# Psychotropic medications



## MissMarley (May 4, 2007)

I'm curious- I know a LOT of people on different psych meds, and I want to know what worked for everyone else. I've got a med change coming up, because my Zoloft is no longer working. Here's what I've taken:

For depression/general anxiety disorder/bulimia:
Trazodone
Paxil
Effexor
Cymbalta
Wellbutrin
and Zoloft twice

For mood-stabilization
Depakote

For insomnia
Ativan
Ambien
Lunesta

For panic attacks:
Xanax

Right now I take Zoloft, Depakote, and Xanax. I'm becoming more and more deeply depressed so I'm looking to either up my dose or switch from Zoloft...wondering what's working for anyone else? My diagnoses are Major Depressive Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa


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## ilafa (May 5, 2007)

What does your therapyst say? 

I don't know much, but I know that some psych meds have very different effects depending on the dosage. Some anti-psychosis meds have a completely different effect in low dosages - for treating OCDs and in higher dosages they treat severe psychosis, so I wouldn't change meds by myself if I wasn't an expert. HTH


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## MissMarley (May 5, 2007)

Oh, I certainly wouldn't change my meds myself. I'm just interested in other people's experiences.


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## uopgirlie (May 6, 2007)

Hi there,
Has your doc ever tried you on any of the older tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline or nortriptyline?  I know amitriptyline is "indicated" (but not FDA approved) for bulimia and insomnia as well as depression.  These drugs can have a lot of nasty side effects, but if your Doc knows what he is doing, and tapers the dose up correctly, they are very well tolerated.  I've never used any of these medications, but I am one semester away from graduating from pharmacy school so I thought I'd offer up my 2 cents. =)  I hope you find something that works for you.  It looks like you've tried a lot of the more popular, newer meds.  It can be really difficult, since even though two meds can be in the same "class" - like Zoloft and Paxil - people can react totally different to them (i.e. my sister became suicidal on Prozac, but Zoloft has totally changed her life).  If you ever have questions, I don't mind researching answers for you. =)  Take care doll!


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## pumpkincat210 (May 6, 2007)

You might want to try the older kinds of tricyclic's as the person above suggested.  Also xanax and ativan can trigger depression too.


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## MissMarley (May 6, 2007)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *pumpkincat210* 

 
_You might want to try the older kinds of tricyclic's as the person above suggested.  Also xanax and ativan can trigger depression too._

 
Interesting, I never knew that. The Xanax definitely gets me through panic attacks though. I'm just keeping a journal of all my panic attacks, when they occur, when my major depressive episodes occur and how frequently, etc- I'm going to show all my documentation to my doctor tomorrow and see what he thinks. I can't handle SNRIs (Cymbalta, Effexor) at all- they trigger hallucinations in me. I've been on Zoloft twice because it lost effectiveness the first time, and that has happened again. Thanks for your insight, everyone!


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