Can antidepressants make life better?

[Snowspeckledeyelashes]

I am 45 and have suffered with anxiety and depression all of my life.
Due to my over thinking nature and overwhelming fear of side effects, although offered many, many times I have never taken antidepressants, I have just limped on through my life (with sporadic episodes of not very helpful counselling and CBT) during ups and downs with my mental health.
I feel my life has been completely controlled by my mental health and that I’ve probably ‘cut off my nose to spite my face’ when it has come to my refusal of medication.
However, since hitting my 40’s and in particular the last year (not sure if it’s a perimenopause thing or not?) my anxiety/depression and over thinking has sky rocketed out of control.
I am waiting to start CBT again at the end of the month but am seriously considering taking antidepressants although obviously I don’t want to but after all of these years, I know it’s not going to go away on it’s own, maybe I just have a chemical imbalance in my brain which needs readjusting?!
Anyhow, sorry for rambling. The question is, can these meds help and have they helped you get you life back on track??

Yes, if you get the right ones, they can be miraculous. Have a really honest discussion with your GP and make sure they monitor you well.

Thanks pesty I’m going to see my gp next week, he’s not always that helpful but I’ll see what he says.

Yes, definitely. They worked for me. I stupidly didn’t take them for years as thought it “wasn’t for me”...a big regret. If you don’t like them you can always come off them.

Finding a sympathetic GP helped. Can you see another GP maybe?

I didn't get on with the side effects of one type, but I didn't try more than one brand and just came off them in the end (fortunately my anxiety is largely manageable). If you are prescribed and it's not working or making you feel differently shite go back and ask for a change, that's my top tip. They do create a handy "pause button" on the mental noise.

pink that’s really good to know, thanks. Yes, I do need to find a good gp, I had a fantastic, understanding gp all of my life but she retired a few years back and her replacement isn’t the same. I did change surgeries last year but it’s not great! But maybe if I find an antidepressant which works for me, I won’t need to see them so much!!

Not thanks, I’ll do that. Most definitely need to locate my pause button, been looking for it for years!!

I am like you in that I've had depression all my life. I can really relate to the dragging yourself through life. I have however taken medication for most of the last 15 years, and yes, it has changed my life.

I have had to accept that my depression is endogenous, therefore not a consequence of anything that happened to me, not a weakness or a character flaw, it's an illness, just like any other chronic illness. If you had diabetes, or epilepsy, or asthma, would you try to carry on purely by the strength of character? Would you refuse medication because of side effects? I don't know if if it's the lingering stigma of depression not being a real illness but just something you can just make go away if you just tried hard enough.

Yes there are side effects. Most fade after a few weeks. You may need to try one or two before you find the right one, or you might not. I find that medication helps me keep head above water, makes the big " why the fuck bother" feeling go away, allows me to not feel like I'm walking through treackle to get through the day. To me, it's worth it, as I can actually enjoy life.

Keep your mind open. Good luck for your appointment.

I’m just coming off escitalopram after starting with citalopram which didn’t work at all for me. Escitalopram numbed my emotions so that I didn’t cry, even when my dog died...it was a bizarre way to be for someone that was previously crying many times a day! My main issue had been anxiety and I found that went away on these but depression didn’t. On these I found myself numb but unhappy. The main reason I’ve decided to give life without them another go was because of one side effect- exhaustion. Total blackout sleep, needing sleep throughout the day, struggling to stay awake to look after my young children. Couldn’t function so am stopping... really hoping I can cope without them. I don’t know if my experience is any use to you but thought I’d just tell you about it, hope it’s useful!! Basically I think they served a purpose but I didn’t want to live that way anymore.

different ‘wading through treacle* is exactly how I describe my mental health to people, that is exactly how each day feels to me. I would really love for something to take that away. My last counsellor described taking meds the same as you, I may very well have some kind of imbalance within me which isn’t my fault and if it were any other disease you wouldn’t think twice about taking meds to control or abate symptoms. I’m glad they work for you and long may they.
But then sharp I worry that the meds will make me feel like you have been feeling, yes of course I would give anything to rid myself of the raging anxiety I feel but I am and always have been a very emotional being and the thought of being emotionally numb is a bit concerning. I do like being emotional just wish I could take the edge of its intensity a little. But I won’t know how I’ll be until I try I suppose!!?? Wishing you luck coming off them, hope all goes well.

I felt the same - it’s good if something upsetting happens, you feel strong enough to handle it. But I didn’t like it all the time, and I do think numbness is what happens on these things. Don’t want to put you off taking them but I think you need to be prepared for that sort of effect. I’m not having a great day coming off them today and wondering if I made the right choice! But I guess both starting and ending require a good few weeks for things to settle!
Good luck and I hope you can find something that changes your quality of life for the better. It is amazing not having to worry about everything! If that’s you’re priority then maybe give them a go! I’ve always been a nervous driver and suddenly I thought nothing of it, which in itself was fantastic.

sharp are you going to try anything else? Have you tried anything natural?
jelly thanks, I’ll take a look, at those.

