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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to talk about antidepressants?

276 replies

Neednewjeans · 06/10/2012 14:34

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?

OP posts:
emblosion · 06/10/2012 20:52

need I can understand totally why you are worried about taking the meds. I was horrified when the gp told me I might feel worse before I felt better because I didn't think I could handle feeling worse. I did have a shaky couple of days, but started to feel better and more like myself within a week.

When you read about the side effects they sound horrendous, but not everyone gets them and usually they go completely after a couple of weeks. With the sertraline I had some insomnia and increased anxiety for a few days & was prescribed a low dose of valium to take as needed to get me through.

I just can't emphasise how much better I feel - really don't know where id be without the ads. I was in a very dark scary place.

Original poster
Neednewjeans · 06/10/2012 20:52

I actually have managed to go back to work with ongoing postnatal anxiety but there's been so many times I've ended up in a toilet cubical just scared of living. There's no other way to describe it. It's a horrendous thing for anyone to go through - at least I have more empathy for others now.

OP posts:
PrincessSymbian · 06/10/2012 20:53

Oh and I forgot to mention, it is very interesting that the Victorians saw orgasms as a good way of dealing with anxiety as it has recently been found that clitoral stimulation stimulates serotonin production.

PrincessSymbian · 06/10/2012 20:55

Neednewjeans, it's horrible but thankfully with the right treatment it does get better.

justtryingtodomybest · 06/10/2012 20:56

I've been on Citalopram for the last six months or so. I didn't suffer any side effects and will happily take them for as long as required - I don't intend to stay on them forever but I wouldn't do that with any medication once I was better.
What they did for me was to give me the strength to deal with the issues that were causing my depression. The ADs certainly won't solve any problems but they should help stabilise your thoughts and moods so you can deal with things in a more rational way.
Before I started taking them I was struggling to get through a day at work without bursting into tears. I couldn't talk to anyone about how I was feeling without getting emotional. The simplest of tasks both at home and work were beyond me. Now, I have dealt with the key issue in my life, I am doing well at work, I am back at the gym and starting to sort out my diet and really look after myself properly.
I would have no problem taking them again if I ever have a need for them again. And I would recommend taking them if anyone asked me - although, like many medicines, there is more than one type and it can be a bit of trial and error to find the right one for you.

Original poster
Neednewjeans · 06/10/2012 20:56

Thanks emblosion - that's really helpful.

OP posts:
Latara · 06/10/2012 20:57

That is what i think too, that i'm a lot more understanding of others now that i've been depressed when before i probably wasn't.
I hated the depression because it was horrible feeling everything was worthless & pointless; i cried for no reason at all; i would have said i wouldn't wish it on anyone; but now i know that you can feel worse which is what i have felt lately with the MH probs i've got now.

Twiggy71 · 06/10/2012 20:58

I have been on AD now for 18 years since the birth of my son after the birth I had severe pnd it was so bad I had planned my suicide but couldn't leave my son.

Ad's saved my life if I hadn't had them I wouldn't be here today.

I have always been told by my doctor because of my mh history that its best for me to always take AD this I have come to terms with now as

ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmmm · 06/10/2012 21:01

Fluoxetine here.. i wouldn't be here without them either
I've missed a week though because you have to go and see the doctor to get them now.. and boy can i tell lol

Twiggy71 · 06/10/2012 21:02

I have been on AD now for 18 years since the birth of my son after the birth I had severe pnd it was so bad I had planned my suicide but couldn't leave my son.

Ad's saved my life if I hadn't had them I wouldn't be here today.

I have always been told by my doctor because of my mh history that its best for me to always take AD this I have come to terms with now as I have to keep living and bring up my two dc on my own. I have to be the dm they need and if that means taking ad's for the rest of my life then be it.

Twiggy71 · 06/10/2012 21:03

Sorry everyone i posted twice blinking phone ...

BupcakesAndCunting · 06/10/2012 21:04

NeedNewJeans, I would say ask your GP for the ADs.

It is true that there are side effects, not very nice ones, but that is just for a couple of weeks whilst they get into your system. It was so worth it for me, personally. I am happy to accept that I may need them for life but as long as I don't end up in the pits of hell like I was this time last year, I don't much care. I am functioning again. Sure, I have moments of anxiety/feeling low but they are just that: moments. I don't need to spend days in bed hiding from the world because I am too afraid to face it. I got given my ADs in October last year as I, like you,was worried about taking them. I thought I was getting better by myself but in December, I had another massive panic attack in town and DH had to leave work at 11am and drive 40 miles to collect me because I was convinced I was dying. It was then I knew something had to change. CBT didn't help me. I just don't have the mindset for it. It works for others, it just didn't for me. So I had nowhere to go but take the sertraline. And like otehrs have said, I should have done it sooner. You wouldn't go without insulin if you were diabetic, you wouldn't go without crutches if you had a broken ankle. This is no different. :)

dottyspotty2 · 06/10/2012 21:08

I agree go back to your gp it has to be worth a try I thought I was getting better earlier this year and dr mentioned coming off them in june but in may I hit rock bottom again and became very suicidal. She gave the same analogy when I said I hated being on them said if I was diabetic I would take insulin or if I had thyroid problems would take meds for it, its just the same. I had a few side affects strange dreams at first but not much else.

