Positive experiences of antidepressants please

[LethargyApathy]

I have sank into such a deep hole of depression, I'm not even living.. merely existing. Expecting a baby in October so I need get better - quickly. I don't think I can survive another year like this anyway.

I do the bare minimum required of me in the day (taking care of DC - they are not suffering) but other than that I'm stuck on the sofa, willing the day to end on the verge of tears. Rinse and repeat. I'm not a lazy person by nature. The depression has me feeling so fatigued and lethargic I just can't function.

I put on a brave face when OH has a day off work so he doesn't see just how my days are really spent. I'm ashamed.

I need help and I'm going to ask for it this week in the form of AD's, I have already self referred for talking therapy but it's a long waiting list and I just can't hang on that long.

Can you tell me some positive experiences of how antidepressants have helped you (some anecdotes about having minimal side effects would also be very helpful because I seem to react badly to most medications which is why I've let it get to this stage)

Thank you

This is one of the biggest worries of mothers and one of the main barriers of reporting poor mental health as they feel SS will intervene and say they are unfit. I agree with @Wolfiefan but when your not thinking rational I can see why a parent is concerned, don’t let that stop you seeking help.

Hi OP, please do tell your midwife, they may know about services which you don't. You aren't saying anything that would make me think you need social services, so don't worry about that. You are recognising the issue and seeking support, whilst also prioritising your children. These will all be seen as very positive things by your midwife. I hope you get the support you need soon, and start to feel better. Be honest with your husband, family and friends too, if you have positive relationships with them. They will want to support you.

Antenatal depression is a real thing. Hormones can really mess you up! I got v anxious and quite depressed with my 3rd pregnancy. Within a couple of weeks on citalopram the world became possible again. No notable side effects.

They helped me out of a very difficult and dark time on more than one occasion, I got my appetite and sleep back and then the rest of my life improved. I am not on them currently but I am aware that my depression will reoccur so I fully expect to need them again at some point in my life. They are lifesavers.

Sertraline all the way for me. I started taking it at a very low point and it’s changed my outlook in so many ways.

I wasn't suicidal anymore.

Sertraline changed my life. Took me around a week to stop feeling fuzzy, and then everything just got so much better. I stopped waking up in the morning, wishing it was already time to go back to bed etc. I was scared to start taking them at first but I wouldn’t hesitate to go back on them if I ever needed to.

The Citalopram got me to the stage where I could benefit from therapy. One thing I would say is that after a couple of weeks, if you don’t think the ADs are working, say so. My dose was adapted & that made all the difference.

I was in Citalopram for a few years in my 20s, mainly for anxiety and it was great. Came off while TTC.

I had a miscarriage and then got pregnant again soon after. I was miserable, terrified, anxious, panic attacks, severe health anxiety, cried all the time. Eventually admitted to myself that I needed help, and was started on Fluoxetine by my Obstetrician at 30 weeks and honestly, within 3 days, it was like I came out of a tunnel. I actually felt happy for the first time since before my miscarriage. Don't think I realised how unhappy I actually had been. It was a life saver.

Stayed on that until TTC again, and got pregnant. Within 16 weeks, I was back to the anxious, miserable, panic attacks, terrified mess I was last time. This time because of my history, I was regularly speaking to a mental health advanced midwfie practitioner, who recognised my deterioration and started my on Sertraline. Again, within 3 days, came out of the tunnel and have just felt better and better. This is my last baby, and I have no intention of coming of SSRIs again. They just fix my brain. My brain is broken without them.

You will never regret your decision, if it doesn't work, there are other options but please do it. You can be referred to maternity mental health services too which have helped me loads. I am 38 weeks now, on lowest dose of Sertraline and discharged from my MH midwife until after the baby is born as I am so well now. Hope you have as good an experience as me and all the best X

Another “vote” for sertraline. Not depression but anxiety, intrusive thoughts etc - always been there but post children I just wanted to “be better”. Had tried citralopram with no success, 150mg sertraline has 75/80% improved things - only side effect is I’m more sweaty which is gross but I actually feel like a proper person. Talking therapy wasn’t for me.

Fluoxetine here. Feel so much better and wish I'd taken it sooner.

GP also referred me for counselling which also helped overall, but the fluoxetine helps with being able to cope with the day to day.

I’ve been on citalopram for a decade. They worked really quickly for me (within 48h - maybe placebo at having taken action or maybe not 🤷). For me it felt like a light being switched on. Nothing in my circumstances changed but my perspective changed. I never thought that would be possible as I was so set in my mind that nothing would help and what was the point in trying. I had CBT too at the start and whilst that was mildly helpful, the ADs were transformative. The only side effect has been a lower libido. I wouldn’t say the citalopram protects you from feeling down or anxious 100% of the time but for me it helps me bounce back quicker if I do dip. Good Luck OP xxx

I've been on antidepressants most of my adult life, and I never plan to come off them again! I take them for anxiety and they have made such a difference to me.

