Husband suffering anhedonia-how can I help him?

[Cherish 2011]

Hi, everyone...I found your site when I Googled "heal anhedonia without a psychiatrist".

My husband seems to have been suffering anhedonia for about two years now. Today is the first I've learned about it, but it fits him to a "t".

Short history: Has been on several anti-depressants over the years, Zoloft being the longest-running one.

Several years ago was put on Clonazepam (Klonopin) for anxiety. It stopped working, but we didn't know it. Husband hospitalized briefly for depression.

Husband completed a two-year liquid taper off Clonazepam, but horrible symptoms when he was freshly off, we believe, caused him to have an episode of psychotic depression. (Added: Unknown to me, husband had also cold-turkey'd himself off Zoloft during this time, which most likely added to his problems.)

Was hospitalized for psychotic depression 48 days. When he got out of the hospital, he had been put on Nortriptylene, Zoloft, and Abilify.

Hospitalization was two years ago. Husband still on the three medications, but has had zero energy and felt like a "zombie", so we've been doing a liquid taper to get him off the Abilify. It has taken a year so far, and it won't be complete until September 2011. Going very slowly so we don't have a repeat of the psychotic depression.

He's never been himself since coming home from the hospital. I wondered if he was depressed, even though he's on 3 anti-depressants, but that's not how he's acting. Anhedonia is what fits, and what he agrees he's dealing with.

Most people around us feel that we're unreasonable to want my husband to be off all these psych drugs. My husband doesn't want to take any more, or any different ones, and he doesn't want to go to a psychiatrist. They just want to give him "drug cocktails".

Our hope is that we can very slowly taper him off ALL of these medications. We're not sure whether to taper him off the Zoloft or the Nortriptyline next though.

I'm trying to figure out how I might help and support him in hopes of getting him back to himself naturally.

Right now he's barely functioning. He feels no emotion, has lost interest in his usual activities, and doesn't interact socially very much at all any more, and he's an extrovert, so this is not him at all.

I'm reading through the archives, and taking notes on what people are saying here, but wanted to write in anyway, in case anyone might be able to help me figure out what to do first to help my husband.

Husband currently taking:
-200mg Sertraline (Zoloft) daily
-75mg Nortriptyline daily
-originally on 15mg Abilify, but he's down to half of that daily now (tapering)

Thank you for being here.

[Pat Shields]

I am WAY unqualified to tell you what to do here, but I will step out on a limb and say that the first step you have already taken is probably the right one and the best one, and that is being there for him and with him, and educating yourselves. Here are some questions, the answers to which might help others help you:
How long have you been married?
How old is he?
Is he the one wanting to relieve the anhedonia?
Has he gained an unusual amount of weight?
Was the original anxiety free-floating or about something specific?

Remember, you can support him in his troubles, but you can't "fix" him. It is usually best to withdraw one drug at a time. Welcome, and I am glad you found us no matter what the search criteria! Stay involved here, and we'll stay with you.

[Cherish 2011]

Thank you for the reply, Patricia.

We've been married for almost 14 years.
My husband will be 64 next month.
Yes, he very much wants to relieve the anhedonia. He HATES being like this. (I'd like to get my "normal" husband back too.)

He lost a lot of weight when he was hospitalized, and has since gained about 35 pounds.

The anxiety was originally about a specific situation which has now been resolved.

Thank you for the welcome, and it's reassuring to think that we're on the right path.

He went through hell getting off the Clonazepam, but he does want to become drug-free if at all possible.

[Cherish 2011]

By the way, does anybody know if the anhedonia can leave my husband before he tapers off ALL of the drugs, or is it likely he'll be this way until that time?

As I recall, he wasn't like this before when he was on Zoloft, so I'm guessing it's the Abilify that did this to him.

Is that likely?

[scotty]

Abilify is one awful drug that truly takes ones soul away, as you've found out. Congratulations to you for looking beyond the doctors office for answers. Know that you, and your husband are not alone in this very long journey.

I'll go out on a limb here and say that the "psychotic depression" was absolutely caused by the cold turkey off the Zoloft. I can say this with some certainty having seen in my son, in an unknown to me, cold turkey situation. I was lucky to discover Paxilprogress soon after this happened, which I have NO doubt saved him from the path of multidrugging that you are dealing with.

Key thing to remember is do nothing fast...which you've already recognized. Continue to wean the Abilify, since that one has the worst side effects and health effects. I would probably go with the zoloft next, and leave the tricyclic until last, as it may help keep things more stable along the way.

As for the anhedonia, it does take time to resolve, but it will. It will take patience and the constant move towards being drug free. Give your husband a hug from all of us here....he is not crazy, he's a victim of poorly understood drug reactions.

[Cherish 2011]

Thank you, Laurie.

My husband has been on Zoloft for most of nearly 14 years now. For the first few years, he seemed to feel very well on it.

These last few years, especially once he started having trouble with the Clonazepam not working, and our subsequent efforts to get him off it, have been a NIGHTMARE.

I spent the evening last night reading back into the archives, and it's a goldmine of information here. It will be nice to have the support of others as my husband continues down the path of becoming drug free.

PS It really makes me angry, as we were having a family meeting with my husband's doctors right before he got out of the hospital, that they told him to "make sure to STAY on ALL of your medications". Little did we know how much extra heartache they were piling onto us by putting him onto all those medications when we had just gotten him OFF the benzo.

I hope we can get my husband's life back before it's too late for him to enjoy it.

[NewQuestions]

I can tell you my story to see if it helps. I was on zoloft for 8 years with little problem. Then after 8 years, it stopped working, or at least not as well. I started feeling andedonia, muscle ache, cloudy thinking, etc. I cycled through other ADs looking for one that worked but none did and I had some adverse reactions to them. I concluded my body had adapted to the drugs and it was time to go off all of them. Its now been 2 years since my last dose of an AD and I still suffer significant withdrawal problems.