Viibyrd

I had horrible brain zaps from Viibryd. They were so bad that they would almost knock me to my knees! And I also had vivid dreams that bordered on nightmares. I had auditory hallucinations from it. I heard my mother calling my name every night. She died 31 years ago.

The thing about all these meds is that they affect everyone differently. Everyone. Read the mechanism of action for (name your medication) “unknown” or suggestions of possible sites in the brain but unknown how & why it works The only way to know is not to worry about what others reactions are.

I’m 65, and had trials on every antidepressant in the book. Scores of them. I can’t remember one that either made me a zombie or just didn’t work. In treatment for 40 years for anxiety & depression. Unsuccessful treatment. Those two diagnoses have messed up my entire life from early childhood on, every single year of it.

For anxiety only benzos actually worked and now every Dr. I’ve seen in the past 10 yrs says “we don’t like to use those anymore.” Oh Gee thanks. So what do? The only meds that ever worked ‘they’ don’t like to use.

I’ve been on medicaid for 15 yrs because of how my unsuccessfully treated depression & anxiety have left me. I moved 4 yrs ago & found a new psychiatrist that happened to be close by.
A weird lady. Very weird. But Aren’t they all lol.
She assessed me & immediately put me on Viibryd. The result was nothing short of miraculous. The spinning obsessive thoughts stopped. The anxiety and depression were positively affected.
I had absolutely zero negative side effects. Maybe a tiny tiny bit of upset tummy, very mild, almost unnoticeable, that went away in a week.

I felt like things were ‘good’ even though nothing in my life was ‘good’. I felt quiet inside & not the slightest bit foggy. I was relatively quickly increased to the max 40 mg dose. Again, no negative side effects. No insomnia or GI issues.

I felt so much better I asked her could the dose be increased past 40 mg & she said that’s the max dosage so she added Lamotrigine. Sorry, can’t spell the brand name (lamictyl ?). That helped as well.

So you see everyone’s brain chemistry is different. I won’t suggest Viibryd because that’d be silly. My resistant depression is not yours & my brain chemistry is not yours. As I said, nothing ever really helped with my depression that didn’t knock me over & make me useless. This one simply worked, for me.

We have to be careful to just tell our experiences and not suggest to take or not to take any given med.
If all of our brain chemistries are different, adding a med to the chemistry is going to be different as well. If the book says 40% of patients had this or that bad reaction that means 60% didn’t. Even if it says 75% had bad reactions, there’s the 25% group that you nay be a part of.

I’ve had no experience with zaps or any other side effects. I’d about given up on medications.
To those already on a certain med, Titrating down off of something you’ve been on for years is almost always going to result in some difficult side effects. Almost always, at least that’s my experience.

But my experience is that Viibryd works well. Very very well.
So I would say, don’t be dissuaded by bad results from other patients. If you’re on something that works, stay on it. But if you’re in a position where your current med isn’t helping anymore, don’t be afraid to try something new. If you can’t tolerate it, ok it’s not for you. But other peoples reactions aren’t necessarily going to be yours. My case in point. If I’d read this thread 4 years ago, I’d probably be terrified to try it. I’m certain I would. But I had no reason to think anything would happen & I was desperate so I said “this Dr is weird, very weird but she’s all I’ve got, so whatever”

I had no preconceived notions. And it’s changed my life. No question.
The bottom line is it either will work or it won’t. The only way to know is to try it. That’s the way it’s always been with CNS meds. I wish everyone well. This battle with this horrible horrible disease is as difficult as any physical disease or disorder. The stigma on mental health isn’t going away anytime soon. For too long it’s been “oh you’re depressed? Hmm We can’t really hire you. I can’t really date you. I can’t I can’t yada yada. What’s wrong with you? (that’s My ex-wife who left me) and on & on.

Don’t listen. Find people who understand or are willing not to judge. I’d say stay away from *anyone* who won’t support you: family, friends, whatever. My circle has grown smaller because of this, I don’t talk to most of my relatives, but it’s far better for me anyway, not to hear the constant suggestions. I’m on my own path and I welcome only those that love the heck out of me. Wishes of hope to all of us

I was on viibryd for a few months. I did not have the side effects mentioned. I also did not see the benefits I wanted.
I had previously taken bupropion and had hair loss- but the depression/anxiety was much better. I tend to have issues w generic meds. My doctor has now switched me to a brand drug containing bupropion. Not Wellbutrin, as my insurance won’t cover it. So far, I haven’t seen significant hair loss.

I think the 10 mg Viibryd may be helping a bit, but I also think it’s causing horrible insomnia. I had insomnia before taking it, but it seems worse now. Psychiatrist has tried five different meds to help me sleep. None really work (other than Benzos which she won’t prescribe) so I’m exhausted. I don’t know how to tell if the Viibryd is causing the insomnia or not unless I go off it completely ….so frustrating

What is brain shivers or zaps? I've never heard of this before. I have severe treatment resistant major depression and severe treatment resistant insomnia.

I was also wondering what brain zaps were but was afraid I was the only one. 😅

I have now been on Viibryd for two months and I am at 40 mg. So far so good. It may have already been mentioned that one needs to eat breakfast before taking the medication. I didn’t like that idea at first, but I am finding that maybe our mothers were right, a good breakfast is the start of a good day. As I mentioned, in my last comment, I took the Genesight test, which was covered by my Medicare, to find an anti-depressant more apt to work for me.

Has the diarrhea gone away? How long did it take to subside?

I also had the Genesight testing and found it very helpful. Learned that some of the earlier drugs I had been prescribed were all wrong!

I have just been pit on Viibryd. 10 MG every other day to start. I have a hard time with any medication because I usually end up with all of the side affects. I've had 1 dose and it caused diarrhea. Today is my 2nd dose. I'm going to try to stick it out and see.