dose, so I jumped straight into 100mg and stayed there. I had no idea what the adjustment period would feel like... I really wish I'd found an online community back then. To cope, I was also taking Xanax—starting at 0.25 mg twice a day. I was too scared to increase the dosage on my own, so I unnecessarily struggled for another two weeks until my doctor finally cleared me to move up to 0.5 mg three times a day. That's when things finally started looking up. Two years later, I feel great. No lingering side effects, and my blood work stays normal. I don't think the medication changed who I am; I still have my happy days, sad days, angry days... But that overwhelming, paralyzing terror? That hasn't touched me in two years. I know this is a long post, but I thought it was important for anyone starting Prozac for the first time. You need to know what might be coming so you don't give up if things get worse before they get better. For some, relief comes early; for others, it takes longer, but significant improvement usually follows. Good luck. Check out the threads on "anxiety" and "panic disorder" to see what others went through during their transition onto antidepressants... Good luck.👍

So you've been on Prozac for two years now? How much longer are you stuck taking this stuff?

dustybear77 said:So you've been on Prozac for two years now? How much longer are you stuck taking this stuff?

No idea, maybe forever... I really don't know. I asked my psychiatrist at my last check-up, but since I was feeling pretty panicky again after all this time, he said there's no need to stop just yet...