To ask how many of you take antidepressants?

[Afternooninthepark]

I am 46 and have suffered from anxiety for 25 years. During that time I have tried everything (other than antidepressants) to help. Some things have helped a little but many have not.
I have always turned down the offer of antidepressants as tbh, I am scared of the potential side effects and potential addictive qualities of these meds.
Every time I feel that maybe I should give them a go, there is something in the media and often negative about them (only yesterday there was a discussion on Radio 2 about people addicted to antidepressants and unable to get off them),
However, I am now 46 and my anxiety is uncontrollable, it consumes me all day, every day, I have physical symptoms as a result which exacerbates the anxiety and so the vicious cycle continues. I am beginning to think I need something stronger than the things I have tried so far, as I can not carry on living my life as I have as it effects every aspect of mine and my families lives.
I read that there are around 69/70 million prescriptions of AD’s issued in the U.K. every year and so figure that some of you on here must fall into those statistics and I am confident you would give me an honest and realistic account of your experiences, good or bad of antidepressants (although, of course I appreciate we are all different).
So, can I please ask if any of you take or have taken antidepressants and have/did they help with your problems or are they the evil medications that the media will have me believe?

Citalopram has been a gamechanger for me... Ive always for as long as I remember been stressy, highly strung, quick tempered, anxious, restless, varying moods, convinced my whole life would go wrong...

Went for counselling after a traumatic birth and the lady working with me felt I may have chemical imbalance.. discussed with GP who agreed I should try.. I was sceptical but started 20mg a day currently between 20-30mg depending on how I am..

About 6 weeks in and realised last week I do feel better and am more emotionally stable. Coping massively has improved.

I have been on sertraline since 2012, on and off. I was riddled with anxiety before and now I can function.

I’ve been on sertraline since Jan and I’m a different person. It’s brought back my joy in life.

I'm on sertraline. Its changed my life. For once in my entire life I feel I am "normal" and I can regulate my emotions.
I dont know why I suffered without them for over 25 years. Waste of my life.

This. I can't imagine what my twenties might have been like if I had been medicated tbh. Where my life many have taken me.

So many posts here that reaonate.

I echo so many of these posts- after years and years of trying anything but medication and suffering debilitating anxiety I've now been on sertraline for 2 years and it's been life changing. I wish I'd done it sooner.

I'm on amitriptyline which helps me, and also seems to sleep better (a BIG issue as I have a sleep disorder), and have been on Prozac in the past as well, but didn't like the way it killed my libido.

I've had CBT in the past, but it isn't the right approach for me, or my issues, and I actually ended up feeling worse (a judgemental therapist didn't help there, to be fair, but I also strongly believe the basic approach of CBT isn't suitable for everyone with depression).

I'm in my early fifties now and have pretty much made my peace with the fact that antidepressants are what my depression responds to the best. I won't be trying talking therapies again unless something other than CBT becomes available on the NHS or I decide to pay for some other form of treatment.

They've saved my husbands life and helped him turn everything around.

4 years citalopram for my anxiety. I look at it as if you have a headache you take some paracetamol I have anxiety I take a tablet

I was on sertraline for 2 years, I've been off them for about 6 months now and all of my symptoms are coming back. I'm giving counselling a go but to be honest I do want to go back on the tablets. I felt better on them.

I was on sertraline for 18 months. They took a while to have any effect but they definitely helped me.

I stopped taking them two months ago with my GP’s agreement. I was worried that I might find it difficult to stop taking them, but I had no problem at all.

Definitely helped me a lot

No. I tried them several times, many years ago and they don't work for me. I get too many side effects.
I'm better off with a permanent level of manageable depression 🤷‍♀️.

me. been on fluoxetine for five and a half years, and it's been a real game changer for me.
been through some bad times with depression, but it and meditation have got me through it
cut down my dose a lot recently, with a view to trying to stop them, which is scary - but I'd have no worries about taking them again if that doesn't work out

Citalopram for 3 years, along with cbt.
They turned my life around, I literally could not function.
Ssri's take a little while to work and you can feel really bad for the first few days, but stick with them and they are fantastic.
Also remember, different ones work with different people.

Me. 40 mg of Fluoxetine ( aka Prozac) for anxiety. I was on Citalopram but it stopped working after 6 months so now I’m on these. They definitely help.

Prozac since 2001. Has two periods off it and crashed into huge depression and anxiety both times. Now on 40mg a day and probably will be forever. I can work full time and feel like a normal person 95%of the time. I I gave the odd low day but nothing like the grinding hideous depression like before when I could hardly get out of bed. Sertroline didn't work for me so you might need to try a few different ones. They are a lifesaver and life enhancer for me.

I was on them for years. I don't take them anymore and haven't done for years.

If you feel you need further help op, please see your GP. They do make a difference.

Reading with interest. Many, many years ago I was on Venlafaxine for PND. They worked well but took months to come off.

Fast forward 15 years I started to feel low, particularly around my period. I took a low dose of Fluoxetine for nearly 2 years then slowly came off. It helped to even my moods out BUT I literally did not/could not cry, had horrible dreams and felt a bit numb ( I realise this as I have been off it for several months).

However! I am now feeling emotionally up and down and quite frankly, a bit shit. I am going to my GP at the weekend to discuss but I really don't want to go back to ADs. I hardly drink, work out etc and I am so sad that I cannot hit a happy middle instead of being on them and numb or off them and sad.

I've been on citalopram since 2013 - they saved my life. I do intend to come off them at some point but not yet. I can't bear the thought of my kids seeing me like that again so I wont even consider it until they're older.

Me, for the last 10yrs (fluoxetine - had physical reactions to the others) best thing I ever did! I wish for my daughters sake I'd started them 10yrs earlier though.

I won’t lie, the few who have mentioned bad experiences or side effects do put me off but as there are many, many of you with positive stories I know in my heart that I really should try something. Like others, I have wasted over 2 decades not living the life I can only dream of living. And it’s not just about me, I have a husband and two children and I owe it to them to be the best person I can be and I have tried my darn hardest to do it with healthy living, talking therapies etc and the truth is that, for me those things just don’t even touch the surface. I really don’t want to spend the rest of my life excepting that was it, that I was living a half life and wearing a mask for the outside world to see but feeling completely different on the outside. I no longer want that, I’ve tried everything else I could possibly try and it just hasn’t worked.

I posted a bad story, OP. But it wasn't to warn you off. As you can see, the responses are overwhelming positive. I just didn't think it would be fair not to be honest about my experience, since that is what you asked.

I'm quite sure this could be a really positive thing for you.

The stigma of anti depressants seriously needs to stop. If you had a problem with your kidneys would you not take medication? If you had an infection would you not take antibiotics because of the bad press on them (of which there is a lot)?Every single medication has risks and side effects antidepressant included.
I took them for 18 months and it made me a whole lot better. Reason I'm not on them now is because I'm pregnant. Will most likely go back on them after the birth.

My anxiety is so severe nothing seems to touch it. Even the sedative at the dentist which was enough to knock an elephant on its ass (apparently) didn’t help massively. I could still feel my anxiety through it.

I’ve gotten quite good at managing by myself now. 6 months of talking therapy helped.

Karkasaurus no I totally appreciate all experiences, good or bad.

Citalopram for me for the past 8 years.

Doc changed me to Venafalaxine and it was horrendous. Anxiety through the roof because of unexplained infertility, so much bereavement, so many miscarriages.

I wouldn't have started without counselling and acupuncture and massages helped too, as well as avoiding caffeine plus trying to get enough sleep.

Now peri-men and it's all gone to shit again. Thank fuck DH is together!