Tried antidepressants and the side effects are just too bad for me. Anyone had luck with some natural stuff?

[Anonymous]

Ugh me too with the side effects. I am so friggin’ sensitive to even low doses, like below what’s considered therapeutic. Zoloft made me feel totally drugged and tired. Same with prozac plus massive night sweats and jaw clenching. Wellbutrin worked ok years ago but made my hair fall out and also made the texture of my hair really weird. Tried it again years later and made me insanely agitated. Pristiq gave me horrible constipation, an eye twitch, and weight gain. Lamictal made me feel like a zombie monster. So basically I am just done trying drugs. I exercise regularly, eat really well, take vitamins and supplements, and adderall for my inattentive adhd.

[Anonymous]

Touch grass. Literally.

*I haven’t tried this due to my dirt and poop phobias but it’s supposed to work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tried Zoloft and Wellbutrin. Sweated like crazy each night on Zoloft. Stopped. I have been on Wellbutrin for 3 weeks and developed an itchy scalp, itchy back and now red pimply face! Not new skin products. The only change is this medication. What do I do? Keep trying other meds and mess my body up completely? Any luck with natural stuff? Maybe I should try CBD? But how do you function on it during the day?

I thought Zoloft is for anxiety. Does it even help with depression?

I’ve heard Lexapro works well, ask your doctor about that one.

Can you tell us what is the cause of your depression?

Are you in therapy currently? I’ve found that for me, therapy and lifestyle changes helped the most for long lasting recovery from anxiety and my moderate depression. I also was on Zoloft for a short while but after several months, found I no longer needed it, as I worked hard in therapy to address the sources of my issues and also make lifestyle changes to reduce stressors.

My therapist was key, and she did some interesting things involving my physical body (like tapping) to help my brain properly process stuff that had plagued me for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Touch grass. Literally.

*I haven’t tried this due to my dirt and poop phobias but it’s supposed to work

This is such a disrespectful and flippant response. You don’t even know the reason for the OPs depression. Unlike your charmed easy life, OP could be dealing with some very heavy stuff. It could be something horrible.

Telling someone to go touch grass to get over their depression is very asinine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Theanine, vitamin d, and vitamin b helped me a lot. Magnesium, too, just don't take too much or it can upset your stomach. No side effects from the others.

This is exactly what I did based on recommendation of a doctor. I the B complex and magnesium help a lot- along with D and I try to get sun as much as possible. As others have said exercise is also important. I do cardio and strength a few times a week. I will say as you change these lifestyle habits you start to sleep better, eat better and it’s all a chain reaction. I’ve kept myself off SSRIs by doing this the last few years. It’s a commitment and work but if you’re able to do it instead of the antidepressants it’s worth a shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Touch grass. Literally.

*I haven’t tried this due to my dirt and poop phobias but it’s supposed to work

This is such a disrespectful and flippant response. You don’t even know the reason for the OPs depression. Unlike your charmed easy life, OP could be dealing with some very heavy stuff. It could be something horrible.

Telling someone to go touch grass to get over their depression is very asinine.

It’s true OP could be struggling with something above generalized anxiety and/or depression (in which case meds are absolutely indicated as well as working w a doctor). There is evidence to what PP said though in terms of natural things that can “help” to some extent. Exposing your body to morning sun and well as grounding work which I think is what they are referring to. There is some evidence that waking barefoot helps create a transfer of electrons or something of that nature by walking on the outside earth/ground. I recently heard about this so no idea but I’ve tried it a few times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Touch grass. Literally.

*I haven’t tried this due to my dirt and poop phobias but it’s supposed to work

This is such a disrespectful and flippant response. You don’t even know the reason for the OPs depression. Unlike your charmed easy life, OP could be dealing with some very heavy stuff. It could be something horrible.

Telling someone to go touch grass to get over their depression is very asinine.

It’s true OP could be struggling with something above generalized anxiety and/or depression (in which case meds are absolutely indicated as well as working w a doctor). There is evidence to what PP said though in terms of natural things that can “help” to some extent. Exposing your body to morning sun and well as grounding work which I think is what they are referring to. There is some evidence that waking barefoot helps create a transfer of electrons or something of that nature by walking on the outside earth/ground. I recently heard about this so no idea but I’ve tried it a few times.

Asinine response. Someone dealing with mental trauma needs more than grass touching and walking barefoot in order to process the trauma and recover.

I hope you’re not this flippant and dismissive when your family and children come to you with real problems that need help from trained professionals.

