What do antidepressants feel like?

[Lavendersblue8]

I’m at a low point at the moment, have been for quite a while now really.

I have felt very low before, but never admitted it or asked for help, and no one has ever noticed. In the past I have been able to work through these low patches and make changes in my life until I am content again. At the moment I am unable to do that. I understand the causes of my negative emotions, but am not in a position to change the situation.

I’ve always avoided speaking to a GP etc when feeling low, and previously never wanted medication, or even a diagnosis. But now I fear that I am wasting years of my children’s childhoods, and wondering if it’s time to ask for some help, before they grow up and it’s too late. However, I’m still nervous and reluctant when it comes to antidepressants, I only want to try if they can make me feel happy / interested / motivated / engaged again. If they will only take me from low to numb then I don’t see the point.

Can anyone who has taken antidepressants please try and explain what happens when you start taking them?

It's a bit different depending on the type you're given and the individual. I've tried a few in the past and occasionally had side effects that generally last a couple of weeks.

But usually, for me, it doesn't "feel like" anything. Not at first, anyway. As they start to kick in - and it can take up to a month - you just realise that you don't feel as bad. The symptoms are less.

They've never completely removed depression for me, what they do do though is make it manageable. They lift the fog and the bleakness and put a stop of the dark thoughts. That means I'm then better off to make the changes i need to in order to start getting rid of the depression altogether.

They allow me to function so that i can manage self care and change circumstances so that my depression does go away. And yes, they do help me to feel engaged and motivated again but it doesn't happen immediately, its not like taking a painkiller.

A word of warning- if you're inconsistent with taking them or stop taking them without gp supervision, you will get rebound depression and its shit. If I miss 2 days in a row I start feeling dreadful. You need to wean yourself off them with doctors help to avoid the rebound crap.

Definitely go and see your gp, op. You've got nothing to lose.

Why’d you not want help? If you broke a bone you’d get help! ADs help lift the cloud so you can see and breath clearer. Talking therapy differs depending on what you need. I had talking therapy combined with ADs before when i couldn’t get my head around why I wasn’t good enough to have a baby with, or have the family others have. that was 15 years ago. Was on them for 6 months or so.

anyway roll on to June last year and work was utter shit, boss an utter wanker. I couldn’t sleep for worrying about the job now on ADs and anti anxiety tablets, changed job a few months ago and was taking my tablets but this week the anxiety and depression have been so bad.

I live with the down days and get through them the best I can. I keep taking my meds and I keep going. The down I’m in now will lift because it always does. In a week if it doesn’t I’ll call the Dr.

I need help and they help me

There are a lot of different ADs, and they affect everyone differently. No one can predict what will happen for you if you take them.

If anything, any side effects will occur before you feel any benefit. Stuff like a dry mouth, slight nausea, insomnia (depending on the medication.. some make you sleepy).

You won't wake up one day and suddenly feel better. It will be a gradual thing... and you will look back and realise you don't feel so bad anymore. Keeping a mental health journal might be helpful if you want to see how things are going.

Also, medication is just one tool in the fight against depression. Talking therapy might help, and remembering to do things like basic self care, getting out and about, seeing people, keeping a routine.... meds wont do much if you continue to isolate and stay in bed all day.

The dark cloud permanently raining above my head has lifted.
The bad thoughts go and are replaced with happy music.

The side effects when starting were tough for me but once I settled into the ADs, I realised I could plan for the future again . I had been so truly low and anxious. So anxious that making any plans whatsoever scared the shit out of me. I still feel some depression & some anxiety but I don’t want to increase my dosage and the ADs have taken enough of the edge off that I can plan a life again. I feel they’ve saved me in ways

best of luck @Lavendersblue8 things can always change x x

Also @Lavendersblue8 I had been going to therapy for a LONG time before going on the ADs and it just was not working despite having a great therapist.

There are many types and they affect people differently. I had severe depression and anxiety in my 20s. So bad I could barely function, couldn't work, study or anything. I started taking seroxat. I felt a huge difference within a few days. It was like all the darkness and heaviness lifted very suddenly. I felt light and free. After months of depression it was quite a shock to the system to suddenly feel so good! I always say these tablets saved my life. I immediately signed up to university, got a degree and generally just started living again. I had NO side effects.
My husband is currently taking Mirtazapine. For him it took a full 6 weeks to work. For the first week he felt like a zombie and it also increased his appetite at first so he put on a few pounds. His appetite is back to normal now. It helped him sleep better (insomnia was one of his most debilitating symptoms of depression) and definitely lifted his mood.

First, look at your diet. A lot of people think they're depressed when actually they're very deficient in certain vitamins and minerals. Iron, magnesium, omega 3, omega 6 and B vitamins and folates esp.

