to talk about antidepressants?

[Neednewjeans]

Who's on them then? Have they been a help or do you regret taking them? After a bad bout of PND most health professionals kind of 'gave up' with me as I wasn't willing to try them (mostly due to my GP saying my symptoms could become worse before getting any better which, at my worst, I couldn't get my head around).

So...I'd just like honest answers. Did they help? Do you regret it? Would you like to come off them? Or not?

Yes, Dotty, it's a side-effect I had too. The way I saw it was the balance on the scales of my brain tipping towards normal, but on the tip the scales have to reach numbness before they reach normality!

thats good

but would you rather not get to the real reason why you feel like this, maybe not or maybe not is not the time or maybe it is about your life now. some are happy taking drugs for the rest of their life to feel normal (i love takign any drugs but i also like to feel totally drug free it is freeing), sadly often the dose has to be upped as people often start fearing feeling sad/anxious. if this is not the case for you good but for anyone once you start upping your does of these very powerful drugs ask yourself why what is the real reason. i think it should be advised to write a diary when takign these drugs of any changes you may feel

I remember telling my dr and she was actually pleased because I was so bad beforehand, don't ever want to feel the way I did after it all blew up.

When my STBXH walked out, it was such a shock to me, that I just couldnt cope. It was so totally out of the blue... I was crying day after day and couldnt eat, work, sleep. It wasnt fair on DD as she wanted to know why I was crying all the time.

So I had the strength and sense to go to my doctor and ask for help. I sat there crying and shaking, having lost a stone in a couple of weeks, and she put me on Citalopram. I started on 10mg for two weeks, then it was upped to 20mg. I felt a bit spaced out for a couple of days, but once they started to take effect, felt much better. After about a month, I started heading downhill again and started crying every day again and the dose was upped to 30mg. I have felt fine since then.

The doctor plans for me to be on them until my divorce is finalised at least, or most probably I will stay on them until after Christmas, then start to reduce the dosage and come off them.

I simply could not have survived without them and I had to put DD 4yo first and think about her.

I know that some people have had side effects, but I didnt have any. I would say that there is probably a loss of libido as I certainly dont feel like sex, but havent got a bloke here any way, so not a problem

Freudian grieving for over 2 weeks? Really?!

would you rather not get to the real reason why you feel like this

I'd bloody love it but unfortunately there is no conceivable reason as to why I'm depressed, none! I was loving life, I'm in love, got a good job and training for a better one, then one morning BAM. The depression came back and hit me like a tonne of bricks.

So for now I have to rely in drugs, I can't afford to not take them and have the 'cant get out of bed' or 'how many pills will it take to kill me' days.

Neednewjeans I'm currently taking duloxetine, which is an SNRI and which has helped not only my depression but my awful anxiety. I am very happy to be taking them, and will take them until I no longer need them.

I started taking ADs after my third baby was born. They changed my life. I feel balanced and normal and occasionally joyful. I've been on and off them a few times and have concluded that life is definitely better with. I would add that they complement (rather than stand in for) a mood-friendly lifestyle which includes healthy relationships, exercise and good food.

Goldship your understanding and experience of depression will actually be invaluable in your career, like me, you will be able to spot pnd at 20 paces. You will be able to offer real, practical and empathetic advice because you actually know what you are talking about.

Every cloud has a silver lining and all that

Freudian, do you really think that those of us who think ADs work are really too thick to research for ourselves if we are concerned? That perhaps we and the medical professionals who know our medical histories might be better placed to decide whether the positives of taking ADs outweigh the possible side-effects? Do you think we are all so thick that we simply get fobbed off with ADs so that we save the NHS money?

sorry it looked like there had to be a reason there does not or one you can point too but to understand maybe what is the root of your depression and/or to manage your depression

yes over 2 weeks grieving you are depressed (this is what is being proposed, ie, doctors can sign you off depressed prescribe you ad's who wins there...) hopefully as it is still being finalised this will change along with other so called mental illnesses

shaky I have actually never thought about it like that! You're so right, maybe things do happen for a reason. It's good to know through my crappy experience I might be able to help someone else! That's made me feel actually so much better!

