Struggling with Depression Medication

I second the geno test 🙌 🙌 i found out things about me that will save me tons of time instead of jumping from med to med

I don’t have any advice but just want to say you’re not alone, I have treatment resistant MDD and have been on like 20 different meds with no improvement. hugs

Effexor is the first thing to work for me in years

I think it's so funny how differently everyone responds to meds. Wellbutrin was HORRIBLE for me and actually made me worse. But obviously it's still an FDA approved med so it must work for someone! I'm glad it does for you lol As for genetic testing, that sounds like an awesome avenue. I hadn't thought of it either, but I am going to suggest it to my boyfriend who has also struggled intensely with depression since he was 12 and been medicated for a decade now without much success (or at least much long lasting success). I personally haven't dealt with depression for that long, but if it helps to hear that others have, boyfriend was diagnosed when he was 12 (so he probably has been hurting for longer than that), been on zoloft, Wellbutrin, Duloxetine, venlafaxine, and a couple others I think. He's tried to kill himself upwards of 50 times (never succeeded, thank God). He's had temporary success a few times, but always ends up back at the bottom (where he is now 😔). One of my best friends has been depressed since she was 8, eventually got diagnosed with bipolar, has tried to kill herself a handful of times, been on LOTS of meds too (though she seems to have found a combo that work), and had 2 seperate stays in a psych ward. I keep interesting company 😁😂 Point is, you aren't alone. I pray that you find something that works and soon 🙏🏻❤

I will admit I didn’t even know you could do genetic testing like the other commenters say, but I also tried what seemed like an unreasonable number of medications until I found one (Wellbutrin) that’s helped quite a bit. Even then I learned that my version of ‘better’ isn’t actually success with a medication because apparently you’re supposed to have four or fewer depressed days a month. Who knew!

Ooh I hadn't caught wind of that one yet! Does insurance get friendly with Strategene as well??

Dr. Ben Lynch’s Strategene test was super helpful as well and revealed genetic susceptibilities to many things - meds, autoimmune issues etc

I second that! Get genetic testing. I did. Genomind test and it was really helpful to learn what medications are my yes/no/maybes. It also explains how I break down medications in my liver which can affect dosing and how you feel in certain meds.

Personally I think you should check into whether or not your insurance provider in your state covers the GeneSight® test. In that small of a meatsack with that broad of treatment resistance, it sounds like you probably have some neurological genetic disadvantage to modern medicine, and most likely a folic acid conversion problem mismanaged by a homozygous MTHFR genotype. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201901/the-folate-factor 🙏 My 2¢ for Step 1