Help What meds worked for you?

[Overwhelmed52]

Medications are trial and error. Some people get lucky right away and find *the one* medication that works wonders. For others it's a longer journey.

I was diagnosed with OCD and anxiety 6 years ago. Was put on Lexapro 10 mg. Over the years it was upped to 20 mg, which I believe is maxxed out.

It can take weeks to start working (6-8 weeks for the full effect). Dose needs to be increased SLOWLY.

I felt ...idk, a tiny difference in my mood? But honestly I was just lying to myself because I WANTED it to work. It didn't. After years and years of struggling and my life being flipped upside down I went to a different psychiatrist who diagnosed me with borderline.

We slowly tapered me off the Lexapro and switched to Zoloft. Huge difference. She also started me on lamictal, which is technically used for seizures but can also be used as a mood stabilizer. For the first time in my life I felt normal.

On top of that I have been on Wellbutrin, which we added in as a piggyback/support, as my psychiatrist explained Wellbutrin isn't really a stand alone medication.

I was able to be honest with my psychiatrist and open up about suicidal thoughts and what made them worse and better, so we were able to adjust accordingly.

Making the switch from Lexapro to Zoloft was the best decision we could've made. But for you that may be different. Stay on it for a good 6 weeks and then evaluate again. A mood diary can help. There's apps that you can track your moods. So you have concrete data. I've been using the bearable app, for no other reason than the little app logo is cute so I'm more likely to open it and record my mood

Thank you! These are all good points, and I know I need to give it time. I don't get the sense that Lexapro is for me, but I'll see how it goes. It's really helpful to read about your experiences and what you've tried. It's also great that you could be open with your psychiatrist. I've seen pictures of the mood diaries before, but I haven't tried one. I will have to check it out.
Thanks again!

Bupropion (Wellbutrin) definitely saved my life in March. My psychiatrist said it would take at least a week or two to kick in but I felt it same day. I was in my sleep all day period and woke up around noon and took it and then went back to sleep. I woke up probably 5 hours later feeling fucking incredible. Not like I-just-slept-for-5-hours good I felt like I had this overwhelming sense of something I had literally never felt before. I had completely forgotten I had taken it and I was actually giggling like a crazy person wondering why do I feel so good. I realized I had taken it and I've been taking it since and it's been really helpful. Definitely has side effects though. Crazy nightmares being one of them. Same with fucking your appetite and sleep and it made me really irritable for awhile. I switched from extended release to sustained release and lowered the dose and that helped for everything but the nightmares. The good thing about it is you don't need to wane your body on and off too much so if you forget for a bit like I do (adhd) it's not a huge deal. It's doesn't do everything but it did more than enough for me at the time.

That is a really cool result, I'm glad it worked for you so fast! It's good to know that there are different releases, I wasn't aware of that, and that the withdrawal is not bad. I will sometimes have vivid dreams but not nightmares. I hope that gets better for you. My sleep has always been messed up, but I don't know if that's because of depression or if it's just how I am. Thank you for letting me know what has worked for you!

 

[bigbang33]

Oh so you take 3? My psychiatrist threw me on Ritalin too and now I feel like a zombie. Has it been hard for you to balance the side effects of taking all three together?

Yes. I'm on 50 mg lamictal, 200 mg wellbutrin SR, and 100 mg Zoloft. We're still slowly increasing the Zoloft.

I am one of those very fortunate people that do really well with those meds without side effects. My psychiatrist is a nurse practitioner and I feel like she's been really taking her time with me and we've been very methodical about adding & switching. So that may contribute.

 

[:)0=]

Clomipramine (my biggest problem is a hard OCD). It lifts me from condition "I can't do anything" to condition "I can do some things if I'll try several (dozens) times". ) It is considered that clomipramine has hard side effects. But in my case I almost haven't them. Except tremor and "sleep-talking".

 

[Overwhelmed52]

Clomipramine (my biggest problem is a hard OCD). It lifts me from condition "I can't do anything" to condition "I can do some things if I'll try several (dozens) times". ) It is considered that clomipramine has hard side effects. But in my case I almost haven't them. Except tremor and "sleep-talking".

Thanks! This is good to know. I can be obsessive about some things, but I don't think I have classic OCD. I definitely have trouble getting started on things, often because I don't know what to do first or because I think I'll mess it up. It's good to know what has worked for you.