I am not a medical provider but I suggest you ask your Dr. about Gabapentin. I was prescribed this for diabetic seizure prevention and peripheral neuropathy and was pleasantly surprised to find that my mood had changed. Initially used 600mg daily and found that it caused mood swings which I could not tolerate. On 300 mg now and the literature on the net seems to regard it as a very benign med. Works best with SSRIs like Prozac so I am not sure it will help you. Panic attacks are another story, I deal with them best when I am able to feel them coming on and deal with them immediately. Exercise, reading and music help me avoid the attacks.

Thank you. I'll be seeing my doctor on Monday and will mention it. We'll both get through this. It's just difficult to have this come back after all these years. I was on a maintenance dose of Prozac for a long time, but the doctor said it probably wasn't working for me anymore. Keep well and keep plugging along - that's what I tell myself.

Hi mystery lover. I can offer some words here.

I used to take Zoloft for over 3.5 years. It helped me get through a very dark time in my life. I took wellbutrin as well and it was a help as well. However, the side effects were bothersome so I stopped taking it. I stopped then I fell back in another mess, which has me taking it again.
Point I'm making is:

I know exactly what you are going through.

I took Zoloft for over 5 yrs and it stopped working for me. What an ordeal I had to go through to get a change in my antidepressants! Before Zoloft I took Prozac & Paxil, both for many years, so I understand how I feel when they're no longer working for me. So recently I was put on Celexa and I had to go through a very dark period before they kicked in, several months. It makes me anxious just thinking about it! But I've leveled out and can say I feel so much better now. I suffer fro R/A now, too. Ugh! So I've taken gabapentin for nerve damage in my feet, I didn't know it could cause mood swings? It does make sense though. Panic attacks are horrible, I've experienced them and thought I was actually having heart attacks. I wasn't, but one understanding dr made me feel a little bit betel saying the pain is real. Before experiencing panic attacks I thought they were all mental. You know what was the cause for me? My thyroid meds needed an adjustment. Why is it always something? I suffered in silence with those panic attacks for over 15 yrs before asking a dr about them.
Don't give up, mystery lover. Do make sure to share it all with your doctor, and thank you for sharing it with us.

Hi there, sorry to hear that you are having a hard time coping on some days even with the help of the medication and the loving support you have. I can understand how it feels like when as much as you can help it, you simply may not be able to find strength to get on with your activities. The overwhelming feeling of anxiety to put it simply drowns your courage and ability to feel alright and functioning to some point when you cannot feel the reality. But I wanna thank you for your courage for sharing your condition on this platform. Not only you get support, you may be a blessing to someone else who is going through a similar situation like you too.

I'm glad you have a loving and solid support from your family and friends which helps one way or another on difficult days. Not sure if you have tried therapy. Sometimes therapy like EMDR or CBT may help to slow down your ruminating thoughts and calms you down. It might be worth exploring these avenues if you have access to them. Hang in there and I'm praying for you. Take care!

When i was given wellbutrin it was great. I was in a bad way and it improved things enormously. But I weaned myself off it, and after a time had a bad time and went back on. It didn't last more than a week: i noticed it increasing my anxiety. I think it probably had been increasing my anxiety at the time the first time round, but I was in such bad condition it wasn't noticeable. With all my other problems markedly reduced, I now could tell.

I spoke to my daughter's doctor recently, she said there are many newer drugs out there that can provide relief from depression without increasing anxiety, and also without making you unable to get out of bed in the morning (which is why I had been on wellbutrin, although tbh the sedative I took to counteract the insomnia meant I couldn't get out of bed in the morning anyway).

I've just decided in the end that it's better to go through the episode, and try to manage myself and have the feelings, than it is to try and find any medication that's going to solve things for me. And as I've got medication free, i've ended up on a relatively even keel. I say relatively... I'd say I was in normal range generally speaking.

You should try out a side-effect free medicine ...taking all these anti-depressants will only pull your health down.

I had a very good day today; actually feel as if my anti-depressant is kicking in. I will see my doctor on Monday and I'm hoping that this progress will continue. I'll try not to get too discouraged if tomorrow is not as good, but I'm hopeful. Thank you everyone for all your good advice. This is a awful disease and I pray that we'll all get well.

Not a good day today. Managed to get up, have some coffee and cereal, but I'm so disappointed that it's a bad day. Trying to turn it around. Going for a walk with a friend in a few minutes; hopefully, that will help clear my head. My husband has problems walking, so he can't go with me. Fortunately, I have friends I can call on.

Do you believe in the power of positive thinking? When I read 'not a good day' I hear, in my mind 'I believe it's going to get better'. Is that just silly, goofy thinking on my part? When I read you plan on going for a walk, my mind says 'way to go', and with a 'friend', wow! mysrterylover, I'm sending some better day vibes your way

Thank you. The walk was good and I'm trying to be positive. As we all know, that doesn't come easy. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.