Freudian that's bloody ridiculous depending on who has died it can take a long time to get over a loss its not depression.

Freudian can I ask where you're getting your information from?

I grieved for longer than 2 weeks when my rabbit died, never mind a family member or friend! You can't puts time limit on grief.

no

but many do not they take their gp's word for it. many in mh are split in their way of thinking many have changed their point of view now they are seeing so many people being prescribed ad's. a gp can prescribe you prozac etc if you had a problem with your heart and needed drugs ongoing you more than likely be referred

increase in taking ad's is more than 50% in the last 10 years are less people depressed, are more people depressed

Could it be that people now seek help for depression?

Freudian - that increase could have something to do with depression having less stigma attached to it. Its not something to be ashamed of anymore. Back in the day we were expected to solider on, now it's socially acceptable to admit we need help

I forgot to say, that I am also having counselling each week, which is also helping me to understand what happened and to stop me going over and over things in my head....

I know when I started struggling again my GP mentioned prozac if the increased dosage didn't work, I was horrified by the suggestion.

there is that too but are drugs the answer for so many. i know it is the quickest and by far the cheapest solution

Freudian....

I have no idea what your background is, but your constant emphasis on 'find out what is the real reason for your depression and get it fixed and then you will not need to take antidepressants anymore' etc etc is a very narrow perspective.

Depression can be a VERY complex condition, with multiple causes. Oh, I know, there are a hundred trashy films and books where someone finds the One Real Reason why they has got the Depressions, and there's a lovely climactic scene and breakthrough, and wahey! They are Mended and the Depressions have gone!

But in reality... it ain't that simple. Chronic long term depression for example is a total bugger because the causes and effects of depression feed off each other in a horrible cycle - low mood creates negative thought patterns creates self sabotaging behaviour, which guess what? lowers mood. And on it goes.

There is often no big single narrative reason why someone gets depressed. And taking anti depressants doesn't STOP you from getting to understand your own mind and behaviour better. I could never have talked to my first counsellor without the help of anti depressants. I was catatonic, I couldn't speak because choosing any words was meaningless. Anti depressants gave me a tiny breathing space - stopped me from bumping along the bottom just long enough to look up and make an effort.

I'm not taking anti depressants now because I'm not depressed. I can't guarantee I will never be depressed again (statistically, it is likely I will be) - and if I need to take anti depressants again, I will.

Your hypothesis that they somehow stop people from getting to the 'real cause' of their depression doesn't stand up. I think you shouldn't imply either that people who have recognised they have depression and taken the difficult step of asking for help are somehow burying their heads in the sand about their condition. Not true. Those are the depressed who will not recognise their illness, do not or cannot ask for help, often self medicate and are high risk for suicide. It's them you might want to worry about.

"I'd bloody love it but unfortunately there is no conceivable reason as to why I'm depressed, none! I was loving life, I'm in love, got a good job and training for a better one, then one morning BAM. The depression came back and hit me like a tonne of bricks."

This^.

I suspect mine is hereditary. My mum suffers, as does her brother, as did their grandmother, as did her mother... We suspect my brother is too :(

FWIW, my GP didn't give me ADs straightaway. He gave me beta-blockers to help with the panic attacks I was having to see if stopping the attacks would help me cope better. They did stop the attacks but the depression didn't lift.

Prozac is fluoxetine, first AD I had. Nothing spectacularly good or bad about it. Kept me from rock bottom for about six months.

I'd only ever heard of it as prozac along with horror stories of its over prescription.

bupcakes I suspect the same! My grandma, mum, auntie and brother all suffer from depression. I don't know if there's any proof of hereditary depression but it would defo make sense.

I understand why I was depressed before. I was angry at my dad being killed when I was a baby, angry with being bullied as a teen, angry with having a cheating scumbag of a partner. But all that is addressed now and I'm at peace with it all. Quite frustrating to have it again.

Depression, you are a twat. Much love!