Surviving Anhedonia

So stress may be a factor. Is the anxiety driven more by biology or ideas? If you just get bouts of great depression once a day I'd recommend a benzo. However, if you're feeling it all day long then maybe something more like gabapentin. memory problems are "less common" drugs.com says.

What she offered was an ssri....I think because my family has a history of addiction.....my last pdoc was all about the heavier meds though.

Just did 2 n=3 dual n back in a row....yay! I'm learning!

Fawk yeah, SP. Pretty soon you'll be able to use the force and do breast push ups!

Ok, so I was wondering if I understood this right: you get the physical sensations of pleasure/arousal, but not the mental sensations?? Is that really considered anhedonia?? I would've thought anhedonia meant neither types of sensations were experienced, but I will admit that I'm finding the meaning of words disconcerting again. What I'm wondering is, if you can still physically experience pleasure, just not cognitively, could you be overthinking it?! For me, when I get stuck in endless metacognition, it really confuses me because I don't know what's actually happening and what I think is or isn't happening. The more I focus on physical sensations inside my body, the more I doubt my experiences/perception. So for me, what helps is to get out of my head completely and just be in the moment. So maybe you could just be in the moment of physical pleasure without analysing your cognitive appreciation (or not) of it?? I don't know if that resonates, or if I've completely misunderstood what you are saying??

Wrt reboxetine - IME that drug made me as sick as a dog! I was on heightened alert: any unexpected occurrence (e.g. the phone ringing, my alarm clock!!) would cause a MASSIVE startle response and my heart would race, and I would sweat and hyperventilate; just would completely OTT freak the **** out over every little thing. From what I can tell, anything that messes with noradrenaline and alpha-1 enough seems to do that to me. It also made me nauseated to the point of vomiting, and gave severe postural hypotension to the point of fainting, but the OTT startle response was the worst part. Iirc I think I only managed 2 weeks (inc dropping the dose) before I couldn't take any more. But then I don't get on with most drugs so YMMV, if you could ever get ahold of some?

Also, how long ago now was it that you stopped the lamotrigine?? I don't think it's been that long really iirc? Anything less than a year or two and I still think that it could improve, if it was caused by the lamotirgine. I know that that probably feels like way too long to wait, but people unfortunately can take that long to recover from the effects of drugs; not everyone, but some people for sure

*Willow*

Anhedonia is tricky and it's different for each person just as sz is different for each person. Anhedonia means "no pleasure" but I can't even feel mental depression or loneliness either. That's why I'm pro-solitude lol. I can't say I feel pleasure in any form except when I cum and there is no lasting mental effect followed by it. It's very physical in that the sensation was felt and it ended. Next task. I tend to drink alcohol to help sedate my cycle of suffering of fear, hate, anger then a feeling of hopelessness.

Do people with schizophrenia need both hallucinations and delusions? No they just need one form of psychosis necessary.

So far I've survived by trying to find hope where I can. I don't dwell on my anhedonia except in certain circumstances where it's been a long day the frustration of know thing it could be bettered if I could feel a positive emotion once a day. My anhedonia wears me down slowly each day. I can't help but notice that I can't feel pleasure...

It's been over two years sense I've been off the SSRI, I felt pleasure before I was on that. It's been about since June now since I've been off Lamotrigine, my main source of faint hope. Now when going for this long term hope we're betting on repair will happen because damage has been done.

I wrote a letter and delivered it to my Pdoc describing in detail about my anhedonia. I also went on to Researchgate.net and started a question thread titled How to Treat Anhedonia? I get pretty good responses on that site for mental health concerns. I asked where are there less negative symptoms regarding schizoaffective compared to schizophrenia I got the most views out of any other question my institution (EMU)has ever asked.

So there is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSI-189
It failed for MDD in phase two though... But in a forum a guy said it helped his anhedonia 70%.

Prevent cognitive and memory decline? How in the world would a med ever do that?!?! Sounds like all the promises of gabapentin. : /

Reversing post SSRI Anhedonia / PSSD - Brain Health - LONGECITY
This guy named FLEX on this site thinks that the uptick of serotonin that comes along with SSRI treatment is the cause post ssri induced anhedonia.
I really don't get any of that though. It's above my pay grade.
What is PSSD?
EDIT :PSSD is Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction. Oh god thank god I don't have that... How devastating..
EDIT#2: These guys seem to suffer from both PSSD and Anhedonia because of the SSRI. They believe it all is related to 5-HT1A.
wiki:

Wow that thread is way over my head. I would like to give it to my Psychiatrist to see if she could make sense. she has a degree in neuro...something.

