Meds Experiences Thread!!

You might be allergic like me, prozac and zoloft are in the same family so theres similar allergy potential

 

Prozac made my depression better but cranked up my anxiety. Citalopram + Wellbutrin is what I'm on now for brain meds and it does well enough I guess?

Also on trazodone for sleep, I seem to be one of those who do well on it. Withdrawal from that stuff is a bitch, though. It makes my hyper to the point of jittery, and unable to concentrate on anything or relax.

I'm on labetalol, a beta blocker, for blood pressure, and I love this shit. It utterly kills fear response to things for me. I am the calmest motherfucker on this med and it's great.

 

Speaking of non psych meds, i cant take most antibiotics since im allergic to amoxicillin and they didn't want to risk the other cillins. My dad has a severe penicillin allergy, if he even breathes in the same room as it he blows up in hives. Im also allergic to erithromyacin, decongestants, and pediazol of all things.

I spent a good portion of my childhood with strep throat on and off cause they couldnt figure out what to give me that would work :( they finally just took my tonsils out and i stopped getting it.

 

My first doctor some 11 years ago was a complete quack. I was 15 when I started seeing him and he immediately slapped me with a depression and ADHD diagnosis and on Zoloft and Strattera. Zoloft, as far as I remember, did okay, but dear CHRIST the Strattera. I don't remember much of my sophomore/junior years. (I do remember having a panic attack (?) that left me not completely sure where I was, my mom only realizing how bad off I was when I said I didn't know what the fuck was wrong with me.)

When we went to the doctor with my concerns, one of which was insomnia, he put me on Geodon because one of the side effects was drowsiness. Luckily I read the paperwork that came with it (not approved for under-18s, could potentially change the electrical charge of my heart?!) and we promptly found another doctor.

(Tangent: shortly after the ADHD diagnosis I got a progress report from my Spanish teacher that said I "lacked focus". My mom looked at it for a second and went "well, duh.")

There's a chance I have some form of personality disorder, according to the psych eval I had a few years ago. At the time I didn't believe it but knowing more about both myself and personality disorders it seems more likely. Might have affected how those meds treated me. Wellbutrin was a godsend, though. Cannot horomonal birth control at all, though, it makes me yell at my mom and then curl up in the kitchen floor and cry about it.

Oh! I cannot remember the name of it for the life of me, but the anxiety meds they put me on when I was pregnant fucked me up HARD. D remembers me just pacing the house at 2 am, muttering under my breath and eating cookie dough out of the fridge. I remember none of this. They tried to give it to me when I was fever spiking and freaking out after delivery and I shook my head so hard I thought it was gonna come off.

It's OTC, but I've actually had success with melatonin? I think I take like 5 mgs when I take it, and it makes me actually REM cycle like I'm supposed to and possibly has some mood-balancing effect on me. (Or actually sleeping makes me behave less like an emotion zombie, either or.)

 

I'm pretty lucky, because I'm one of those people who gets nothing in the way of side effects on antidepressants, and also have gone cold turkey off them without any withdrawl symptoms... which is good, because I miss doses constantly and am shit at consistency. I just wish more of them came in liquid form, pills are hard to take and definitely contribute to me missing doses.

I've been on quite a few, all for GAD, many have been OK at minimum, but between needing higher doses to get an effect and the fact most are pills that I struggle to take, I've had to get off of them. Not sure if this will be a comprehensive list (because what is memory), but eh. Close enough!

• Edronax/reboxetine: 100% useless. It did nothing.
• Effexor XR/venlafaxine: Was on this one for awhile and it was pretty effective... but eventually got to a point where I was taking 3 pills a day and I just couldn't handle it anymore so I had to switch. Unfortunately, despite telling him my issue with pills, the psychiatrist I was seeing didn't bother changing the prescription to something liquid, or at least not a capsuleless tablet.
• Zoloft/sertraline: Useful while I was on it, but I wasn't on it for very long because 1. it was a regular tablet, and 2. I eventually had to go on 2 tablets a day and that generally missed the point of why I went off Effexor to begin with (since zoloft tablets are much harder to take despite being smaller).
• Lexapro oral solution/escitalopram: This one was amazing and honestly, I'm a little sad I'm not still on it. It was my first liquid antidepressant and it was really effective. It just didn't handle my extremely heightened anxiety during exams very well, but I'm kinda thinking now that ADHD is in the picture as a diagnosis that maybe I can get back on it once that's covered? I don't know. But I am all about the liquid life.
• Lovan dispersible tablets/fluoxetine: Really fucking disgusting, unless you enjoy drinking liquids with large and disgusting tasting chunks of tablet in them. 100% would not recommend. I don't even know how well it works brain-wise, because I tried them once and then was like NO TY. I still feel disgust thinking about drinking that shit.
• Cymbalta/duloxetine: What I'm on at the moment. Not a liquid, unfortunately, but my options were between 2 small capsules or 1 larger one (60mg?), and I went for the 2 smalls since larger ones tend to set off my gag reflex like whoa. Surprisingly effective in terms of anxiety (exam stress is there, but at a normal level), but I do wish it was a liquid.

