I've had Crohn's since I was 12. I'm 23 now and I've heard that some Crohn's patients take antidepressants, which help their Crohn's and some of the frustration/stress that comes with the disease. Have any of you taken antidepressants and, if so, what are the best ones for Crohn's? I have taken anxiety medicine, and it has helped me with sleep and stress, but I wasn't sure if I should talk to my doctor about antidepressants.
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Antidepressant?
- Thread starter ak23
- Start date
nogutsnoglory
Moderator
I take Prozac. Yes, many here do take antidepressants to help cope better with depression
I have Crohns and I have been taking Effexor for 10 years for depression and Anxiety. I also take Humira for my Crohns. They all work very well for me!
I take escitalopram at 10 mg a day too. It helps with anxiety. Years ago for post pardon depression I took cymbalta. It helped with my depression and gut pain from active Crohn's.
I take Amitriptyline. For me, it works as an antidepressant and sleep med. A very strong sleep med, since I take a high dose. Amitriptyline used to slow diarrhoea down too, though now I've got an ileostomy diarrhoea is no longer an issue for me.
It doesn't help me with anxiety but really helps me with anger and frustrated feelings. Not that I've ever shown anger outwardly in violent behaviour or swearing or anything - I've never done anything like that no matter what I'm taking or not taking - but I used to feel anger and act on it in subtle ways, e.g. being miserable or annoyed with people rather than trying to be nicer. Amitriptyline helps me see things in perspective by stopping the negative feelings overwhelming me. I still feel negative emotions, but I can now usually come up with appropriate responses to situations because I look at things more calmly than angrily.
Amitriptyline might be particularly good for Crohn's as it can stop diarrhoea and sometimes help with stomach pain. I'm not sure whether other antidepressants have those effects too. It also does not interact in a problematic way with any of my other medications, though you'd need to make sure that is also the case with any meds you may be taking for Crohn's.
But I believe finding the right med for your stress will be specific to you, so I wouldn't say I'd recommend amitriptyline particularly over any other antidepressants, and amitriptyline has more side effects than many antidepressants do. But it may be worth seeing if you benefit from amitriptyline's effects on your digestive system.
It doesn't help me with anxiety but really helps me with anger and frustrated feelings. Not that I've ever shown anger outwardly in violent behaviour or swearing or anything - I've never done anything like that no matter what I'm taking or not taking - but I used to feel anger and act on it in subtle ways, e.g. being miserable or annoyed with people rather than trying to be nicer. Amitriptyline helps me see things in perspective by stopping the negative feelings overwhelming me. I still feel negative emotions, but I can now usually come up with appropriate responses to situations because I look at things more calmly than angrily.
Amitriptyline might be particularly good for Crohn's as it can stop diarrhoea and sometimes help with stomach pain. I'm not sure whether other antidepressants have those effects too. It also does not interact in a problematic way with any of my other medications, though you'd need to make sure that is also the case with any meds you may be taking for Crohn's.
But I believe finding the right med for your stress will be specific to you, so I wouldn't say I'd recommend amitriptyline particularly over any other antidepressants, and amitriptyline has more side effects than many antidepressants do. But it may be worth seeing if you benefit from amitriptyline's effects on your digestive system.
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