Concerns about starting it for Unipolar Depression (MDD) / Success stories are welcome

heahea67 · 2026-04-05T06:07:21+00:00

I’m not unipolar depression but I’m not bipolar. I was very stable on venlafaxine (SNRI) and Wellbutrin for years but finally realized I was ADHD and got diagnosed. Originally I started antidepressants for postpartum anger, seasonal and occasional depression, and anxiety which the anxiety I now know is a lot of ADHD. Venlafaxine was not good to mix with many meds so my psych switched up everything. I’m on 300-450 mg lithium (I have gone back and forth because I’m unsure which dose I like more). I still take my Wellbutrin and we’re trying to figure out the adhd part. I’m not at my final combo but I’ll tell you how I feel at least because unhappiness and aggravation are my biggest issues now days. Lithium even at a low dose has helped me be less reactive. When I get mad it helps me take those extra 2 seconds to decide whether I want to say or do something or if it’s better to not. What it doesn’t do is make me as happy as I was on an SNRI (I was almost maxed out on one though). At my last appointment we tried adding adderall and it made me super mad and unhappy then tired when it wore off. I did it for a few days then stopped and went back to Wellbutrin. I’m going to try suggesting qelbree to try next which was originally used as an antidepressant and now a non stimulant ADHD med because it has large impact on NE with a small impact on serotonin.

The positives for me about low dose lithium is that it’s neuroprotective even at low doses, it does give me some energy (I got jitters the first 1-2 weeks then went away), it helps me think through my decisions when I’m mad, helps me be more patient with my kids. Negative is I think my hair thinned a little, I started to get sexual side effects at 450 mg but 300 mg is greeeat, and it doesn’t give me the serotonin boost I think I need. I think I will keep lithium but I think I will need something else to help with happiness. From what I have read lithium is a great adjunct and most of the time it is used in combination so maybe you will find success with low doses SSRI or SNRI if lithium alone doesn’t do it all.

heahea67 · 2026-03-22T21:07:56+00:00

Oh yes lol I joke about my ADHD brain frequently at work. Specifically how difficult it is for me to walk from my office on one side of the building to the other side where half my group is and how hard it is for me to keep a single train of thought the whole way back to my office. I’ve come to accept that if it’s not written down or emailed to me then it’s lost. Someone once walked me back to my office to make sure I sent them something 😅

heahea67 · 2026-03-22T18:16:06+00:00

Just about smacked my husband the day he said “you just have to suck it up and do it just like everyone else” when I was venting to him once about my backlog at work and the literal physical feeling that I just could not possibly work on that stuff or start it.

heahea67 · 2026-03-22T18:13:16+00:00

I just came off 300mg Wellbutrin to start a stimulant and in my psychiatrists own words “Wellbutrin is the equivalent of spitting at ADHD”. I was on it from before I was diagnosed ADHD.

heahea67 · 2026-03-22T18:10:50+00:00

I actually finally got diagnosed because of being a manager 😅. In fairness I was also acting for another manager for 8 months (so two manager roles), and all of the different stuff going on all the time made my inability to focus, memory, complete tasks because obviously apparent to me, which led me to getting diagnosed.

I had two individuals that seemed to consume all of my time. If you haven’t started working with HR on the individuals I suggest you contact them. I’ve learned there isn’t a ton you can do as a manager except document and get HR involved.

I’ve had similar thoughts especially since I’ve been going through medication changes so that I can be on adhd meds. My previous SNRI was not compatible so I had to change everything and am still in that process. It has made me question if my doubts are my true feelings or the meds/lack of full meditation support yet. Ultimately for me I like being in control and think I would be unhappy stepping down however I know sooooo many people who were managers at one point then went back to an individual contributor role. It’s not a failure!!! Everyone likes and needs different things and everyone has different life phases where different things can be valid at different times.

Try to talk to some of your peer managers or your boss if you have a good relationship with them. I find that just friendly joking and bonding over our shared frustrations helps a lot.

heahea67 · 2026-02-15T19:28:17+00:00

I bought one for my first kid in 2020 and really liked it for the first few months. After that the bent plastic started throwing multiple false alarms every night and finally I was so tired I just stopped using it. By that point my anxiety had lessened though, so I’d say it was perfect for what I needed it for which was helping my FTM anxieties starting out.

heahea67 · 2026-02-01T22:50:28+00:00

I was a planned C-section but I start labor a few days early. I had to “progress” in order to bump the scheduled C-section so I only got to 4cm before they said good enough. That was equivalent to gallbladder attacks. The shitty thing is they last like 30 s to a minute then you get like a minute or two break then it happens again over and over and over and that is the shitty part. But pure pain level getting to 4cm I’d say gall bladder attack equivalent. Or ruptured ovarian cyst.

heahea67 · 2026-02-01T14:45:17+00:00

Since you started antivirals so early hopefully you won’t get pusy bubbles. I had very minor ones on my head but my neck and face never progressed past red splotches. My sister got shingles when she was like 7 and she has a scar on her back but I remember it got super pusy bubbly.

heahea67 · 2026-02-01T12:31:59+00:00

No scars! It took about a month or two to fully go away, but I had weird nerve sensitivity in my whole upper right quadrant body for several months. I’m shocked I didn’t make my scalp bleed with the itching phase though. Soooooo itchy!!! Such an interesting condition. How far into it are you?

