Views on anti-depressive meds

[knucklebrain1970]

So, as you've probably noticed. I'm up. I'm down. My wife is adamant about me going on Zoloft again. I've been on all of them throughout the years. I can't say they help or not. I don't notice if they do or not. I don't want to be a zombie all the time. That's what scares me. I like to have energy. What do you spiritual folk think about this? I meditate, I try to have a (+) attitude. It works for the most part, for a few, but then it's back to the same miserable me. I'm never on the same level all the time. I don't get it. I can't stand pharmaceutical companies and the last thing I want to do is zombify myself with 99% of America. I just don't know what else to do. I hate my job and no matter how hard I try it's killing me. I sit for 9 hours a day, no interaction with anybody. Nothing to do. So I basically have to go on drugs because I've reached the end of my rope with the Info Tech field.

What do you think? Yay or Nay on the Zoloft?


Kevin

[Leannain]

hahaha well join the boat.i hate basically everything around me including me.oh yes depression is also a constant thing.
but hey i deal with it without the use of legal or illegal drugs i hate them :s

anyway, Nay on the Zoloft i suppose,good luck with that mate!

[Tom]

Zoloft is not the only option. A blood test for vitamin and mineral deficiencies would be useful. Blood sugar values and protein, too. Lots of people have low levels of magnesium, for example.

L-phenylalanine is useful for balancing neurotransmitter levels.

There are herbal supplements like kava kava which have some mood elevating effects.

Less natural, DHEA and melatonin supplementation are good, too.

If all else fails, you might have to try the Zoloft. But then, Zoloft is not the only antidepressent and it sounds like it was not helping (or else you'd still be on it?).

[Nick]

Hi,

I would second Tom's advice. Try also contacting an alternative healing person or a holistic health practitioner.

You can always fall back on the Zoloft, however try natural methods too. Such practices as accupressure, for example, and/or whatever natural health modalities that you can discover that is available where you live.

Hope things get better.

all the best,
Nick

[Selski]

Hi Kevin

I can second Nick's comments.  A few years ago I was prescribed Prozac by an idiot of a "specialist".  I was on it for a few months, then my whole attitude changed.  I came off it immediately (I didn't fall for that "you need to wean yourself off it slowly and with the help of a doctor" stuff).  I simply stopped.

Then I was on a bucket-load of painkillers and I was a walking/talking zombie, on an downward spiral.

About 4 years ago I decided enough was enough.  I went to see a homeopath, came off all prescription drugs and have not looked back since.  I am better than I've ever been, I don't take so much as an aspirin (ever).  I try to steer clear of "heavy" foods, try not to overdo it with anything, and I'm much healthier, lighter of spirit, and have more energy.

I've had one very mild cold in 4 years - that's it.

I think the best thing is cutting down/out on the rubbish I put into my body.  I really notice the difference.  I'm less sluggish if I steer clear of junk/packaged/sugary food.  I'm also mentally more alert and happier.

Ultimately, it's your decision, but I wouldn't go down the antidepressant route.  It's depressing  

Sarah

[Tom]

Are you sure you're not still taking Prozac?

http://mentalhealth.about.com/od/psychopharmacology/a/prozacuk804.htm

Prozac Found in U.K. Drinking Water Supply
From Leonard Holmes, Ph.D.,
Your Guide to Mental Health Resources.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Aug 8 2004

Traces of the anti-depressant Prozac (fluoxitine) have been found in the United Kingdom's water supply. London's Observer Sunday newspaper reported that a report from the Environment Agency warned that the drug is accumulating in rivers and groundwater used for drinking supplies. Scientists believe that Prozac finds its way into the water table from treated sewage and some speculate that it may affect human fertility.

The Environment Agency has reportedly held a series of meetings with the pharmaceutical industry to determine whether there are any risks from Prozac to the environment or to human health.

A spokesman for Britain's Drinking Water Inspectorate tried to calm fears, reporting that the traces found were unlikely to be a danger to health. Several sources report this spokesman as saying that "It is extremely unlikely that there is a risk, as such drugs are excreted in very low concentrations. Advanced treatment processes installed for pesticide removal are effective in removing drug residues." Britain's Liberal Democrats have already criticized the Inspectorate's statement. Environment spokesman Norman Baker is quotes as saying that it looked "like a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public".

According to the Observer article, 24 million prescriptions for Prozac are written in Great Britain every year a country with a population of 60 million. SSRIs such as Prozac have become somewhat controversial in recent years. These medications are increasingly prescribed to children, sometimes without proof of their effectiveness. Some have been linked to increases in suicides. Prozac itself has been found to be helpful for some children and teenagers.

