I have PTDS, anxiety,nocturnal wake up anxiety and depression.They have tried Celexa, Lexapro, Zoloft, Effexor, Wellbutrin but no combo's. I had the worst side effects with all of them unable to function or eat. Do not want to take Paxil as I heard its very hard to come off of. Have not tried Cymbalta, but have no Rx insurance. Does anyone know the cost? Currently on xanax 0.05 mg1x a day & 0.50 of Lorazepam for sleep. It works to just make the anxiety tolerable but does nothing for the depression & I do not want to become dependent. Now What do I do? I need something for both.
What do you do when SSRI's do not work for you?
Question posted by janiebme on 19 April 2013
Last updated on 25 November 2018
4 Answers
Vicky56
6 May 2013
I have been on paxil, 20 mgs, for the past 10 years and it hasn't been working as well as it did... I am down to 10 mgs now since 3/20... it has been a struggle. I just don't want to take any longer but don't want to relapse again either... I suffered from pts... and anxiety along w/ panic attacks... now back to your issues... I had a bad relapse 11 years ago and hospitalized myself... they had me on 100 mgs of Wellbutrin, 30 mgs of paxil, 10 mgs of remron, and 5 mgs of klonipin... I was crying a lot, insomnia, and severely depressed... after my discharge I weaned myself from all meds but the paxil within that year... it took a lot of hard work and positive surroundings to complete... had done well till this past year... then the anxiety issues seemed to start again... I also suffered with bouts of insomnia so medical dr. Prescribed Ativan when needed which helped... take only when needed too. There is help in mixing the meds but don't suggest long term use...
I am also under the care of a psychiatrist. You have to work w/ your dr. If I new what I do today, I would of taken a more holistic approach but easier said then done... insurance won't cover this approach... I do get acupuncture for anxiety and it does help... I hope this has been helpful... don't wish these conditions on anyone...
janiebme
6 May 2013
Thank you for response. It was helpful. I am on Trazadone 50mg (day 5) taken at night to help sleep. I have been having more anxiety & nite terrors. Have had to take .25 mg (1/2 tab )of xanax around 9 am every day. Just to take the edge off. I also took my traz & 1/4 tab of a (1mg) of Ativan/ Lorazepam last night first night in months I sleep 7 hours. I usually only sleep 2-3 hrs with wake up terrors every 2 hours. Traz makes me tired for the first couple of hours when I get up. I am hoping that as I adjust (2-4 weeks) to the Traz and my depression/ anxiety will get better and I can wean off the xanax/lorazepam. How long have you been doing the acupuncture? Does it stop working once you stop. I was thinking of doing it.
Vicky56
6 May 2013
Been doing acupuncture for 10 years now... it does help... there are six needles they use... two around wrist and forearm area and one in each ankle... my daughter takes triazadone and it helps... she started on a higher dose though... just keep the faith and be around positive people and situations... you will eventually heal... know that others do care what your going through... I was on a lot more meds when I hospitalized myself but with determination you can fight the battle...
bamamichelle78
29 April 2013
Im taking 5-http you can find it otc @ walmart,it seems to help my depression and anxiety,also take Cymbalta 60 mg helps with the 5-http.As far as sleep i have to take 2 pills a herb called melatonin 5 mg (walmart) and Ambien Rx only it helps me wind down and sleep,hope this helps.
jk13
20 April 2013
Yup, ptsd, kinda sucks. This all sounds very familiar. To stabalize yourself a simple ssri or snri alone rarely will do the trick. The flash backs can be stopped or at least decreased with an alpha blocker called minipress. It did a ton of good for me when I needed to stop that non-stop fall. I never took xanax but klonopin so that I would have anxiety relief around the clock. For sleep I'd have to take something additional for when things flared up. I personally have been on a ton of different ssri's / snri's but although doctors really really want them to work for everything, the fact is is that they at least for me only took the edge off the rainbow of issues.
I was on anti-psychotics for a while, and they did help, however the side effects were a bit too much. The best long term medication for me really was the therapy as it addressed and treated the root problem vs. just covering up the root problem. For me it actually was meditation and an internal martial art similar to kung fu that did the trick however there really are many many ways of attacking this demon.
The medications that I listed helped me not kill myself, sorry, just being honest, and also helped me stop falling so that I was able to stand and fight back. I now no longer need to take any medications at all. No more panic attacks, anxiety, flashbacks, that hollow depression, disassosiation sp?, and etc. It even turned out that my chronic pain wasn't chronic pain but cancer. The meditation and moving meditation not only stopped all of the ptsd symtoms, but then shrank all of the lumps accordingly to how much time was spent doing these variety of activities. The lumps are now totally gone.
First things first, before therapy can do any good, before you can realy fight your personal demons, you have to first be able to stand. The medications allowed for me to heal. Everyone responds differently to different meds and treatments, but you can at least rest assure that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Oh, and as far as insurance, I also didn't have insurance during the roughest part as well as resolution. There are cost effective meds out there as well as programs that will cover the cost for certain expensive meds. Abilify can be purchased from overseas as a generic for dirt cheap vs. the hundreds of dollars that it normally cost. Best of luck to you and hope that this is of some help.
Jeff K.
janiebme
20 April 2013
WOW Jeff K- What is internal martial arts? How do you meditate, or how did you lean to do it? You do not take any meds?
