Still can't find a pill that works

Posted , 14 users are following.

I really need to speak to someone who hasn't found a drug that works and therefore given up on relying on them.

Is there anyone out there with recurring depression that has managed to survive with no medication??

0 likes, 32 replies

32 Replies

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  • Posted

    Hi Vicky,

    Sorry to hear you are low,I have been trying for over 2 years without meds don't ask me if I am right or wrong but have tried many and just make me feel worse so given up after a week impatient I know they take longer and I know you may feel worse first but I just don't give it long enough.So not much help I am afraid but if ever you want to chat, cone on here I will always answer you when I get the message.What do you do to try and be positive.I have had depression before but never this long and my last bout before this was at least 12 years ago and what caused this I do mot know. X

  • Posted

    Hi Vicky,

    I've suffered from depression for 13 years and have tried various anti depressants over the years but found none of them work. I'm currently in the middle of coming off venlafaxine slowly as i've had enough now. I have tried so many different types over the past 7 months and I am so sure that they have made me much worse than I would have been without them.

    I can't offer you any advice unfortunately so I can only say that you're not alone x

  • Posted

    Hi Bacca

    This really does get to you doesn't it just seems to be existence but then I suppose always somebody worse off,may I ask do you get the headaches I am going mad with one today just the right hand side and pressure behind my eye have taken paracetamol alka seltzer done nothing.Any advice appreciated. X

  • Posted

    Hi Becca and Joan, thank you very much for your replies.

    Becca, are you going to try a different drug or are you going to try without? I tried venlafaxine last year and it made me exhausted.

    I have tried sertraline, citalopram, fluoxetine, venlafaxine, bupropion, and duloxetine. I have been given lofepramine today but am losing hope.

    Sometimes I wonder if the therapy is enough but am scared to try not being on any drugs.

  • Posted

    Hi Vicky

    I know you just do not know what to do for the best,some get on fine with meds. others say you can do it without wish we knew the answer.Just to be back as we were at least on here we know we are not alone.

  • Posted

    No I'm not going to try a different drug, I'm just going to see how I get on without anything. I feel like i've run out of options and trying to change medications means waiting 2 months for an appointment with a Psychiatrist because no one else is willing to change my medication.

    I've tried Sertraline, Doxepin, Mirtazapine, Fluoxetine, Citalopram, Lithium and Venlafaxine and none of them have helped at all. Sertraline made me so much worse, gave me really bad anxiety which I didn't have before I started taking it, and Doxepin and Mirtazapine just knocked me out for hours and hours, I was like a zombie on them.

    I hate what drugs do to me, they give me side effects which just end up making me feel more depressed - like weight gain!

    How long have you been on medication now?

    • Posted

      Hi Hun ,I am like you tried lots of meds the latest duloxetine 30 mg now 20mg  , i have been having really bad headaches that are terrible and control my life - 6 months ago i stopped my meds on the advice of my doctors after years of being on them got to 50 days and was hospitilized - Been on Duloxetine 20mg for about 4 months i cannot stand any more i had the ambulance out yesteday thought i was going to die -- So i decide 3 day ago to quit all my meds to see which was causing my headache i am sure it is the duloxetine and today apart from dizzyness no headache  -- I am also being treated for Vitiamin D defiecency  and have B12 injection - So i am going to see if i can not take anymore as you say i think they are doing my brain more harm than good - I have got a back up of chloprmine hydroxide antidepressants which i asked for that was prescribed to me today which i was on years ago - but i am going to see where this takes me becase at the moment i feel headache free  just Dizzy and feeling a little bit myself  i think ...  still scared ...
  • Posted

    Vicky & Becca

    Just thought I would say at the moment I am trying a high fish oil which is suppose to be good, like all the reviews on the net raving reports but we will see been taking it for 2 weeks so early days must say the crying has stopped but the fatigue and phŷsical pains are there but moral a bit better,so hopeful. X

  • Posted

    I did look into vitamins and supplements that are meant to be good for depression but I guess I didn't really believe that they can help if anti depressants can't. Glad they're working for you to help with the crying. How come you have physical pains though?
    • Posted

      One thing i have found out that if you B12 and Vitamin D is Low is can worsen depression systems -- as i am being treated for these things at the moment 
  • Posted

    Hi Becca,

    I have back problem often and chronic headaches which of cause they say is depression and anxiety,if ever you want to pm me feel free. X

  • Posted

    Becca what was the lithium like? Not any good? Aren't you scared that you'll get so depressed not on drugs? I'm scared that I will be just like I was before I started seeing a psychiatrist and that I will lose all hope and kill myself.

    I've either had exhaustion or nausea from all the drugs I've tried.

    As for vitamins you can try St Johns Wort or 5HTP. They have worked a little bit for me in the past but not for when I'm really bad.

  • Posted

    Hi everyone. I have suffered for years and venlafaxine has been pretty good over the last 13 years. However itseems to have run its course and I'm trying alternative approaches like mindfulness and meditation. Even though I don't feel like being sociable, I force myself to carry on doing the things I know I used to enjoy. Participation and trying to look for any positives seems to be helping. Hope you get sorted. There are millions of people who feel exactly the same. xx
  • Posted

    Hi Vicky

    I'm in the same boat .......... I've been on medication for 6 mths now this time round (previous episodes I have taken Citalopram which didn't work & Sertraline likewise). I have tried to get through most times without medication, and have only been to GP when having strong suicidal thoughts & deteriorating health.

    This time round I've been on Fluoxetine for 3mths with no luck so changed to Mirtazapine for past 3mths which is also not working.

    My GP doesn't seem to like to up medication ........ was on lowest dose of Fluoxetine and am now up to 30mg Mirt .... and tho it's not working he does not want me to go up to max dosage. I don't think he is taking me very seriously. I don't do crying, so if that is how he is gauging the severity of my depression he is gonna get it very wrong.

    I am getting to the end of my tether ........ I have been feeling crap for a year now been on medication for past 6 mths with very little relief. And am still having daily thoughts of just how pointless my life is.

    I have been referred to primary care mental health team who gave me a crisis card & said I'll have a 5-6month wait for a CBT course. I have no idea how you are meant to get referred to a Psych. consult.

    I know I don't communicate very well with my GP, but feel I need a little more help than I am getting. I'm at the stage where I think the only option is hurting myself badly to be taken seriously ............... and the thing there is I either end up dead (so prob solved) or I end up in a seriously bad way and am a burden to the NHS for a very long time.

    I've tried without meds before, but my episodes seem to be getting worse so if I was med free at present I don't think I'd still be here right now.

    I hope you find a solution to your medication dilemma. I still haven't. rolleyes

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