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jjessea

jjessea

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I'm considering going on one. I was hoping to know who here is on one and willing to share how they help you, if they actually work, and what side effects you experience.

I've read all the literature, I'm just hoping for some first hand reports.
 
I have quite a history with them. I'll try to make it brief.

I have switched the AD quite a few times over the years.
From Mirtazepine (makes you a bit drowsey - good to take at night if you also have trouble sleeping),
Citalopram (general SSRI - works in a similar way to ecstacy (but noway near as fun ;)) - same chemical in the brain 'Serotonin') This one I really didn't like as it sent my OCD and other depression-related things into overdrive. Some of them are actually counterproductive to the individual. You have to try them and see.
Prozac - meh. Probably the least awful one. Or:
Duloxetine. Currently on this. It's OK but Dr's start you on a low dose and ramp it up slowly, again it depends on the user but I find myself really... tightly wired and tense.

These things aren't nice, really. You can get a dry mouth, contradictory increased feelings of depression, suicidal thoughts, ocd, tension, sweaty palms, and other general shittiness. They work great for some people but I never really got along well with them. I think for me I started taking them because I was in a very dark place in my life and really didn't want to be alive anymore, so I put up with the side-effects to try and get through it. Now I'm a bit scared to come off them in case I go back to that dark place. Plus, the withdrawals I get from them are nasty. Not as nasty as Heroin I'm sure, but if I forget to take it just one day, then until I do I feel like I'm walking on a boat during a rough storm and my head is full of water, then somehow has an electric current poking it. Not a nice feeling at all.

Avoid them if you can, but how close are you to blowing your brains out?
 
I take Sertraline, which i think is in other countries known as Prozac. I'm not really sure if they help, though i am sure that i have wished for years that i never started taking them. I really dislike taking them. I can't really stop out of nowhere, that fucks you up even more. As Painter's Radio pointed out, if you forget just one time to take them, you're transported to hell.

I am strongly advising to not take them, never take them, and never consider taking them.
 
painter said:
I have quite a history with them. I'll try to make it brief.

I have switched the AD quite a few times over the years.
From Mirtazepine (makes you a bit drowsey - good to take at night if you also have trouble sleeping),
Citalopram (general SSRI - works in a similar way to ecstacy (but noway near as fun ;)) - same chemical in the brain 'Serotonin') This one I really didn't like as it sent my OCD and other depression-related things into overdrive. Some of them are actually counterproductive to the individual. You have to try them and see.
Prozac - meh. Probably the least awful one. Or:
Duloxetine. Currently on this. It's OK but Dr's start you on a low dose and ramp it up slowly, again it depends on the user but I find myself really... tightly wired and tense.

These things aren't nice, really. You can get a dry mouth, contradictory increased feelings of depression, suicidal thoughts, ocd, tension, sweaty palms, and other general shittiness. They work great for some people but I never really got along well with them. I think for me I started taking them because I was in a very dark place in my life and really didn't want to be alive anymore, so I put up with the side-effects to try and get through it. Now I'm a bit scared to come off them in case I go back to that dark place. Plus, the withdrawals I get from them are nasty. Not as nasty as Heroin I'm sure, but if I forget to take it just one day, then until I do I feel like I'm walking on a boat during a rough storm and my head is full of water, then somehow has an electric current poking it. Not a nice feeling at all.

Avoid them if you can, but how close are you to blowing your brains out?
Click to expand...

This is good advice.

I've had quite a few and some can be awful and counterproductive. Wasn't helpful when I was legally obliged to take them either.

Try not to get on SSRIs, I've never heard of anyone on them (and I met quite a few) whose had good experiences with them. Common side effects include diminished appetite and suicidal thoughts, neither of which you want when your'e depressed.

Mirtazapine and other NaSSAs are good, they don't really have many nasty side effects (but this depends on the person) and the drowsiness it causes can really stabilise your sleep pattern which in it self can help your depression. Something similar I've had that affected my sleep was Trazadone, which had the unfortunate consuquence of causing me to be dependent on it for sleep. It's an antidepressent but I don't know what class other than it is sometimes used for other mental illnesses, like in my case PTSD.