Bluestocking · 06/10/2012 21:10

ADs saved my life. I had such crippling anxiety that I constantly felt as though all my worst fears were going to come true, with really profound depression characterised by a feeling of utter worthlessness. I could just about get myself to work and get through the day (although I'm not sure how much use I was) but once I got home, all I could do was sit and shiver. I woke several times every night in a panic. My GP was very sympathetic to my wish to avoid ADs - she gave me betablockers, which can work on anxiety, but to quote an earlier poster, they didn't even touch the sides. I also had five years of person-centred counselling, which was great for some of the underlying issues, but which didn't touch the depression and anxiety. Eventually I asked the GP if I could try ADs and she put me on paroxetine. After three weeks I felt somewhat better, and after six weeks, I woke up one morning and the sky was blue and a blackbird was singing.
I stopped taking paroxetine after about ten years because it didn't seem to be working so well, and tried citalopram which didn't work for me. After a very unpleasant few months when all the anxiety and some of the depression came back, I requested a referral to a psychiatrist. He supervised cross-titration to venlafaxine which works well for me, and which I will continue to take until it stops working, when I will go back to a shrink for a new AD.
I'm with ZombTEE - anyone who wants me to stop taking ADs will have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands.

BupcakesAndCunting · 06/10/2012 21:11

"I'm with ZombTEE - anyone who wants me to stop taking ADs will have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands."

Same here! Grin

FreudiansGoldSlipper · 06/10/2012 21:15

do your research

many many mental health care professionals are questioning the use of them and do they actually help long term (where is the proof that they do apart from research done by researchers sponsered by pharmaceutical companies) or just numb people (which maybe needed sometimes in the short term)

personally having been on them on and off for 15ish years i hope i never feel i need to take them again, for me they were very addictive but i think for the short term at times they are ok long term very very few people need them and no where need the people that are taking them long term

how many people who are on them 1+ year started at maybe 10mg or 20mg and now on 40mg plus is frightening you need to be aware that when you are on them you should still at times feel a bit crap a bit down a little anxious these are normal feelings what so often happens is as soon as someone is not feeling that calmness they go to their doctor who ups the dose this is no good in the long run

if you make the choose to take them make sure you are in touch with all your feelings

Original poster
Neednewjeans · 06/10/2012 21:17

Bupcakes - I can't tell you the amount of times DH has had to come home from work as I was 'dying'. What a f***g shit state of affairs anxiety is. It's shit. So so so shit. Thank you for your kind words. I am keeping ADs 'there' if I start to fall again. I'm also going to sign up for CBT. Counselling hasn't worked as for me it's not about my bloody childhood, or adapting to a new baby or any of that. It's a serious hormonal out of whackness. I feel so desperately sorry for women who have had it worse still than me.

OP posts:
SirBoobAlot · 06/10/2012 21:18

Finding the right medication and dosage is the key thing.

FutTheShuckUp · 06/10/2012 21:22

"I'm with ZombTEE - anyone who wants me to stop taking ADs will have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands."

Same here! grin

Ditto ditto

TwistyBraStrap · 06/10/2012 21:24

I'm on Citalopram. It has definitely helped me.

Between PND and a disability, I felt unable to cope and less like myself. I couldn't see the happiness in anything, and I was scared I was going to feel like this forever - which increased my anxiety, and made me feel more down and scared - it was an endless cycle.

The antidepressants helped me to break that cycle. I've been on and off the tablets most of my life. I was on them when I was 8. I have accepted that I have an imbalance in my brain, and I take the tablets to live a normal life.

FreudiansGoldSlipper · 06/10/2012 21:25

and anyone who is taking them longterm(one year plus) should be referred to a mental health care professional not just take the advice of a GP

BupcakesAndCunting · 06/10/2012 21:25

NeedNewJeans, we sound similar in terms of what kind of anxiety/depression issues we've had. If you ever need a chat, PM me.

Original poster
Neednewjeans · 06/10/2012 21:27

Thanks Bupcakes. That's lovely. I may just need to take you up on that!

OP posts:
ZombTEE · 06/10/2012 21:31

I've been on them for, as I said, 20+ years.

My dose has not changed in about 15.

And I see a psych regularly.

Is everyone happy now?

Hmm
Back2Two · 06/10/2012 21:32

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