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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by net on February 9, 2004, at 0:49:10
I have been on SSRIs for many years. Currently, my drug regimen is Celexa 20mg, Wellbutrin 100mg SR, Trazadone 25-50mg, Lithium 600mg, dexadrine 60mg, and methyltestosterone 1mg.
As you can see from the list, my depression is atypical and drug resistant. I would like to know if there are others that have experienced an apathy towards life to the point that has lead to lack of motivation and lack of self-discipline. There were several posts in Tips that suggested that this behavior was the result of SSRI use. They also spoke of memory problems with SSRIs, as well. I just assumed that my problems retaining sequential thoughts was perimenopausal, now I am not so sure. If others have experienced these side effects, what are the changes that you made that decreased your apathy/improved your memory? Thank you.
Posted by Chairman_MAO on February 9, 2004, at 8:20:41
In reply to SSRI Apathy and Memory deficits, posted by net on February 9, 2004, at 0:49:10
Keep your current med regimen stable and add an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (Alzheimer's drug). This will not necessarily help with apathy, but will help with organization/time management. I'd go with Reminyl first. You could also add selegiline, 1.25-15mg/day (probably 2.5mg bid is enough on top of all that dexedrine).
Posted by noa on February 11, 2004, at 13:22:03
In reply to SSRI Apathy and Memory deficits, posted by net on February 9, 2004, at 0:49:10
I do struggle with lack of self discipline. I always have but it is much worse now. I have wondered if my meds have contributed to this, or how much is psychological--because I can be fairly well self disciplined at work, etc. but when it comes to things for myself, I let things slide a lot.
As for memory issues--I have had these and they are extremely dose dependent for me. It seems that when I've been below 300 mg of Effexor XR, I do not have word retreival problems, but above that I do. I used to take higher doses of Effexor and later Effexor XR, and the word retrieval problems drove me nuts!
Then, I've been on a lower dose for a long time now, but accidentally took too much for about 2 days last year, and the difference was really obvious. I had been on 262.5 for a long time, and went down to 225. While on the 262.5, I had two strengths of the pills--75 mg and 37.5 mg. taking 3x75 and 1x37.5 every day. When I went down to 225, I still had some extra 37.5's that I hadn't used. After a number of months, I forgot to refill my scrip (of 75 mgs) on time, so I went to the bottle of 37.5's for a few days until my scrip was ready. But for some reason, I totally goofed on the calculations (or lack therof) and I thought I needed to take 3 of these 37.5's for every one of the 75's I usually take. So for two days, I took 9 of them instead of 6--ie, 337.5 mg instead of 225 mg!!
But I didn't realize my mistake until the third day when I was getting the pills out and realized I had been taking too many.
In the meantime, for two days, I was noticing that I was having severe word retrieval problems. I even commented to a friend about them. Then, when on the third day I realized I had been taking too much medication, I had that 'aha' experience about why I'd been having the word retrieval problems for 2 days.
Posted by cupcake on February 11, 2004, at 15:17:48
In reply to SSRI Apathy and Memory deficits, posted by net on February 9, 2004, at 0:49:10
I have tried different SSRI's in the past and have been on and off meds since 2000. For the past year and a half I've been on Effexor XR, mostly at 300 mg/day. I would like to get off of it, especially since I am hypothyroid and have finally gotten my thyroid levels under control after a couple of years of undertreatment--and I think that was contributing a lot to my depression, anxiety, and severe PMS.
Anyway, again, I think part of this was from the low thyroid, but for the last year or so I've been totally not myself. I've always been sort of an overachiever and super motivated about a lot of things, but I have just been NOT THERE. Fuzzy thinking, total apathy, no short-term memory, difficulty performing tasks I used to be good at--and I'm only 27. No self-discipline, no motivation, ugh. Oh yeah! And I also gained about 30 pounds.
Now that my thyroid levels are normalizing I have tapered myself down to 150mg/day of the Effexor XR (w/o pdoc's supervision--disclaimer:i don't recommend doing it), and I noticed an immediate difference. I felt a lot more like my old self again. Ironically, I also feel more control over my emotions (during the month *prior* to decreasing my dose, I had two self-injurious rage attacks during which I totally lost it, hit myself, and made a small hole in the wall banging my head into it!!).
It's totally enlightening to see others' experiences with this, and makes me feel so much better about the way I've been up until recently. At least I know I just didn't spontaneously become lazy, unable to think or remember anything, and unmotivated out of nowhere.
I don't blame you for being sick of taking several prescriptions. Have you talked to a doctor about acupuncture or any alternative therapies to supplement and/or maybe replace at least some of your meds? If what you're doing now is helping you, then stick with it, but if your body and brain are telling you something different, you'll feel a lot better once you can figure out what really does or doesn't work for you.
good luck!
> I have been on SSRIs for many years. Currently, my drug regimen is Celexa 20mg, Wellbutrin 100mg SR, Trazadone 25-50mg, Lithium 600mg, dexadrine 60mg, and methyltestosterone 1mg.
> As you can see from the list, my depression is atypical and drug resistant. I would like to know if there are others that have experienced an apathy towards life to the point that has lead to lack of motivation and lack of self-discipline. There were several posts in Tips that suggested that this behavior was the result of SSRI use. They also spoke of memory problems with SSRIs, as well. I just assumed that my problems retaining sequential thoughts was perimenopausal, now I am not so sure. If others have experienced these side effects, what are the changes that you made that decreased your apathy/improved your memory? Thank you.
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