Mental Health

[jevs]

Hi, saw this post and am wondering if someone could shed some light for me. I’ve been taking Prozac for approx. 6 months, it has really helped with my depression but caused horrible anxiety-my doctor prescribed mitrazapine additionally, which has helped, but caused me to gain 17kg in 3 months
My doctor has suggested I stop the mitrazapine, and instead double my Prozac dosage. Wondering if this would be a good idea, considering this is what caused the anxiety in the first place? Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi Charlie, please refer to your doctor as opposed to some discussion thread on a Disney travel planning site.

Domo, you didn’t cite your sources in your opening post. Were your stats UK specific or worldwide?

 

[kimblebee]

Hi Charlie, please refer to your doctor as opposed to some discussion thread on a Disney travel planning site.

Domo, you didn’t cite your sources in your opening post. Were your stats UK specific or worldwide?

Also, isn’t is against the rules to plug your own website? Seems someone got banned about a year ago for doing that..

 

[cobright]

Hi, saw this post and am wondering if someone could shed some light for me. I’ve been taking Prozac for approx. 6 months, it has really helped with my depression but caused horrible anxiety-my doctor prescribed mitrazapine additionally, which has helped, but caused me to gain 17kg in 3 months
My doctor has suggested I stop the mitrazapine, and instead double my Prozac dosage. Wondering if this would be a good idea, considering this is what caused the anxiety in the first place? Any advice would be appreciated!

Here is the depression-anxiety paradox. Depression often causes you to simply disinvest yourself from the world and even your own part in it. It makes you not care about the things that, if you were not depressed, would likely trigger your anxiety disorder. Treating your depression, in a sense allows you to care enough about the world around you that you can become anxious about it. This is similar to the way that some people suffer depression for a long time then become suicidal as soon as they begin treatment. Until their depression was treated they simply didn't care enough to feel like killing themselves.

I'm not a doctor and wouldn't begin to give any specific recommendations. That said, people in my group have commented positively on wellbutrin as an adjunct to prozac. You might ask if a different 1st line anti depressant might be worth trying. Zoloft is one such that is often also prescribed to treat anxiety disorder. I was on it for a time and, while I did need something stronger, it did help and was pretty gently compared to other options.

You describe your anxiety as "horrible". You've been on prozac for 6 months so this isn't likely a reaction that will settle out (sometimes a change in meds triggers a couple weeks of all sorts of problems while everything evens out). If you are having acute anxiety symptoms (anxiety attacks, panic attacks, nightmares, night terrors) I would definitely ask for something to treat those symptoms in the short term while your doctor and you work through treatment options for both your depression and anxiety.

And ... while I tend to come off as very pro-pharmaceutical in a lot of my comments, I actually think it's just as important to find a mind-wrangler and do the therapy and all that. That element often gets lost in these discussions.

 

[kimmar067]

Did you know that up to one in four people will experience symptoms of depression at one point in their lives?....

...wow, that's depressing.

 

[kimmar067]

I'm gonna go a little bit 'Murica on you here.....

....had to read that twice....

 

[Domo]

Also, isn’t is against the rules to plug your own website? Seems someone got banned about a year ago for doing that..

I asked the mods, got the all clear, since I'm not gaining anything from it

 

[Domo]

Domo, you didn’t cite your sources in your opening post. Were your stats UK specific or worldwide?

You know I can't remember now? It's been so long since I posted this thread! I think it was the Priory Hospital, an elite psychiatric ward in the UK.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

My husband has a laundry list of mental health issues. Luckily, he doesn’t hear voices..that’s when I’d start to get scared.

I’m not directing this was you specifically, but I just want to pick up on this point more generally: as with any mental illness, people who hear voices or have other psychotic episodes are far more likely to be a danger to themselves than anyone else.

My husband is bipolar, has GAD and also has psychotic episodes. It was absolutely terrifying the first few times, for both of us, but like anything else you learn to live with it.

It’s obviously not ideal, but if someone comes across this thread who is hearing voices or has a loved one who does, then please know that it’s not the end of the world. Antipsychotic meds can be very effective, and it is possible to lead a reasonably normal life and also hear voices or see things that aren’t there. My husband’s GAD is far more debilitating on a day to day basis than his psychotic episodes are.

Domo, you didn’t cite your sources in your opening post. Were your stats UK specific or worldwide?

You know I can't remember now? It's been so long since I posted this thread! I think it was the Priory Hospital, an elite psychiatric ward in the UK.

The stats Domo gave are consistent with the ones that are generally used in the U.K., and also Australia - I don’t know about the US though I can’t imagine it is much different. They are the ones used by the NHS, and major British charities like Mind. They are also the same as we have been told by 5 different psychiatrists in the U.K. and Australia, including at the Priory hospital that Domo mentioned.

@Domo I had a quick look at your website and it looks like a great resource, with a ton of info on it!

 

[Domo]

@Domo I had a quick look at your website and it looks like a great resource, with a ton of info on it!

Thanks, @Tigger in a kilt! It took a while and there's a bit to go, but it's worth it, if nothing else but to supply me with info! Truth be told, I used to rely on another site - Crazy Meds - but there were too many holes in the information and sadly the site succumbed to ads. Nevertheless, Crazy Meds is a FANTASTIC resource for psychiatric meds, jovial yet informative.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

Thanks, @Tigger in a kilt! It took a while and there's a bit to go, but it's worth it, if nothing else but to supply me with info! Truth be told, I used to rely on another site - Crazy Meds - but there were too many holes in the information and sadly the site succumbed to ads. Nevertheless, Crazy Meds is a FANTASTIC resource for psychiatric meds, jovial yet informative.

