**The Mental Health Thread**

Happy new year everyone hope it’s a good one.

I have started low dose Escitalopram to see how I react I’m taking 1/4 a 5mg tablet for a week then upping to half after an week etc. Day 2 today and I feel no real difference Anxiety is still buzzing around. Will be taking it slow and steady see how it goes.

My Thyroid is ok. I had to get an out of hours Dr appointment on Friday as had a huge panic attack with shaking etc. She did a check of my previous blood tests and gave me a check over and could not see anything untoward. I was given Valium for if it gets bad again.

Not the greatest end to the year but hey ho been here before so just need to wait out the storm as they say.
 
Anyone any advice where to go next? Tried medication and it was making me incredibly sick daily (Tried different options something doesn't agree with me). Gone through therapy with BUPA with no sense of working with me personally.

Feel like I'm at a dead end with it and struggling where to turn next.

Appreciate any recommendations
 
MOOGLEYS said:
Happy new year everyone hope it’s a good one.

I have started low dose Escitalopram to see how I react I’m taking 1/4 a 5mg tablet for a week then upping to half after an week etc. Day 2 today and I feel no real difference Anxiety is still buzzing around. Will be taking it slow and steady see how it goes.

My Thyroid is ok. I had to get an out of hours Dr appointment on Friday as had a huge panic attack with shaking etc. She did a check of my previous blood tests and gave me a check over and could not see anything untoward. I was given Valium for if it gets bad again.

Not the greatest end to the year but hey ho been here before so just need to wait out the storm as they say.
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Hope it works out for you buddy, just take it slow when increasing the anti depressant, if you do feel bad a diazepam will help but obviously don't take them Unless you really need to. Happy new year to you and hope you have a better year.
 
Wayne~ said:
Anyone any advice where to go next? Tried medication and it was making me incredibly sick daily (Tried different options something doesn't agree with me). Gone through therapy with BUPA with no sense of working with me personally.

Feel like I'm at a dead end with it and struggling where to turn next.

Appreciate any recommendations
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Is it anxiety or depression your dealing with?
 
Wayne~ said:
Anyone any advice where to go next? Tried medication and it was making me incredibly sick daily (Tried different options something doesn't agree with me). Gone through therapy with BUPA with no sense of working with me personally.

Feel like I'm at a dead end with it and struggling where to turn next.

Appreciate any recommendations
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There is always another option and it can take trial and error to what works. It so completely different for everyone. Have a chat with your Dr about other meds something will help. Unfortunately a lot of the meds do cause sickness as a side effect but it does normally lessen as you stay on the med. Your dr should be able to give you something to help with the sickness as you settle.

Have you tried CBT you can self refer online usually. The wait times can be long so if you think it might help get on the list asap.
 
Wayne~ said:
Anyone any advice where to go next? Tried medication and it was making me incredibly sick daily (Tried different options something doesn't agree with me). Gone through therapy with BUPA with no sense of working with me personally.

Feel like I'm at a dead end with it and struggling where to turn next.

Appreciate any recommendations
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Have you stuck with them for a week or two? Vast majority completely settle the GI symptoms in a short period.

What meds have you tried?
 
Thanks for the responses, depression is what I should have added. Been through CBT and Setraline plus one other (Can't find box think I've binned it) Was on them for 6 weeks and no sign of easing from the several lots of sickness daily.
 
Wayne~ said:
Thanks for the responses, depression is what I should have added. Been through CBT and Setraline plus one other (Can't find box think I've binned it) Was on them for 6 weeks and no sign of easing from the several lots of sickness daily.
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Hi Wayne,

I've been on anti-depressants for 22 years. Have tried coming off them but I lasted 3 months before having to start them again. When I did restart them I had to go through all the nausea crap again same as when I first started. The tablets interact with the Central Nervous System (which includes the Gastrointestinal Tract) which is why you will feel sick. It DOES get better but you really need to give it time. For me that was about 4 weeks but for my daughter it was about 3 months. Everyone is different I guess.

Regards, Mike
 
Wayne~ said:
Thanks for the responses, depression is what I should have added. Been through CBT and Setraline plus one other (Can't find box think I've binned it) Was on them for 6 weeks and no sign of easing from the several lots of sickness daily.
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Sertraline is an SSRi if the other you tried was also an SSRi you might be sensitive to them. It might be worth speaking to your Dr about trying a different form of anti depressant there are quite a few available. Unfortunately it can be a bit of trial and error finding a suitable one.

They can take quite a while to stabilise in your system and if you have switched this can add to this time as you might have been having withdrawal mixed with startup symptoms.

Well worth a chat with your Dr for something to help with the sickness or trying something different.
 
I'm on an SNRI alongside Lithium and find it solves most of my depression. It is certainly worth bringing it up with your doctor/psychiatrist, or you could call 111 and see what they say.
 
Cromulent said:
I'm on an SNRI alongside Lithium and find it solves most of my depression. It is certainly worth bringing it up with your doctor/psychiatrist, or you could call 111 and see what they say.
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How long have you been on Lithium, Cromulent? (If you don't mind me asking).

I am on Lithium (due to experiencing extremely deep depressive episodes) and Clomipramine (to help with my obsessive intrusive thoughts). The lithium is excellent and while I still experience depression (from a biological point of view; meaning, being depressed even when there are no external factors), I find I don't experience those extremely deep depressive episodes I use to have.
 
