Best Antidepressants?

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  • KateEMD
    KateEMD Posts: 101 Member
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    It's different for all. I am on Citalopram right now and it works great for me but please don't get a medication just because it makes you gain weight.The medications have to do with your body makeup and what works for you. Anti-depressants are for just that: to not to be depressed. They are not there to make you fat or make you skinny. Yes, some of them make you gain weight but sometimes that is because you are finally not depressed and your body wants to eat again.

    Take the medication for what it is and leave the weight gain out of it. If the meds help you not be depressed, they are doing their job. It is then our job to make our outsides feel as good as our insides do.
  • EmilyJackCO
    EmilyJackCO Posts: 621 Member
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    I took Effexor for 2 1/2 years and ... well, yeah - it didn't help that I drank a LOT while I was on it, but it did put my severe depression in remission for several years. But, the side effects were NOT worth it for me to go through it again.

    Though my depression was solved, I eventually developed huge problems with general anxiety disorder. I was covered head to toe in hives that would not go away no matter what. They put me on a combination of hydroxazine and Lexapro. That worked... I quit the hydroxazine once they went away, but took the Lexapro for another year. I did not gain any weight then.

    The last year has been extremely hard - and my depression returned with a vengeance. I tried the Lexapro again in March/April, and had horrible effects because it was clashing with a mandated change in birth control (progesterone and I DO NOT get along) and quit immediately. But I started taking it again now that everything is stabilized, and it is working really well. And I have lost the rest of my weight to goal in the last six weeks. However, it has developed the interesting side effect of killing my appetite almost completely, so that may have helped.

    I am also on Doxepin for insomnia - and again, no weight gain.

    To be perfectly fair and honest though - even with medications, it all does come down to calories in/calories out. I hate to say that, but being on repeated rounds of Prednisone (we all know the evils of that), I didn't gain more than a few pounds of water weight from the retention. Log accurately, honestly and stay under your calorie goal, and it will work. Even with the medications.

    Caveat to all of this: I have become extremely sensitive to very low dosages of medication. I take the lowest prescribed dosage of just about everything. I'm only on 10mg of Lexapro and 20 of Doxepin, so YMMV.
  • PeanutButterLuver71
    PeanutButterLuver71 Posts: 220 Member
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    Effexor & running.
  • dcarr67
    dcarr67 Posts: 1,403
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    My wife has tried most of them for anxiety. Paxil helped the most but she put on the weight.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    Sexercise.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    I think this is a dialogue you need to have with your doctor, or perhaps on a bb that specializes in depression. Because everyone is SO different when it comes to what works for them, and the last thing you should do is switch antidepressants because of a suggestion on a fitness web site.
  • 1ZenGirl
    1ZenGirl Posts: 432 Member
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    There are plenty of people on MFP that have never really suffered from clinical depression. I think if you exercised and ate well and that was what worked for you my guess is you would have tried that a long time ago. I'm truly not dissing the people that encourage these things because they ARE natural mood enhancers. But the reality is clinical depression is a medical condition that while certainly can be helped by these things, sometimes pills help. Understand it took a lot for me to say that as I hate Big Pharma.

    But I digress....

    I gained weight on Paxil. Big time weight about 80-90 pounds. It took me 5 years to even wean off of the crap because of the side affects when weaning off. Once I went on Buspar my world totally changed. I didn't gain weight and my symptoms lifted. I finally started to realize what it meant to live without depression. Now--I likely had more anxiety than depression. Only your doctor and you will know for sure. But I hope and pray you are getting therapy. A good therapist and the right drug will go a very long way.
  • tesha_chandler
    tesha_chandler Posts: 378 Member
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    Exercise, sunshine, 5htp, fish oil, garlic supplements.. different things works for different people. Onions, garlic and tomatoes have been proven to be mood boosters!
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
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    Vitamin D
    Magnesium
    Exercise
    Vegetables

    Not being funny, Ive taken many on your list, above is what works for me now.

    This. Since having started exercising regularly and eating better, I haven't needed the Prozac I was on.
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
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    I love the advice to just exercise and cheer up to clear clinical depression.

    http://www.ted.com/talks/ruby_wax_what_s_so_funny_about_mental_illness.html
  • skinnybunny_x
    skinnybunny_x Posts: 449
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    For me, it's sex, shopping, and reading. Not necessarily in that order.
  • mank32
    mank32 Posts: 1,323 Member
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    exercise. hands down. far and away beats everything else i've tried*.

    eta: *lexapro, lithium carb, celexa, uh uh, i guess i can't remember all the pills, and suicide.
  • mank32
    mank32 Posts: 1,323 Member
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    Mary Jane.

    ...and that^.
  • emilyisbonkers
    emilyisbonkers Posts: 373 Member
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    5htp works well for me
  • TeresaMarie46
    TeresaMarie46 Posts: 226 Member
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    I've gained most of my weight since starting antidepressants. I'd say I'm almost more depressed now that I'm so fat. Anyone have recommendations of an AD that worked well and didn't increase weight gain?

    I have taken:
    Wellbutrin (allergic reaction)
    Zoloft
    Prozac
    Cymbalta
    Risperdal
    Lamictal
    Effexor
    Abilify
    Xanax (for anxiety)
    Klonopin (for anxiety)
    Celexa - currently on

    While I've never had severe depression, I do have occasional Panic Attacks. I even took Xanax for a bit and all it did for me was make me sleepy. I second the Vitamin D, Magnesium, Exercise and Vegetables, along with surrounding yourself with happy people who can give you frequent belly laughs. Laughter is awesome medicine.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
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    I've found good sleep, meditation and prayer, exercise daily, and eating healthy keep me balanced.
  • Daerina8
    Daerina8 Posts: 35 Member
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    I only tried one and only for about a year (thinking of maybe going back on it now) but that was venlafaxine, and it worked amazingly for me. I didn't have any negative side effects, no highs or lows, I just felt more stable over all. I felt solid.
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
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    I've gained most of my weight since starting antidepressants. I'd say I'm almost more depressed now that I'm so fat. Anyone have recommendations of an AD that worked well and didn't increase weight gain?

    I have taken:
    Wellbutrin (allergic reaction)
    Zoloft
    Prozac
    Cymbalta
    Risperdal
    Lamictal
    Effexor
    Abilify
    Xanax (for anxiety)
    Klonopin (for anxiety)
    Celexa - currently on

    Sorry to hear about this - tough situation.

    I have almost 20 years of experience with depression. My son (now daughter) was diagnosed at age 8, received from relief starting at age 16, was symptom free for a year at age 20, but is now prepping for ECT. My former wife (I'm a widower) was diagnosed in 1998 and responded well to Effexor until her death in 2003. I've had situational depression and got relief using Wellbutrin.

    Due to work commitments, I've moved quite a bit so I've worked with psych docs in a half a dozen States since 1998, including the folks at Meninger's in Topeka.

    Having said all of that, no one here can possibly advise you better than a competent meds doc with whom you have established a relationship.

    My belief is that clinical depression is a result of chemical imbalances that can be corrected in most people through one of, or a combination of, prescription medications.

    What about a cocktail?

    What was the outcome of therapy?
  • beckizzle
    beckizzle Posts: 118 Member
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    Niacin - (Vitamin B3)

    watch Food matters documentary (available on netflix)

    discusses the topic of vitamins and depression in great detail
  • poesch77
    poesch77 Posts: 1,005 Member
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    Vitamin D
    Magnesium
    Exercise

    Not being funny, Ive taken many on your list, above is what works for me now.

    ^^^ this amongst other natural remedies ***wink wink

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