SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information - View Single Post - Off the sauce, any change in antidepressant effect?

08-22-2008, 10:56 AM

# 5 (permalink)

WishIWasNormal

Member

Join Date: Jul 2008

Location: Grants Pass, Oregon

Posts: 137

Quote:

Originally Posted by SelfSeeking

Hello,

I haven't really been into the mental health forum much yet, so if there's a past thread that addressed this issue, feel free to point it out to me. My question is about people's experiences on antidepressants before and after going sober.

I have been dealing with depression for most of my life (I'm 27 now). I've been on and off a few SSRIs and also Wellbutrin, right now I'm on 20mg of Lexapro. I had self-tapered from 20 to 10 a few months ago, then I basically lost my sh!t and became just... wow. Very, very badly depressed and suicidal and just... wow. So I went back to 20 and for the last month have been ok, for sure better than I was doing before! I have been sober for 11 days. I'm wondering if anyone noticed an improvement in their depression after they went sober? Did anyone need their meds adjusted?

TIA for your stories/suggestions.

For me the difference has been amazing since I quit washing down four different antidepressants, thyroid medication, blood pressure meds, clonazapam and Norco 10/325 with wine.

I basically quit everything (wasn't working anyway) including the wine. After a short time (6 or 7 days) of not drinking I started taking the thyroid med and Prozac in the mornings. Then I switched my blood pressure med (a Beta blocker-slows the heart rate) at night along with 50mg of amitriptyline and have been great ever since. I could feel the difference after about two weeks. Same meds, but without the wine. My Dr. kept raising my clonazapam dose until it was 4X/day. I finally wrote a signed letter DCing about three other medications I haven't mentioned and demanded he place it in my chart.

I did have some problems cold turkeying the clonazapam so instead of 0.5 mg 4 X/day I went to once a day, at bedtime with the blood pressure med and the 50mg. of amitriptyline. After 10-15 documented years of a resting BP averaging 178/112, I am sleeping well and everything seems under control. Most people don't realize that the top number of the BP is a measurement of the heart pressure when it is contracted and the bottom number is a measurement of the heart pressure when it is at rest. So the bottom number is actually often more important than the top number. My heart was working very hard even while resting between contractions.

Anyway, to answer the specific question,: Yes, all the medications were much more effective without alcohol and I was able to totally discontinue 3-4 others (for cholesterol etc.)