Anti depressants?

I'm struggling, in truth i have been struggling for a very long time, I think most of us do. My GP has me on anti depressants and anti anxiety tablets they don't do much for me at all. 

Is there anything that does help? I think that my depression is not depression but part of my autistic spectrum thing. Assuming that it is asd not depression is there anything that can make it any better? I am not sure that I can cope for much longer.

  • Same here. Continuously stuffing my face - even when I'm not hungry.

  • Hi @Nada i found with Mirtazapine that if I took them by about 17:00 i could still get up the next day.

    I also put on a lot of weight with them Disappointed

  • Tried 50mg Sertraline for 2 months. No improvement. Just side effects. Now on 15mg Mirtazapine. The sedation fatigue is quite powerful...

  • This is the first time I’ve thought about it like this as well but it makes sense and I’m going to try this approach as well. In terms of what we can do to help in terms of diet and lifestyle, I can’t honestly tell you how much of an impact my diet has had on me since I switched to a raw whole food plant based diet and I’m even (very slowly) getting back into yoga, breathing exercises and meditation. My daily habit of walking is starting to take hold as well. I’ve got up this morning and even though my eyes are still red and swollen from crying, I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll take it gentle because of course I am tired but I’m super excited to see that I’m going! 

    Lots and lots and lots of love to you and honestly, you are not alone in your deepest despair, that’s how I have often felt throughout my life and I think most of us on here can relate. You are loved so much and even though you might not always be able to see it, your life is so valuable and precious, just as much as anybody else’s and I for one am so grateful you are here and together, we can do this. We thought we were alone but we’re not. When we are in the throes of the depths of our feelings, we often don’t remember that, but if we keep reminding ourselves of this fact, we might even begin to remember it when we’re at our lowest. You are not alone and I feel like I’m wrapping you in my heart, now, as we speak, and you know we have big hearts, despite what people who don’t know us might say! xxx

  • So treat the depression just like the autism? I don't remember ever not being depressed so maybe that's it. 

  • MInor update, the residual brain zaps from the Venlafaxine are steadily fading & now hardly noticeable unless I pay attention to them. All other physical side effects from taking it seem to have thankfully faded now as well.

    In retrospect, I don't think it ever had any effect on my mental or emotional state at all during the 18 months I was taking it. With the same being true for everything else I was prescribed over the last four or five years.

    I suppose that pretty much means that I am on my own with figuring out how to handle the severe depression when it inevitably returns at some point, which is a fairly daunting prospect.

  • Sorry to hear that, Song. You're a worthwhile person, not a burden. The pain is difficult to bear and I find it hard to explain to other people. I hope you feel better soon.

  • my main coping strategies are Distraction & Avoidance. If I can't tame the demons in my head, then the best strategy is just to keep them busy with other things so that they don't bother me.

    Pretty much the same as me.I realised ruminating in order to sort out what was wrong with me was just making the depression worse, so distracted with anything to hand, or tried to go or do something new. It took a few months of regular practice but I felt was most of my biggest recovery from the worst depression. I don't actually find the practice that different from acceptance. It doesn't really matter if you are concentrating on the here and now or some intellectual puzzle, so long as you're not worrying about what people think of you and all that rubbish.

    Exercise helps more than antidepressants (which don't help at all), but not as much as actually being with friends.

    failed Psychotherapy
    my depression is somehow a part of my Autistic Spectrum Traits, just combined with negative events in my childhood

    Also can relate here.

    an occasional weird pinging noise in my head

    ISTR venlafaxine is the drug second-most associated with withdrawal effects, after paroxetine. I imagine by now the web is full of stories of brain zaps, and suggestions of how to come off the last smaller dose.

  • Thank you Ellie so are you xx 

  • Much love to you Two hearts 

  • Hey my Misfit friend...

    you are very much valued and loved. Much more than just guinea pugs and chocolate muffins xx you are a rock xx

  • When I have been asked what thoughts Id had on following through my thoughts, that is one I come back to. Our struggles are very real, painful and seem never ending. Anti depressants don’t work for me either.  I have lived with “depression “ probably since teenage maybe earlier. It ebbs and flows, sometimes it’s raw and sometimes dull but it never really goes away. I try to stand back from it and just notice it like mindfulness, acknowledge it’s present and hope it’ll be quick going away again. Sometimes I just live through one day at a time til it passes. I learnt that it is part of me not something separate, it’s another facet of my makeup. I have heard that it can be genetic and linked to neurodevelopmental “disorders”. I think knowing that depression “isn’t my fault” and probably genetic has helped me. That doesn’t make it less painful or confusing but in a small way it helps me get through the bad lows. We know diet, hydration, sleep, exercise etc all contribute to how we feel so we can make ourselves feel worse by eating tonnes of sugar and carbs, not drinking enough water, sloughing on the sofa etc and that a walk in a green space is calming but in a bad patch none of that seems to matter. If I’m in a bad patch I try to rest more because it often means I’m tired and have stretched myself too far, I allow myself to do whatever I can manage, watching a film or listening to a story. At bedtime I try to focus on the words on the radio not the words in my head. Just one day and one night at a time.... don’t give in just yet . Sending hugs through the ether 

  • I'm struggling more than normal right now, I wish I could just stop existing, I don't want to hurt anyone here ( at home) by them knowing I have hurt myself but they would all be so much better of without this burden. If I could just go to sleep and never wake up that would solve the problem and take away all this pointless pain.

  • Oh Tom that sounds perfect. What day is the interview? 

    Song

  • Learning Support Practitioner with Special Needs at a local FE college.  Same general field, but not solely autistic people.  More the mix of special needs I'm used to dealing with.  I've had some experience with special needs in that type of environment, and it's a huge amount of fun and very rewarding.  I'll give this interview 110%.  I think whatever qualities I have will lend themselves more to an educational setting rather than a purely care setting.

  • A new job, that's brilliant, is it in the same field?

  • Reconsidering after the workshop I attended today - which has lifted my confidence a bit.  I've also got an interview next week for another job.  That's lifted me, too.

    If only people realised how just a simple thing - to them - can mess with our heads to such a degree that we almost consider ending it.  If another person tells me to 'let it go over your head', I swear I'll swing for them.

  • Good luck with the Dr tomorrow. 

    I have got no further with my search for relief from my depression, from the absolute futility of my existence.