[depressionalt]

This is very interesting. TMS has always been a no go for me on account of how much time it took and how expensive it was. 5 days is very dooable compared to 30 days, every day, for a month.

The most difficult thing about depression treatments is that most medications take 2-3 weeks to kick in and it's hard to get motivated to see the treatment through.

Chemically here's what worked for me:

1. Ketamine saved my life. It's the only thing I've encountered that provides instant relief. If you're in a particularly bad moment and buried by your thoughts, ask your psych to write you and Rx for Ketamine nose spray. It's much cheaper than intravenous Ketamine and highly effective by my experience. There's a pharma version of Ketamine on the market now (esketamine) but that require heavy doctor supervision and are also expensive. There are special pharmacies that synthesize the nose spray for you. The effect of those small, regulated doses of ketamine is like putting your brain in the sink and giving it a good wash. It helped me through some rough times. The best part about it is that it's non-addictive. Once I got through the deepest of my doldrums, I stopped filling the Rx.

2. Wellbutrin. It's the only pill that worked for me, with the fewest side effects. The only side effect is that my libido is now significantly higher (undesireable, for me).

[ad404b8a372f2b9]

Paramedics gave me Ketamine on the street after an accident last year. And then for 6 months after, it was like a veil had been lifted from my mind. I noticed I would laugh much more easily, I felt happiness every few days when random pleasant things happened like seeing the sun or having good coffee, I was in severe physical pain from the results of the accident and yet it was the least miserable time I've had in the past decade.

I only connected the dots a few months back when looking into what Ketamine does. It's a miracle drug, I'm hoping my doctor will prescribe it to me but it looks like in my country you need to have been prescribed other anti-depressants and for them to have failed.

[sloppycee]

I had ketamine for a colonoscopy and had the exact same experience. I woke up feeling like I had the best sleep of my life, and filled with an extreme contentness, just bliss, that lasted for 6 weeks.

I have bipolar II, and usually suffer from depression. Unfortunately ketamine is not legally available for me.

[filmgirlcw]

My doctor wants to get me on esketamine and insurance will cover it -- the issue we're having is my doctor is 2200 miles away and I have to take it under supervision (we're looking at who we might be able to partner with to try this). I'm hopeful I'll be able to try it in the new year.

I'm really glad Wellbutrin worked for you. When I tried it ~20 years ago (as a young teenager), it worked well for me for a few weeks and then absolutely did not work anymore. But that's the beauty/pain of SSRIs. There are a million of them and they impact each person differently.

[depressionalt]

COVID has been great for telehealth. Talking to a doctor is so much easier over Zoom. I hope you're able to get it as well. The effect is orthogonal to that of every other anti-depressant out there.

The hardest part about finding the right meds is the patience/iteration/experimentation you need to finally land on the right thing and, knock on wood, I've finally found that stability.

[ajryan]

Wellbutrin is an NDRI, not an SSRI.

[diordiderot]

Wellbutrin was a god send for me. It gave my the energy to get therapy, exercise, etc.

Highly recommend if you're anxious about SSRIs

[depressionalt]

I also recommend that those experiencing SSRI-resistant depression try it. SSRIs didn't do much for me other than hit me like a rubber mallet to the brain.

Wellbutrin's subtle stimulation has been so effective for the type of depression where you want to stay in bed and have no motivation to do even the basic things, which is how I felt before.

If you're reading this and depressed, you're not alone. It will get better, and you too will eagerly look forward to your days ahead.

[_hzw]

For me, it's psilocybin that saved my life. And now I am on Mirtazapine.