 

@Hobo This might be a totally useless thing; but as someone who has had a ton of trouble with pills; i still can't manage them in liquid so i generally take pills by chewing up a swallowable amount of raisins and hiding the pill inside so I can't feel it. idk if that would help you at all but figured i'd mention.
also solidarity at the pill trouble. I only started managing to take pills at all 6 months ago, and as i said still can't manage to take them with a liquid

 

OH GOSH THOSE

Yeah, I also have migraines, and right now I take Topamax daily, and naproxen and sumatriptan as needed. Naproxen doesn't really do anything but make me thirsty. Sumatriptan makes me randomly sleepy, and sometimes slows down my mental processing, though I never can tell fully if that's the migraine or the meds.

I used to be on amitriptalyne, but while I didn't really get side effects it also didn't do much for my migraines. And earlier this year, I briefly tried switching meds, which was a mistake. Noratriptalyne makes me anxious, but it accumulated gradually in my system so I didn't really notice it happening until I freaked out really uncharacteristically badly over a bug in my apartment. Venlafaxine just made my teeth hurt; it was weird but super-uncomfortable.

 

I am honestly quite comforted by other people knowing about the tingles, not that I would wish them on anyone but you know. Not being alone dealing with weird things is nice.

 

Diagnosed w Learning Disorder NOS in HS, a.k.a. I Can't Believe It's Not ADHD (surprise: it was ADHD all along) and then depression and anxiety.

I don't remember all the things I've tried to be honest, but I know I was on Prozac and Celexa at different times for a while and they definitely worked on my mood, but plateaued after a while. I suspect if I were straight-up depressed they would have been great but it turned out the depression was actually a side effect of anxiety and undiagnosed ADHD because I couldn't get my shit together or focus. I actually tried Adderall back then and all it seemed to do was make my heart beat really fast. (This was why they concluded it wasn't ADHD: because the meds didn't work :|) I'm back on it now like 10 years later and it works for focus p well. I basically just get the "increased anxiety" side effect but now that I have a good therapist it's worth putting up with. Iirc, stimulants (and some other things) can work differently on teenage and adult brains. Magic.

Anxiety-wise, I think when I was on Celexa I was given something supplemental I could take for specific times I was extra anxious. However, the doctor impressed upon me that it was highly addictive and should only be used when I *really* needed it, so I never used it because I'm great at downplaying my needs. :'> iirc the 1 or 2 times I did, it worked. Began with an L?

I'm about to start buspirone (?) since new doc thinks something consistent would be better, in order to combat what I call "the broken smoke alarm", a.k.a. body having physical symptoms of anxiety when there's nothing I'm actually anxious about.

Looking back on it, my experiences with meds themselves weren't so bad as much as the crappy job everyone did diagnosing me. Though I do have one horror-ish story.

Back when I was an 8 hr drive from home in college, I came home for Xmas break and my psych had gone on sudden leave? For something? Either way I had to see someone new and during our first and only appointment she asked me some questions, concluded that because i was still a bit miserable what I was on at the time was no longer working (actually it was because I didn't know how to manage myself because ADHD!!!) And prescribed Effexor. This was when it was brand new and not entirely tested, and I understand it really works for some people but...hooboy. I think I took it for a month or two, and it made me into an apathetic lump. I just didn't *care*. About *anything*. (I mean, I guess it worked on the anxiety?? :/)

I honestly don't remember much of that time but partner said they finally brought it up to me that I was acting really fucking weird and it was probably the new meds and i, a very smart and rational human being, went cold turkey. (As other people in this thread have said...DON'T DO THIS.)

