to ask about your experience with anti depressants

[Flyingpigs247]

I know everyone is different, but I have heard and read about several cases of people going on them and actually feeling worse, horrendous side effects and one actually felt suicidal after taking them.

I haven't heard many positive stories at all, and this is what scares me. To be fair I only know four people personally who have taken them, and 3 of those 4 had bad experiences.

I am on the waiting list for counselling but I'm just feeling so low and tearful with frequent panic attacks that make me feel physically unwell.

I do have a lot going on at the moment so I don't know how much of it is due to circumstances. I know that anti depressants won't magic all my problems away but I just want to feel better in myself.

Any positive stories of people who have actually felt better after taking them?

They didn't work for me at all when I had situational depression but they saved my life when I had clinical depression and again when I had PND. I can always tell when I really need them because the side effects feel like a worthy trade off. They changed everything for me with the PND within a matter of weeks.

I felt much better in my mood but I was a bit of a zombie. Slow reactions to things. They did help me cope though. Suicidal thoughts are a known side effect I think only in the beginning. I didn't experience them though.

I took Prozac for 30 days. Met someone new after marriage break up, felt a bit zombified so stopped the pills.
Never felt the need to take them again.

My periods stopped and I became suicidal.
Not braved them again although I’m sure they are much better now than 20 years ago.
I know they have helped many, many people and wouldn’t want to put anyone off getting treatment.

I went on Citalopram for the first time 8 years ago. The first 14 days were miserable - nausea, exhaustion etc. - but on day 15 I woke up and it was as if I were suddenly myself again. I've been on and off them ever since and never ever regretted it. When I need them, I need them to make me function the way I normally do. It's true that not every anti-depressant suits everyone, and the side effects if they don't work can be awful, but really that is rare. Normally if they don't work, they just don't work and then you go on and try the next thing or increase the dose or whatever.

I found that without the pills, I wasn't able to cope with going to counselling or doing any of the other things that improve my mental health. With the pills, I could begin to put the changes in place that I needed to. Please don't let the scary stories put you off!

The first few weeks are rough ngl. I gave up twice before because of how bad I found the side effects in those few weeks. I felt very zoned out of everything and just a horrible feeling of anxiety. I have a really great doctor now though who encouraged me to persevere with them when I was suffering from PND and they really helped me (low dose of setraline). After a few weeks I just felt like a black cloud was starting to lift and began just coping better all round really. It really does seem one different for everyone though. If a particular one really isn’t working for you don’t be afraid to go back to the doctors and tell them. It took me 3 different anti depressants to find one that worked for me.

I depends on the medication and your reaction to it, everyone is different and there are hundreds of different types.

Prozac completely changed my personality and made me a slut outgoing.
Citalopram did nothing.
Another tablet, can't remember the name, was so strong that when I stopped taking it I got withdrawals, a terrible buzzing in my head. It took me months to wean myself off it.

Now I take vitamins and supplements, vit b and magnesium are very good, and deal with things myself.

I honestly think they might have saved my life. I was on Citalopram for years, and switched to Sertraline after my son was born and I had PND. The only side effect I’ve had is slower reaction times so I have to work hard when I’m driving.

They give me the oomph to do things - they enable me to do other self-care like cooking proper meals and going to medical appointments. They’re a way of helping me help myself.

It’s worth persevering and building up gradually- it takes a couple of weeks for them to kick in and you to feel any benefit.

Exactly what @Bridget said. They give you enough of a lift to help you help yourself with going out, being active and receiving counselling. Talking therapies are proven to be more effective long term, but medication is more effective in the very short term and can give you the instant help. Sometimes just the placebo effect of knowing you've taken a positive step can help in itself.

Efexor saved my life.

I often tell people that Paxil (that’s the US name, it’s Paroxetin here I think) saved my life. But! My initial dose was 10mg and that made me worse and admittedly suicidal. The dose was lowered to 5mg with two months and I stayed on it for 18 months before coming off with the guidance of my GP.

They have saved my life and my sanity. I am on the highest dose of citalopram and am scared to think how ill I'd be without it.