[knucklebrain1970]

Well I don't mind taking the stuff. My wife said I was more stable when we met, and I was on Zoloft and effexor then. Problem is that when I'm on these things, I don't notice any effect. Now as I said, if I went on the Zoloft, I'd ask for the minimal dose and perhaps take them 1 every 2 days. I hear you Tom. I've had blood tests. Testosterone, blood sugar, CBC, Hematocrit (I think)
Everything always checks out normal.

I don't think I have a mineral deficiency. I take centrum daily (not that that's a great vitamin) take coral calcium, supreme greens. I eat all organic now, for the past month. No meat. I eat a b-12 and 3mg melatonin at bedtime. Unless there is 1 particular mineral I'm missing?

Believe me, I'm the last one to want to go on any frign "instant fix" meds. So if I do, I'm going to go on the lowest possible dosage. I've been on them all, even MAO inhibitors    which I'll never do again. Zoloft seems to be the only one that really helped (I think) but as an added bonus, forget about having sex (that'll be great for the 6th rite ha?)

Plus, I'm tired of having to take klonazepam for anxiety. I only take about a 1/2 of a .5mg as needed, but lately it's been needed more and more. I think my main problem with depression has to do with not living in the now and being in constant fear of uncertainty. I just don't want this crap to get in the way of my spiritual progress though either. It sucks all around. You guys can plainly see how it is with me. I got all the right concepts and have a sudden burst of happiness, then the next day I wake up and it's back to this dreadful job and hopeless future.  

Kevin

[Nick]

Just in case you get the inclination, here's a list of Alternative Medicine practitioners in Massachusetts. Some are listed in Worcester too. Just click Massachussets Alternative Medicine[/b].

all the best,
Nick

[narfellus]

Hi knucklebrain, sorry to hear you're so blue. I've been in a similar boat with meds for years, but was able to quit when i started acupunture and chiropracty. The idea is to get your energy field balanced through the meridians, and the movement of energy up the spine to the brain. It's not something you would have to do all the time, definitely more at first and then taper off, but you should (hopefully) be able to get off the meds.

That stuff is poison. It's killing humanity one small pill at a time. Really, search out alternative therapists in your area. And what's more, take a RISK. Quit your job. Get out in the sunshine. Walk with your bare feet in the grass and feel the earth under your toes. Sing. Even if you don't like it, learn to sing. Play an instrument, or learn how. These are some tips that have helped me somewhat. Anything is better than being on the anti-depressant pill-a-thon.

[the_dole]

Hi
My first post on here this..
I have to throw myself on the nay to the meds bus here.  I Have been on effexor and cipramil myself the latter having the advantage of milder side effects but neither of them was for me.  For me the side effects themselves were so severe as to cause a depressive mood by themselves.  When on effexor i rarely slept more then a couple of hours a day sweat like a pig(they don't really sweat do they?) and was severely sexually dysfunctional.

A colleague of mine who owns an alternative clinic recommended acupuncture and homeopathy both of which have helped me a lot but I'm still not to the point where i can go on without my regular acupuncture appointment.  I think acupuncture combined with some sort of psychological therapy or something to set your mind straight would be great.  I haven't had any luck in finding any therapist around here though, they are all either swamped with work or way too expensive...

Society really is on the wrong path seeing how many people out thee with these kind of problems.  Our value system really need an update when financial growth has become so important the individual human beings are merely pawns in a chess game about status and money.  I wouldn't even want my worst enemy to go through something as hurtful as a self destructive mental problem like this.

I don't know how health care in your part of the world but if it is anything like here seek some alternative help before going down the ssri and related route...

[knucklebrain1970]

Believe me, if I wasn't depressed as I am, I would not be thinking about Zoloft. I know firsthand the stuff sucks. Forget sex when your on it. However, it seems since I've started all this spirituality stuff, my brain is even more confused. But that's not the real matter. The real matter is that my job burns me completely out. I sit in a tiny office, no interaction with anyone, and there is nothing to do for 9 hours a day. I go out in my car at lunch and pass out for an hour each day from sheer exhaustion. When I was busy one week, I was fine. Another thing is that I am so burnt out from this job that I can't even drive the hour after work to see my daughter. Since I left her mother when she was 4, 4 years ago, my mood has gone way way downhill.

When you've been with your daughter for 4 years straight, daily and now 1 hour a week and she comes over every other weekend, it's a complete devastation to my mind. It's been 4 years, my wife is wonderful, but that doesn't help. The fact is that I screwed up by leaving and now my daughter is growing up without me basically. I would like to move closer, but houses any closer to her cost 400k for an absolute s-box. If I lived 15 minutes from her I'd feel a lot better. So that's what I'm working on.

I'll probably end up divorced over this, but I must be with my daughter. My wife wants to live in a nice house. I don't care. I'll live in a mud hut. I really don't care. So I can live the "DREAM" as I am now, with big house and all the "WORLDLY SH*T" and be without my daughter, or I can basically flush everything down the toilet and be closer to her. The toilet option is the only answer it seems.

