Psychotropic medication discussion thread

restlesstiger49 said:You know, I'm right there with you in that fear. But honestly, I can't bring myself to give up the search for the right medication. It feels like Lexapro is finally starting to kick in during the afternoons; for the first time in ages, I actually felt like a human being again—you know, like I actually wanted to live and all that. My only issue is that the cost for that feeling is just way too high. It's becoming impossible to sustain. 😢

Hang in there 🙂
People say the nausea from Lexapro can be pretty nasty, but it usually passes.
Try to cling to those moments when you're feeling even slightly better; it might make dealing with the side effects a bit easier to stomach.
Personally, I didn't experience any side effects from Lexapro or Ellie, but I know how brutal they can be—both physically and mentally—because I’ve dealt with them from other meds, so I truly empathize with you. 😢

Ships FR

Thanks for the input, everyone. I’ve been on my meds for a few months now, but I can't stop obsessing over those first two weeks. Everything just went downhill fast—depression spiked and it was brutal. Honestly, I’m still not sure if the meds actually triggered the slump or if the illness was just doing its thing, but man, it was unbearable. I don't even know how I made it through. On top of that, I hit this wall of total emotional numbness. Has anyone else dealt with that feeling of being completely hollowed out, like you can't feel a single damn thing? Ugh, just thinking about it gives me chills. Thankfully, it hasn't happened again.

mellowtinker7 said:Thanks for the input, everyone. I’ve been on my meds for a few months now, but I can't stop obsessing over those first two weeks. Everything just went downhill fast—depression spiked and it was brutal. Honestly, I’m still not sure if the meds actually triggered the slump or if the illness was just doing its thing, but man, it was unbearable. I don't even know how I made it through. On top of that, I hit this wall of total emotional numbness. Has anyone else dealt with that feeling of being completely hollowed out, like you can't feel a single damn thing? Ugh, just thinking about it gives me chills. Thankfully, it hasn't happened again.

Zoloft didn't really work for me. It helped with the depression, I guess, but did nothing for my anxiety. I stayed on it for four months. It’s strange, because you see so many people online praising it. Maybe you should ask your doctor about switching or adjusting the dose. It clearly isn't doing the trick for you.

restlesstrucker15 said:Look, a diagnosis can be changed; what really matters is what your GP puts in your file. You don't have to hand over those specific results to her if you don't want to.
Under U.S. law, no one can access your medical records without a court order, and even a nurse isn't permitted to go snooping through them.

However, if you happen to find yourself at the same hospital system, once any doctor types in your ID number, all your previous findings will pop up on their screen. But please, don't worry; everyone there is focused on treating the reason you walked through the door—the physical symptoms—and almost everyone will ask what medications you're taking. In my experience, nobody even bats an eye when I mention I'm on an antidepressant; all these professionals are trained to recognize if someone is experiencing psychosis.

Also, let's try not to label people as "crazy." This is something that could happen to any one of us.

On the bright side, it’s actually great that your psychologist works in the same hospital system, so she can advise you on how to handle things if you decide to seek counseling again. I'm sure there's a department head there who could arrange for a third specialist to examine you if needed.

And maybe try a different antidepressant. You just have to grit your teeth through two or three weeks of side effects. It isn't easy, but that's just how the process goes.

Sending love, fr

But the reality is, those private files don't really exist anymore; everything is digitized in a centralized system, and even my family doctor can see it all. Even if I return my specialist findings to the clinic, it's already logged.
Whenever I visit a cardiologist or a gastroenterologist, they just type in my name and the whole history is right there. I know this for a fact because they tell me directly—there's no ambiguity about it...
I actually considered reaching out to the Chief of Psychiatry to see if she could sit with me for a while to talk things through, but I realized that doctors tend to look out for their own. I went there hoping for some relief, but instead, I feel ten times worse than I did yesterday... just completely drained and exhausted. That fatigue is easily my biggest struggle, or perhaps the most punishing side effect of this anxiety.

Jason Vaughn482 said:But the reality is, those private files don't really exist anymore; everything is digitized in a centralized system, and even my family doctor can see it all. Even if I return my specialist findings to the clinic, it's already logged.
Whenever I visit a cardiologist or a gastroenterologist, they just type in my name and the whole history is right there. I know this for a fact because they tell me directly—there's no ambiguity about it...
I actually considered reaching out to the Chief of Psychiatry to see if she could sit with me for a while to talk things through, but I realized that doctors tend to look out for their own. I went there hoping for some relief, but instead, I feel ten times worse than I did yesterday... just completely drained and exhausted. That fatigue is easily my biggest struggle, or perhaps the most punishing side effect of this anxiety.