Withdrawals are pretty awful too. You may not actually notice the gradual change in your mood when starting the medication but you certainly will if you do what I've done in the past and just abruptly stop taking them. It's hypocritical to say this since I still don't do this but you ought to be helped coming off these by a doctor and to receive regular check ups in the process.

Also, don't decide anything based on this advice or anything else you read on the interwebs. I'm not a doctor and even then, general practitioners aren't themselves specialised in these things, they're just people who spent 6 or so years passing memory tests. See a psychiatrist about these things.
 
This is good stuff. The psychiatrist thing is tough though, they're getting harder and harder to come by. I contacted one a few weeks ago and the closest appointment I could get was several months out.
 
I started taking some meds back 3 months ago. This is the first time taking them, as I always avoided having to take any pills to help me. But after years of feeling blah, I decided that I wouldn't know if they would help-so I decided to give them a honest chance, before I would rule them out.
The doctor put me on Cipralex (Escitalopram). When I first started taking them, the side effects were pretty bad (but not unmangable). I had a major increase in appetite (which was good for me, as I rarely eat), I felt almost spacey, dazed short of feeling. But after about 2 weeks everything slowly went to normal again. Now I don't have any side effects, everything the same as normal.
Now for what it has changed for me - I eat proper now, I sleep really good and up early, I don't feel aggitated or iritable, I seem to be able to focus on things now, better concentration. Feeling wise, I'm not sure if it is much different. Though I don't feel as down as often, but not sure if its helped much with the social anxiety thing.....I still tend to be at home where I avoid people most of the time. Once I get a job again, and around people more - that will be the test for the anxiety thing.
 
I took prozac for depression and sucicidal ideation off my doctor, for about 8 months a few year ago. Fluoxetine 20 mgs, then upped to 40mg, for 2 months, then came off them cold turkey Because I felt better. I haven't taken any since and strangely I don't feel as bad as I did back then, I still suffer from lonliness, OCD and I think that caused my depression in the first place.

I think for me, I wanted to erase the suicide and dark thoughts, which have abated, now I just have to dig deeper to find the underlying causes of why I can't find the right relationships.

Good luck, and let us know how you go on, because like I say, they helped me over a huge hurdle.

And I never got any side effects off them either.

Edit:
I also realize that it was over the winter months when the dark thoughts hit hard.
 
I'm a doctor who has prescribed many antidepressants. I've never been on one myself, and I'm not a psychiatrist.

Having said that here is my advice:
-Try everything short of getting on med
-If nothing is working and you want to try a med, try to see a psychiatrist rather than a general doctor; it's not that general doctors are bad, but they are really busy and it's not their specialty
-When you speak to a psychiatrist request something simple first; now most should of course follow this, but every now and then a doctor will try something too expensive or used for another reason
 
I took SSRIs selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors for too, too many years, Bottom line(for me):
I would rather face my depression head on and even if my way of dealing with it is at times clumsy, awkward and painfully inadequate, it is far safer yes i said safer than being blindsided because of some false euphoric sense that eveyone is out for everyone else's good and every thing is going to be alright and La De Da don't worry: Be Happy! That's what all the extra serotonin running through my brain did to me
Bullshit! This might be the correct therapy for a clinically depressed AND institutionalized patient but It is handed out like candy on Halloween imo. Meditate or physically exhaust yourself or do both and any other activity or pursuit that will help you deal with your depression. Find a hobby you can love and escape to. Then when you're feeling brave, try to figure out what's causing your depression. Good luck to you:D
 
I appreciate all the advice. I have tried much to ward off depression/social anxiety for the last several years; I've gotten in shape, I still exercise regularly, I get plenty of sun, yoga, but I still often feel hopeless and lost. So I'm going to go discuss it with my doctor. I wish a psychiatrist was a viable option but it's not, there are too few of them around, and too many patients.
 
