AIBU to take anti-depressants as a short term fix?

[Chocolateandchats]

The last year has left me depressed and anxious. My circumstances won’t change for a few months at least and I’m already six months down a year long waiting list for talking therapy, I can’t afford to go privately. I’m at the point where all someone needs to do is ask if I’m ok and I cry my eyes out. Time off work isn’t an option so I’m considering getting anti-depressants just to get me through the next few months. I took them around 20 years ago (I’m in my early forties) and didn’t like the numb feeling but I’m now thinking that has to be better than crying ALL the time. AIBU?

Of course you should. There have been lots of developments too in 20 years so there might be one that leaves you less numb than the previous one.

What's the option if u dont take them?

You should certainly have a conversation with your gp. Short term or long term, if they help they help.

Absolutely, you would take pain killers if you were in pain. Also antidepressants have some a long way in the last few years and there are many different types out there. You should be able to work with your gp to find one that suits you.

How old are you OP?

Thank you for the replies.
I’m 41. I took Seratox in my early twenties and I became “cold”. For example my parents would call me crying and I genuinely wouldn’t care, I’m so close to them and generally quite an empathetic person. @lolaflores I don’t really know, I feel like I’m heading for a breakdown but somehow I get through another day.
In honesty I’m scared, scared of becoming dependent on pills, scared of letting down the many people that rely on me, scared that I’m failing as a mum, wife, daughter and friend. My head is a mess but I thought I’d be able to manage, I guess I feel weak for needing a drug to get through. I would never think that of anyone else but that’s how I’d feel about myself.

It's not weakness, it's illness.

And truly, the drugs are so much better now. You won't become dependent on them and there's no reason to think they'll make you feel numb. Go and see the doctor, explain your past history and your concerns and then take the pills they recommend. Good luck!

Thank you. I’ll make an appointment tomorrow.

Also, just for now, let yourself off the hook from letting down all the other people, whoever they are, who are relying on you. You need to get yourself feeling ok again, everything else is going to have to take a slight back seat for now. Mental illness doesn't give a shit about your responsibilities. It is a wake up call that you need to listen to yourself. Good luck, you can get through this!

I’ve been on them for 9 years. I’ve decided they’re now just part of my day. I tried 3 or 4, and settled on mirtazipine (quite a low dose). I used to think it wasn’t an option for me, then my GP said that if I was a diabetic, I would take insulin. That’s the root of the basis I take all of medication now! 🤣
Honestly - you WILL feel better at the end of all this.

I got 'ill' in July 2018. I was just back from holiday, fine one day then out of nowhere I started to feel weird. Off the scale anxiety, panic attacks, dark thoughts, nervous wreck, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep and lots of physical symptoms that frightened the life out of me. I still don't know what caused it but think it was probably a culmination of things that had just sort of built up in the background, bereavement and other life changes.

I was prescribed anti-depressants on first visit to Doc but was 'scared' to take them. I felt like such a failure - me on anti-depressants then there were all the terrible side effects I'd read about. Nope, I wasn't going to take them. I'd get better on my own.

They sat in a drawer for over a year. I soldiered on, went for CBT therapy and tried alternative therapies including St. John's Wort. Unfortunately I had a severe allergic reaction to it (first thing I've ever been allergic to in my life) and ended up in A&E.

In September 2019 I ended up in A&E again with off the scale anxiety racing thumping heart etc. I knew I had to do something and I went home and took my first anti-depressant.

I cut them in slices to start and built up gradually but I swear (and I don't know if it was placebo effect as they are supposed to take several weeks to work) I started to feel better in that first week and gradually as I built up to full dose, started to feel like my old self again. I had virtually no side effects and those that I did get were easily managed .

Four months on and I'm doing great. I suffered for fourteen months because I refused to take them. If you need them, you need them and for many of us they are life changing.

You should know that antidepressants take 3/4 weeks before the effects begins and the side effects start immediately. You also can't stop them abruptly as if can be very dangerous. They may be the answer for you but for these reasons I'm not sure that can be used as a short term fix. Maybe if by short term you mean several months then yes.

While I'm not arguing against using anti depressants if you have chronic depression, and I don't think it's a weakness, I'm a bit wary of using them to put up with an intolerable situation for the next few months. What is the issue? Can it be changed sooner?

Using the painkiller analogy like previous posters, I wouldn't use painkillers to mask an injury for months so I could carry on with a manual job that was damaging my back. I would try to change my way of working to alleviate the problem.

Why are the next few months in particular an issue?

I need to go back on some too @Chocolateandchats
What you describe is exactly how I feel!

I don't want sertroline again. It made me a bit manic (weirdly hyper) then quite dull and numb.
I didnt mind being hyper, but hated the numb feeling.
I've an appointment booked and would like to ask for adderol instead of another SSRI....feel like I'll be met with an automatic no?
Doing nothing is no longer a viable option for me tho

I take fluoxetine. I don’t feel numb or cold - just calmer.

Thank you all for your kindness. It’s really hard to explain without outing myself but the short and long of it is that I have a family member that was near fatally ill, she’s stable now but it seeing her and so many others so Ill has scarred me. My DD suffers with depression and my DS has recently been diagnosed with an SEN, all of which has been difficult for the whole family. The straw that is breaking the camels back is that I’m on a work placement which is due to end in a couple of months. In a few months I’ll be in a well paid job, working less hours which will leave me more time to give what I need to to the other parts of my life. I know I’m anxious but I don’t know about depressed. A therapist I saw a while ago said they think I have unresolved issues that I need to learn to live with, hence the referral for CBT. But in the meantime I need to survive these couple of months and I don’t know how much longer I can, this is why I’m asking about short term. On the flip side, maybe it’s not the circumstances but me and I’d be better taking them long term, I honestly don’t know.
@JunkshopLil that must have been so difficult to cope with, stories like this give me hope, thank you.
@RoseWines exactly that, doing nothing is no longer an option. We’re all trying to survive.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to use them as a short term solution while you are waiting for therapy. That's like taking pain killers while you wait for surgery. For me, the therapy was helpful but I would never have managed to go to it if I hadn't had the medication to make me feel well enough to cope with the therapy. You're doing the right thing, OP.

I am on duloxetine. I am not numb unlike years ago when I was prescribed triasipam. I am calmer, less volatile and seem to be able to cope with challenging family shit a lot better.

I'm on Citalopram and I didn't get any of the nausea that is apparently a common side effect, although as I wrote up above, I started out by cutting the tablets into little pieces, then worked up to a half a tablet for a couple of weeks and then full dose.

The main side effect for me was yawning and loss of appetite, but that normalised after a few weeks.

Also, not numbness exactly but a levelling out of my mood. I used to get terribly wound up and worked up over things and people, particularly in my work (self employed). Could fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. Now it just sort of flows over me. My reaction is far more balanced - less extreme, less emotional.