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Fire Wizard said:
How long have you been on Lithium, Cromulent? (If you don't mind me asking).
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I started taking it in November/December 2021.

Fire Wizard said:
I am on Lithium (due to experiencing extremely deep depressive episodes) and Clomipramine (to help with my obsessive intrusive thoughts). The lithium is excellent and while I still experience depression (from a biological point of view; meaning, being depressed even when there are no external factors), I find I don't experience those extremely deep depressive episodes I use to have.
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I started on Lithium because I kept getting blood test red alerts while on Clozapine, and Lithium is meant to increase your white blood cell count, according to my psychiatrist. I wasn't expecting much change when I went on it, but after 30 days or so, everything changed for the better.

So before I started on Lithium, Venlafaxine and Clozapine, I was in the hospital about twice a year with schizophrenia. I had intense suicidal thoughts and almost unbearable anxiety and depression but I feel much better. I also have to admit that a big part of that was moving into supported accommodation which has also been a massive improvement.
 
Pulsedriver said:
Was on Sertraline 50mg around August 2018 - upped to 100mg around Jan/Feb 2019, then back to 50mg about December 2019 as I wasn't sure it was worth 100mg vs 50mg - I was on the 50mg up until late October this year, then came off it (gently) now I feel I want to try something different, as I am not 100% sure sertraline did a huge amount for me, but then you don't know until you stop... I have apparently been a lot more angry / irritable since stopping and some days you wake up unable to 'feel motivated / and feel blank' which is wrong I know and it can't be pleasant for people around me. Sertraline didn't really give any side effects of note, although when stopping/tapering down I had nasty cold symptoms which could have been a coincidence but I remember when going from 100mg back to 50mg similar thing happened.

The reason for going on it in the first place, was to try to help with OCD (not rituals, more germaphobia) and anger (not over the top violent anger, just snappiness/highly strung all the time).

The germaphobic side has definitely improved a LOT.

I have booked a chat with doctor next week, was going to try moving to escitalopram low-dose (or citalopram) I have read on both, of course we are all not doctors and shouldn't be 'prescribing' ourselves, but I do wonder if sometimes some people just need to remain on a low-dose indefinitely just to stay balanced.

Social wise I am never really up for doing much, albeit when there am fine, but have maintained gym-going, as that helps so much.

I guess ultimately I felt Sertraline didn't 'do much' when I guess deep down it actually did.
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I’ve moved to Escitalopram after a few years on Sertraline. It’s been a couple of months now and changes are largely positive. Fewer GI issues and mood is more stable. I feel a bit less flat than on Sertraline where everything was just a bit grey. Meant the lows were manageable but the highs were pretty muted too. I find it’s marginally less effective at the OCD side (for me that’s picking/scratching etc) so I’m trying alternative ways to manage that.

I don’t recommend drinking on it as I find the day after is awful in terms of mood but that’s the case with many SSRIs.
 
Pulsedriver said:
Was on Sertraline 50mg around August 2018 - upped to 100mg around Jan/Feb 2019, then back to 50mg about December 2019 as I wasn't sure it was worth 100mg vs 50mg - I was on the 50mg up until late October this year, then came off it (gently) now I feel I want to try something different, as I am not 100% sure sertraline did a huge amount for me, but then you don't know until you stop...
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I'm kind of thinking the same thing now. I woke up this morning and noticed a load of yellow bruises on my arm and legs which has scared me witless. Apparently this is some side effect of Sertraline, as is increased risk of diabetes. But I'm finding it incredibly difficult to assess whether it's actually working or not without stopping them and seeing what happens after.
 
ic1male said:
I'm kind of thinking the same thing now. I woke up this morning and noticed a load of yellow bruises on my arm and legs which has scared me witless. Apparently this is some side effect of Sertraline, as is increased risk of diabetes. But I'm finding it incredibly difficult to assess whether it's actually working or not without stopping them and seeing what happens after.
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It is really hard to tell I have had the same before. Sertraline did not work too well for me and I switched to Escitalopram but I had a rough time with the switch.

Might be worth checking in with your Dr about the bruising and you can get a diabetes test done see where you’re at and maybe discuss trying something else ? It can be a bit of a nightmare finding something that helps with bearable side affects.

My Dr said my blood sugar is ok but I’m borderline pre diabetes on my blood test and need to loose a few KG which is never easy. With Anxiety I tend to loose a load of weight fairly quickly but when it calms back down it goes back on pretty quick. It’s a Rollercoaster at times.
 
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ic1male said:
Does anyone know what the difference is between SSRI and SNRI? When would you use the SNRI instead of an SSRI?
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Usual disclaimer - I'm not a doctor etc.

SSRI increases the amount of serotonin in the brain.
SNRI increases the amount of serotonin and noradrenaline in the brain.

One would assume that SNRIs are better as they work on increasing two types of neurotransmitters in the brain, but I don't think that is 100% known to be true.

SSRIs are typically used at first; if they don't work, they move to SNRIs as an option.
 
If you struggle to tolerate an SSRI your Dr might offer you an SNRI and see if that is tolerated better. There are quite a few different variations and some that are very different like Mirtazapine which is a TeCA (tetracyclic). Finding what works and is tolerable is a bit trial and error unfortunately.
 
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I'm currently using mirtazipine and find it a lot more tolerable than any of the other 10 SSRIs I've tried, other than strange dreams I've had zero side effects.
 
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