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Mood Disorder or Anxiety/Depression - Latuday, Lamictal, Lexapro, Celexa

I suffer from depression/anxiety and some OCD too it seems like most of my life. My old doctor that I went to for 10 years had me on SSRI's and they caused me to have that racey jittery type anxiety feeling. My side effects on the SSRI's (Celexa, Zoloft, Effexor) were a jittery racey type anxiety, sexual side effects (less on Celexa), and overslept in the mornings before work because I was so groggy (mornings only). This doctor said I have depression/anxiety, not a mood disorder.

I moved so I now go to a new new doctor and he says I have a mood disorder, not depression/anxiety, because people with mood disorders typically have increased anxiety on SSRI's. So the new doctor says I am having too many side effects on the SSRIs and that if I was on the right medicine I would not have this many side effects. He says that I need to be on mood stabilizers. I'm not sure that I buy that because mood stabilizers have crazy side effects too.

I'm scared of mood stabilizers! They seem to have bad and maybe worse side effects, weight gain, akathisia, thyroid issues, liver damage, etc. I'm more comfortable with SSRI's because of the less scary side effects. I am lucky to be taking Latuda (way expensive though), because it doesn't cause weight gain and has a lot less side effects. It did cause me to have akathisia at the 60 mg dose. Akathisia ***** more than anxiety and and more than any side effects I experienced on SSRIs. I hope the 40 mg dose of Latuda I'm on now will be enough to keep me out of depression since it’s as high as I can go without getting akathisia. I’m not adding another medicine just to cure the akathisia so that I can go on a higher dose of Latuda. I was having leak through depression on Latuda, but maybe I just wasn't on the right does long enough.

If this Latuda doesn't work, then I think I'm back to SSRI's and just accept the side effects. I hear so many issues of people trying all kinds of mood stabilizers (Seroquil, Depakote, Zyprexa, Geodon) and hearing all of their complaints. Maybe Lexapro would work instead of Zoloft or Celexa since it seems to work on anxiety more and is a cleaner version of Celexa. Maybe Lexapro won't make me so jittery. Celexa did work better than the other SSRIs for me, just jittery and Lexapro is the newer version. And, do I have just depression/anxiety, or do I have a mood disorder?! Just for the record I do take 100mg of Lamictal, which doesn’t really do anything but I’m also on a low dose of it. I just don’t want to get off of it because it takes too long to titrate up on it.

Please help me with your feedback. Please don’t tell me to discuss this with my doctor. I already know that and already have discussed it with him (both of them) and have two different opinions. I want feedback from people that already have experience with these types of meds. Doctors don’t always know what we have to go home to and deal with outside of their office.

Main Question: Do you think I’m suffering from a mood disorder because the SSRI’s made me have a jittery racey anxiety?!?! This anxiety feeling is the same type of feeling you get when you take too much Wellbutrin or too much caffeine. And what do you think about the meds SSRIs vs Mood Stabilizers?
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Avatar universal
BTW if your over thinking n worrying about it chances are its your anxiety at play.
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Avatar universal
I have anxiety and depression and suffer from panic attacks, I'm currently taking 40mg of latuda and 40mg of paxil (SSRI) the Larisa has worked well for me; hardly any side effects, I was prescribed its off label use due to my paranoia and aggravated mood, the paxil is reacking hell on my labido so my I'm in the process of switching to something else, waiting on my next Dr visit to find out what.. From my experience all kinds of weird symptoms arise and can confuse you to the point where you don't know what's triggering what, best advise is to keep a log book/ journal of all your thoughts and symptoms
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Avatar universal
I would get off the Latuda.  

Like I said, I have Bipolar (NOS) - depression with hypomania without "normal" periods (before I got on the Lamital anyway).  Only been on that for a few months.  I do not expect a relapse, but anything could happen.  I'm on max doses of Wellbutrin and Lexapro, I believe.  800 mg Tegretol.  Without that, I have a greater chance of getting hypomanic, although before the Lamictal was added, I had been depressed for years without relief.  Of course, my hypomanic episodes have always been that rare.

