Looking for Medication Advice for PTSD, Depression, and Chronic Pain

I've been on Lexapro for a few years now for my PTSD and anxiety mostly, and it was relatively helpful up until this past year and a half. It started when I was under a lot of stress and dealing with a very unstable and triggering living situation, so I initially (and frankly still do) attribute my uptick in symptoms to that. However when things stabilized, I fell into a pretty bad depression that was then worsened by winter kicking in. my last psychiatrist upped my dose of Lexapro about 6 months ago to see if it would help the depression, and it hasn't really changed much. I started feeling a bit better now that winter is over, but it doesn't feel like the Lexapro is really helping to manage my symptoms as much as it used to. I have an appointment with my new psychiatrist coming up in a few weeks and I was wondering if anyone has had success with switching to a different ssri or other medication when the previous one was no longer working. Bonus points if anyone has info about a medication or combo that worked to treat a combination of PTSD, depressive symptoms (general or seasonal), and/or chronic pain tl;dr: been on Lexapro for years and it's not working as well anymore and hasn't been for a bit. any info anyone has on medications or combos to treat PTSD, depression, and/or chronic pain I'd greatly appreciate

Your answer

unicornlady90

2y ago

Adding wellbutrin to my lexapro and buspar has worked well for me. Maybe give it a try.

sarubun

2y ago

I've been researching Wellbutrin as a possible option for it's off label use to help with my ADHD as I'm not wanting to start stimulants at the moment (at least not until I can get an in-depth neuropsych evaluation which won't be for 6+months) and so it's moved up on my list of meds to ask about at my appointment! And thank you for the encouragement to try something new because I have been hesitant to seek other options because it took me 4 years of misdiagnoses and meds that didn't work to find Lexapro, but Im at the point now where I know it'll be worth it in the end and so the encouragement is very appreciated

JubileeJay

2y ago

Hi hun thanks for sharing! I'm sorry your going through that I understand that completely I was on Prozac for years for my depression until I had a bad depression bout where I just hit my wall so to speak about a year and a half ago where I needed a hard reset. I worked as a paramedic in an ER in the height of COVID and just broke down. After a small inpatient stay which was a god sent mentally, physically and spiritually I was started on Lexapro but in conjunction with Wellbutrin. I also have really bad anxiety so the new combo actually worked. Definitely be open to trying something new, I switched meds a few times before the dam prozac that Ignored the signs it wasn't working as well bc I was scared of going through that process again. But it is worth it, Goodluck and here's to feeling better👍

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