Posted by cole on October 10, 2000, at 14:40:55
hello everyone.
i am a 24 y/o female with a history of severe recurrent atypical depression. anxiety usually comes along with the depression. when extremely depressed i get suicidal and tend to self mutilate in response to stress. my depression is present year round, yet worsens in the winter. i recently bought a light box to see if it would help.
here are the meds i've tried and responses:
prozac: @ age 14- NR
zoloft: took 50-100 mgs intermittently for 7 yrs- made me far more aggressive, slight response
trazodone: taken for the past 10 yrs- only helps with insommnia
serzone: helped some with anxiety
ritalin added to serzone: NR
celexa: seemed to bring me out of depression, but i only could stand the wired feeling (same reason i left zoloft)for 3 days-- totally changes my personality
wellbutrin: tried it for 2 weeks, completely in a haze-NR for depressive symptoms
remeron: complete recovery in several days
reboxetine: complete reversal of all the gains from remeron
this is where i'm at now:
one month ago i titrated off the remeron and onto the reboxetine. i wanted the reboxetine to work so desperately i ignored my warning signs and found myself completely suicidal a week ago. i learned that reboxetine is a NE receptor agonist, and remeron a NE receptor antagonist: probably why i got so depressed so quickly. i am back on the remeron to restabilize. i am almost completely out of the depression, but i am wondering what my options are for long term success. i dislike remeron for a number of reasons: 1. the first time i took it i went from 5'5'' 135# to 165# in 3 months. i eat healthy and work out regularly. 2. i have stiffness in my joints, and have frequent problems with tendon pulls while exercising. 3. i am a student (post-bacc premed) and need as many hours a day open for studying as possible. remeron makes me sleep at least 10 hrs a night, if not more.
i am taking 60 mg remeron/night+ 2 50's of serzone during the day to increase my alertness. the past few days i have taken my dose up to 75 mg to see if it would decrease the sleepiness and weight stuff, it seems to have made things worse-- total brain lag in physics class today. does anyone have any suggestions for counteracting these side effects? do i have any other options med wise? the NE seems to play a major role in my depression, my only other thought was that i could go to the tricyclics, but it seems they have a number of side effects as well. i will stick with the remeron if necessary-- i have never been as productive as when i am on it, but i just thought i would ask if anyone had any other ideas. thanks for taking the time to read this.
cole
poster:cole
thread:46078
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000926/msgs/46078.html