Hey all,
I am now feeling the good effects of taking celeca at 10mg for about a week now. Im not necessarily happy, but im not neccessarily sad anymore. Im kinda right inbetween. I am supposed to bump my dose up to 20 mg in 2 days and am kinda concerned.... Im sure going to 20 mg will finish off my depression symptoms, but I have already experienced the sexual side effects of 10 mg a day. 1) I have an extremely hard time getting an erection. 2) I have a harder (not impossible) time reaching orgasm. I cant call my doctor till wednesday because shes on vacation, but I was wondering people's suggestions. Should I stay at 10 mg until I talk to her? should I head up to 20 mg like she said to? Do these sexual side effects usually diminsh once ur body adapts to the medicine?
Depression runs in my family as my mom and both sisters have depression and have been taking medicine their whole lives. I never experienced any depression, until this last year when I experienced an illness that caused tremendous pain that the doctors said they couldn't do anythying about. I got over the illness but my depression never went away. Do you think mine is temporary or perminent? Either way im ready to face the challenge.
Looking forward to responses. I am a 19 year old male, btw, sexually active A decrease in sexual libido is a common complaint with anti-depressants. Your doctor would not be surprised if you raised this concern, so do not be embarrassed. Talk to your doctor about wellbutrin (buproprion). It the anti-depressant that actually has a positive effect on sexual desire. Good luck to you hi , im sorry to hear you have deppression,
i have suffered the same for around 20 years , and have been on antidepprssants for 11 years , to answer your question , yes antidepprssants do give you very low libido , i would still go to the 20 mg like your doctor said ,, depprssion can also cause you to loose sexuall satisfaction , That really sucks that this all happened to you. From my personal experience in getting my BSc in Psychology and working as a Neuroscience lab tech for three years is that antidepressants don't actually work. And your sexual side effects are liable to get worse with the increase in dosage. I would go a natural rout first if you can and just try to make some dietary changes and see if that elevates your mood.
For eg in my case, I am usually low on B vitamins, vitamin D and magnesium, so if I supplement with all these everyday, I am perfectly happy. If I forget to take them, and I don't happen to get enough from my diet which is usually the case, I get very depressed.
You could try to include as many fruits and veggies in your diet as possible and see if that helps (I personally don't like fruits and veggies very much so this is why I am low on some nutrients), and if not, keep it up but also add a multivitamin and if that is still not enough, you can do what I do and take those specific vitamins I mention above.
Good luck, I hope this helps. In my opinion, and that of many others, you are at least 5 years too young to be taking antidepressants. St. John's wort helps most people; tolerance doesn't develop, and the few side effects don't occur often, and even then are normally not severe (neither should be relied on as a sole treatment).
It doesn't cause sleeping problems, or weight change, but usually takes at least 2, and generally 4 - 6 weeks to become effective, but can work quicker than antidepressants, sometimes. A recent, independent German double blind study showed it to be as effective as Sertraline (marketed in the USA as Zoloft: a commonly prescribed antidepressant) in cases of major depression, with far fewer side effects, and those were generally better tolerated, with a lower rate of discontinuation. Unlike antidepressants, where sexual dysfunction is a common side effect, it happens much more rarely with St. John's wort (I have noticed no effect in this area). A multidimensional approach to treating depression without medication follows. All except for no. (7.) are safe to use with medication, but not St. John's wort, because of interactions, and it's sensible to check out anything else first with your doctor.
(1.) Take 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily: (certified free of mercury) it is best if consumed with an antioxidant, such as an orange, or grapefruit, or their FRESHLY SQUEEZED juice. If vitamin E is added, it should be certified as being 100% from natural sources, or it may be synthetic: avoid it. In the winter months, if not getting sufficient daily exposure to strong light, see http://www.mercola.com/ SEARCHBAR: enter: "vitamin D3", & Go to a doctor and ask for a 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, blood test. When you get the results, don鈥檛 follow the typical 鈥渘ormal鈥?reference range, as these are too low. The OPTIMAL value that you鈥檙e looking for is 45-52 ng/ml (115-128 nmol/l)". The company which tests your levels has to be one of those using the correct form of test, and this topic is addressed via the searchbar at mercola.com - "vitamin D3; testing". Also take a vitamin B complex which is certified as being 100% of natural origin; a deficiency in vitamin B9 (folic acid, or folate) is known to cause depression. Around 30% - 40% of depressed people have low vitamin B12 levels. Depressed females using the contraceptive pill may benefit from vitamin B6 supplements.
(2.) Work up slowly to at least 20 minutes minutes of exercise, daily, or 30 - 60 mns, 5 times weekly. Too much exercise can cause stress, which isn't wanted when dealing with depression. (3.) Occupational therapy (keeping busy allows little time for unproductive introspection, and keeps mental activity out of less desirable areas of the brain). (4.) Use daily, a relaxation method* and/or yoga*, and/or Tai Chi*. (5.) Initially, at least, some form of counselling, preferably either Cognitive Behavio(u)ral Therapy, or Rational Emotive Behavio(u)ral Therapy. (6.) Maintain a mood chart, and daily activities schedule**. (7.) As options, if desired, either a known, effective herbal remedy, such as St. John's wort, (get a German variety, if possible; local ones may vary in effectiveness. Take with a meal) or supplements, such as SAMe, or Inositol (from vitamin and health food stores, some supermarkets, or mail order: view section 55).
If 5HTP is used to boost serotonin levels, (which are low in depressed people) it is best taken with a high carbohydrate, minimal protein meal, like pasta, with tomato & basil, and avoid protein for 90 minutes, before, and after, to maximise the amount crossing the blood/brain barrier. 80% of people in the Western world have low magnesium levels, and these are known to cause depression & anxiety. I have taken anti-depressants before and they affected me in the same way,I still felt depressed but could not cry and it all just frustrated me.If the depression was caused by a traumatic experience like mine then you will most likely have clinical depression which is not permanent but you do need to seek further help like counseling.Doctors are quite willing to dish out anti-depressants to anyone who is sad but they don't seem to address the problem that made you sad which I find ridiculous.I hope you feel better soon and don't need to take those awful pills. I take Wellbutrin SR (150 mg) in the morning, and Lexapro (10 mg) in the evening, for depression and anxiety. I've been taking that for over two years, and it's working very well for me.
The Wellbutrin SR seems to help me to be more alert and active - and wanting to do things - while the Lexapro makes me more mellow, and it helps me sleep better, too. They are relatively low doses of each medication, which keeps side effects at a minimum. I really can't tell I'm taking any medication at all.
You might ask your doctor if you can take Wellbutrin SR at 150 mg instead of increasing your dose. That's the reason I'm on it - they increased my Lexapro to 20 mg, and I was sleepy all the time, and the sexual side effects were very not good, it was DOA most of the time. I went back to 10 mg on the Lexapro, and added the Wellbutrin SR at 150 mg - and I'm much better! |