I have had swine flu before. I was in bed for a week with a 100+ fever that made me hallucinate. I would take that again over that withdrawal, holy shit. Shaking, feverish, nausea, the works. I don't think I went to class for two weeks.

Needless to say I didn't go back to see that doctor again, because it was frankly irresponsible of her to make a decision like that when I would be leaving shortly for another state. My current doc puts a lot of emphasis on watching for side effects and contacting her if anything goes weird, and has mandatory monthly appointments. I feel...and lot safer in her hands.

 

@Enzel Oh jeez, that sounds pretty horrific. I've done the withdrawal thing from that one too, but I tapered. And it was still fucking awful. Definitely a good thing that your current GP knows what she's about.

In terms of my own Adventures in Medication Land -

Meds I've tried that didn't work for me:
Citalopram (Celexa) - This one fucked me up good and proper. I mentioned in another thread that my GP just kept upping my dosage rather than reviewing whether the drug itself was doing what it was meant to. I don't remember what dose I was on towards the end but it was stupidly high. It's all a bit of a blur now, but I do know that it got so bad that one evening I had to call the NHS hotline to work out whether I was having intense side-effects or if I was actually going through some kind of breakdown. A bit of both, as it turned out! Coming off of it was not fun, even though I tapered rather than going cold turkey.
Venlafaxine (Effexor) - I have literally no memory of this one. None. I know it didn't work, because I came off of it. And I remember coming off of it sucking so badly. But apparently it numbed my brain so much that it effectively erased my memories of what it was like when I was taking it. I do know that people around me said I wasn't quite right when I was taking it though.

Meds I'm on now:
Propranolol (both in slow release form every morning and 10mg tabs to take as and when): I have no idea if this is still working. My anxiety is less now than it used to be, but I think a big part of that was some truly excellent therapy I received last year.
Mirtazapine: I started taking this for sleep related reasons. I think I remember getting the munchies really badly when I started taking it. And I felt low-key stoned for a couple of weeks and would jump at sudden noises. It's evened out now though. Again, I don't really know what it's doing for me at this point.
Sertraline: Prescribed after a major depressive episode. Again, no idea what it's doing now.
Lamotrigine: For epilepsy. This one I can categorically confirm as effective. Episodes have reduced from several times a month to once or twice every few months.

I guess my main concern now is that I've been on this cocktail of things for so long that I don't fully know what I'm like unmedicated any more. I don't know how much of 'me' is influenced by the drugs, and how much is just me as a person. Like, what would I be like if I came off all of it? Is the anxiety actually gone or are the drugs keeping it at bay? Have I 'grown out of' my depressive episodes or are the drugs buoying me up? I have no idea any more.

 

So, some commentary about non-brain meds, of which I only really have one.

I was taking mobic/meloxicam and something else but I don't remember what for a fucked up neck/shoulder, and I had to suddenly stop taking both because my insurance expired. I don't know whether it was the meloxicam or the other thing, but I had a brief withdrawal and went through Actual Paranoia for the first time ever (I'm thinking it must have been the other thing, because according to my brief googling, mobic shouldnt do that). Let me tell you, I would like to never have to experience that again in my life. I mean, y'all who put up with this frequently are like superheroes, because what the actual fuck is that bullshit.

I think the only reason I connected it with stopping medication was because something else reminded me. It consisted of something like "If I tell person (personal, important, but otherwise not a big deal thing), they will Reject Me Forever, so therefore I must stop being that thing". Like, on one hand I completely believed that, but on the other I was shocked, because that is pretty much the exact opposite of how I respond to things.

0/10 would not reccommend

 

I probably have about a decade of experience by now, the majority with lorazepam. In my experience it is a lovely drug and it has given me minimal side effects. It has drastically reduced intrusive thoughts and the constant stream of illogical background terror. I have also tried valium (made me feel slow and not really any better), clorazepate (the very long half life was nice but it was ultimately more of the valium problem), and xanax (great for situational anxiety, not nearly as good for any of the other anxiety). These were all prescribed for clinical anxiety, mostly GAD. None of them were ever prescribed for sleep, though I was certainly not discouraged from taking a bedtime dose and seeing what happened. What happened was absolutely no joy whatsoever. Benadryl is severely crappy at putting me to sleep and benzos are even more useless.