After reading that thread I'm reminded of something that Tweaky once told me. Once you try an upper they permently strengthen that pathway. From my novice understanding that's what happened with this 5-HT1A receptor that is interrelated to SSRI's, no?

It is. It gets desensitized over time and takes a longer time to reboot on SSRI's. Because if something can reverse it such as another drug (Like a psychedelic - For a period of time even though some people say that the point of taking one is because it lasts forever in a way which is why it's used in therapy now - Don't take those though), it's not just going to be forever. Even certain life choices and thinking in thought can reverse it for even a certain amount of time such as when people with anhedonia get "Windows of pleasure". Most people have reported that phenomenon so it just proves my sort of thinking but not 100% sure.

Ketamine might work...

I have heard of ketamine treatments for persistent depression, but i don't know of anyone who has received them. I would be surprised if it had long term positive effects? But i would be curious to talk to someone with first hand experience. Are you interested in pursuing it for yourself?

There was actually something I read the other day about not sleeping curing depression but just for one day.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...ssion-day.html

They use ketamine to induce sz in mice.....

DocJohn said this to me in this Q/A
Then I clarified what I had, telling him that it's blurry whether the SSRI or the Lamictal caused it, but that I felt complete pleasure and depression before the SSRI. Now I can't feel either.

To which he said
He then asked me if Geodon has helped bring them back and I gave him my response how I've been on it this entire time, and felt it before with just Geodon, alongside with depression.

Then Doc John said he really doesn't know what's going on. He told me that I should see a specialist.

Blah. Vague. So time, time, time... I've been off the SSRI and haven't felt pleasure in over... 2.5 years now I believe. I have gotten brief windows from when I drink maybe a handful of times a year, but that's all. And it's so slight.

Day Tripper,
I feel your pain. I have experienced severe anhedonia for two years now and am desperate for relief. I tried an MAOI -- Nardil -- but it did nothing for me. I get no pleasure out of anything -- eating, reading (which used to be the biggest escape for me), exercise. No matter how much I exercise, I get no endorphin rush and can't feel the outlines of my body or my muscles contracting. I also have severe insomnia, although I never feel tired during the day. All I feel is this curious blankness. It's very painful, because it is so blanketing and never shifts or changes over the course of the day. There is no relief. It is affecting my cognition and memory too -- I can't concentrate on movies or tv shows -- can't process the dialogue in my head or follow the plot lines. Same with books. I've also been getting lost on my daily walks -- my mind can't seem to generate new short-term memories, so I can't memorize the routes and find my way back. I am so scared that I will be this way for the rest of my life. It's unbearable. I look at photos of people I love dearly, and feel nothing. Intellectually, I know I care about them but I can't conjure up the physical response in my body -- the tingling in the gut, the waves of love. I feel subhuman. My psych has no clue of how to help me. I'm really at a loss. Wish I had some positive suggestions, but all I can say is you're not alone.

Tina, I heard one guy getting his pleasure back after 10 years. I saw a news story of a woman who never felt it before in her entire life but was exposed to a surgery where they put a electric neuro stimulator in the brain and she felt love for the first time instantly there after. There's Some drugs that are meant to boost dopamine levels like Wellbutrin and high doses of Effexor but they did nothing for me. A lot of the drugs I do want to try just aren't approved in the United States, such as Moclobemide. However, they are always working on new, better drugs. I'm struggling to find drive, and meaning in this struggle too.

It saddens me that psychiatry is better at beating nails down than removing them. Meaning they are better at handling positive symptoms rather than negative ones.

"It saddens me that psychiatry is better at beating nails down than removing them. Meaning they are better at handling positive symptoms rather than negative ones."

Yes exactly. Great quote. I tried both Wellbutrin and Effexor but they did nothing for me. I am very scared that I have permanently fried my brain from the use of antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics over the past ten years (my official diagnosis is BiPolar I). I'm wondering if this is some extreme form of withdrawal? I am not on any psych meds now. I am not motivated to try any more, as nothing has consistently worked for me and I fear that I am upsetting my brain chemistry even more by adding more drugs. I sincerely hope it doesn't take ten years for me to get my emotions back! I refuse to give up. I will keep searching for alternative therapies. Relieved to know that I am not alone in this. Thanks for being out there.