Amy Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 I am wondering of those out there that are on a med combo. Mine finally is really beginning to work. I have had days in the past when you feel great for a day or two and then it all falls apart. I have held my breath and waited and this is really helping me. I don't know how long it will continue to work, and my mood stabilizer still needs to be increased, but overall I am feeling better. I am taking Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Topamax, and Xanax as needed. Anyone else taking a combo and having good results? One or two never helped me and finally I feel better. Still having swings, but I doubt they will go away entirely. Amy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twilight Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Hi Amy, that is so good to hear. Its really nice when you hear that something is working for someone. I'm really pleased for you (((Amy))). No, meds don't work for me, combinations or alone....I'm med resistant apparently! Which just means you not got much chance! Well no, it doesn't mean that but thats how it feels. Hope it continues to get better xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Americanimport Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 Hi, I too am on a medication cocktail..... I had been on Effexor for about a month with no improvement and a regular increase in dosage... My Dr. then added Mirtazipene, which is another antidepressant, which I take at night, along with Zolpidem and Phenergan to help me sleep..... I still was not having any luck with these 4 drugs until the Dr. added Lithium.... In just one day I felt better, it was like someone flipped a switch and turned all the negative feeling off!! I thought it was working.... I felt pretty good for about a week, but I have steadily started sliding back downhill..... I am going to talk to my doctor this week about quitting the meds because the benefits I am getting at this point don't outweigh the side effects. I hope you have better luck than I am having.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginny Posted October 18, 2004 Report Share Posted October 18, 2004 Hi Americanimport I was reading your post about combination therapy and decided to reply cos I have been on a couple of the drugs you were talking about . Effexor is probably one of the worst drugs I have ever encountered ( and I have talked to others who also believe this) The side effects are bad and coming off the drug is a nightmare!! I would never recommend this drug to anyone (however, I am not a doctor) The other drug, Mirtazipine is a good anti-anxiety anti-depressant - however, my Doc told me that it is notorious for causing weight gain...... My diagnosis is similar to yours and I was on mirtazipine for 6 months -in that time I gained nearly 20 kilos - I came off the drug about 3 weeks ago after discovering this horrible side effect ( the drug wasnt really working anyway) and I have already lost 6 kilos. I just thought you might be interested in this info. Also, in regards to the acute depression, my doc put me on a relatively new drug called Lexapro - a VERY goood anti-depressant - I am not sure what its brand name is in America but the actual drug is called escitalopram oxalate. I started taking it and within 3 days I felt better. It really changed things for me... Well, I hope this info has been useful. Take care and I hope you feel better soon Lots of love Ginny ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Americanimport Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Hi Ginny, Thanks so much for the information.... that really helps... being on so many things at once it is difficult to know what the side effects are coming from... for some reason I have been quick to blame them all on the Lithium but maybe I am wrong..... What kind of side effects did you experience from the Effexor? And what was it like when you came off these drugs? I almost quit taking them all over the weekend... skipped a day, but then became afraid of crashing hard.... Thanks again, Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calyps Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Feel I have to add a champion for effexor- I've been on it for about 2 years and it has done so much good. It's the only anti-d I've had that actually lifted my mood. The worst side effects i found are the sweating, the weird dreaming and weirding out if I stop it too suddenly. I also have a friend with depression who is having some great results with Effexor. Guess it's true about finding the right drug for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budgie Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Mine stands at Prozac, Xanax & Topamax. Realised that dosage matters too. Currently on morning prozacs (3), nite xanax (1), topamax (1). Used to be only half xanax but found i was managing better w 1 xanax. So far this combi was able to keep me going (but it did took some to work through). I hv some zzz pills for bad days n permission for extra xanax n prozac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProzacPrincess Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 i have to agree about how horrible effexor is i took one dose and had horrible side effects the worst ive ever had, i was shaking. grinding my teeth and feeling the sickest ive ever felt (without actually being sick) in my life. I've been put on loads of different anti-depressants and none of them have done any good so i'm anit-depressant resistant i think, i'm just taking valium at the moment which isn't great becuase my doctor is convinced im gonna turn into a valium crazed junkie so i only get like ten 2mg tablets to last a month and i have a panic attack like everyday. see mention doctors and i rant like a maniac, sorry about that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadwhisper Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Just to add about effexor. I was on it for about 6 months and it really did help in the beginning but then they kept upping the dose until i was on 225mg and not getting any sleep so was changed to mirtazapine (zispin) - serious problems with weight gain on this - I came off effexor overnight (coz i had none left after swallowing about 30 of the damn things). I had no problems coming off it at all but that nay have been coz there were so many floating in my system. I got given the tablets instead of the slow release capsules once and was sick as a dog - but it was a good thing as it saved my life - another boring story. Never had any side effects witht he effexor at all so i guess i was lucky. My psych has given up with me and anti depressants despite my requests to go back on something that did work for a while. All she's got me on now is chlorpromazine to help me sleep as she doesn't want me addicted to sleeping tablets! Bloody doctors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginny Posted October 19, 2004 Report Share Posted October 19, 2004 Hi Liz (and all you other guys who gave input on this topic) I found that the effexor gave me the same trouble as the others are describing - weird dreams, mentally unco-ordinated and serious head spins and loss of control when I stopped taking them. They appear to be a very strong drug - coming off them is very hard unless you do it really slowly. I had terrible problems - didnt know who I was for about a week and I actually went into full blown psychosis on them - mind you, I was on 375 mg per day!!! Bloody ridiculous! And thanks, deadwhisper for confirming the problems with weight gain on mirtazipine - nice if they told you at the time huh? Anyway, like I said, Lexapro has been a life saver for me - really lifted me up - a great drug (for me) So, good luck Liz, and be careful with the effexor - if you come off it, do it slowly!!!! or you might end up like this>>>>>> Take care Ginny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadwhisper Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Hi Ginny Yeah it would have been nice to know about the weight gain effects of zispin before going on it especially considering my issues with food and my weight - which are currently not too bad but have been in the past. One would think they would think about these things no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginny Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 Definitely, deadwhisper Sometimes it makes me wonder if they havent just got a secret agenda and we're all lab rats...... Take it easy girlfriend, Ginny <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadwhisper Posted October 20, 2004 Report Share Posted October 20, 2004 I was under the impression we are all lab rats!?!?!?!? Secret agendas - now who's paranoid lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Posted October 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 I was on Effexor for about 6 weeks, it made my anxiety worse. So I was taken off, and that was when I was given Lexapro. By itself I felt great in about 6 days or so. But then I did a nose dive, then they added Wellbutrin. My pdoc said it would do what Lexapro didn't. Still mood swings were out of control, so they added the Topamax. I am on 20mg Lexapro 300mg Wellbutrin 100mg Topamax I didn't really start to feel better and stay that way until I had made it to 2 weeks of being on 300 mg of Wellbutrin along with the Lexapro. My Topamax is being increased to 200 next Wednesday. So far so good. I wanted to put my dosages because someone mentioned that matters, and they were right. It took almost 3 months to get my dosages up to where they are. My pdoc did it very slowly, adding one med at a time, instead of starting them all at once. Much less side effects that way and if one is wrong for you, you don't have to do a guessing game. (in her words) ((((((Everyone))))))) Amy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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