Anti-depressants... your own experiences...

Interesting comments about those electrical brain zaps. At one point, the doctor switched me from Prozac to Effexor. It was as if I was speeding and I constantly had these weird electrical zaps in my brain. I really thought I was losing it!! I searched the net, and found that LOTS of Effexor users experience the "brain zaps". I immediately called my psychiatrist and told him that I wanted back on Prozac immediately..since then, things have been fine.
I'm sorry anyone has to endure the dreaded brain zaps, but, reading this thread has made me feel as if I'm not the only one who's had these weird feelings. Try to explain them to someone who's never taken an antidepressant LOL....they REALLY conclude you are nuts then!
joey

Fascinating,

I am impressed by your amount of research and abiliy to read and interpert. My congratulations and encouragement go out to you.

TUT

Yeah, the "brain zaps" are strange. I have found that they only happen when I move my eyes. Perhaps they have some relation to the optic nerve? Whatever the cause, they are strange. It feels like mini-electric shocks, without the pain....

I had the "brain zaps" for about a week and a half after stopping the paxil, but they have subsided now. My withdrawls weren't too bad, since I replaced the paxil with wellbutrin, but the zaps were uncomfortable, and I was also sick to my stomach for about a week. While I was on the paxil, I felt ok ( anything was better than depression) but now, on wellbutrin, I feel good, normal at last. On paxil I felt like an unfeeling, uncaring zombie.
I also have to take risperdal, because I am bipolar. It has side effects too, but not as bad as paxil. I'm just thankful that I have finally found a combination that works and has the least amount of side effects possible. Good luck to you all.

[edit on 2/11/2004 by jameo131i]

i live in the UK and im 16, and i think its different here to america in that my GP could not prescribe me anti depressants and i had to see a psychitarist 3 times before they would prescribe me the drugs (fluoxetine, aka prozac)

i was diagnosed as clinically depressed and put on 20mg a day of prozac, within a few days of starting the drugs, i began to get headaches and blurred vision, the headaches then basically became constant migraines, so bad that i am taking 8-10 paracetamol a day just to be able to do things, more recently ive started getting very very vivid dreams, so vivid that i wake up thinking its about midnight and that ive been awake and already lived a day, the dreams are so vivid i can smell and feel things in my dreams, another side effect i get is hallucinations, from seeing and talking to people for them to walk in the room and ask who im talking to at which point i see 2 of them, as well as the hallucinations i also hear things, like a phone ringing and no-one calling, i have also recently started to talk in my sleep and sleep walk, either that or i black out when im waking up, i also suffer from insomnia i sleep about 3 hours every two days, as well as eating maybe once every 2 days, i 8 weeks i have lost 1 and half stone, around 10kg, and i was an average weight in the first place...

since taking the prozac i have become more and more suicidal, so much so that i took an overdose on friday, i took all the tablets i could find in the house but unfortunatly it just landed me in hospital for a few days with an abnormal heart rhythm and tachycardia(sp?) all effects from a prozac overdose amongst other things

according to my psychiatrist prozac is the only anti depressant proved to help people my age and that the side effects are likely to be worse with other medication

im going again to see the psychiatrist tomorrow, in the hope i can get some different anti depressants and maybe some kind of sedative, as i get very very agitated and violent, and i always need to be doing something, if i have nothing to do i try kill myself, but im usually not that bad if my mind is occupied by something, i get so agitated i have also cut my wrists, only problem for me is that i dont like needles or anything that goes too deep into my skin, so cutting my wrists fairly deep makes me pass out, so i wont be killing myself that way

before being put on prozac i did have some suicidal tendencies but no where near as bad to carry them out like i did a few days ago

if anything the prozac has made me worse and into a sort of zombie, i can concentrate even less now than i could before the drugs

if i dont get some anti depressants that start working soon, or something i can take to calm myself down like some kind of sedative, i really do doubt i will be around for christmas, as i cannot see a way out of how i feel, i live 30 minutes at a time and its an accomplishment to do that

on top of all of this, i have the usual problems of a lot of people not understanding what it like to be depressed and telling me to snap out of it, my mum being one, she has kicked me out of the house and didnt even come see me in hospital or ring me when i got out (and yeh she did know i was in hospital) because im apparently faking it because i dont want to go to school, she then took it even further by saying "you dont know how easy you have life" yeh my life is so easy i dont even want to be alive, but i will have to get a job to pay rent otherwise im gonna be homeless

sorry if this seems like some kind of rant, it just helps slightly to get it off my chest

hope it all makes sense but its nearly 5am here and ive had 3 hours sleep in 72 hours

cleggy`

Originally posted by apw100
Yeah, the "brain zaps" are strange. I have found that they only happen when I move my eyes. Perhaps they have some relation to the optic nerve? Whatever the cause, they are strange. It feels like mini-electric shocks, without the pain....