I think that most people are likely to have side effects initially.
I recall an instant, about 3 weeks after I started taking them, I laughed at something and recall my whole body feeling happiness. It was like I'd woken up. I think I had got so used to going through the motions of things that I was very disconnected.

For me I first tried citalopram and I didn’t really feel much different but then i got fluoxetine which really works for me. It is like the fuzzy cloudy head lifted and I could actually be bothered with things: not in a jumping for joy turning cartwheels sort of way but literally just like a functioning person rather than a shell just struggling thru the day ! So so many ppl r on mental health meds. Ppl you know will be on them: you wouldn’t hesitate to get help for ur physical wellbeing so go for it.

Like my brain is a scratched CD that's been cleaned and plays properly again.

I was on diazepam and although as first they didn't make me feel like I could tackle the housework and shopping etc. I just didn't get upset about it anymore. I was basically sat there feeling totally relaxed and just didn't care about anything. After a couple of weeks I started to feel better and able to cope with everyday stuff and came out of the depression.

Hello, sorry to hear you’re feeling like this. It’s a horrible feeling which I’ve been through. Sorry if I’m oversharing here, but my mind was in a terrible state and my health visitor advised at that time (10 years ago) that I really should take them. At first it was a low dosage. In the beginning I felt a little bit queasy taking them and wanted to stop but i continued. It took around 2 weeks for them to kick in and I started to feel more positive and rational. They aren’t happy pills. I still had my usual worries but instead of catastrophising over these worries I was able to behave more rationally. They definitely improved my life. Now if I find I don’t take them, I really notice the difference in my clarity and reasoning.

i hope this helps. I’m new to net mums so not sure if private messaging is allowed, if so feel free to do so. If not I apologise for suggesting x

Thank you everyone.

I am still functioning at the moment (work, housework, school run etc), albeit on auto-pilot. Does this suggest that I’m not in a bad enough state to warrant medication? I don’t want to doctor to think I’m wasting their time.

I wouldn't say I felt "numb" at all. The first week or two I felt odd and quite detached, but that could have been symptoms of my mental health problem. After that I felt my normal self but with a few differences. I get angry less easily. It's like I'm a bit more detached and I'm not driven by my feelings. And I've started to enjoy life more. It's not a dramatic change I just notice every now and then that I'm enjoying something or looking forward to something.

I wouldn’t say you would be wasting the doctors time. Not at all. They will probably do a scoring chart with you to see how low you are feeling. What would you think about making the appointment and going from there?

@Sarah0611 , my initial reaction is that I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to speak to anyone, I don’t want to vocalise that there is a problem, I don’t want anyone to know that I’m not coping. But I think I need to push myself to try it.

Nope, you still absolutely qualify for anti depressants if you want.

You just might not need as high a dose as those who aren't functioning.

If I feel myself slipping, I'll seek anti depressant treatment before it deteriorates. It might be the dose needs to go up after a few weeks but I'm still already on them.

It can sometimes take a while to find an anti depressant that works well for you. I loved citalopram for example but a while ago I went through a very dark period and we tried a couple of others before I found one which worked well.

I've spent most of my life off anti depressants but I have no intention of coming off my current prescription any time soon and honestly really don't care if I take them forever now; they work so well for me.

Takes about a month to get use to, depending on what ones you have been on. I was on Sertraline for a couple of years. I had nausea coming on them and coming off as well as not being able to sleep but you soon get use to them. Sertraline helped with my ocd tendencies but didn't help so much with my anxiety.

I don’t want to vocalise that there is a problem, I don’t want anyone to know that I’m not coping

Reframe it in your mind. The ability to cope is the adaptability to try different tools when the ones you're used to aren't as effective as they need to be.

So when you're speaking to the doctor, you're only asking for additional tools. It's part of coping and there's no shame in it.

You’ve done well to speak on here. It’s so hard to admit there might be a problem in the first instance. But you’ve done that here. You’ve mentioned working, school runs, being a mum so you’ve got a lot going on. I we put so much pressure on ourselves to cope but sometimes it gets all too much.

Please try the advice of vitamins first. Unless you have a stellar diet full of leafy greens, lean meat and pulses already.

Well your gp can check for any deficiencies with a blood test and a good multi vitamin won't do most people any harm but its unlikely to cure depression.

If you have a deficiency that is bad enough to be effecting your mood, you'll need a prescription to treat it anyway.

Op I had the same thought process. I knew I felt crap but didn't want to talk about it. Finally bit the bullet 6 months ago and started taking sertraline, starter dose of 50 mg. Now I'm on a 100 mg and it does help. I personally felt the difference straight away, I also get a lot less headache than before. I might try a different one eventually as it really reduced my libido which is not ideal obviously.

My DH is still working very long hours iin a demanding role (managing lots of people and projects). He's only just holding it together and was very depressed. He absolutely qualifies for anti-depressants. He'd tried everything else and was getting worse.