My doctor and I have decided not to treat with hormone replacement-she told me to up my anti-depressant milligrams, but that hasn’t helped at all. Anywhere from 8-10 hot flashes a day-where I become drenched in sweat. HELP PLEASE!

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This is a VERY hard question. Experts only, please.

I have a wife who suffers from depression. She has been on anti-depressants and they worked, but left her feeling neutral while on them, rather than happy and sad.

She is now off the medications (and has been for a couple years). Lately, she has been having depression strike in place of emotions like happiness or love. Instead of feeling the good stuff, she feels that feeling we get when we break up with someone.

My theory is that we could find a substance for her to take when she improperly dips into that pain (the breakup pain), and that alleviates it just like an aspirin alleviates a headache, then it might free her mind to feel happiness again.

Does anyone know of a substance that works fairly quickly that she doesn’t have to stay on, but can take more like an aspirin? Something that alleviates the symptoms, but isn’t an "anti-depressant" like Celexa or something?

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A little addition, in response to some of the first answers (and thank you VERY much for these first answers!):

Yes, ideally we would like something that isn’t addictive. That’s a bad problem. Also, won’t being on anti-depressants her whole life kill her? What about the liver damage?

Thanks.

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