Trying to find the right medications for my depression/anxiety
I have had depression for quite a few year now. I am in my 70's and found it harder to deal with. My psychiatrist has been working with me trying to find the best medication. So far no luck. He is very dedicated and does a great job trying to help. Right now I am takin 2 medications but they don't seem to do the
job either. They are Doxepin 25 mg and chlordiazepox. Help!
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@tsmalls Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Like @marionwilhelm said, your doctor is your ally, and on your side in guiding you to better health mentally and physically. There should be no secrets that you hold back from him/her. You will find that most medications taken for mental health conditions should not be stopped abruptly. If they are going to be stopped, it is done gradually. Can you contact your doctor and explain what you have done, and get some guidance?
Ginger
I am 72 and have also been taking anti depressants for many years.Right now I take aripiprazole and cymbalta. I was also diagnosed with ADD so now I take concerta for that. The concerta seemed to be the missing piece in my treatment. I also see a therapist when I have some rough patches. All of these components have helped me over the years. Good luck in finding what works best for you.
So far, so good with the anxiety medication switch, tapering citalopram while adding low-dose Zoloft. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I plan to go low and slow in transferring from one SSRI drug to another.
@tim1028 Good to hear things are going well! Will you let me know how you feel once established on Zoloft, if you notice any difference? I am curious!
Ginger
I've completed the low-and-slow switch from Citalopram 40 mg, which I've been taking for 11 years, to Zoloft (sertraline) I just increased the dose from 25mg to 50 mg, which I plan to continue until I talk, to my physician at the end of the month. It feels like it is working well so far with anxiety level pretty well controlled. No side effects. One of the reasons my physician switched to Zoloft was its wide dosing range, which allows increases as needed to the max dose
@tim1028 It's good to hear you are feeling better! And once again, proving that everyone has different reactions/ successes with medication. I wonder what you physician will have to say when you see him?
Ginger
I'm sure my doc, who knows I like to take the lowest dose of medication that will get the job done, will be pleased that this new anxiety med is working well so far. I went thru a year of trial-and-error with statin meds before we found one that I could tolerate (rosuvastatin 5 mg every other day).
Is the Prozac working for you?
Yes it is, thankfully.
You might need to get off Effexor or you might be low in vitamin d, I had severe weakness and had to go on vitamin d, I’m also on Effexor extended release maybe that was my problem to, it might take out our vitamin d, it’s so hard to tell what’s causing what. But I hear you I’ve had a terrible time with antidepressants, it could well be the effexor because you’ve been on it for along time. Maybe switch to switch to something else, sometimes they just stop working that happened to me with another med.