Lamictal is tricky.  I think this is actually the third time I've been on it.  If you do have bipolar disorder the side-effects it causes while you're adjusting to the drug are similar to hypomanic or hyperthyroid symptoms, with a bit of psychosis thrown in (mostly your brain slowing way down and speeding up again repeatedly, altered perception, and disassociation). That was my experience anyway.  The anxiety is really bad.  I had hysterical crying from sleep deprivation (insomnia caused by anxiety and restlessness) even though I wasn't even up that long compared to how long I used to go without sleep when depressed.

So looking back, I probably could have been "fixed" a long time ago if I would have stuck through it, but I was a kid then and didn't have the Internet so I didn't know that those things were SUPPOSED to happen,  Sigh.

I titrated up and am at 100 mg Lamictal now.   I'd go off the Lexapro if my sex drive wasn't almost too much for me already.  That's the Wellbutrin, but I feel like I need that for the anti-depressant effect.
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Avatar universal
Depression IS a mood disorder, btw.  Not sure why you're making the distinction, asking if you have one or not when you have depression.
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Avatar universal
Just looked up Depakote. It's in the same class as Tegretol (anticonvulsants).  My advice is just not to ever take an anti-psychotic again.  Every one I've been put on (usually forced on) gave me awful side-effects. Vertigo, double vision, brain "spasms", scrambled thinking, actual psychosis. So yeah, avoid, avoid, avoid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_stabilizer
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Avatar universal
"My side effects on the SSRI's (Celexa, Zoloft, Effexor) were a jittery racey type anxiety, sexual side effects (less on Celexa)"

What kind of sexual side-effects?  Hypersexuality or sexual dysfunction/lowered libido? If SSRIs give you anxiety and hypersexuality, that is a sign you might have some for of bipolar disorder.

Have you ever had your thyroid checked?  If yes, and they said your levels were "normal", did you get the specific numbers? I have a thyroid disorder which mimics bipolar disorder, and I'm often in the "normal" range, but it not in my personal "healthy range" so I can still be sick from it.
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Avatar universal
"The fewer meds in our bodies the better. "

I disagree. It depends on whether each med is helping or not. If you do better on 3 or 4 specific meds, than 1 or 2, why would that be "better"?
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Avatar universal
Okay, just read some more.  All the "mood stabilizers" you named (except for Depakote maybe) are ATYPICAL ANTIPSYCHOTICS.  That is why they cause so many problems.  If you're not psychotic, they will probably mess you up.  Try something like Tegretol or Lithium first.  The atypical antipsychotics are usually prescribed for bipolar depression.  That's what I got Lamictal for (although it's not an antipsychotic) and it saved my life! :)))
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Avatar universal
Whoops, double post and missed some typos :/
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Avatar universal
I can only share my experience.  I had depression and anxiety before going on any meds.  Most SSRIs and other anti-depressants did nothing.  The ones that worked made me hypomanic.  So I have bipolar disorder, but NOS because it doesn't fit I or II because I don't have "normal" mood (baseline) periods.  Just varying degrees of bad depression and hypomania.  I have to be on a mood stabilizer (Tegretol) to prevent me from getting hypomanic, although I've gotten hypomanic while on it before.  I had bad side effects from Lithium.

The medication that finally solved this issue was Lamictal.  I finally know what "normal" people feel like.  BTW, that jitteryness and need to move around feeling is part of [biological] anxiety.  You can get it with situational anxity too, but if you have it when you're not actively worrying about something or from meds, that's biological.  There is a specific medical term for that specific feeling, but it mostly goes with anxiety.  I get it when I'm hypomanic or hyperthyroid (I also have auto-immune hypothyroidsim/Hashimoto's).  SSRIs can do this.  I guess I never really got that, but just today, my psych's nurse suggested going off my augmen SSRI cuz my anxiety has been bothering me.  

Anti-anxiety drugs make me more anxious in my experience.  And ant-psychotics make me psychotic.  It's a lot of fun, I tell you.  Hope you're able to figure out something that works for you.

