u/zepruska

I've been slowly titrating from 5 mg to 7.5 mg to 10 mg. I've now been on 10 mg for 3 weeks, and my psychiatrist wants me to stay there for at least 6 weeks before making a decision. Fair enough.

Since increasing, though, I've thrown up at work several times. I don't feel sick and I don't even feel particularly nauseous. It just comes on randomly. I do take the Trintellix before breakfast so I'm wondering if taking it with food would help with this? Has anyone else had this issue and did it go away?

I think I already know the answer to this ("it depends") but figured I'd pose the question anyway. I saw in a Dr. Tracey Marks video on treatment resistant anxiety that while 20 mg Prozac is often good enough to treat depression, 30 mg or 40 mg is recommended for anxiety. Meanwhile, many users on r/trintellix report that 10 mg helped their depression, but their anxiety remained untouched until they went up to 20 mg.

This is just a case of differing anecdotal reports, right? I thought SSRIs were usually more effective at treating anxiety than depression, so if that's the case why would you need a higher dose for anxiety than depression?

I've been on Trintellix for about a month and a half now, having cross-tapered from 10 mg of Lexapro and titrated up slowly. I'm now up to 10 mg on Trintellix and I do think it's helping my depression (in tandem with Spravato), which is good - that's what it was prescribed for.

I'm still dealing with anxiety, though, and over the past week or so it seems like it's getting worse. It's affecting my sleep (I'm waking up in the middle of the night feeling keyed-up and jittery) and during the day I'm just feeling wobbly and "off."

I've only been on 10 mg for about two and a half weeks, and my psychiatrist wants me to stay there for at least a couple more, which of course I will do. But in the meantime, words of encouragement and reasons for optimism would be appreciated. 😄 It seems like I've gotten this "activating" side effect from every SSRI and SNRI I've tried, though how long it's lasted has differed from drug to drug.

I just completed my "induction phase" (2 sessions per week for 4 weeks) and I think I'm starting to notice a difference in my depression! When I began Spravato, I had failed multiple antidepressants and was in worse shape than when I started them, most notably with persistent anhedonia and AWFUL cognitive symptoms (poor memory, couldn't focus, felt like I was "missing" chunks of my days). I was also having a terrible time sleeping which compounded my mental issues.

8 sessions of Spravato later, at least some of these symptoms are starting to lift. I actually want to do things again. I get excited about things that interest me. I'm looking forward to plans that I make. The random crying spells have stopped and I'm not waking up in the morning wondering how I'm going to possibly make it through my work day.

Here's what hasn't resolved (yet): my insomnia and my anxiety. Anxiety was actually my "original" issue and after going untreated (or rather, treated ineffectively) for so long, it had turned into depression. I know Spravato doesn't typically help with anxiety as much as it does depression, but I feel like once the depression completely lifts, I'll be better-equipped to handle the anxiety.

I still have a way to go, but this is the best I've felt mentally since, I don't know, last October? And it's just in time for me to truly enjoy my summer. At this time last month I didn't think I was going to be able to do that.

Cheers to everyone. Keep the hope and keep the positivity. I hope it's helping you like it is me.

And if I've tried Buspar and it didn't do much for me, would Exxua still be worth a shot?

I ask because they are supposedly pretty similar drugs (though I don't know nearly enough about the scientific side of things) but people are claiming Exxua helps with depression, whereas Buspar is strictly for anxiety. I've been suffering from both for months and am getting pretty sick of the SSRI revolving door, so should I ask my psychiatrist about Exxua?

32M with a pretty specific issue, was hoping for another opinion or two.

Background: I had been on Lexapro for over 12 years for GAD and depression when it pooped out last spring. Since then, I have been on several other SSRI/SNRIs (Prozac, Celexa, Pristiq, Lexapro again, now Trintellix), each of which have either been ineffective or actually made things worse. For the past few months I've been in a full-blown depression that I'm now using Spravato to treat - this is, hands-down the worst I've ever felt mentally in my life.

During my second attempt on Lexapro (mid-January through mid-March), I started having issues with my eyesight. They initially came on when I increased my dose from 10 mg to 15 mg and presented as light sensitivity accompanied by somewhat blurry vision. My psychiatrist immediately told me to go back down to 10 mg, but the vision issues remained. We then switched to Trintellix to deal with the cognitive symptoms I've been having (brain fog, forgetfulness, "slow brain," etc.).

While my mood has fluctuated since then - I do believe the Trintellix and Spravato are helping in that area - it seems like my eye strain is getting worse. Looking at screens and other bright lights gives me discomfort, and it almost feels like my vision is "overstimulated" peripherally. If I form a "goggles" gesture around my eyes, that brings some relief.

I have seen two ophthalmologists since this started. Both of them basically shrugged their shoulders and said my eyes look fine. I have never worn glasses and according to them, I don't need them now either. One of them said that SSRIs can cause issues with vision but it's mostly due to dilated pupils, which is not a side effect I've had.

Needless to say, this is a very frustrating issue that is getting to be more and more concerning. My psychiatrist and GP are both at a loss as to why this may be happening, however, I am fairly certain it is due to heightened levels of stress/anxiety. The only other thing I could think of was it being a trazodone side effect; I take between 25-50 mg nightly to help with sleep, and I tried going without it for a few nights just to see if there would be a change, but nope.

So I guess my question is, could this eye strain be due to increased serotonin activity, heightened anxiety, both, or something else? I have noticed that a small dose of clonazepam (0.5 mg) brings some relief, but I obviously do not want to rely on that too often. I'm just getting more and more frustrated and a little scared because it's beginning to affect my daily functioning.

Thank you so much for reading.

See title. I've had depression before, but man, I don't remember it affecting my memory and mental sharpness like it is now. I'm constantly forgetting things, losing my train of thought in the middle of conversations, and it feels like my brain is stuck in molasses. I'll go to bed and there will be big chunks missing from my day. So frustrating and more than a little scary. As if the anhedonia, sleep disturbances, and random crying spells weren't enough...

Does anyone else get hit particularly hard by this stuff? My psychiatrist switched me from Lexapro to Trintellix, which is supposed to be much better for brain fog and the like, and I've also begun Spravato treatment. How do you fight the cognitive symptoms?