I have tried many antidepressants, and psychiatrist, still suffering from symptoms of depression. any ideas?

Question

I have been suffering from depression for many years. I have tried prozac, zoloft, amitriptilyn, just to name a few. I have had relief using some meds. then after so many years that wears off, then I will try something else, usually it doesn't work either, and so on. I am on cymbalta now and still suffer from depression. I have talked with a psychiatrist, just told me to stay active. How can I? when I just don't feel like it. Are there other kinds of Doctors who study depression? Are there test to show what chemicals are lacking from the brain? If anyone knows please help!

Answer 1

Sounds to me like you've been taking the medications listed one at a time... Many people I've spoken to actually take two at the same time. For instance, they will take Prozac (which affects seratonin), and Welbutrin (which affects dopamine and norepinephrine). It's said that depression is usually due to chemical imbalance - however, there's no guarantee that it's only one chemical that's out of balance. By taking a broad spectrum, you will have a better chance of hitting the right chemical.

Best of Luck - Hope you feel better.

Answer 2

First, ignore the dolt who suggested alcohol. This not a joking subject. You could try seeing a counselor ( ie psychologist, not sure what you call them where you are) n addition to medication. You need to find a new psychiatrist if that is all you get from them. Being more active and exercising can help but its not the only thing. Its also possible that ECT ( electroconvulsive therapy) is an option for you. Its come a long way since its beginnings. Don't let the images of it in the movies frighten you out of doing it if you need to. There are so many medications out there. You may need more than one at a time. It is also essential that you have a proper diagnosis as well. I had a dr diagnose me as depressed and gave me medication I shouldnt have had that sent me into a mania attack. I hope you feel better.

The cretin who posted the lyrics to Suicide is painless, sooo not funny. This is not the topic to be taking the piss with.
My mother committed suicide when I was 6, I found her body. I can most definately tell you suicide is not painless.

FYI that song is the theme from the tv show M*A*S*H

Answer 3

First of all like me you make have other problems and depression is only one of the symptoms. Find a good psychologist that does testing to determine the problems. Counseling does help as well. I have found psychiatrist all the know is drugs and trial by error but they do not really counsel talk or try to get to the root of the problem. There are many web sites you can read up on and it is really interesting. I would recommend professional testing first. Then it can help your psychiatrist prescribe a more effective medicine and through counseling things might go better. But A good friend many times will do more than the counseling will ever do once you get the testing and diagnosis and meds started in my opinion. your friend Kelly
Good Luck hoping the best for you,PS ferg suicide may be painless but I hate to think what eternal Hell is. and who wrote that song anyway?

Answer 4

My pet hate doctors who refuse to take the time to really listen to patients. They simply prescribe tablets and never bother their **** to look to the cause. Tablets do no more than treat the symptoms. They do not get to the root cause. I counselled a person with 'depression' when I was a bereavement counsellor. After 5 weeks the person said "you have done more for me in 5 weeks than drs and psychiatrists have in 3 years" Too many doctors look into only what they can see not what they can't i.e.blocked emotions, unresolved hurts etc. Beside which all tablets have side effects the chemical imbalance is just as likely to have been caused by taking so many anti depressants. Seek out a good honest counsellor who will take the time to listen and help you to find the answers to your probs. Then deal with them and bin them along with the bloody tablets.

If you cant find a counsellor send me an e-mail and I will talk to you with no charge at all.

Best wishes

Geoff

Answer 5

Hi...first of all...don't give up! It took me several years to find the proper medication, seems we have to be our own advocates in these matters. I've been prescribed numerous meds as well...elavil, prozac, zoloft, paxil, wellbutrin, & a couple of others I can't recall the names of. The remedy was often as bad as the illness...& prozac actually had a very adverse affect on me.
My current antidepressant is CELEXA, virtually no side effects & I take a low dosage of Clonazepam for the anxiety.
I was beginning to think I had another illness ( Bi-polar ) because nothing seemed to work well for over 20 years. I now know that my system is very sensitive due to Fibromyalgia & a lot of the medication was too much for me.

Good luck to you...hope this helps.

Answer 6

Think I may be able to help with this one! Buy a book called "Food and Mood" unfortunately I can't remember who wrote it but it is excellent. Having suffered from depression for several years and also trying all sorts of medications and not really getting anywhere I read this book and what a difference. Basically it talks about various foods being triggers for depression in some people. It takles many subjects in relation to food and depression and certainly helped me after I discovered a food intolerence to certain types of sugar. You can also find out more on this from the "Food and Mood Project" which is easilly found on the internet. I hope this is of some help to you but I will warn you that your doctor will probably not accept this as valid way of treating depression. My doc certainly did not and took a lot of persuading before referring me to a nutritionist. Good Luck P.S. I have not had a bad bout of depression in a long while. (Check with your doc before ceasing any medications as you may not have a food intolerence and may require to continue medications)

Answer 7

Hi there ,
There are always going to be some events that might depress you. But the real question is that , why should you be so weak as to be depressed by any damn thing. So cheer up.

If you are really resolved to fight it out then please do the Art Of Living Part One course where ever you are NOW.Believe me it will help you to throw away all the toxins out of your body.
Its been proved to have a very beneficial effect on patients suffering from depression. They teach you some ever good breathing excercises that help to calm the mind and get the body parameters to normal. Apart from that you can also try out Yoga and meditation . It really helps. If you want to get out of the routine doctors visits just give it a try once.

Visit http://www.artofliving.org/courses.htm

Please email me if you are unable to get hold of a local Art Of Living instructor.

Answer 8

I bet the fact that you cant find anything to help you is making you feel even worse!! I am currently in a similar position although ive only been feeling like this for about 8 months now, i feel like i need an instant cure and as you know all the medication takes a few weeks to start kicking in (defies the purpose in my eyes). But here i go sounding like everyone else who says this but "excersise, excersise, excersise" seriously it does work!! god, its hard to get the motivation but when you do youll see the difference almost immediatley and thats whats important. Please try it, give yourself a kick in the bum for even just 2 mornings in a row and go for a 20 min walk, you will see a difference in how you feel for the rest of the day. Good Luck from someone who cares.

Answer 9

I'm sure there are some tests available out there which could provide some useful results but you'd probably have to ask a Scientist.

Maybe what you need to do is find a girlfriend/boyfriend who'll make you happy and treat them right and everything and then maybe that'll help.

You might find that having some time alone and working out what, if anything, is missing from your life at the moment then somehow stop this thing from being missing might also help.

Try http://www.q2a.co.uk who might be able to help you if you ask them.

Good luck.

:-)

Answer 10

I am like you also but I have been taking Restores from Natures Key and it is an all natural medicine. It relieves the depression and puts the seratonin back into the brain. It does not make you into a zombie or make you have no feelings. I have been off the other meds since 1998 have no problems since.