Oh, you might wan to try nicotine for your anxiety.  It's what I finally found that works for me.  I smoked a long time ago, but I'm pretty much allergic to tobacco so no go, really.  Try an e-hookah (like an e-cig but lower nicotine concentration and not flavored like a cigarette) or a vaporizer.  Take long, slow, deep drags.  Short, quick puffs will act as a stimulant which will increase your anxiety.  Avoid caffeine at all costs.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I can only share my experience.  I had depression and anxiety before going on any meds.  Most SSRIs and other anti-depressants did nothing.  The ones that worked made me hypomanic.  So I have bipolar disorder, but NOS because it doesn't fit I or II because I don't have "normal" mood (baseline) periods.  Just varying degrees of bad depression and hypomania.  I have to be on a mood stabilizer (Tegretol) to prevent me from getting hypomanic, although I've gotten hypomanic while on it before.  I had bad side effects from Lithium.

The medication that finally solved this issue was Lamictal.  I finally know what "normal" people feel like.  BTW, that jitteryness and need to move around feeling is part of [biological] anxiety.  You can get it with situational anxity too, but if you have it when you're not actively worrying about something or from meds, that's biological.  There is a specific medical term for that specific feeling, but it mostly goes with anxiety.  I get it when I'm hypomanic or hyperthyroid (I also have auto-immune hypothyroidsim/Hashimoto's).  SSRIs can do this.  I guess I never really got that, but just today, my psych's nurse suggested going off my augmen SSRI cuz my anxiety has been bothering me.  

Anti-anxiety drugs make me more anxious in my experience.  And ant-psychotics make me psychotic.  It's a lot of fun, I tell you.  Hope you're able to figure out something that works for you.

Oh, you might wan to try nicotine for your anxiety.  It's what I finally found that works for me.  I smoked a long time ago, but I'm pretty much allergic to tobacco so no go, really.  Try an e-hookah (like an e-cig but lower nicotine concentration and not flavored like a cigarette) or a vaporizer.  Take long, slow, deep drags.  Short, quick puffs will act as a stimulant which will increase your anxiety.  Avoid caffeine at all costs.
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Avatar universal
Lexapro gave me sexual side effects. Lost the big O
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Avatar universal
Right now my doctor just says mood disorder, but is not sure yet what type. Mood stabilizers are just too complicated.
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Avatar universal
I would also ask you dr to explain to you what kind of mood disorder you have and why he thinks this. Keeping track of your moods, feelings etc is a great idea to help you understand what exactly is going on. Once you find out what mood disorder he thinks you have then you can read as much as there is on that. Only you know if you fit the mold so to speak.

As for meds. I'm glad Latuda and Lamictal are working for you. Just know that they have just as many side effects as mood stabilizers. There are many people diagnosised with Bipolar taking the meds your on. These pscy meds seem to be interchangeable with an array of Mental Illness diagnoses.

SSRI's make some people jittery and some not. Just like some make people with Bipolar they can cause one to be manic or hypomanic. The goal is to find a med that works or at least helps with no side effects. Yes, this is possible. Listen to your body. You are already on two meds. If you don't think Lamictal is doing anything then talk to your dr about slowly dropping it until your no longer on it. Stayinging on a med you don't feel is working because it takes too long to get off of it is hard to understand. The fewer meds in our bodies the better. For some of us it is a lot of trial and error before we find the right med or combo of meds. I hope I've helped.
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Avatar universal
I guess I don't know what mood disorder means compared to just depression/anxiety. Apparently there is a difference. I lean towards the depressive side. Anyways, one requires SSRI's and one requires Mood Stabilizers. I'm a bit scared of mood stabilizers. They sound way more serious.
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1551327 tn?1514045867
This website has a great mood tracker.  I don't know if you have used it but if not I would advise looking into it.  This way you can look back over the days and see how stable or unstable you may be.  You can also put a little journal entry in everyday.  Do this for a while and then you can have some solid evidence to give you better insight.
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