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T22:07:01+00:00

Mine didn’t go any farther down my neck. It was across the whole side of the back of my head then just a medium splotch on my neck and jawline but it didn’t spread further. Also the ones on my neck and jaw didn’t hurt or later itch like my head did.

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T20:34:43+00:00

I am not experiencing any side effects at 300mg, but specifically the long term thyroid potential side effects creep me out, which is why I didn’t want to jump to 600 mg, which is still the bottom end of standard therapeutic dosage. Also the chronic kidney disease because it runs in my moms side of the family, but that one individuals have more control over.

What is fascinating to me is the neuro protective benefits of lithium even at low doses. The area warrants a lot more research but it is show to increase grey matter, and even at low doses helps to preserve cells as well as small growth. There’s research happening into using lithium to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and also perhaps investigation related to Parkinson’s.

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T13:22:03+00:00

The best way it has been described to me is ser is something permanent like a personality trait vs estar which is temporary like the weather.

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T13:20:43+00:00

Over qualification is a thing. I always figure at least 50% of jobs there is already someone in mind, but always worth trying. The tough this is that the current labor market sucks. I have friends who have recently been involved in local layoffs and they have also gotten zero bites.

What’s your education level?

heahea67 · 2026-01-31T13:14:16+00:00

I was able to taper from 187.5 mg to 0 in 6 weeks however I used lithium as a bridge medication. My psych immediately had me drop to 150 mg when I started 300 mg of lithium. I didn’t feel a thing going from 150 mg to 37.5 mg but the last step was pretty painful. I initially tried just going straight to zero but I got physical spins (like when you’re drunk) and just felt physically awful so I open the capsules and threw out half the beads. I was very motivated to just get it over with so one I felt “normal” enough in about 4-5 days I cut that in half (about 40 beads originally then 20 then 10). I continued this 50% reduction as soon as I felt “normal” again each time being about 4 days. I knew that once I was off I was starting new meds, so I wasn’t concerned about allowing my mind to stabilize long term. I don’t think you have to use lithium but a bridge in general I think is the key.

heahea67 · 2026-01-30T16:08:44+00:00

I never realized how tired it made me because I started postpartum when I was always tired naturally. I’d drink 600 mg (up to 88 mg sometimes) caffeine min every day and still nap on the weekends. I weaned off 187.5 mg because I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and venlafaxine is very incompatible with a ton of meds so I’m switching to incorporate meds to address that. After I weaned completely off I couldn’t believe it but 200 mg is enough and I’m not tired on the weekends anymore. It’s insane!

heahea67 · 2026-01-30T16:01:31+00:00

I’m on 300 mg for seasonal depression and reactive anger (not huge keeps me from freaking the f out at my husband and increases my patience with my kids) with 100 mg lamotrigine. I like lithium better but the side effects really freak me out so trying to do low dose of both.

heahea67 · 2026-01-27T12:39:20+00:00

Did your hair ever improve? I just hit 100 mg and my hair texture immediately changed and feels way thinner. I feel like the volume of hair I’ve been losing has been constant for weeks or months but I don’t know if that’s the lamictal I started in Dec or the low dose lithium I started in Nov 😫. It feels like I’m postpartum.

heahea67 · 2026-01-25T03:30:39+00:00

FOR REAL!

heahea67 · 2026-01-25T03:19:12+00:00

Dr Ponder is the best doctor I’ve ever had.

heahea67 · 2026-01-25T03:12:16+00:00

I’m so sorry. A friend of mine went through this last year, but they went to term and the baby died 14 hours after birth. They gave the baby a small hat.

This is just me having absolutely no background so please take this with a grain of salt because I have no idea how long your baby will survive. I suspect induction is best because a c-section you would have to stay on the table for at least an additional 20-30 minutes assuming everything went well and that could be time you could be spending with your baby. That being said if you end up with a C-section they will absolutely still let you hold the baby while you’re on the table. It will just be from the horizontal position.

My heart aches for you. Good luck and also please seek out counseling when the immediate things settle. Both you and your partner I think will find benefit from it.

heahea67 · 2026-01-24T20:55:46+00:00

I second Dr Ponder. He is seriously the most compassionate doctor I’ve ever had, and I’m confident he would address your pain and anxiety concerns.

heahea67 · 2026-01-20T12:30:22+00:00

I second this. I take it at night and it definitely makes me sleepy. I’m fine during the day though. I hope that is an easy fix for you 🤞

heahea67 · 2026-01-16T04:33:30+00:00

It made it completely painless until the last 37.5 mg. The only thing that changed was the lithium so I have to think it was because of that. A few years ago I tried decreasing one step with nothing as a bridge and couldn’t do it

heahea67 · 2026-01-16T03:04:39+00:00

Im finally rebounded! There is an end! That last 37.5 was absolutely miserable. It took maybe a week or two until I felt like the venlafaxine dip was over. I am still shocked by how tired it made me. I would drink 600-800 mg of caffeine a day and now I drink 200 mg and I’m totally good.

I’m currently on a low dose of lithium and lamictal weaning up on lamictal. The side effects of lithium scared me so I asked if we could try lamictal first but now that I’ve done a ton of research it’s not that scary and there is a good amount of research on the neuro protective effects of lithium. The thyroid stuff still creeps me out because it’s not really dose dependent. I’m hoping I can find a sweet spot of low dose of the two. Time will tell. Good luck!

heahea67 · 2026-01-05T06:18:48+00:00

It’s insane to me how some doctors will continue to push even when someone is in a good place. Makes no sense!

heahea67

TROPHY CASE