u/teenysun

I made a post about my first week on Auvelity a few months ago - albeit on another subreddit since I wasn't allowed to post here at the time - and I thought I would give an update. (A few people asked and I didn't respond, I'm sorry!)

I want to start by saying this is the only medication that has ever worked for me, after trying SO many medications over the course of 10 years. I talked in my first week review about how much energy it gave me, how I felt alive again, how I was cleaning my entire apartment. I don't completely feel that way anymore, and a lot of that energy sadly passed. About a month in, the energy started waning and I asked my psychiatrist if I could start taking two pills a day instead of one. I started feeling a LOT worse after trying that. More depressed, low energy, all motivation lost. I was really upset thinking that the medication just stopped working. I went back down to one pill a day, and after a week or so of forgetting to take it, finally went back on track. After that, I started feeling a bit better.

I'm still pretty low on energy, although not as bad as before. I have so much more motivation than I did before taking this medication, and I can actually get out of bed and do things! (Even if I feel fatigued.) I may not be cleaning my entire apartment and walking for an hour everyday anymore, but I feel much more resilient and happy.

It's hard not to feel discouraged when those amazing feelings simmer down, but I'm glad I've continued taking it. I've slowly been trying to do more and more things to bring happiness to my life, and I believe Auvelity has given me the ability to do that. I still have bad days, but they feel like just that: bad days. I don't immediately feel like I'm falling into a horrible depressive spiral.

I will say, with my long list of mental health issues, I am much lower functioning than the average person. That's something I will have to live with my entire life. But I at least feel like I can handle life more easily, and actually look forward to things now.

I'm so grateful I found Auvelity ❤️ I have hope now that things will continue to get better for me. My days feel lighter and my future feels brighter.

Sorry for all the ramblings! This isn't very well formatted because I just said everything that came to mind, but please comment or message me if you have any questions or want to know more about my story :)

I thought I would share how my experience is going in case anyone else is curious like me and likes to hear these kinds of things!

First, I want to say that for the last ten years I have tried upwards of 10 medications for my anxiety and depression, and the only thing that has worked for me is Seroquel for my panic attacks. (It puts me to sleep, and if you're sleeping you can't be having a panic attack lol!) I have tried SSRI's, SNRI's, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, the works. None of these medications made a dent or changed the way I was feeling in a positive way at all. My psychiatrist says I'm medication resistant and is trying Auvelity as a hail mary.

That said, I think it may be working! I've been keeping a detailed log, and on days 1-4 I felt "normal" (depressed, at my baseline.) Then on day 5, I got the itch to go out, so I went on a 30 minute walk. Since then, I've been walking every day and the motivation to get up and do things has only increased. I've been walking for the past three days, and have actually had the motivation to clean up and organize my space. I want to get up and do things! Up until now, it was VERY hard to get out of bed, and when I woke up, I counted the hours until I could go back to sleep. Now, I'm waking up earlier and looking forward to starting the day. I'm usually absolutely exhausted feeling, but I have much more energy.

I will say, I've had small periods of motivation before (maybe twice a year) that had nothing to do with medication. I occasionally start feeling "better" and more "normal", and by two weeks I'll be absolutely depressed again and back in bed. It could be one of those, but this honestly feels different and I have much more energy than I ever had in those periods.

I haven't experienced any nasty side effects. No "high" feeling that everyone describes, no dry mouth, nothing. The only thing that happened was a super bad headache and nausea on the night of day 3, but I don't know if it's connected to the medication since it only happened once and I'm currently only taking one pill in the morning.

My anxiety is fine, and I've actually felt some relief from my intrusive thoughts and OCD.

That's it for now! I'm going to keep a log and document how it affects me down the line! Wish me luck everyone! After years and years of trying medications and nothing even slightly working, this could be it. 🥹