prozac and celexa worked, but zoloft isn't

• By arizonalawdawg
• Posted August 22, 2007 at 1:03 am
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Curt,
I'm sorry to hear of your current situation. I've been there so I can symphatize with how much you can be suffering, not just emotionally but physically. First of all, neither I nor anyone else who is not your treating Psychiatrist should be giving you advice on what SSRI meds you should be trying, or getting off of. That said, in my case of anxiety and depression, I proved to be SSRI resistant, and my Doctor was smart enough and exprerienced enough to try meds that weren't specifically FDA approved for my official "diagnosis." All I mean by this is that the neurochemistry in the brain is so complex that even the best sceintists and psychiatrists still can't point to an indentifiable cause. Apparently like you, I've had medications that have helped for a while then fizzled out, then worked when the appropriate dose was reached. There are so many variables to the treatment of mental health disorders like depression with psychotropic medications that noone should managing it except you and an expert psychiatrist you feel comfortable with. Personally, and this is just for ME, Celexa made me feel worse and Zoloft didn't seem to do much. A popular combination for SOME is Zoloft and Wellbutrin (often referred to by MD's as "Well-Oft" But again, that doesn't mean it will work for you; it just might be something to ask your psychiatrist about. Just stick with aggressive treatment with your psychiatrist. I had a rare refractory case that took almost ten years until I felt well again (for me it was the day after my Doctor raised my dose of a particular medication. It honestly felt like a light turned on in my brain and I had all the focus, motivation, sense of humor, and interests that I had so many years ago. Most people with depression or anxiety disorders can find a combination of medication and psychothereapy to balance the chemicals in the brain's neurotransmitters and return to "normal" much sooner than I did. The answer is out there. I promise you that. You can get better, and never ever "settle."
ALD

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• By savageactor
• Posted December 4, 2007 at 7:43 pm
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I was just breezing through and caught all these bold letters sticking out with depression, self abuse, cutting, suicide..etc...and I want to respond to each one and say it will be alright, but, I can't, so I picked you Curt.! Curt. I get the impression that you respect authority and you don't have any conflicts with your psychiatrist, psychologist, or your brave PA. who is helping you experiment with these serotonin reuptake inhibitors. I get the impression that you are really hurting right now. I had just the opposite experience that you are having. I went on Zoloft just about when it was put on the market back in 1988 and stayed on 50-100 mgs. up and down over the next 12-13 years. I had some periods when it felt like they were not helping and some periods when, as Arizonalawdawg puts it, when the light suddenly went on..!! After the World Trade Center Towers were hit I just went off the wall !!(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), I went into a full combat mode with periods of disassociation. The anxiety was just pushing me every day(average daily pulse rate 118-124) and the depression was so sharp and acute every day. I ended up throwing in the towel on a long sobriety period and ended up drinking and taking drugs to help me escape those terrible feelings or states of being. I had a really screwed up environment growing up(pre-existing pathology) and in the Navy I was on River Patrol Boats in Vietnam with alot more action than I bargained for. I was in a unit that got in to point blank firefights with the enemy and in the 68 TET Offensive, we were over run at our compound. There were some experiences that were unique to combat but over the years Zoloft really helped with the anxiety and depression. After this all began, the doctors tried me on Prozac and from the reports I had heard about Prozac, I was looking forward to all that clarity and feelings of confidence that I related to Prozac, BUT !! did'nt happen for me. I went that two or three weeks switching over to Prozac and slowly found myself getting deeper and deeper in to the depression. There was one day after about 21/2 weeks and I was suicidal. No doing things to let people know I was in trouble...I was going to kill myself right now....well..I got back to this real objective psychiatrist at the VA hospital and informed him that I did not want to experiment anymore. I had stayed on the Zoloft for another 3-4 years. I had a period on Celexa and WellButrin and the Celexa just did not come up to meet me and the WellButrin was OK but I had some mental fog with it that I did not have with the Zoloft. After Vietnam, I went to the University of Tampa for a degree in Psychology and Sociology. I worked in the mental health field for years as a drug and alcohol counselor, DWI Instructor, Federal Claims Adjudicator..etc...)(I am trying to jump ahead here because I do not have alot of time right now) I have been married twice and divorced twice. I am the father to a daughter who is 27 and a son who is 25. I have experienced tremendous periods of success, and also, periods of overwhelming depression and anxiety which had left me so physically exhausted that I could not lift my foot to step. The only thing that I came across that brought me out of that nightmare was GHB (the date rape drug). I did not get it for raping women. I got it some time after the towers were hit and it was all around. It worked real well on anxiety and depression, but the DEA or some government agency cleaned it all up. Lately..I came across one other medication that is helping me more than all the SSRI's together. That is Tramadol..the brand name is ULTRAM and it is used as a pain reliever but I have read that it is also used for anxiety and depression. It has definitely helped me. As you can tell...I am a little bit contrary to the typical mold, but I could not keep living with the depression and exhaustion and not being able to find someone with the skills to help. I have tried the Tramadol, I got an exceptionally good response from it and I am going to keep using it until a doctor takes me off of it. Oh...a doctor has me on it... Curt, another thing that helped me was to study the language that Jesus spoke which is Aramaic..I'm not getting paranoid on you here. It is that we all get so much sensory input to our brains and our brains have a way of trying to soak everything up like a sponge. I have yet to meet a person who has not been influenced by psychoreligous conditioning which causes some real distortions in our perception of self and the world around us. Jesus did not say many of the things I was told he said and this has been very important in my short recovery period. When I am laying on the bed just moaning and praying for some help, I only ask for a break once in a while. This has been good for about three months now and it is stable for me so far. Good luck Curt...gotta go. Love ya !!