Just go to the department head and threaten to take the whole story to the AP. Usually, that's the only thing that scares them...

Brandon Lopez6 said:Just go to the department head and threaten to take the whole story to the AP. Usually, that's the only thing that scares them...

What’s your take on this? Honestly, my concern is that within psychiatry, people can play such dirty games; anyone can scribble down whatever diagnosis they feel like. I had originally imagined sitting down with the head physician so she could personally evaluate me... but you’ve given me a much more potent idea, though I’m still weighing whether it would actually hold water, especially given how sensitive these mental health diagnoses can be. Still, thank you for the suggestion—I'll certainly give it some serious thought. Of course, I wouldn't go to the media for their sake; it would be entirely for my own sanity. You know better than anyone how the public perceives us, which is exactly why it stung so much when she essentially spat on four years of my hard work and my clinical history—and that’s to say nothing of my colleagues, both of whom were on duty that day.
And you could always file a complaint with Medicare, reporting that they’re fabricating diagnoses just to pad their numbers for the Associated Press

Jason Vaughn482 said:What’s your take on this? Honestly, my concern is that within psychiatry, people can play such dirty games; anyone can scribble down whatever diagnosis they feel like. I had originally imagined sitting down with the head physician so she could personally evaluate me... but you’ve given me a much more potent idea, though I’m still weighing whether it would actually hold water, especially given how sensitive these mental health diagnoses can be. Still, thank you for the suggestion—I'll certainly give it some serious thought. Of course, I wouldn't go to the media for their sake; it would be entirely for my own sanity. You know better than anyone how the public perceives us, which is exactly why it stung so much when she essentially spat on four years of my hard work and my clinical history—and that’s to say nothing of my colleagues, both of whom were on duty that day.
And you could always file a complaint with Medicare, reporting that they’re fabricating diagnoses just to pad their numbers for the Associated Press

Don't sweat the small stuff. Nobody can hand out a diagnosis based on a ten-minute chat. Don't even bother bringing it up to your doctor. She isn't going to see what some random person typed into the computer system. Why worry? I assume your own psychiatrists have your actual diagnoses right, so just stick to that. 😎

Jason Vaughn482 said:What’s your take on this? Honestly, my concern is that within psychiatry, people can play such dirty games; anyone can scribble down whatever diagnosis they feel like. I had originally imagined sitting down with the head physician so she could personally evaluate me... but you’ve given me a much more potent idea, though I’m still weighing whether it would actually hold water, especially given how sensitive these mental health diagnoses can be. Still, thank you for the suggestion—I'll certainly give it some serious thought. Of course, I wouldn't go to the media for their sake; it would be entirely for my own sanity. You know better than anyone how the public perceives us, which is exactly why it stung so much when she essentially spat on four years of my hard work and my clinical history—and that’s to say nothing of my colleagues, both of whom were on duty that day.
And you could always file a complaint with Medicare, reporting that they’re fabricating diagnoses just to pad their numbers for the Associated Press

Just bluff. She won't even realize you're bluffing.😁

restlesstrucker15 said:Hang in there 🙂
People say the nausea from Lexapro can be pretty nasty, but it usually passes.
Try to cling to those moments when you're feeling even slightly better; it might make dealing with the side effects a bit easier to stomach.
Personally, I didn't experience any side effects from Lexapro or Ellie, but I know how brutal they can be—both physically and mentally—because I’ve dealt with them from other meds, so I truly empathize with you. 😢

Ships FR

Can you describe how Lexapro/Ellie worked for you? I've been taking it for a little over two months and maybe feel a tiny bit of a difference, but nothing major. Does increasing the dose ever help since I'm at 10mg now and the instructions say it can go up to 20mg (I have depression/anxiety)?

Jason Vaughn482, general practice isn't linked to your rib issues. They use entirely different software systems. You can probably rest easy regarding your daughter. Just... maybe don't hand her any paperwork.

Hey, has anyone here actually tried taking two tablets of Faverin 200?

Michelle Evans said:Sure, a pill doesn't contain calories, but there are theories that some antidepressants slow down your metabolism or mess with your appetite. So, it’s hard to say the medication has zero connection to the scale and that it's strictly about food intake. It’s a bit like telling someone with hypothyroidism that it's purely a matter of what they eat... which isn't quite right.