I've battled with anxiety, drug abuse, and depression for about 20 years now. Nothing seems to help. I'm off the opiates now thank God. I've been to all the groups, on all the meds, and I'm starting to think maybe the meds were helping as I've never been this upset before. However I do not want to succumb to the master plan of the matrix, having everyone in this country including children now in a Prozac/Zoloft induced haze.

Like Tom said to me, it only masks the problem. I need to find the core problem here and rid myself of it. My life has been a downward spiral since my inception. I know all the concepts of spirituality, how I should live and be and how life works. However it only seems to work for a few days at a time, then I become miserable again.

I'm thinking of trying acupuncture. However I have high doubts about homeopathic remedies. I've taken plenty of different herbs over the years, and I start them with high hopes, but the fact is that for me, they just don't work. So I'm going to try the acupuncture and see how that goes. Sometimes I just feel like everything is closing in on me and I'm going to lose my marbles. Luckily the bad panic attacks don't happen anymore, but the feeling of uncertainty, especially with all this spiritual stuff sometimes I think is making me worse.

Perhaps I should give up on all this stuff as it seems that the answers I need I will never have and will elude me forever.

Thanks for the suggestions however.

Peace,

Kevin

[Frank]

What about trying a different anti-depressive med like Remeron?

I don't know all that much about it but someone tells me it's quite good. Just a thought.

Also, it might be worthwhile getting your testosterone levels checked. If it's a bit low then a bit of HRT perhaps wouldn't go amiss.

Yours,
Frank

[Tom]

According to Osho, who is famous for his teachings on yoga, it is only when you feel you cannot go on and must change or die that you can begin yoga.

[Selski]

Prozac Found in U.K. Drinking Water Supply

Ha ha - the bottled water companies have to keep their profits somehow.  There's always something or other going around about tap water.  Last I remember it was splashed across the papers (pun intended) that a glass of London tap water had been through at least 9 previous people before it came to you.

Lovely.

Sarah

[Tom]

Just to be fair, I'll bash Texas now:

http://www.discover.com/web-exclusives-archive/fish-on-prozac1127/

Fish on Prozac
Our pharmaceutical drugs are turning up in the environment and in animals. What will the consequences be?
By Kathy A. Svitil
December 27, 2003 | Environment

Over the past few years, ecologists surveying the waters around waste treatment plants have found contraceptives, synthetic musks, ibuprofen, and other compounds flushed off or out of our bodies and into the environment via municipal effluent. A recent study in Tromsø, in northern Norway, for example, found extremely elevated levels of caffeine in the seawater of the Tromsø Sound. Now the compounds are turning up in animals as well—with unknown consequences.

Environmental toxicologist Bryan Brooks and his colleagues collected bluegill, channel catfish, and black crappie from Pecan Creek, a stream in the Dallas suburb of Denton, Texas, that is prime dumping ground for effluent from the city's waste treatment plant. The researchers took brain, liver, and muscle samples from the fish and tested them for fluoxetine, the active ingredient in the antidepressant Prozac. Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine, the metabolized form of the drug, were found in every tissue sample and in high enough concentrations, Brooks says, to warrant studies of their possible physiological effects.

Fluoxetine blocks nerves from gobbling up serotonin—a neurotransmitter known to elevate mood and increase relaxation—from the synapses between communicating neurons. In humans, the result is less anxiety and an improved sense of well-being. "We would suspect that some level of fluoxetine exposure would influence serotonin in the fish and could cause behavioral changes," Brooks says. "It has also been shown that even low levels of pharmaceuticals may affect fish," he says. In addition, in lab studies, other researchers found that injections of fluoxetine led to less aggressive behavior in fish. Brooks cautions, however, that "injection is a very different form of exposure than a fish taking up a chemical across its gills or acquiring it in its food. At this point it is too early to suggest that the concentrations of fluoxetine that we've detected might result in a behavioral response."

Brooks and his colleagues plan to look for other pharmaceuticals in more species of fish, and they are now trying to assess the neurochemical and behavioral effects of the fluoxetine concentrations they've measured. The bottom line, Brooks says, "is that fish aren't supposed to have fluoxetine in their tissues, and fluoxetine is just one of a number of pharmaceuticals that are known to be released at low levels, apparently continuously, from wastewater treatment plants, in addition to personal care products like the ingredients in fragrances and soaps. We have a very limited understanding of how all those compounds, singly or in combination, may affect organisms, and whether they are safe."

For more information on pharmaceutical and personal care product contamination of the environment, go to the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site on the subject, at www.epa.gov/esd/chemistry/pharma/index.htm.