My approach is if you need glasses you wear them, if you're diabetic you take insulin, if you're depressed you take anti depressants. I hope you soon feel better.

I'm nearly fifty, suffered with mental ill health for 30 years and during that time have had periods free of medication but I go downhill very quickly and for the last ten years I've taken citalopram and it's changed my life.

although I’m sure they are much better now than 20 years ago.

Actually there haven't been any new ADs on the market since then, except maybe Valdoxan.

I’ve been taking citalopram (40mg) for about 3 months now, for PND but tbh my mood has been very low for about 3 years now.

I feel great on these tablets, clear headed, confident and in control of my emotions. I feel like life is so much more manageable for me and I’m doing things I would previously have found difficult due to anxiety.

I have had a bad experience with sertraline in the past, it made me very very sleepy like a zombie. I couldn’t function on them!

Flyingpigs , you only know 4 people who admit to taking them. You probably know loads more. It's a shame people don't talk about it more.
Sorry I confused your name with someone else's earlier

Citalipram worked for me for my PND - took.a LOT of persuading to go on them.Then a while for them to get into my system. The only thing is - 4 years in am getting depressed about my weight IMHO caused by AD.s. Would DEFINITELY recommend them though as the weight gain was the only side affect for me and they got me into a better place

Tried sertraline and others but they didn't work for me.

It's worth a try but have a chat with prescribing GP about possible side effects and what to do if they crop up. I went on Prozac when I was about to go off in the middle of nowhere and ended up feeling suicidal which wan't good. Sertraline made me too hyper and I couldn't sleep but I am doing well on Venlafaxine.

I've been on and off ADs since birth of DS 25 years ago. Everytime I've withdrawn the depression comes back within months, so a while ago I made the decision to stay on them indefinitely and I now take a low dose to feel my normal self. It is not weakness to take ADs, I also take meds for high blood pressure and I wouldn't withdraw from them because I thought it was weak to need them.
The only trade off is sometimes I can feel numb or indifferent to life events.A small price to pay in my opinion.

I’m honestly not exaggerating when I say citralopram saved my life. I was having panic attacks daily and felt sucidial most of the time without them.
The first 2 weeks were bad, and I basically didn’t get out of bed, but after that I started feeling so much better.

I’ve thought about coming off them, but I agree with blackbunny if they make me better then why should I not take them.

I've taken various anti-depressants at times in my adult life. Some worked, others didn't. I won't recommend or advise against anything specifically because it depends on your metabolism whether it'll work for you or not. I will say that you should keep trying and keep going back to your GP until you find something that helps. I have fibromyalgia now, so I'm on anti depressants to help with the pain now. It has the (pleasant) side effect that I feel better emotionally than I ever have.

Good luck with finding what works for you.

They take a few weeks to kick in, but when they do they are a life saver. I was on Venlafaxine. I came off them cold turkey a few months ago, for the simple reason I wanted to see how I coped without them. My marriage is a train wreck, but I seem to be getting through it without AD's. They were a God send when I needed them, but it looks like I don't need them anymore. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Ah, we have two threads going with similar titles.

I had severe anxiety when returning to work after years as a SAHM. GP put me on
Citalopram and - I'm going to be completely honest with you - I have never felt so good inside in my entire life. I just coped so much better with everything. I even used to dance around when I was by myself because I felt so relaxed and happy. (Yes it was weird.) I would go to bed at night and just lie there completely relaxed and contented and not even think about work. I have had severe tension-type headache about three times per week for years, but when I started citalopram they went away almost completely and still haven't returned to anywhere near the same severity. I chose to come off them three months ago because we're TTC, but otherwise I would've happily taken them for the rest of my life. My sister takes them and her GP days she will need them forever...

Side effects: For the first couple of months I was unable to climax during sex, but I still had a sex drive. I got restless legs at night sometimes. I found it really difficult to urinate at first. This got better after a few months. I actually have a bit of an overactive bladder so it may even have helped that a bit. Lastly, I got watery diarrhea about once every three months. That one was not so nice!