Still, most people feel like they are gaining weight because of them. 🤷

Some antidepressants skyrocket your appetite, while others suppress it significantly. That’s the general rule, of course, but everyone reacts differently. I personally know people who packed on 40 or 50 pounds on one antidepressant, only to drop all that weight and maintain a perfectly healthy baseline once they switched to another. Most of the newer generations of meds rarely cause significant weight gain as a side effect.

It honestly drives me crazy when doctors prescribe Xanax for sleep, especially if they intend for the patient to be on it long-term.

Regarding side effects, any antidepressant that acts as a stimulant could theoretically exacerbate anxiety or tension.

@mellowtinker7 - for most antidepressants, symptoms actually intensify during those first few weeks; you just have to push through it.

Larry Barnes10 said:Can you describe how Lexapro/Ellie worked for you? I've been taking it for a little over two months and maybe feel a tiny bit of a difference, but nothing major. Does increasing the dose ever help since I'm at 10mg now and the instructions say it can go up to 20mg (I have depression/anxiety)?

I can 🙂
I actually started taking it after I unilaterally decided to stop taking Prozac. At the time, I felt fine, but then a few months later, everything fell apart and things became even worse than before.
When I initially started this medication, it took about three weeks before I noticed any effect, specifically regarding a reduction in panic attacks. When combined with psychotherapy, those attacks became very infrequent within two months. My anxiety gradually decreased over a period of about three months, though I should emphasize that pills alone aren't a total cure; I still deal with significant anxiety today. As for the depressive symptoms, I cannot say for certain. After about two months, my psychiatrist increased my dosage to 15mg, and eventually to 20mg for a period of time. Currently, I fluctuate between 10mg and 15mg, as my doctor adjusts it every few months.
Everyone reacts differently, of course, but my advice would be to consider increasing the dose if you aren't experiencing side effects. Once you bump up the dosage, you should see results within about two weeks because the medication is already established in your system. In my experience, psychiatrists generally prefer to increase a current dose rather than switching you to a completely different antidepressant, provided there aren't severe side effects.
I suggest asking your doctor if an increase is an option. If you don't see significant improvement after three months on the higher dose, they will likely switch you to something else. If your depression is particularly severe, they might prescribe something more potent.
Ultimately, my suggestion is to try for a higher dose first to avoid the process of adjusting to an entirely new antidepressant.

Skickas fr

brighthawk0 said:Jason Vaughn482, general practice isn't linked to your rib issues. They use entirely different software systems. You can probably rest easy regarding your daughter. Just... maybe don't hand her any paperwork.

Hey, has anyone here actually tried taking two tablets of Faverin 200?

I'm pretty sure I was on a higher dose back when I was dealing with a GAP episode—it was ages ago, but I know we were hitting the maximum limit.

restlesstrucker15 said:Hang in there 🙂
People say the nausea from Lexapro can be pretty nasty, but it usually passes.
Try to cling to those moments when you're feeling even slightly better; it might make dealing with the side effects a bit easier to stomach.
Personally, I didn't experience any side effects from Lexapro or Ellie, but I know how brutal they can be—both physically and mentally—because I’ve dealt with them from other meds, so I truly empathize with you. 😢

Ships FR

Honestly, I just gave up on that medication. Those side effects made me feel like I wasn't even human anymore.

restlesstiger49 said:Honestly, I just gave up on that medication. Those side effects made me feel like I wasn't even human anymore.

I am hopeful that things will turn out better with the next option.🙂

Skickas FR

I sat down with the director of psychiatry today to lay everything out regarding my diagnosis, and while she was perfectly polite, her response was incredibly telling. She insisted she couldn't touch the diagnosis because it’s strictly the doctor's clinical judgment, but if you read between the lines, the subtext was crystal clear: Medicare is making it impossible for them to prescribe certain antipsychotics for this specific condition. Apparently, if they label it as just an anxiety disorder, Medicare won't cut a check for anything—not even Seroquel. They practically have to manufacture psychotic elements in the paperwork just to get the insurance coverage approved. I told her straight up that I refused to accept a diagnosis I didn't agree with just to satisfy a billing requirement, but she just shrugged it off as if my identity wasn't being rewritten by a bureaucrat. I even went as far as saying I might head down to the Medicare offices myself to demand answers about why they require these fabricated diagnoses just to release medication, but she offered no defense; she just sat there with this maddening indifference. It’s infuriating. I pointed out that every specialist I've seen agrees with me, yet she just gave me a little shrug, as if this were all perfectly normal. It feels like these diagnoses used to be carefully guarded clinical truths, but now they've become nothing more than convenient labels tossed around to navigate the insurance maze. In the end, it feels like shouting into a void; all my efforts to fight for the truth are just disappearing into some database somewhere.

