Antidepressants for anxiety do they help?

[Naomi2007]

Hi, as the title says really. I'm seriously considering accepting the doctors advice and going onto some anti depressants for my anxiety. I've suffered for almost 3 years now and I've constantly thought I can do this myself I can overcome this. I've paid for cbt sessions and don't feel like they are helping albeit I've not had a great deal of sessions. I'm at the point where I think why do I feel like this if I can just take a tablet to help myself. So can anybody offer me any advice please. Do you feel they helped? Any side affects? Tia

Yes they have definitely helped me

No side effects except first couple of weeks I felt a bit sick

Hi bigchris. And how long was you on them for if you don't mind me asking or is a ongoing thing? If you are off them did you find your anxiety returned?

Hi I’m on citalopram and they have helped massively I feel like me! The first 2 weeks on them I was very dizzy and tired but it was manageable and didn’t last too long

Fluoxitine (prozac) really helps me. Side effects are minimal. Feel a bit sick an hour after taking it but it soon passes.

I tried sertraline and for me it didn't work. My anxiety was worse. I was breastfeeding so I couldn't have prozac. But once I switched back to prozac, things improved a lot.

Felt a difference within a few weeks. By 3 months, much better.

Thank you all for your responses just wanted to know what the general response was as tired of trying to fight this myself. I have a 7 month old baby and want to be the best mum I can be.

Yep, I have been on several different varieties and any are better than nothing. It’s like getting your life back.

Venlafaxine is my current one and it is very effective, mostly because I daren’t miss a dose! (Withdrawal is ugly.)

Citalopram helped me. Try to get some talking therapies in conjunction so that you are tackling the anxiety both ways?

I've had anxiety all my life and Citalopram helped me to the degree that I now realise how ill I was.

I'm a different person. Truly.

Thank you all for the response. Just wondering is it a long term thing and when you come off them does anybody know if your anxiety returns?

I think I'm a lifer.

I started taking citalopram (low dose 10mg a day) and I am a different person. I am no longer anxious and I am a much, much nicer person to be around
I now realise (with hindsight) how bad I had got, wish I'd started taking it sooner. No side effects at all. Good luck!

I'm on Amitriptyline (very low dose for Fibromyalgia) but it completely rids me of the terrible anxiety I was experiencing. It does come with the side effect that nothing feels terribly urgent for me. But I'm a completely different person with them. I would really recommend it. I think my chemicals are just all wrong and this seems to either mask it or put them right. I wish I'd asked for help years ago really.

sertraline has been amazing for my anxiety, at 50mg

Sertraline was great for me, I was on 50mg, came off of it after less than a year, but think I am better taking antidepressants. I’ve been on and off them for years. This has the best effect on my anxiety.

I'm on escitalopram for anxiety. I found that when I stopped taking it the anxiety slowly returned. As a pp said I think I'm a lifer too. I have no problem with that as the meds improve my quality of life.

Honestly changed my life. Venlafaxine returned me to me. I was on them for just over a year.
However what no one talks about is coming off them. It's fucking hard first week I have never felt so bad and that was with three months of gradual dropping dosage. Week 3 now and things are balancing out. I'm not right though.
I'd do it again though I honestly don't know what state I'd be in without the help it gave me at the time.

iv been on citalopram now for about 4 months! i feel they are helping me! i dont have as many bad days as i did before!
only side affect i had was grinding my teeth the 1st couple of months but now that has stopped.

Yes, had sertraline for mild depression and
moderate anxiety (panic attacks etc) and it worked really well and really quickly. Unfortunately I had to stop it due to the side effects and moved to Citalopram which didn't work and didnt suit me. It can be tricky finding one which ticks all the boxes but they can make a massive improvement to your life.

Yes. Helped hugely

I’ve tried Citalopram and Sertraline in the past, but they both gave me the squits, which obviously didn’t help. I didn’t persist with those, but just struggled on. Earlier this year, I asked my GP for something I could take on an as-and-when basis when my anxiety/depression was bad, and I got a 28-day prescription for Mirtazapine. More recently, for about five weeks now, I’ve taken Mirtazapine every night. I did have to put in a repeat request which showed my consumption was more often than an as-and-when basis, but I’m not sure my GP would have even noticed.

I’ll have to attempt to get appointment with my GP to discuss staying on Mirtazapine daily for an extended period of time. I don’t feel fantastic/amazing – I just get the feeling that the range of my thinking/feelings are now within “normal”. I haven’t (yet!) experienced the weight gain that’s commonly associated with Mirtazapine, but that’s probably because I’ve felt able to get out and about much more than in the past.

I know there are risks involved in being on ADs for an extended period of time but, quite frankly, I’d rather have the risks than the misery.