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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask your experiences of anti depressants?

93 replies

Ohkayyy · 23/05/2019 08:36

I've been prescribed Sertraline by my GP and I'm a bit sceptical having never taken anything like this before.

Can anyone here who's taken this type of medication before tell me if you found it helpful? Did it work, did you feel better etc?

OP posts:

RLOU30 · 23/05/2019 08:43

I was on 100mg of it and didn’t find it helped me but I have severe panic disorder not depression (it’s used for panic attacks etc) I have just had to come off it and onto something else and the withdrawal is awful I feel like I’m going to pass out today 😣
I am sure others have better experiences to share x

BertrandRussell · 23/05/2019 08:51

Anti depressants gave my dd her life back. Sounds dramatic, but they did. It took about 4 weeks. I know it’s not like that for everyone, but for her it was literally like a miracle.

HollySniffs · 23/05/2019 08:54

I was prescribed the same ones OP but stopped after only a few days as I felt so strange. Am new to anti-depressants full stop.

Others have said they can take a while to adjust to though and can be beneficial overall.

Interested to hear of others' experiences.

Original poster

Ohkayyy · 23/05/2019 08:57

Thank you! I've been prescribed 50mg.

I only started them yesterday and I understand they take some time to work so I think I'll just keep going and see.

I suffer from bad anxiety which is why I went to the GP.

OP posts:

ooonicorn · 23/05/2019 08:58

Worked wonders for me. Took a while to get used to them, maybe a couple of weeks and was on them for a year or two. Came off no problems. They were great and it feels good knowing I can take them again if I get in that dark place again.

Sicario · 23/05/2019 08:59

Anti depressants saved my life.

BertrandRussell · 23/05/2019 08:59

“I was prescribed the same ones OP but stopped after only a few days as I felt so strange. Am new to anti-depressants full stop.”

They don’t help everyone. But please don’t just stop. Talk to your doctor about it, and also, give them a chance. I had to persuade my dd (against my better judgement at the time) to carry on and after two weeks she started to feel better. But it was a tricky two weeks.

MissConductUS · 23/05/2019 09:09

I was on a different AD for PND, but it was also in the SSRI class. It took a while to work and did make me feel a bit odd at times, but it really helped a lot. Don't be afraid to ask your doctor to adjust the dose or even switch you to a different drug if you don't get good result.

icannotremember · 23/05/2019 09:13

I'm on sertraline right now. It has worked. First 10 days were dreadful, if anything I felt worse and the side effects were not pleasant (strange sense of disconnectedness, staring, trembling, nausea, headaches) but at around 2 weeks in that had died down and I started to feel so much better. That was 3 months ago. The only remaining side effect is sexual but ssris are known for that and on balance it's worth it.

peigi · 23/05/2019 09:13

I've been on them for a while and will reply fully when I have a moment.

But do not just stop taking them, even if they don't seem to be working. SSRI withdrawal is horrible and dangerous. I've almost ended up in hospital with it before.

troppibambini · 23/05/2019 09:25

They were the best thing I ever did.
I had four young children which with hindsight I had far too close together. I was depressed and felt like shit. I saw a lovely doctor at my surgery who thought that I probably didn't need counselling as there was no deep seated reason to me depression I just had a lot to cope with and thought that anti depressants would help me in the short term. She made me feel so much better as she told me she had had two boys very close together and when they were little was the hardest time in her life.
I took 50mgs of Sertraline for around 18 months. It was literally life changing. My marriage got back on track I was a better mum and just a better version of me.
The first time tried to come off it I did it far too quickly and felt dreadful. The second time I did it really slowly (over about 4 months) and it was fine.
I've been off them for around 2 years now and I've been good.

Original poster

Ohkayyy · 23/05/2019 09:33

Those saying they came off slowly, how did you do that? A lower dose or taking every other day?

OP posts:

Bottledate · 23/05/2019 10:08

I've just stopped sertraline after a year (or two?). Worst was the nausea I got when I started. Went from 50 to 100 and then back to 50 (with the option to take one or two depending on what I was happier with). By the time the packet ran out I was on a 50 every other day and then just stopped.

I too was sceptical about using them. I still don't know how much to attribute to the drug vs placebo effect vs. life changes, but I'm glad I got the courage (after years) to break down in front of GP and get it sorted.

BertrandRussell · 23/05/2019 10:13

Don’t think about coming off at the moment. Maybe you will- maybe you’ll be on them for life. And both are absolutely fine. Nobody ever starts taking Insulin with a view to stopping taking it again soon!

Spongeface · 23/05/2019 10:17

Started on 50mg yesterday too OP I'm with you.

Kione · 23/05/2019 10:19

I have been taking Sertraline for over 2 years.
I have Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and use to manage it with Citalopram quite well, but weaned out of it to conceive and didn't need it whilst pregnant (no PMDD) After I had DS a as was breastfeeding I was given Sertraline because I had PND. A 180 degree turn, I was and still am so much better on it! So even if I suppose I got over the PND I continued taking it for PMDD, I am so happy with it as it doesn't work for all PMDD sufferers.
Now here is a tip: Drs say 50 is the minimum dose, it made me go loopy, insomnia, etc. But you really need to ride the first weeks out. So I started taking half of that just so my body got used to it. The dr said it had been a good idea later on. I am on 100 now, all fine.

Original poster

Ohkayyy · 23/05/2019 10:33

Thank you!

Talking about conceiving, I am TT

OP posts:

Original poster

Ohkayyy · 23/05/2019 10:36

Woops didn't mean to press post...

I am TTC at the moment (taking two months off at the hospitals orders due to recurrent mc), my Dr said it was okay to TTC on this and we'd discuss it again if I do get pregnant as to whether to continue or not.

OP posts:

Kione · 23/05/2019 10:50

My friend got put on Sertraline when she started TTC because she has PND with previous child. It's totally safe.

Kione · 23/05/2019 10:50

*had

goose1964 · 23/05/2019 10:55

I'm on sertraline, and have been for years. I suffer from depression caused by negative voices in my head. Sertraline has shut these voices up so I can do things and not be told I'm pathetic. It's heaven but they can take a month to kick in properly.

Adelino · 23/05/2019 10:55

I take antidepressants for health anxiety and they have changed my life.
I can enjoy life again now.
I do/ did find they make me tired. It's a different kind of tired though, it's not the utter despair and exhaustion that anxiety causes, it's just needing more sleep.

tryinganotherusername · 23/05/2019 10:57

I took antidepressants when I was feeling very depressed and anxious. They helped me manage by totally taking the edge off the awful feeling I was experiencing. Once I was feeling a bit better though, I started to feel like they were also taking the edge off my positive feelings as well, and I was feeling a bit numb. Maybe this was down the the particular tablets or dose I was on, but I stopped taking them after about 9 months.
I was recently discussing antidepressants with a psychiatrist, who said that he felt people often come off them too soon, and that actually for better long term outcomes patients would be better taking the for 6 months to a year after they feel stable, rather than starting to decrease as soon as they're feeling better. I don't know how true this is or whether it's anecdotal, but I thought it was interesting.

Tootyfilou · 23/05/2019 11:03

Hope you don’t mind me jumping on your thread. I was also prescribed it yesterday. Just wanted some advice from posters. I am going on holidays in 15 days time. Would you start taking them today or wait until after the holiday? I don’t want to feel worse on my holiday. Thank you

Original poster

Ohkayyy · 23/05/2019 11:13

Those who struggled with the side effects initially, would you recommend taking them at a certain time of day? Or am I being naive in thinking I could dodge them by taking them in the evening instead of the middle of the day/morning?

OP posts:

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