Jason Vaughn482 said:I sat down with the director of psychiatry today to lay everything out regarding my diagnosis, and while she was perfectly polite, her response was incredibly telling. She insisted she couldn't touch the diagnosis because it’s strictly the doctor's clinical judgment, but if you read between the lines, the subtext was crystal clear: Medicare is making it impossible for them to prescribe certain antipsychotics for this specific condition. Apparently, if they label it as just an anxiety disorder, Medicare won't cut a check for anything—not even Seroquel. They practically have to manufacture psychotic elements in the paperwork just to get the insurance coverage approved. I told her straight up that I refused to accept a diagnosis I didn't agree with just to satisfy a billing requirement, but she just shrugged it off as if my identity wasn't being rewritten by a bureaucrat. I even went as far as saying I might head down to the Medicare offices myself to demand answers about why they require these fabricated diagnoses just to release medication, but she offered no defense; she just sat there with this maddening indifference. It’s infuriating. I pointed out that every specialist I've seen agrees with me, yet she just gave me a little shrug, as if this were all perfectly normal. It feels like these diagnoses used to be carefully guarded clinical truths, but now they've become nothing more than convenient labels tossed around to navigate the insurance maze. In the end, it feels like shouting into a void; all my efforts to fight for the truth are just disappearing into some database somewhere.

That sucks 😢. You said it yourself, you guys look out for one another... at least you gave it a shot 🙂.

nimbletinker10 said:Some antidepressants skyrocket your appetite, while others suppress it significantly. That’s the general rule, of course, but everyone reacts differently. I personally know people who packed on 40 or 50 pounds on one antidepressant, only to drop all that weight and maintain a perfectly healthy baseline once they switched to another. Most of the newer generations of meds rarely cause significant weight gain as a side effect.

It honestly drives me crazy when doctors prescribe Xanax for sleep, especially if they intend for the patient to be on it long-term.

Regarding side effects, any antidepressant that acts as a stimulant could theoretically exacerbate anxiety or tension.

@mellowtinker7 - for most antidepressants, symptoms actually intensify during those first few weeks; you just have to push through it.

It mostly comes down to how the specific antidepressant (or other psych meds) actually works in your system.
Blocking those H1 histamine receptors and the 5HT2C serotonin receptors is usually what triggers that extra hunger and weight gain.
With antidepressants, Mirtazapine and some of the older tricyclics are known for that.
As for the ones that help suppress appetite, I think Fluoxetine is pretty much the main one that does that significantly.

Brandon Lopez6 said:That sucks 😢. You said it yourself, you guys look out for one another... at least you gave it a shot 🙂.

Honestly, that seems to be the standard operating procedure everywhere you go. It’s a systemic pattern. My own daughter ended up in the emergency room because she suffered a massive allergic reaction to some medication for shingles; as soon as one side of her face started swelling, we demanded attention, but they just insisted she wait until both sides were completely blown out before they'd finally admit her to the hospital for eight days. Of course, they wouldn't admit fault, so I should have seen that coming. That said, I don't hold any particular prejudice against mental health issues; my issue lies elsewhere. It deeply unsettles me how things that used to be strictly confidential are now so exposed—you can practically Google any specialist's diagnosis or history the moment they step out of line. And frankly, I have zero patience for people playing games or being shady.

Daniel Gomez10 said:It mostly comes down to how the specific antidepressant (or other psych meds) actually works in your system.
Blocking those H1 histamine receptors and the 5HT2C serotonin receptors is usually what triggers that extra hunger and weight gain.
With antidepressants, Mirtazapine and some of the older tricyclics are known for that.
As for the ones that help suppress appetite, I think Fluoxetine is pretty much the main one that does that significantly.

I’ve been taking Mirtazapine on and off for two years now—I’ve already shared my reasoning for doing so elsewhere, but I do intend to taper off eventually... For the most part, I initially gained about six or seven pounds, but lately, it doesn't seem to affect my appetite at all; in fact, I've lost my appetite entirely and have actually dropped weight...