I just want to be able to get my anxiety under control enough to function without benzo's. I take 0.05 mg 1/2 tab xananx as needed which since being off antidepressants has been almost every day one time AM. I was taking antiD's to see if I could get off the benzo. But they almost killed me. I take Lorazepam 0.50 mg 1/2 tab PM for sleep it stops the night terrors, but still have wake up anxiety. Had suicidal ideation because I could not stand the anxiety 24-7 when I was not on benzo's. Have a email into my PCP to see what else he may suggest. You were helpful thank you so much.
jk13
20 April 2013
An internal martial art is one that works with your bodies life energy, ki, chi, qi, or whatever you want to call it. It's not just a series of movements, but works with this energy as well as an opponents energy. If a person throws a punch, you blend yourself into their energy and redirect it were you'd like. The more energy, the easier and more options to work with. You also focus your own energy into various parts of the body, such as punch.
When practicing this sort of stuff it has the ability to unblock clogged energy that can cause illness. These styles have a meditative quality too. Turns out that there is now evidence that meditation actually alters the brains alpha waves and can fix issues such as anxiety and depression. As a result of practicing the martial arts + meditation has allowed for me to go from 6 mg klonopin + ? mg minipress + 200 mg zoloft + 35 mg methadone + 200 mg ? nuvigil + ? mg abilify to 0 mg.
It took a while to slowly taper off of the meds but wasn't hard with time.
Before losing my insurance I had seen a therapist. She helped me identify what was me vs. not. For example, I am not a sad person, but my inner demon can make me. Being able to realize that this illness is much like a demon & to accept and move on from the past is key. Going over the past simply makes things worse, a very strange monster that twists the knife every time that even the topic is discussed.
In order to fight back you must be able to first stand and stop that nonstop fall. Any medication can be easily stopped only if done very very slowly. I wouldn't worry about dependence if you are willing to taper over the course of months. Why rush? You shouldn't worry so much about this aspect and more about what is working and what is not.
I had the benefit of knowing various styles of martial arts. All I had to do is make the various external styles into a tool that better fit me as well as my situation. I not only made hard styles soft and the soft harder, but also infused more of a practice of ki flow than is traditional. I've been involved with this for almost 20 years now and understand them not as a series of movements but more as a fundamental thought process.
I was also familiar with meditation, now am a practicing Buddhist and attend temple. This of course is not the correct path for everyone. There are many ways to fight an inner demon, but I have a feeling that only you would know what that may be. It very well may take a bit of searching before the answer becomes clear. You first however need to stop the free fall with medication, not to be taken forever, but to give yourself a fighting chance.
I sincerely hope that this is of some help. I understand how much this illness sucks. If you have any questions feel free to ask, but remember, whatever you do, don't obsess about what had happened, work on the now, not the past. Once you are able to be present in the now will be the same day that your illness dies. Best of luck! I hope that this is a bit of help.
Jeff K
jk13
20 April 2013
Totally forgot, how to meditate! It sounds easy but isn't as the mind has so much noise. Sit indian style or if you wish in the lotus style. Listen to your breath go in threw the nose filling your belly, not chest, and listen to the breath exit out of the mouth. When you have any thought, acknowledge the thought, imagine a river with a boat. Place the thought into the boat and send it on it's way. At first you'll find that there's a lot that needs to be put in the boats, at times placing boats into the boats, but with time there will be less. 15 min per day will provide results, but the more time put into it, the more that you will get in return. I wouldn't start with long sessions, but would work to make the sessions longer in time with time. Once a week long sessions will be of no use as any progress made will only be lost. Currently I need to practice the martial arts for about two hours and still meditation for one hour per day. It was at that point when my lumps started to shrink and go away. Best of luck!
lady2882
19 April 2013
I have the same problem as you do but have tried cymbalta too and it was the worst to get off of for side effects so research this one carefully before trying it.
My doctor has decided that it is time for me to see a Psychiatrist to try to deal with the anxiety, insomnia, and hyper vigilance from PTSD that I am experiencing as the SSRI have been making things worse not better.
Have you been to see a Psychiatrist or had any counseling for your problems?
janiebme
20 April 2013
I have been in therapy for 8 months. My therapist is anit-meds and we have been doing EMDR but to be honest I am tired of re-living the trauma which you do with EMDR. It worked for a while then I got really bad anxiety & night terrors.The Psychiatrist I saw prescribed benso's. If I had taken all he prescribed I would not functional at all I would be so drugged up.I am not on any antidepressants right now. I am trying to stay in the present moment anxiety comes & goes if really bad I take 1/2 xanax. I still have wake up anxiety but sleep5- 6 hours when I take the Lorazepam. Mornings are the worst for me.I do not want to try anymore antidepressants.Like you the SSRI's made my anxiety 10 fold. Zoloft was the only one that I noticed helped the anxiety but side effects were horrible! What do you take now? Let me know if you see a Psych doc and how it goes. I pray we can hang in there.
lady2882
20 April 2013
If the EMDR is not helping then you need to tell your therapist how you feel about it. There is such a think as re-living a tramatic event too much. I know that if I have to explain what happened to me to someone in any detail now it bothers me more intensely for days after. We do have to move on and learn to identify and deal with the little triggers that only bring back small flashes of the event. Maybe you need to tell your therapist that you feel you need to move on to more coping skills and everyday events.
Of course this is just how I see it but I hope it helps
Truth er
25 Nov 2018
Be very careful of those physic docs they will load you up on sari crazy pills and say if these don't work we will try some more different ones and fore you know it you'll have gone through a dozen different ones and still be suffering while doc fills he pocket with money from you and your insurance company!!! Best thing is if you get a benzoe is stay on it!!
Truth er
25 Nov 2018
You will soon find out that only the doctors and those in government are allowed to have access to the meds like benzo that is all that will control anxiexty and all else is put on sari meds so they can cause you to freak out and hopefully do away with your self sad to say but very true!!!
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depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, side effect, anxiety and stress
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