I really need to speak to someone who hasn't found a drug that works and therefore given up on relying on them.
Is there anyone out there with recurring depression that has managed to survive with no medication??
Hi Vicky,
Sorry to hear you are low,I have been trying for over 2 years without meds don't ask me if I am right or wrong but have tried many and just make me feel worse so given up after a week impatient I know they take longer and I know you may feel worse first but I just don't give it long enough.So not much help I am afraid but if ever you want to chat, cone on here I will always answer you when I get the message.What do you do to try and be positive.I have had depression before but never this long and my last bout before this was at least 12 years ago and what caused this I do mot know. X
Hi Vicky,
I've suffered from depression for 13 years and have tried various anti depressants over the years but found none of them work. I'm currently in the middle of coming off venlafaxine slowly as i've had enough now. I have tried so many different types over the past 7 months and I am so sure that they have made me much worse than I would have been without them.
I can't offer you any advice unfortunately so I can only say that you're not alone x
Hi Bacca
This really does get to you doesn't it just seems to be existence but then I suppose always somebody worse off,may I ask do you get the headaches I am going mad with one today just the right hand side and pressure behind my eye have taken paracetamol alka seltzer done nothing.Any advice appreciated. X
Hi Becca and Joan, thank you very much for your replies.
Becca, are you going to try a different drug or are you going to try without? I tried venlafaxine last year and it made me exhausted.
I have tried sertraline, citalopram, fluoxetine, venlafaxine, bupropion, and duloxetine. I have been given lofepramine today but am losing hope.
Sometimes I wonder if the therapy is enough but am scared to try not being on any drugs.
Hi Vicky
I know you just do not know what to do for the best,some get on fine with meds. others say you can do it without wish we knew the answer.Just to be back as we were at least on here we know we are not alone.
No I'm not going to try a different drug, I'm just going to see how I get on without anything. I feel like i've run out of options and trying to change medications means waiting 2 months for an appointment with a Psychiatrist because no one else is willing to change my medication.
I've tried Sertraline, Doxepin, Mirtazapine, Fluoxetine, Citalopram, Lithium and Venlafaxine and none of them have helped at all. Sertraline made me so much worse, gave me really bad anxiety which I didn't have before I started taking it, and Doxepin and Mirtazapine just knocked me out for hours and hours, I was like a zombie on them.
I hate what drugs do to me, they give me side effects which just end up making me feel more depressed - like weight gain!
How long have you been on medication now?
Vicky & Becca
Just thought I would say at the moment I am trying a high fish oil which is suppose to be good, like all the reviews on the net raving reports but we will see been taking it for 2 weeks so early days must say the crying has stopped but the fatigue and phŷsical pains are there but moral a bit better,so hopeful. X
I did look into vitamins and supplements that are meant to be good for depression but I guess I didn't really believe that they can help if anti depressants can't. Glad they're working for you to help with the crying. How come you have physical pains though?
Hi Becca,
I have back problem often and chronic headaches which of cause they say is depression and anxiety,if ever you want to pm me feel free. X
Becca what was the lithium like? Not any good? Aren't you scared that you'll get so depressed not on drugs? I'm scared that I will be just like I was before I started seeing a psychiatrist and that I will lose all hope and kill myself.
I've either had exhaustion or nausea from all the drugs I've tried.
As for vitamins you can try St Johns Wort or 5HTP. They have worked a little bit for me in the past but not for when I'm really bad.
Hi everyone. I have suffered for years and venlafaxine has been pretty good over the last 13 years. However itseems to have run its course and I'm trying alternative approaches like mindfulness and meditation. Even though I don't feel like being sociable, I force myself to carry on doing the things I know I used to enjoy. Participation and trying to look for any positives seems to be helping. Hope you get sorted. There are millions of people who feel exactly the same. xx
Hi Vicky
I'm in the same boat .......... I've been on medication for 6 mths now this time round (previous episodes I have taken Citalopram which didn't work & Sertraline likewise). I have tried to get through most times without medication, and have only been to GP when having strong suicidal thoughts & deteriorating health.
This time round I've been on Fluoxetine for 3mths with no luck so changed to Mirtazapine for past 3mths which is also not working.
My GP doesn't seem to like to up medication ........ was on lowest dose of Fluoxetine and am now up to 30mg Mirt .... and tho it's not working he does not want me to go up to max dosage. I don't think he is taking me very seriously. I don't do crying, so if that is how he is gauging the severity of my depression he is gonna get it very wrong.
I am getting to the end of my tether ........ I have been feeling crap for a year now been on medication for past 6 mths with very little relief. And am still having daily thoughts of just how pointless my life is.
I have been referred to primary care mental health team who gave me a crisis card & said I'll have a 5-6month wait for a CBT course. I have no idea how you are meant to get referred to a Psych. consult.
