antidepressants, diet/exercise

PerkyCurlz said:

I'm curious to know what antidepressants you all have taken. Which one(s) have actually worked for you and which one(s) haven't? Are you still taking them, or have you been weaned off by your doctor? Have you gotten to stop taking your antidepressants just to have to go back on them a couple of years later?


Also, has anyone used diet and exercise only to deal with their depression?


If you don't feel comfortable answering here, please PM me. I need some input.

Click to expand...

I don't mind answering you.

Right now I'm on 2 of them.

Wellbutrin, and Effexor.

I also take meds for anxiety.

So far the meds. haven't worked.

I've been on a variety of them for 6 yrs.

It helps very little.
Things are different for each person tho.

Hope i helped.

Bless You.

Chuck.

Because of my station in life if you will I've been able to successfully fight depression with just diet, exercise, and meditation. I have yet to beat all my demons this way however and although I have not had a formal diagnosis it seems pretty clear that I suffer from OCD as well.

Perky,

Oh my... I have been through major depressions 3 times in my life and also have Dysthymia (low grade constant depression). I have been on many different medications - too many to list or even remember...

My last major/clinical depression began in 1998 and lasted for more than 6 years. Two years ago I began taking Cymbalta. For the first time in my life I began to "feel good." I take twice the recommended dose which I believe to be quite common. I also take a mood stabilizer called Topamax. Sleep is crucial for people suffering with depression, but you don't want a hang-over effect and definitely don't want to become addicted to some sleeping pill. I take another anti-depressant in a very small dose to help me get to sleep. It's generic Remeron or Mirtazapine.

Here's my medications:
Cymbalta: 120 mg/day in the morning (life saving)
Topamax: 200 mg/day in the morning (life saving)
Mirtazapine: 15 mg/day 30 minutes before bed (works great)

I have also changed my diet - drastically! I count my calorie intake everyday. I drink only water. I eat only healthy foods monitoring fat, protein and carbs. No candy, no fast food, rarely dine out, no meat or poultry (personal choice), fish I do eat, broccoli (steamed), green beans (steamed), non-fat milk, low fat cottage cheese and so on. There is a great web sit called Sparkpeople that can help you create a diet and lifestyle change that will get you on track. I have lost just over 60 lbs in 7 months with my lifestyle change. I do not diet. Diets do not work!!!! It's about a lifestyle change!!!!!! I have never felt better... I used to weigh 243 and now weigh 181. I'm 6 feet tall.

Exercise is great for the body, mind and spirit too. Realize though, your eating habits will determine your weight. You cannot exercise enough to keep the weight off if your not eating right. I go to the gym 5 days a week, but have only been doing that for the past month. Since going to the gym I have only lost 5 lbs. I would say the ratio in losing weight is around 80% attributed to diet and 20% attributed to exercise with a balanced program. I chose to lose the weight before doing the exercise. I was on a 1200 calorie/day plan and stuck to it for 8 months now. I do not suggest you necessarily go that low. 1500 calories/day may be a good number. I am retired and quite sedentary, therefore did not need much energy for the day... Also, if you belong to a gym or are planning to, they have trainers who can help with your diet and monitoring techniques. Take advantage of the resources in your community...

I hope you find this helpful.
Tom

I was taken off antidepressants by my doctor in January 2005. None of them helped me, but regular exercise did make me better. Here's what I took between 2002-2005:

Celexa
Wellbutrin
Topomax (not an antidepressant, should not have been prescribed at all)
Provigil (not an antidepressant, was prescribed to combat the fatigue that topomax caused, should DEFINITELY not have been prescribed)
Lexapro
Adderall (not an antidepressant, was prescribed for fatigue, should not have been prescribed)

All of the medicines above were prescribed to me by a doctor in South Carolina. After I moved to Florida, a family doctor continued to give me Wellbutrin and Adderall. I went to her at the end of 2004 asking to be taken off the drugs because I was feeling paranoid and moody, etc. She refused to take me off them. Well, the next month, I ended up in the emergency stabilization unit at the hospital and, according to the doctors there, taking the combination of Adderall and Wellbutrin had made me have a drug induced psychosis. At the hospital, they put me on:

Geodon
Abilify
Zoloft
Seroquel

My parents made them take me off Geodon because my face swelled up and they barely recognized me. Then they made them take me off Abilify because my face and tongue would not stop twitching. The doctor took me off of Zoloft after a week or two and did not put me on any new antidepressant. I was put on Seroquel to combat what the Adderall and Wellbutrin had done to the dopamine in my brain. My doctor slowly weaned me off Seroquel over the period of about a year. The Seroquel made me gain a LOT of weight, which I am still in the process of losing.

I have been off antidepressants since the beginning of 2005 and I will have been off of Seroquel for a year on January 13th, 2007.

I have tried Zoloft and Lexapro. I tried to go off my Lexapro, but that didn't turn out very well, so I am still on it. I have heard some say that Zoloft makes you gain weight, but that didn't happen with me.
I am exercising also at a gym I joined last week and feel great about it. I don't think I would have the energy to do it if I wasn't on the Lexapro.

J

I was diagnosed in 2000 and I have been put on countless medications. I was on wellbutrin, remeron, paxil, zoloft, and many others. Zoloft seemed to help more than anything else. I have been off zoloft for over a year and it doesn't seem to affect me most days.
But exercise and diet has made a dramatic difference in my road to recovery. I feel a lot better because I exercise/diet and it helps me to feel energized.