I have been on
Prozac,
Wellbutrin,
Lexapro,
Abilify,
Buspirone,
Topamax,
Risperidone,
Klonopin,
Gabapentin, and
Adderall. I'm no doctor or "psych major" haha, but I feel pretty qualified in telling you that medications are not always the answer to complex psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety. (This is not to say that some people may absolutely need them given their situation or to get through a particularly hard time.) Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications often have the side effect of increasing the presence of other mental and behavioral disorders. This only leads to the prescription of an additional medication. Oh my!
Once prescribed, meds must be constantly monitored- the solution isn't always to "add more". Psychiatrists have a tough job here though. When several medications are involved it becomes difficult to assess the effects of each one individually. If the patient begins to feel better, can the dosage be decreased, or is the patient feeling better because of the medication, and therefore, the dosage should remain unchanged? I have several disorders and treating the conflicting symptoms has been an interesting journey.
Years into my treatment, I "woke up" and realized that I actually felt worse than when I began therapy. Where did all of these new symptoms come from? I hated being dependent on taking pills every day and feared that my personality was altered by them. The anti-depression meds made life tolerable by numbing me. They increased my anxiety by taking away my obsessions/compulsions, which had always been my psyche's coping mechanism for dealing with trauma. It didn't help that I was unable to get anything accomplished on the anti-depressants since I was always asleep because of them! My former psychiatrist's solution to this, of course, were anti-anxiety meds and mood stabilizers.
The only anti-anxiety med that worked for me was the Klonopin, which I became severely dependent on to sleep. I'm not going to lie... I miss it, I loved it. And that's the reason why I don't want it. I have very few memories from the several months I was on that medication (stopped about 6 months ago). It's like trying to remember a night after drinking too much and blacking out. Certain parts are missing and the parts that I can remember are dream-like. That's unfortunate.
Wellbutrin and Abilify were supposed to energize me and get me out of bed, but no luck. Lexapro made me pass out for days at a time. Buspirone and Risperidone were duds too. I continued with the Prozac for several years, but when it got up to 100mg I said enough is enough. I tapered off at first and then just stopped. If I had to choose one anti-depressant it would be Prozac, hands down. I tried
Paxil for about a week and it made me sick. I still take Topamax (impulse control), Gabapentin (sleep/anxiety) and Adderall (attention deficit) and have been happy with them.
While my last two therapists loved to dish out the pharmaceuticals, my current one is helping me deal with my disorder's underlying issues without handfuls of meds. This method addresses the cause of my disorders rather than the symptoms. Psychotherapy takes a lot of time and hard work, but I think it will be worth it. There's no quick fix to mental illness. Any doctor who tries to write you off with some prescriptions and a "have a nice day" isn't putting in the effort you deserve. Your treatment may need to consist of medication as well as another method. I have found group therapy to be supportive and informative. You may enjoy that setting since you are already visiting this site- it's not so different!
I hope some of this was helpful. Good luck!
depression/anxiety med question 
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