I know I don't communicate very well with my GP, but feel I need a little more help than I am getting. I'm at the stage where I think the only option is hurting myself badly to be taken seriously ............... and the thing there is I either end up dead (so prob solved) or I end up in a seriously bad way and am a burden to the NHS for a very long time.
I've tried without meds before, but my episodes seem to be getting worse so if I was med free at present I don't think I'd still be here right now.
I hope you find a solution to your medication dilemma. I still haven't. 
Hi Eureka38, have you tried bumping up the dosage yourself? I have learnt that you need to be forceful with some GPs and say what you want to try. I don't do crying either, and have often been misread because I laugh at myself throughout the appointments. I tell the doctors what I want to try. Try writing it down and taking the notes into the appointment with you and just handing them over if you feel that you don't communicate your depression well with them.
If you have enough enough 30mg tabs to try 60mg for a few weeks, I would do it. I only try 2 to 3 dosage bumps before I give up on a drug but I would always try at least one bump up.
However, if the drug isn't a good fit for you due to side effects then there is no point bumping it up because generally the side effects get worse as you go up in mg. I am feeling a bit more positive about the lofepramine and can't wait for the duloxetine to get out of my system.
I'm all for trying life without drugs, which I think may end up being a real possibility for me, but if your lilfe isn't enjoyable, then it's not right. You shouldn't be struggling to get through life. We should be enjoying it.
I really wish there was a Depressed People Anonymous, like free group therapy sessions.
Thanks Vicky
I think writing down things before my next apmt is probably a good idea. I either say nothing, or get misinterpreted in what I do say.
I'll maybe try upping my dose to next level and hope I get some improvement before my next apmt. If I don't then at least i'll know it's definitely not working and I can ask to change to something else. & hope he's not offended I went against what he said.
........................ he recommended self help leaflets .............. *sigh* ........... I just wish I could put him in my head for 2 mins & he'd know what he was dealing with!
Thanks for your reply, it meant a lot. Sometimes I just don't know what to do for the best.
Hope you find a solution. Xx
Hi Vicky, in response to your questions a couple of days ago, I was originally diagnosed with bipolar which is why I was on the lithium, I did find it worked, but eventually it just ran its course and I didn't feel the benefits any more. The way I see it at the moment is that I can't get any more low than I have been in some of the weeks I was on venaflaxine so I'm not really scared too much. I am convinced that all the medications I have tried the past few months have made me more depressed than I would have been if I was on nothing x
Lithium is my last resort, I don't have bipolar disorder but depression. I do feel the benefit from most drugs but it is the side effects for me that I can't handle. Did you have any side effects from the lithium? The ones that make me so exhausted are annoying when I feel happier and want to do more things with my days but the exhaustion makes me need to sleep.
I'm also scared because my private health insurance gave me 12 sessions of cbt which are about to run out and I'm scared what happens when I have no support. P
Yeah I had some side effects from Lithium but everyone is different so don't think that you will get side effects too because you might not. Actually with Lithium they increase your dosage so slowly and you have to have such regular blood tests to monitor how much is in your blood that the side effects may not be too bad all at once. You might have a couple of days of feeling unwell while you get used to the dosage and then you can be fine for a while.
You will have support, if you see your GP and ask about NHS counselling they will refer you to the relevant person. There is always a waiting list though, in my area it's about a month and a half waiting list before getting regular weekly sessions, so make sure you speak to your GP about getting it set up ASAP and then hopefully you won't be without for too long. Also you can always call the samaritans, I know it's not CBT and is not counselling, but it's someone to talk to.
You also have everyone on here for support as there are unfortunately so many people in the same situation and have experienced similar types of things x
I'd just posted a thread and then saw this. I've got the same problem. On Citalopram for about 10 years and came off it because I had no libido. Tried nothing and depression was too bad so went on Sertraline 50mg daily a year ago. I had been okay-ish but have had a terrible low for a month now brought on by stress at work. Doc upped dosage to 100 and then 150 and it's been three weeks and I don't feel any better at all. Can't face talking to people, had a panic attack because I had to go out to the doctors lady week. I don't remember it taking so long to feel better on Citalopram. Just totally fed up now, can't see an end to it and can't face going back to work, but then worried I'll lose my job. I have three kids, husband at home, we'd be on the streets in a month if I lost my job. Feel so much pressure and I know that's not helping. If you can be without medication, I wish you all the best, but be aware that might not work for everyone. X
After 13 years on antidepressants, I am trying the herbal, 5HTP. As long as I can remember, I've had bouts of depression but that's because I never had what I wanted and needed to have a normal, contended, life; it's always been a struggle and, at 60+, I know I will die unfulfilled.
I think the best thing for depression is finding something you really enjoy doing. I used to love dancing and would come out on a high, after every lesson so I would look for something to fill the void. Find that activity when you are young enough to take it with you all through life.