What depression meds have people had success with?

I was on Effexor for several years during a series of immediately family deaths that came at me pretty quickly. All of them expected, so I was helping one out the door and then turning to the next with little time for processing any of them. Meanwhile the Effexor was flipping me and after the string of deaths ended (I was the last one left standing in my immediate family), it sent me into a suicidal tailspin (a rare but known response). I received a bipolar 2 diagnosis in the hospital after a near suicide. Initially they kept me on Effexor, and Abilify was added to the mix. I didn't get better. I subsequently made a flip to Lamotrigine and it saved my life. A complete 180º change in mood. It helped make the room for in my head to process the grief, and effectively ended lifelong depressions cycles caused by the bipolar.

Everyone responds differently to different drugs, so I can't promise it will work for you. But I'd say it's worth trying.

I have been on a long journey with antidepressants. The SSRIs put me in the hospital with suicide attempt, twice. In the last year and a half I’ve been working with a medication manager, who has tried me on not less than eight different medication’s.

Two weeks ago during my monthly appointment, he looked over the newest meds, which were not working for me, and decided to go old school instead.

I started on nortriptyline liquid on May 1. Now I can’t explain it, and there’s nothing out there that says this should be true, but on May 2 I woke up and remember thinking to myself, so this is what depression free brain feels like.

I was told that the nortriptyline was also something I could take to help me sleep. I have not found this to be true. That said, I’m only on 3 mg right now.

Now on May 13, still depression free brain. I know the depression is still there, but it feels like a weighted blanket is on top of it. No more doom and gloom, no more suicidal ideation.

@lisalucier
I have a friend who took part in a study done some years ago at John Hopkins regarding use of psilocybin for people with life threatening illnesses. I also have a friend who was treated by the VA using psilocybin. I was encouraged to see that Mayo has also looked at this as it sounds hopeful. Unfortunately it appears that this article must be purchased and my link didn’t work.

@suzleigh I am glad you finally found some relief.
I think some of the earliest SSRI’s might have been some of the best.
Wellbutrin is a great complementary drug for Zoloft and Buspar also pairs well with the other two for me.
Good luck to you.

I agree! The "Oldies but Goodies" seem to work better and have less side effects. New ones started appearing, I believe, because Big Pharma discovered their was a lot of money to be made and put their R & D to work!

@suzleigh
I'm on nortriptyline 35 mg and I take it at night. Nortriptyline comes in 10, 25, and 50 mg caps. 50 mg was too much, 25 mg was not quite enough, so we settled on 35 mg which means I take a 10 mg cap + a 25 mg cap. I've been very stable and have been on this combination from 2023. Prior to that I was on other medication.

I'm 67 and I've suffered since I was 42 with depression and anxiety I am disabled for general anxiety disorder. I've had electric shock therapy and that didn't even work. I've been on every med in the book. Currently I am on trintellix 20 mg and buspar which is working as best as it can in the consideration that I have PTSD.

@denisedm2026 - I'm providing the link here to the abstract giving a summary of this study's findings at the National Library of Medicine, which should be free to anyone https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37650489/. Hoping this works for you.

So my Paych NP has added in 50 mg of Trazodone for my insomnia. Unfortunately the traz at that dosage does not seem to help me sleep. It takes a long time for me to fall asleep. I also have early morning waking and I wake up at least twice overnight.

Insomnia and sleep issues have always been the first symptom to show up and the last one to go away. I even had insomnia as a child, like at 5 or 6 years old.

He also increased my Vyvanse from 40 to 50 mg. Today was my first dose of 50. The Vyvanse is primarily for ADD, but I kind of view it as an adjunct for TRD.

My counselor told me yesterday that I am in a major episode…I was thinking it was just dysthymia (or PDD) since I am not suicidal. But she said since I am experiencing a significant level of impairment in my daily life, that she is of the opinion that it is a major episode.

I see my Psych NP again in a month and my counselor next week.

Damn this depression. At least my anxiety is under control.

@lisalucier

Thank you for the link.

I am hesitant to try a hallucinogenic…I did shrooms once a few years back and had a really bad trip. When I was smoking medical grade cannabis (like over 10 years ago), I had to be careful about the strains I chose because some are more hallucinogenic than others. I had a few bad hallucinations/experiences while smoking cannabis.

I do not know if I am really sensitive to hallucinogens or if I took too much. Of course, if I get desperate enough, I would probably reconsider…