[Anonymous]

Op here. I struggle with anger issues. Have been in DBT therapy for years. Not helping. I exercise every day and really enjoy it. But I am always irritable. I yell at my kids a lot and it needs to stop. I drink much less too. Need to stop having coffee too, I guess. So it looks like o have to be heavily medicated in order to be normal. And it sucks. Seeing how my body changes on meds isn’t fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I struggle with anger issues. Have been in DBT therapy for years. Not helping. I exercise every day and really enjoy it. But I am always irritable. I yell at my kids a lot and it needs to stop. I drink much less too. Need to stop having coffee too, I guess. So it looks like o have to be heavily medicated in order to be normal. And it sucks. Seeing how my body changes on meds isn’t fun.

Same! But I’d tell you not to try Wellbutrin. A side effect is rage. I just can’t quit it because I gain weight. I love the weight loss aspect to Wellbutrin.

I really wish I had something that made me numb to my kids’ craziness. Gentle parenting is hard AF

[Anonymous]

Anyone has had luck with CBD oil?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Touch grass. Literally.

*I haven’t tried this due to my dirt and poop phobias but it’s supposed to work

This is such a disrespectful and flippant response. You don’t even know the reason for the OPs depression. Unlike your charmed easy life, OP could be dealing with some very heavy stuff. It could be something horrible.

Telling someone to go touch grass to get over their depression is very asinine.

It’s true OP could be struggling with something above generalized anxiety and/or depression (in which case meds are absolutely indicated as well as working w a doctor). There is evidence to what PP said though in terms of natural things that can “help” to some extent. Exposing your body to morning sun and well as grounding work which I think is what they are referring to. There is some evidence that waking barefoot helps create a transfer of electrons or something of that nature by walking on the outside earth/ground. I recently heard about this so no idea but I’ve tried it a few times.

Asinine response. Someone dealing with mental trauma needs more than grass touching and walking barefoot in order to process the trauma and recover.

I hope you’re not this flippant and dismissive when your family and children come to you with real problems that need help from trained professionals.

No, I’m most certainly not flippant but I take in all the options, opinions and suggestions and look for alternatives to supplement big pharma. You may or may not agree and that is certainly okay. It’s usually not a pill or one-size fits all solution to mental health problems. So many factors such as a trauma, foods we eat, hormonal imbalances, and on and on. I have had diagnosed depression and anxiety for years and use many things to help with it. This is just one of them.

[Anonymous]

First, you do need to take the meds for a few weeks before the side effects start to taper. That said, the ones that are still with you after a few months are probably going to stay.

Lexapro and Prozac are two you could try. I’ve had good luck with Zoloft but failed with Lexapro (too spacey) Wellbutrin (gave me hives).

I feel great when I exercise daily, but without the meds, I still find myself not enjoying my life due to intense anxiety. Part of my anxiety was avoiding meds and trying every other option under the sun until I had no choice but to take that particularly leap, which I had viewed as a weakness/failure. I’ve been through the start/stop cycle enough to finally accept I do need them to have a life that I feel is worth living.

But everyone is so different. For me, the anger/snappiness is repressed anxiety, so I am more tolerable to my family when I’m medicated. And I don’t get so down on myself because I don’t feel like such a B.

If meds were off the table, I would focus tremendously on meditation. It’s really the one frontier I haven’t committed to for long periods of time. My mind is so prone to rumination that I find it incredibly difficult, but that might just mean that’s where the opportunity for change lies.

Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I struggle with anger issues. Have been in DBT therapy for years. Not helping. I exercise every day and really enjoy it. But I am always irritable. I yell at my kids a lot and it needs to stop. I drink much less too. Need to stop having coffee too, I guess. So it looks like o have to be heavily medicated in order to be normal. And it sucks. Seeing how my body changes on meds isn’t fun.

Is cannabis an option? Not kidding.

[Anonymous]

Citralopram worked for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I struggle with anger issues. Have been in DBT therapy for years. Not helping. I exercise every day and really enjoy it. But I am always irritable. I yell at my kids a lot and it needs to stop. I drink much less too. Need to stop having coffee too, I guess. So it looks like o have to be heavily medicated in order to be normal. And it sucks. Seeing how my body changes on meds isn’t fun.

Sending you hugs OP because I can so relate to you. For me Zoloft has been life-changing. But before Zoloft, I did notice that caffeine was a huge rage trigger, even just the caffeine in a cup of tea. So definitely think you are right to consider dropping coffee. Also, agree with PPs that it does sound like it may worth giving medication one or two more tries. I know a lot of people swear by Prozac.