I've tried a lot of sleep medications. None of them were particularly successful until Belsomra, which is relatively new and works on an entirely different neurotransmitter system from any other I've ever heard of. It actually makes me fucking drowsy for more than two or three fragile minutes. I've been taking it for a number of months now and have noticed no decrease in effectiveness. I certainly can't say my sleep is perfect, but it's still been pretty near to a miracle drug for me. Insomnia has always been one of the bigger problems in my life.

 

Oh man Benadryl knocks me out like a motherfucker. I can be wide awake in the middle of the afternoon, but if I take Benadryl I will be asleep in half an hour.

 

Does it not give you nightmares? If I take it before sleeping and do not also take lorazepam, it gives me incredibly vivid nervous dreams. My doctor says this probably happens when the Benadryl wears off, since it only lasts a few hours. Lorazepam is a fairly short-lived benzo, but I guess it lasts longer than Benadryl?

(Most of my nightmares were Homestuck-themed. It was impossible to take them too seriously after waking.)

 

No, I don't have many dreams in general and have never experienced a change in them from medicine

 

I pretty much didn't have dreams at all for a long time, and when I got put on Wellbutrin they came back and didn't go away again even after I got off it. It was super-weird.

 

I am just here to say it is first thing in the morning at work and my fingers are doing the unhappiest tingles and it is making the rest of me unhappy >:(

 

I was prescribed both metoprolol and propranolol for non-existent anxiety disorder and both made me go super crazy. Like I would go weeks feeling absolutely numb and then suddenly freak the fuck out over literally nothing - like not being able to line up the pieces of bread for a tuna sandwich - and end up punching my butcher's block or hurling my smartphone at a brick wall. My normal release valve is to rant about inconsequential shit, and beta-blockers didn't let me do that.

I tried Timolol in my early teens for migraine which contributed to a major depressive episode and I nearly failed my second year of high school because of it. I was on Sumatriptan but it did sod all for my migraines and I was taken off it by my GP when she prescribed me with Sertraline for depression last year. Sertraline has been fucking miraculous and the only major side effects have been low appetite and some sexual dysfunction, which kind of sucked because it turns out that I do have an actual sex drive when I'm not depressed. It's got better over time, though.

I also take Amitriptyline for M.E. symptoms and it does block some of the pain and has the unexpected benefit of taking the edge off my suspected ADHD. Since taking Ami it's increased my focus so I can actually do stuff. The down side is it also knocked my appetite down a further notch, and it doesn't do a thing for the insomnia which it was supposed to. Li would really love it if I could get something to tone down how much of a twitchy, shouty, restless sleeper I am.

 

new psych recently put me on gabapentin, which is apparently technically an anti-seizure drug but he prescribed it for anxiety and also for the potential sedation side effect. doc's right, it's really working for my anxiety! by making sure i cannot hold two thoughts in my head at the same time. this is the most severe brainfog i've ever had to deal with and it's frankly scaring me a lot. coming up with the right phrasing for things is really hard right now because i can't hold in place the thing i want to say with the specific phrase i need to use to say the thing, not happening, that's two things and that's more than one and i can only hold one. since i take it three times a day, and the brainfog lasts for a specific time after the dose, my most "active" times right now are between 6 and 10 pm, between doses, which is probably not conducive to having an actual life and an actual schedule.

just got off of mirtazepine, an extremely low dose at bedtime, and not only can i not sleep like i used to, but my appetite has also fucked off to regions unknown.

recently switched from lexapro/escitalopram in morning to the equivalent dose of celexa/citalopram at night. no noticeable difference.

btw re: dreams/nightmares, psychoactives that are still in your system when you go to sleep (especially mood stabilizers and antipsychotics iirc) will basically guarantee weird and vivid dreams (if and when you remember them). in fact, i had some """friends""" in undergrad who would get fraudulent prescriptions for seroquel, an antipsychotic with a sedative effect, and take it recreationally to have those dreams. (fuckheads.)

 

Anecdata, but this seems to be a thing with Prozac?
- After a week on Prozac in college, I got a freaky involuntary jaw-chatter (and immediately switched to another one, which continued the jaw chatter, so I gave up entirely).
- A friend of mine took Prozac together with an ADD medication (I forget which), and developed a muscular twitch in a different location.