I took them throughout both my pregnancies, though had to switch what I took as my normal one was deemed higher risk. I was honest with midwives, health visitor and GP about my mental health and they made sure I got support (CBT) but they never seemed unduly concerned and SS were never mentioned.

Sertraline has been a life saver for me.
Anxiety and intrusive thoughts were making my depression bad enough that I couldn't see any other option but to consider taking my life. Not because I wanted to die, but because I needed the world to stop.
I've been gradually increasing my dose from 50mg I was started on 5 weeks ago and from tonight I'm on 100mg.
The lower dose was not doing much, so my GP increased it by alternating a lower with a higher dose until the lower dose were all finished.
The past 10 days, with the slightly higher dose, I've felt my anxiety lessen, the thoughts are less violent and while I'm not feeling happy, I can see a future again. I have another med review with my GP in a week's time and hopefully I won't need another increase.
Initially I was resistant to anti-depressants but I realised the wait for any therapy help was going to be too long without some help.

I've been on citalopram on and off since I was 16 and I find it fine. No side effects
Helps stops my intrusive thoughts and anxiety. On a slightly higher dose for the past 3 years because I was in the kitchen, had a sudden thought, recognised it as an intrusive one and got my shoes on and walked straight to the GP

I have hormonal depression so need anti depressants every day, it’s chemical, they keep me well.
Not reactive, duloxetine, right dose and I function at 59

Such an encouraging thread, I'm so glad I posted.

Hats off to you all for doing what was nessecary to get well

I'm sure a large part of it is hormonal for me too. Prior to this pregnancy I would get horrendous PMS for a week every month without fail. I literally turned into an ogre.

Then when I fell pregnant, during the first trimester I had awful anxiety with no obvious cause / external factors.

I just don't seem to respond well to fluctuating hormones it seems.

Don't get me wrong, I've not had the best of lives and have alot of trauma but I manage ok for the most part until hormones are messed with.

I've had sertraline and citalopram but neither helped and I didn't get on with the side effects.

Have been on fluoxetine for over two years now and after the initial side effects I felt ok. I am happier, more content and can enjoy things again. I've also got my anxiety under control and enjoy the normalcy this has given my life. Antidepressants are well worth investigating and having bad side effects from one does not mean that you react that was to them all.

I'm on 10mg Citroplam but know in myself I'm having a rough time and need to be back up to 20mg as I'm not 100% managing.

I literally am like night and day when I'm on them. If I forget to take them I know within 24 hrs.

Without them I don't manage to regulate my mood and in hindsight have been depressed and anxious for several years.

I'm emotional, unstable (highs and lows), mood swings are ridiculous and I wake up in the night having panic attacks (this is when I need to up my dose as they have restarted) and unable to sleep.

Even on them my brain never stops and I make myself tired overthinking but I can manage this as long as my mood is more stable.

Good Luck and I hope you feel better soon.

I don't manage to regulate my mood and in hindsight have been depressed and anxious for several years. I'm emotional, unstable (highs and lows), mood swings are ridiculous and I wake up in the night having panic attacks (this is when I need to up my dose as they have restarted) and unable to sleep

I can relate very closely to this.

The emotional highs and lows, mood swings etc have actually had me questioning whether I have something like borderline personality disorder.

I was having talking therapy for a trauma a few years ago and confided in the therapist that I had wondered about whether I have BPD. She said she didn't feel as though I fit the criteria at all and that alongside PTSD I was clearly depressed

My positive experience with antidepressants is that I'm alive and likely wouldn't be without them.

I take escitalopram and they literally changed my life. And saved my life, I'd be dead by now otherwise.

I'm going to try and get an appointment with a GP this week. Will be calling the surgery first thing tomorrow. Thank you all for sharing your experiences with me, they've spurred me on to get it done

I take 50mg of sertraline each day for PND and anxiety- it’s amazing!

I’d never had depression before, but it was awful. I could function, but couldn’t concentrate or focus at work, had suicidal ideation several times and had awful black, pits of despair type feelings and a lot of crying for no reason.

10 weeks of a type of CBT (EBT) really helped, as have three consultations with a psychiatrist, but the game changer was sertraline. I’m due to come off it (slowly) next spring, after about a year of taking it.

My psychiatrist said depression is often triggered by your environment, so take the tablets and when you’re well you can consider what it might be about your environment that’s led you to this point, and go from there.

I had to use work private medical, as my NHS GP told me I was not depressed, more likely just “exhausted” - to which I thought, “all new mothers are exhausted, but they don’t all want their lives to end”.

Good luck OP- keep trying til you find the drug that suits you.

How does a GP know which one to start you on?
I’m peri menopausal and on HRT but I’m struggling at times
The few days before my period I feel absolutely dreadful and start getting intrusive thoughts.
It’s lasting for about a week.

I want to approach my GP but I’m scared.