ME TOO!!!! When I move my eye ball, I feel sick and really really strange!!! It's so not fun to be depressed...I just take 10mm of Paxil a day and I was thinking of upgrading....But now..not sure!

Ameliaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Are a disproportionate number of ATSers clincally depressed or is this a normal segment of any population? A wihle ago I realized that a lot of ATSers, to say the least, haven't had the best of lives.

I have been on Prozac and other medications, and I just felt like an emotionless zombie.

I took myself off psych meds a few years back...I had post-partum depression after my son was born. I found 2 things that will help depression: God and diet. Specifically a reduced-carb diet.

My younger sister has been on so many different kinds of things it isn't funny. She weighs 350 lbs + and I tell her, just go on a low-carb diet, lose the weight, etc.

I'm sure glad I heard of Dr. Atkins. I tell you what that guy's helped a lot of people, me included! Why pop pills that can have long-term health consequences when you can just change your diet and make your body run better?

As far as seratonin goes, lots of times if that's what's causing depression, it's not so much the LEVELS of it as how your body is actually USING it.

Originally posted by ktprktpr
Are a disproportionate number of ATSers clincally depressed or is this a normal segment of any population? A wihle ago I realized that a lot of ATSers, to say the least, haven't had the best of lives.

Most of ATSer are people who ask themselves a lot of questions...they feel trapped in society (work, bills, etc...) People who love their life don't ask themselves questions about life itself
I've been depressed all my life (it's in the family hehehe)And all my life I had to deal with stress and anxiety and depression because society is crap! I'm a person who hates hate and all the violence stress me even more....The way we live is stressful and I'm very sensitive

Maybe that is the answer to you question

Ameliaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Been on Serzone since 1998 with no problems except for some horrible nightmares the first 3 weeks.

I can trace my depression back to when I was 14. Had a friend that gave me a depression test in 1998 and I answered 7 as yes. Basically, if you answered 2 as yes, you were considered depressed.

The biggest problem I had was uncontrolled emotions. I could feel happy, angry, and sad within 30 seconds with nothing contributing to feeling that way. This cycled on and off all day.

Anyways, I have no intention of stopping. When I have forgotten to take it or ran out (due to poor planning), the symptoms come back within 48 hours.

Originally posted by tacho
Anyways, I have no intention of stopping. When I have forgotten to take it or ran out (due to poor planning), the symptoms come back within 48 hours.

Me too, I can't quit!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a person who is very sensitive and everything affects me when I don't take Paxil
I tried many times to quit and then I start to cry everyday

Maybe my body just needs the substance in the pills

Ameliaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

anti-depressants are serious drugs. I was on one for genaralized anxiety disorder, and my script ran out, and i blew off getting it refilled over the weekend. my brain felt like it was ripping in half by sunday night. saw the Dr. monday am, and he told me I was at risk for a stroke, and to never let it happen again. I really regret going on them, and hope to be free of them in a few months.

[edit on 5/12/2004 by jameo131i]

ffs,Saddos, never let those drug cartels' products near your systems.
They are only there to control you
Take homeopathic Nux Vom 30C in the morning , and Sulphur 30C in the evening to clear yourself of these disruptive chemicals
If you're really sad, take Australian Bush Flower Essence Waratah 7 drops morning and evening
Smoke a joint or pipe if you must early evening
Take responsibilty away from the profiteering drug conglomerates and quack orthodox medical profession and into your own hands
Believe nothing an MD tells you unless he or she's a renegade
Your future is your own responsibility

I feel very sorry for YOU dh... ignorance of this and many other issues is rife on these boards.... go and DENY that ignorance dh!

Originally posted by jameo131i
I feel very sorry for YOU dh... ignorance of this and many other issues is rife on these boards.... go and DENY that ignorance dh!

Well, yeah ok, I work with people clinically defined as sufferers, though that is not the central diagnosis, I might get minor bouts myself on occasion. At best, the drugs don't work on a long term basis (though they may give a seemingly miraculous transformation in the short term - I've seen that a good few times), at worst they mess your mind for good, and make you retreat to a passive or self-destructive place.
So I'll deny that ignorance (Smiley only because you need that good laugh]

[edit on 14-12-2004 by dh]

Hmm, it would seem a lot of us suffer from depression.

Just wondering wat experiences people have had taking the drug lexapro. I am really interested in side effects (if any) and how long these side effects lasted for and so on....
Thanx

[edit on 20/12/2004 by jameo131i]