guardian said:
I took SSRIs selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors for too, too many years, Bottom line(for me):
I would rather face my depression head on and even if my way of dealing with it is at times clumsy, awkward and painfully inadequate, it is far safer yes i said safer than being blindsided because of some false euphoric sense that eveyone is out for everyone else's good and every thing is going to be alright and La De Da don't worry: Be Happy! That's what all the extra serotonin running through my brain did to me
Bullshit! This might be the correct therapy for a clinically depressed AND institutionalized patient but It is handed out like candy on Halloween imo. Meditate or physically exhaust yourself or do both and any other activity or pursuit that will help you deal with your depression. Find a hobby you can love and escape to. Then when you're feeling brave, try to figure out what's causing your depression. Good luck to you:D
Click to expand...

I've also been on SSRIs for too long. I can say that's not quite how I'd describe it. It relieves anxiety to some extent and can instill a sense of calm which makes me lethargic and very unmotivated, but euphoric? Hardly. These drugs don't instill or inflate confidence.

Lackadaisical and carefree is a better way to explain it, in my experience anyway. And that can cause a lot of problems; I know it has for me. I just rarely ever feel like doing anything I need to do, leading to endless inaction. And yet, it's ridiculously hard to get off the drugs. So of course I would suggest avoiding SSRIs at all costs if possible, unless in extreme cases.
 
I am on Cipralex and propranolol (also known as Lexapro and Inderal) for depression and anxiety, respectively. They are saving my life.

I have tried numerous medications, (fluoxetine, citalopram, etc) and they either did nothing or made me feel like jumping from the roof. It is hard to find a good fit, meaning the right medication and the right dose, and the time of day you take them can also be a factor.

The side effects can hit hard, yes, but the outcome can be positive.

Trying to face the depression head-on, without meds, is brave and commendable. I couldn't do it, myself, and wanted to die. I kept on trying to find the right meds because I felt I owed it to my son. He had a right to a functioning, happy mother just as much as I had a right to be a functioning, happy person.

The choice to go on medication is a personal thing, and I'm not pushing it one way or another.

Just thought I'd give my take on it. I hope you find what works for you.
 
I would recommend doing as much research as possible before you decide on a course of action.

Starting an antidepressant regimen can be troublesome.
 
Hi,
I was prescribed an anti-depressant (I believe it was Zoloft) after my kiddo was born. I wasn't too keen on the idea of taking pills but it definitely helped me. I'm not sure I would have been able to take care of my infant if I stayed in bed crying all day. I don't take the medication anymore, I only needed it temporarily.
Everyone is different. What works great for one person may totally wrong for someone else.

-Teresa
 
I tried antidepressants twice in my life: the first made me drool and drop my head, the second made me feel like I had a straight jacket around my brain. Tranquilizers destroyed my health. I would think twice and thrice if there aren't other things that can make you happy enough to keep going. It's just that we are told since we are babies that so many things are impossible, that to follow the craziest dreams is impossible. My advice: if one has to be crazy, one might as well do it doing crazy things; not shooting inside a school, mind me! But trying out all the things that one thinks are impossible. Depression cannot survive against this kind of craziness. Start small, with something small that one thinks is impossible. Be completely cookoo, do things for the sake of doing them, do what gives one joy.
http://explore.noodle.org/post/40839657205/alan-watts-famous-recently-resurfaced-lecture-on

Also therapy, attending places with people who hug you, and who might sometimes listen to you. Don't be alone too much. Find God. Find whoever.

that is, if the chemical degeneration is not too advanced, then one is better off with some equally chemical help.
But if one is still in time, it's worthwhile to try. My guess. I just hate antidepressants :) They represent for me all that is wrong in our society, suffocate feelings that might indicate a problem or a lack of something to the purpose of maintaining productivity.
Sorry for the little rant, and political incorrectness. Again, when there is a real chemical imbalance, they are the only option. Hope you are not there yet.
 
I've tried 3 different types and they all haven't worked. Mirtazapine gave me a horrible hung over feeling every time I woke up.
 

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