Posted by conundrum on December 30, 2010, at 18:47:10
In reply to Re: Anhedonia is wearing me down., posted by linkadge on December 30, 2010, at 16:14:41
> Hmm,
>
> Thats quite the conundrum, Conundrum. I havn't had much sucess (personally) with restarting SSRIs. Initially, they were somewhat usefull, but after stopping and restarting over the years, they seem to have stopped working entirely.
>
> My last trial with prozac was a disaster - total sensory overload - increased sensitivity to light, sound, insomnia and worsening of cognition etc.
>
> I think when the medications stop working, nutritional approaches still can help (not to sound like one of "those" people). Sometimes there are biochemical imbalances that go far beyond what standard medications can tweak - structural problems perhaps, that have resulted from years of depression's toll.
>
>
> I definately feel better off meds at the moment, with the exception of occasional use of clonazepam.
>
> Over the hollidays I've been sleeping like 16 hours a day, but I'm not fighting it. I think my brain is gaining something positive from it.
>
>
> Linkadge
>I have a similar thing going on. The first time I took prozac when i was 16, I didn't feel like I was "on" something. I started to just feel better. When I stopped in 2003 for a few weeks I started to feel anhedonic and nervous so I went back on and it just made me spaced out and totally fuzzy and disconnected. When I recently tried lexapro it was similarly spacey and I only went up to 10mgs. I now can tolerate 2.5 mg of prozac, it helps with motivation, but I still get sexual dysfunction, headaches, and sometimes the runs. So it seems that taking SSRIs has cause my brain and body to become super sensitive to them.
So 2.5 mg prozac is about as much as I can do. Perhaps with an NRI though one could go higher. I did not find the problems as bad on pristiq. So perhaps it is a lack of balance in the 5HT/NE ratio.
I look forward to add some vitamins and omega 3s back to my diet now that I will be working. I can force my self to take supplements, eating well is harder, cuz I just don't care anymore. The first 2.5 years off prozac I ate as well as I knew how, and then I stopped taking ginkgo and about a month later the anhedonia just got worse. It is as if the organic meats and dark veggies, low carbs, no soda etc, had no effect, but stopping ginkgo biloba extract had all the effect in the world. Gingko Biloba in that presentation is essentiatlly a drug.
Lately I've become more inclined to believe that some of my problems are genetic(going back 3 generations) and nutrition while it sounds nice just isn't enough. I wish it were, because I kind of hate these drugs and for about 7 years refused to take them and tried everything else first. The increase in motivation the last couple times with low dose prozac, just goes to show that a drug can do a lot that nutrients can't.
I could be dead wrong, but I don't think I'm barking up the wrong tree. I hoping once I get some motivation back, I'll be eating more healthfully, cuz right now I don't give a damn about what I eat, as long as it is easy to make.
Complaints: post-SSRI problems: anhedonia, memory and concentration problems, sexual anhedonia. )
Country:USA
Currently taking 2.5 mg prozac, Multi B vitamin
poster:conundrum
thread:975164
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101218/msgs/975311.html