That’s funny, because I immediately thought of Crazy Meds when I started reading what you had written. It had the same feel/tone that CM had 10+ years ago, but also info that is more useful for the U.K. (and without the holes in info from CM). I will definitely look forward to looking at it in more depth.

 

[Domo]

That’s funny, because I immediately thought of Crazy Meds when I started reading what you had written. It had the same feel/tone that CM had 10+ years ago, but also info that is more useful for the U.K. (and without the holes in info from CM). I will definitely look forward to looking at it in more depth.

Crazy Meds Talk was their forum and it was a great resource - but it cost too much to sustain and too much time and energy to maintain. So sadly it was closed down. Now the go-to place is Crazy Boards. It's a HUGE resource with TONNES of people. Well worth a look!

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

Crazy Meds Talk was their forum and it was a great resource - but it cost too much to sustain and too much time and energy to maintain. So sadly it was closed down. Now the go-to place is Crazy Boards. It's a HUGE resource with TONNES of people. Well worth a look!

I never ventured to their forums but the original site was outstanding, and far more use than any resource I have ever found, before or since. He is mostly stable and well-managed now (not brilliant, but we are no longer changing his meds all the time), but I will have a look at Crazy Boards.

I remember with one medication, my husband ate 2 big boxes of Jelly Babies over the course of about 3 hours and was still craving sugar. I was googling to work out what was going on, and I found Crazy Meds. The page said that one of the side effects of this drug was that people were literally eating sugar out the bag with a spoon. That’s when I was hooked - it was a site that finally told the truth about the medications, rather than the dry, vague answers we had had from the GP and (first, useless) psychiatrist.

 

[kimblebee]

I’m not directing this was you specifically, but I just want to pick up on this point more generally: as with any mental illness, people who hear voices or have other psychotic episodes are far more likely to be a danger to themselves than anyone else.

My husband is bipolar, has GAD and also has psychotic episodes. It was absolutely terrifying the first few times, for both of us, but like anything else you learn to live with it.

It’s obviously not ideal, but if someone comes across this thread who is hearing voices or has a loved one who does, then please know that it’s not the end of the world. Antipsychotic meds can be very effective, and it is possible to lead a reasonably normal life and also hear voices or see things that aren’t there. My husband’s GAD is far more debilitating on a day to day basis than his psychotic episodes are.





The stats Domo gave are consistent with the ones that are generally used in the U.K., and also Australia - I don’t know about the US though I can’t imagine it is much different. They are the ones used by the NHS, and major British charities like Mind. They are also the same as we have been told by 5 different psychiatrists in the U.K. and Australia, including at the Priory hospital that Domo mentioned.

@Domo I had a quick look at your website and it looks like a great resource, with a ton of info on it!

I didn’t mean I’d be scared for myself. I just meant I’d be scared because it would create a whole new set of challenges. Sorry if that came across wrong.

 

[OhDannyBoy]

I've dealt with depression and anxiety my whole life but I'm too hard headed to trust doctors or take medication.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

I didn’t mean I’d be scared for myself. I just meant I’d be scared because it would create a whole new set of challenges. Sorry if that came across wrong.

No, not at all - I knew what you meant, and I was just using your comment as a jumping off point. When my husband first starting having psychotic episodes it absolutely was scary, and I felt totally out of my depth, as it was a new layer to the situation. I just wanted to reassure anyone else who was reading that it is not insurmountable.

 

[Domo]

I never ventured to their forums but the original site was outstanding, and far more use than any resource I have ever found, before or since. He is mostly stable and well-managed now (not brilliant, but we are no longer changing his meds all the time), but I will have a look at Crazy Boards.

I remember with one medication, my husband ate 2 big boxes of Jelly Babies over the course of about 3 hours and was still craving sugar. I was googling to work out what was going on, and I found Crazy Meds. The page said that one of the side effects of this drug was that people were literally eating sugar out the bag with a spoon. That’s when I was hooked - it was a site that finally told the truth about the medications, rather than the dry, vague answers we had had from the GP and (first, useless) psychiatrist.

The sugar craving is a terrible thing. One of the meds I'm on hit you three ways: you crave sugar, you retain the weight you gain and you look fatter. Sux. I'm sorry your hubby is going through all this

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

The sugar craving is a terrible thing. One of the meds I'm on hit you three ways: you crave sugar, you retain the weight you gain and you look fatter. Sux. I'm sorry your hubby is going through all this

He was probably on the same one, and it really does suck. I’m sorry you are going through all of this too. It’s not easy.

 

[Domo]

Could be worse. There's an antipsychotic out there that can cause "Sudden Death Syndrome". Cushy, no?

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

Could be worse. There's an antipsychotic out there that can cause "Sudden Death Syndrome". Cushy, no?

Olanzapine lists that as one of its side effects (or it used to). Sadly, it is the only antipsychotic that my husband will tolerate. I just remove the leaflets from his meds now, as he used to pour over them for hours and then convince himself that he had all the side effects.

To be brutally honest, my husband wouldn’t be here today without the meds he takes. This is particularly true for amitriptyline which, in another thread, I said saved his life and got him out of hospital. His psychiatrist has the same attitude that we do, namely that we are trying to keep him alive today, and if the meds cause him problems tomorrow then we will deal with those problems tomorrow. Because, again being very honest, he is unlikely to live long enough for us to need to worry about long term damage to his kidneys or liver, for example.

What a cheery discussion for a Friday night.

 

[kimblebee]

No, not at all - I knew what you meant, and I was just using your comment as a jumping off point. When my husband first starting having psychotic episodes it absolutely was scary, and I felt totally out of my depth, as it was a new layer to the situation. I just wanted to reassure anyone else who was reading that it is not insurmountable.

Absolutely. There’s way, way too much stigma around mental health.