Antidepressants

Well, I'm not familiar with the case, so I'm afraid to give any suggestions on the medical treatment. A good way for you to go to the proper doctor or seek help at the specialized medical centers that help their customers to get out of depression. Look at this site https://www.andalahealth.com/condition/treatment-resistant-depression/ they have a wide range of options and I'm sure they can provide specialized help in your case I don't recommend using any medical pills without consultation/recommendation.

Hey, what the s##t was that for?

Are you by any chance repeating what somebody's just said to you when it wasn't your fault, is that what happened?  Did you just go and find someone who you think deserves it as little as you do and say it to them because if you've got to be called a nasty piece of work then they might as well be too? 

(A guess, based on what I sometimes want to do when people have been yelling at me for things that aren't my fault.)

If so, don't.  It's not kind to NAS67279 and it's not true of them and it's most likely not true of you either.  

(Would have PMed you but you've got it set so I can't.)

>The issue is that depression caused by a situation or circumstances can’t really be treated with medication

That's a good point, I know what you mean - psychiatry tends to be a bit indiscriminate about that.

One thing that is useful in that case, for me, anyway, is B vitamin supplements. It doesn't make things seem any better (nor does it affect anxiety), but what it is miraculous at is getting me back on my feet when I'm too exhausted to cope with them, so that I don't get as fazed by them because I feel like I'm strong enough to manage them. Might be worth a try?

For me, the most standard kind, providing just the Minimum Daily Amount of each one, isn't enough - it needs to be a fairly high-dose one, something on the scale of Zipvit's B50 or Healthspan's High Strength B Complex. Different people sometimes need different doses, though, from what I've heard - you may have to experiment a bit.

It actually makes logical sense, because apparently the brain uses up B vitamins and it actually uses them up faster under stress. I'm guessing what happens is that if you're dealing with an extreme amount of nuisance every day for a long time, it consumes so many B vitamins that the normal amount you can get from food, can't keep up and you run out. That's why you feel like you have nothing left to deal with the latest crisis - you literally haven't got anything left, specifically you haven't got any B vitamins left. Anyway that's just my musing.

Of course, you shouldn't have to face so much stress every day that your body can't withstand it without cheating, but so long as you can't avoid it, this does get rid of some of the worst of the effects. Besides, if there's anything you can do to get rid of any of the problems it might give you the energy to actually do that. That's a rotten vicious circle - where you're in such a mess that you're too tired and despairing to be able to do much to get out of the mess. So if you've reached the stage of exhaustion where a dropped sandwich is enough to make you bury your head in your hands and wail "I can't go on!", I'd say it's well worth a try.

It's easy to test out, anyway, because (unlike SSRIs) it's very quick-acting - if it's going to do anything, you'll be feeling a lot better within a day or two, in fact with me it's usually only a few hours.

Same experience here with escitalopram. 

I now see things in a very different way. I look for means to cooperate rather than passive aggressive sabotage. 

Initially there was a bit of weight gain, but with the lockdown I got that under control, burpees, and only eating when I'm hungry.

I see it as the lesser of two not so wonderful options... and every day you enjoy life again, is an extra day of pure profit...

I take escitalopram, it did take about two months to be really effective. 

I think SSRIs (like fluoxetine), SNRIs (like venlafaxine or clomipramine) and NARIs (like reboxetine) do have noticeably different effects, and they're different again from dopamine agonists. If you find one from one class unhelpful, it would seem logical to try a different a different class. You can find some drug info on Wikipedia or in the BNF, and maybe send or take that to your GP.

Well, that's a theory. In practice, for me, no drug (out of 6 or 7) has worked. Systemic psychotherapy helped a bit.

Ok .. golly this is a 'bare all' kind of chat space isn't it .......

.. I had six months off work some 20 years ago with what was diagnosed as clinical depression .. I now see it as a symptom of being ASD/AS

.. I started off being resistant to the idea of meds .. eventually I realised I had to do something different because I just wasn't functioning - at work or elsewhere

.. the GP tried a bunch of different things .. starting with Amytriptyline !! which turned me into a grinning zombie who slept most of the time :-) .. fifth try lucky and finally onto Fluoxetine (Prozac) .. which suits me down to the ground

.. I function fine .. I have ups and downs but no major peaks or troughs .. I enjoy life again

.. I've had a couple of goes at coming off the meds .. each time I descended into a black swamp

.. so now I just accept I'm on a minimal dose for the foreseeable future .. and I'm ok with that .. 

I can understand your wanting to tackle the problem without meds, and kudos for that. Sometimes, just finding the right person(or therapist) to talk to, can make a difference. Depends how long you’ve been dealing with depression, how severe it is, and whether or not your body is resistant to the meds you’ve tried. It might be that you simply need a break from the usual stresses of life for a bit(eg stop the lift, I wanna get off!) :) Either way, your body and mind are telling you that something’s not right, and needs addressing. Maybe, you could initiate change via a new hobby ... one that involves relaxation. Unfortunately, anxiety is the dominant emotion in ASD, and if we aren’t given enough time to function on auto-pilot, our systems tend to be oushed into overdrive easily. This can cause secondary conditions such as OCD. Have you ever been able to manage your OCD and bring it under control, or has it remained a problem throughout your life for a long time?(if it’s okay to ask)

Ive been on quite a few, my body seems sensitive to medication. I'm trying to manage wihout. I have this woman whos meant to help me and its a text service at the moment but whenever i say i'm feeling a bit down the 1st thing she says is call the gp for tablets! which i refuse to do as ive been on them for years and finally off of them

Hi - Have to agree with Anthony on the fact that it's usually a system of trial and error in finding the one or combination that works best for the individual person. I never dreamed I would even be on any medication, as I was so anti ALL meds once. BUT, something happened to change all that and it was completely out of the blue, and basically something that someone did to affect me beyond anything I could have imagined. So, I was affected enough to finally speak to a GP, and she put me on Prozac, which has taken away all my anxiety and any depression I'd been feeling. It's honestly made a massive difference! There were side effects, but it's made my life livable again.

Hi, I have never used them but know some people that have. They said that they made them feel more level-headed and emotionless but ultimately they stopped taking them. I have been told a lot that it is best to avoid them if you can as they only lead to more problems. Personally for me, the list of side effects was too much. I think you should speak to your GP to the best advice although I am slightly sceptical of them in case they just want to prescribe unneccesarily for pharma profits

The truth is what works for one person won’t for another. There are some people that anti-depressants just don’t really work well on, me being one. The issue is that depression caused by a situation or circumstances can’t really be treated with medication, whereas chemical imbalances in the brain, the likes of serotonin, neuroadrenalin etc etc are where anti-depressants work best, so if they aren’t working for you, you might want to consider alternative approaches such as cbt, talk therapy and lifestyle changes. That’s what I found to be more effective. (I was previously on Sertraline 200mg, then got switched out to Mirtazapine 45mg then fluloxatine but I had a hellish time with the last one). On a side note, I did find pregabalin good for anxiety but doctors are becoming less willing to prescribe this now. It’s not an anti-depressant, nor is it specifically designed for anxiety - rather it’s side effects proved good for people with anxiety.