Some background info: I'm 22 years old, and have a history of depression. I was on Prozac from 2008 until early 2010. The Prozac helped, but eventually I decided I could manage without it. Plus, I was beginning to explore psychedelics at this time and didn't want to be on an SSRI. Fast forward to now. Many of my depressive symptoms have returned in recent months. I'm considering going back to my doctor to discuss possible medication options. Here's my question: is there any specific antidepressant you would recommend for someone who is also using psychedelics on a basis of approximately once a month? I'm thinking SSRIs and MAOIs are no good. I know there are a whole host of others out there, but don't really know how to differentiate between them. I'm hoping someone on these forums might have experience with this matter. Thanks in advance!
I was on the ssri's and it definately affected my weed highs, I didnt even attempt mushies or other psyches.. dude believe in yourself, you do not need meds like ssri they suck. 22? you need a girlfriend and a bottle HA youll be straight just lift weights and eat right youll be alright
Wish I knew where to get some... If only it were that easy...most of my symptoms are physical: headache, fatigue, etc. I work 40 hours/week and it eats up all of my energy. Every day after work I just crash, I never have any motivation to get out and socialize. Weekends aren't much better, I tend to use that time to recuperate and gather my strength to get through the following week. Working out and eating right hasn't helped, and neither has the nice summer weather, which has usually helped in the past. I also get 8+ hours of sleep every night, I take vitamins, nothing seems to help.
I take the antidepressant Effexor (Venlafaxine), an SNRI, for anxiety (IMO the conventional antidepressants aren't that effective for depression) and I have taken psychedelics on it without any problems. You are correct, though, to stay away from MAOIs. You could easily get serotonin syndrome on them with a psychedelic. I have had S.S. (from taking Imitrex headache pills with another SSRI) and it is awful in every way.
To answer you more specifically (What antidepressants can I use with psychedelics), you can rule out MAOIs (like I said), Tricyclics, Remeron, Trazadone, and any other 5-HT2A/2C antagonist. Those drugs either would cause serotonin syndrome OR just plain nullify the psychedelics (because of the 5-HT2 antagonism). So, you are left with, like I mentioned, the SNRIs (Cymbalta, Effexor), psychotherapy/self-psychotherapy (which is helpful if you really put a lot of effort into it), and also stimulants (mainly Ritalin is used). But, they generally only give out the stimulants IF you have failed to respond to SSRIs and SNRIS. BUTTT...there is ONE more medicine! I have saved the possible best for last. WELLBUTRIN (Bupropion): is a Norepinephrine- Dopamine Reuptake inhibitor with NO affinity for the serotonin transporter (like SSRIs) OR serotonin receptors (like Remeron). It is similar to Ritalin, mildly and pleasantly uplifting/stimulating, but it is not scheduled, so doctors hand it out as a First-Choice! I was on Wellbutrin for about a year, and it caused few side-effects, mixed fine with other drugs (except the NOTABLE exception of it lowering seizure threshold), and made me feel good in a realistic way that the SSRIs did NOT offer to me. The only reason I don't take it now is because it wasn't quite strong enough for my severe depression, so I was bumped up to Ritalin (another NDRI actually). So, ask for Wellbutrin!
Thanks for the info! I'm looking at the wiki page for Wellbutrin. Apparently it's common to prescribe it in addition to an SSRI if the patient isn't responding to the SSRI by itself. However, it also says that Wellbutrin is more effective than SSRIs for treating fatigue, which is perfect because that's one of my major symptoms. I'm not particularly worried about the seizure thing, I've never had a problem with that before, and no family history to my knowledge. Awesome! Thanks again!
Welbutrin fucked me up bad... like not in a good way. At first it would give me a good boost, energy, felt a bit more confident. But after a while i got really agitated, started seeing shadow people, hearing voices, made me go psychotic.
^That is simply your experience on it. While unfortunate, it doesn't discount the millions of people who found it to be helpful in their treatment of depression. All medicines have possible side-effects (all of which you describe ARE possible with Bupropion), but not everyone (or the majority even...) experience them.
I would not suggest MDMA ...at least dont expect to rely on it to help you until after trying it once and seeing how it affects you first! I was on SSRI's too (Prozac actually) but went off of them in order to try LSD. I tried MDMA once and had such a crash afterwards....I was super depressed for almost a week after trying it! To me, MDMA is not worth it. Not saying you shouldnt try it, but beware that you may crash harder after taking it if you're already depressed. Other than that, Im not sure what drug would be ok to take with psycs....probably none would be the ideal option...but unfortunetly, life isnt always ideal Best of luck to you - and chin up! You CAN get through this!
MDMA is just my automated response to any question regarding drugs, or perhaps you should explore those feelings of the crash :sunny:
