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Medication

micki82

Hi,

I am 30 years old and have an ASD, which was only diagnosed in the last year, following years of treatment for major depression and anxiety problems, and just being classed as wierd.

I currently take .5-1mg of risperidone per day, 15-30mg of mirtazapine per day, and around 14 x 1mg lorazepam per month (although I could take a lot more of this if it wasn't so addictive!).

The problem I am having is that I am beginning to feel very depressed again, my agriphobic habits are getting stronger, I can barely stand talking with or seeing anyone, I can't sleep, I dont eat well, and I genuinely wish I didn't wake up everyday.

I don't think I can continue living much longer, and I have not found psychotherapy or diagnosis any help towards coping with the way I am.  The medication helps a little, but at the doses I feel a real difference with, I feel sick and highly sedated.

Does anyone have any advice on different meds that may help? I can't take most ssri/snri  as they make me go crazy. I have tried seroquel, but took an overdose of it, iv tried tricyclics (amatritaline), betablockas, the list is long....

I know meds are never going to cure me, but I can't live on my own chemistry, or I'd kill myself, although I'm getting to that stage now with the meds I'm on.

Any advice would be most appreciated :)

  • I'm currently on venlafaxine and want to come off it now I have my ASD diagnosis - it seems to have made my OCD worse, as well as having other side effects that I won't mention.

  • Trust me, I was really sceptical about the CBT when it was first mentioned to me.  I kept thinking, no one is going to be able to stop me feeling like this.  But, I gave it a chance and over time I did start feeling better, but to be honest I don't know how it worked.  It just did.  My OCD and agrophobia got so bad I would just be a constant state of panic, where getting home from work on a dark winter night was extremely difficult, if I could even get to work on time after all the OCD things trying to stop me from leaving the house.

    And, as for wondering if there is any point in going on with life?  Think, you've come all this way already, why give up now?  I got to the point I was lying in hospital feeling really unwell with anxiety, and the hospital just kept accusing me of taking illicit drugs!  I did no such thing.  But, now to cope they gave me Citalopram and Omeprazole, to help with anixety and nausea.  After 3 years I'm slowly coming off the Citalopram, because I feel the medication only masks the problem.  Where things like CBT help you deal with it in your head, so you don't need as much medication to deal with the anixety, and will hopefully lift your mood as well.

  • Hi IntenseWorld, thanks for your reply, and sorry for posting mine multiple times.  The website told me it couldn't post it, so I tried several times, not knowing they had all worked!

    I have never tried sertraline, although tend to stay clear of ssris due to the horrible side effects I have had off them.  I've tried seroxat (made me go crazy when i was 17), citalopram, fluxetine, prozac (or are they the same thing?), and venlafaxine (snri), all had horrible effects making me far worse (especially seroxat and venlafaxine!). Only mirtazapine, which is a strange one, sort of an snri, but not, has had any positive effect, although I can only take 15mg (30 sometimes) due to feeling very sick at higher doses, and sometimes 'high'. Even with the low doses of mirtazapine and risperidone, I wake up hungover and it takes most of the day to get over.

    I have tried St. John's wort and it mildly helped, but not enough to continue using it.  I have just (like 2 days ago) started taking 5-HTP along with low dose of mirtazapine, to see if it will top up the effects (I read somewhere about the combination of antidepressants and 5-HTP benefiting some people), although I have felt no benefit at this early stage (saying that, I have not been so suicidal since starting it!).

    I do want to be clean of meds, and long for the day I wake up without feeling terrible, but I am very scared of how agitated and aggressive I get without meds, and obsessive over things to a dangerous level.

    I do start CBT this month, so hopefully that can help, scepticism aside!

  • Have you ever tried natural remedies such as St John's Wort or 5HTP?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John%27s_Wort

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-Hydroxytryptophan

    Might be worth (after discussions with your GP and getting approval of course) getting clean of medications and trying something natural if the prescription meds are not working.

  • It's Sertraline 50mg (couldn't take higher as I got bad side-effects).  It slightly helps with anxiety (I say slightly because I still have it) and it kept me from teetering over the edge when I got to a bad place.  It does have an unexpected effect though, it resurfaced some Aspie traits that were held in check by anxiety before!  I have been taking it about 14 months and I don't want to stay on SSRIs for ever which is why I wondered whether beta blockers might be better.

    I thought Propranolol was an SSRI too, I had no idea it was a beta blocker, and I have had that one before too.  I think it was one that I had to come off due to side-effects but that might have been because of taking it in combination with another prescription med.  The GP told me to stop instantly due to the nature of the side-effects.

  • Hi IntenseWorld, could you please tell me what medication you are on, and how it works for you.

    The betablockers I was on (I think propranolol? It was years ago) did calm me slightly, and I stopped taking them as my drinking was out of control and I took an overdose of them.  They may well work for you if you do come off your meds, so please don't be put off by my experience.  They didn't help me with my depression, which is often a big problem with me, but they did reduce some anxiety.

  • Thank you for your concern Anil, and be assured I would always run any medication changes through with my psychiatrist first.

  • I was hoping beta blockers were good in case I decide to come off my meds and try those.Frown

  • Hi micki82,

     

    Sorry to read you're having difficulty with your medication. We suggest any advice you receive here you discuss through with your GP before making any changes to your medication.

     

    Whilst they can't discuss medication, our autism helpline may be able to offer advice around any ASD issues you may have, they're on 0808 800 4104.

     

    take care.