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• By jacintoernesto
• Posted December 6, 2007 at 8:17 pm
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I read a book some time ago entitle "Streams in the desert " which has help a lot of people with real problems leading to depression. You can find it in Amazon. This is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Streams-Desert-L-B-Cowman/dp/0310210062
When there has not been any possibility of help around me, I have looked up to the heaven, from where my salvation, my help, has came.
Jesus said: "Come to me all which are carrying on to much and are tired, because I will give you rest".

God bless you....

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• By DK2
• Posted December 9, 2007 at 10:17 am
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Just a thought: I had many many of the same symptoms for years and have been on many medications. Eleven years ago, I was finally diagnosed with ADD and put on Adderall - this was truly a life changing event, because although I also have fibromyalgia and arthritis, it was the blury mind that caused my depression. This may not apply to you at all, but it might be worth asking your doctor to try it.

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• By cabcat
• Posted December 10, 2007 at 7:35 am
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I took prozac for a couple of weeks and it didnt do me anything at all I was still depressed I was then put on Celexa and I feel so much better I dont think that its your body not accepting the medicine I think maybe you should ask your Doctor whats up and see what he tells you If you dont feel like asking him ask your pharmacy guy he might be able to give you some information to ask your Doctor and or suggest what you should ask your Doctor I wish you well Keep your head up and may it go well for you

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• By DK2
• Posted December 10, 2007 at 5:27 pm
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One caveat of Celexa is that after you take it for awhile, especially if your doctor keeps increasing the dosage, as mine did, it can cause leg pain (a listed side effect). My legs and knees became so painful I couldn't walk without holding on to something and I couldn't get up out of a chair without help. I also started having slight tremors and my muscles were constantly twitching. I couldn't sleep at all, even with medication. This went on for months. My family doctor kept increasing the Celexa, the orthopedic doctor couldn't find anything wrong, x-rays were all negative. I went to a gp and he tried to put me on lipitor! I was researching the side effects of that, when I ran across the side effects of Celexa. Most, or all, of my symptoms were listed, so I weaned off it. All of the symptoms were gone within two or three weeks of stopping the Celexa and have never returned. My family doctor refused to admit the problems could have been caused by Celexa, but there is no other explanation.

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