Starting sertraline literally saved my life. I would have killed myself by now if not for my antidepressants.

I was on Prozac for a while, 3 years, and came off it as a result of doctor's advice, I think they just don't like people being on it too long.

The difference is quite stark. I like myself on Prozac, I'm calm and my thoughts don't get out of control. Off it, I feel edgy, tearful and often very down.

So yes, they can make things better. Nothing has really changed in my life except the AD, I definitely feel it worked for me.

lucy I have been so very low myself and sometimes wonder if the last 20 years would have been easier if only I had taken the plunge and taken them. It’s great you have found something that has saved you, I need to try it, I really do.

Jelly, depression is a complex, and poorly understood beast. The psychiatrist behind the podcast also stated in one of her interviews:
It completely depends on the nature of the problems. I do not think it is useful to have a blanket approach to mental health problems, or even to single disorders or diagnoses. Everyone with a diagnosis of depression will have a different set of problems, for example, and a different story leading up to those problems. It is the individual’s unique problems, and not a diagnostic label, that should determine what sort of help will be useful. That help may involve practical support to address social and inter-personal difficulties, it may include therapy to help the individual identify the origins of their feelings and develop strategies for managing them better, and it may sometimes include drug treatment to reduce the intensity of pre-occupying thoughts or feelings of distress.

It is now widely disproved that it is caused by a " chemical imbalance", but there is I believe evidence that the cause is inflammatory. I only skimmed the articles admittedly.

Oh, citalopram also left me feeling numb. Others did not. I just feel like me. Minus the treacle :)

It's just about weighing up all of the different evidence, advice and others' experiences before making your own decision :)

I've taken different antidepressants in the recent past. One of these brought me out of crisis and kept me stable so I do recognise they can have a positive effect. For me it also had a negative impact that I was unable to see at the time. Another also made me extremely unwell and I was unable to see that it was the medication and not me so when going onto them it needs to be monitored.

I guess my experience of going on antidepressants aligns with the evidence towards worse long term outcomes. I'm worse than I ever was prior to taking them and that's with the combination of medication and therapy. One study found that those who never took antidepressants have a better prognosis after three years than those who took an antidepressant.

Although the most recent antidepressant saved my life I wish I had never taken any.

Just my personal view though. I just wanted to make the alternative information accessible to people as I wish I had had it.

Everybody who I no who takes antidepressants I think personally it has ruined their lives.
My aunt is the worst. Has been on the highest dose for years. She sweats all over, is constantly wiping her lips due to white bits forming and for the past 7 years has became agoraphobic. She has cut of the entire family so she doesn't have to justify her lifestyle to anybody. It's so sad to see.
Another friend who I rarely see these days is a former shadow of herself. Seems so down and miserable she oozes sadness. I asked why she takes them she said because they make her feel normal. But is normal being down all the time????????
Truthfully I wouldn't touch them no matter how many people swear by them or whatever doc praises them. Anything that can mind alter the brain permanently cannot be a good thing.
Doctors also are not allowed to prescribe them for long periods but everybody I no has been on them for over 10 years plus. There's going to be a generation of zombies soon because docs and psychs give them out too freely.

Yes. They gave me back my resilience when I thought I couldn't keep going.

I have a friend in similar circumstances to you who refused to try them and has tried everything else she could over 3 or 4 years.... finally she decided to try them and 4 months in she got her resilience back too and the change in her is wonderful to see.

Other posters are tight to point out that they aren't for everyone and you may need to try different ones to find the best one for you. But it has to be worth a try. Wishing g you good health.

Thank you all. This whole debate over antidepressants, side effects and long term effects is exactly why I have turned them down for 20 years, yet I often ponder what my life could have been had I been on them? If you were to see me in RL you would think I was doing ok yet I have always felt I am living a half life and it could have been so much different (for better or worse, who knows?). At 45, I feel I am a some kind of crossroads (midlife crisis!) in my life and am thinking how/what I can do differently to make things better. I know a lot of people on them (not difficult as there are around 64 million prescriptions per year for them!!), I have a friend who says it’s change his life for the better, although when I last saw him he seemed to have a kind of don’t give a shit attitude which he didn’t used to have. Then there is my sister, she has been on them for 15 years and simply can not get off them, has a complete meltdown every time she tries and now fears she’ll be on them for life. Such a big decision, I just don’t know what to do tbh!!

Anti-depressants can and do improve, and indeed save, lives.

The downside with them is that one size does not fit all and there can be a slow process of finding the right drug and the right dosage for you.

Don't let that put you off. And do not fear being on them for life. If they make you better and that is what you need, then that is what you must do.

I do not expect that I will ever be able to stop mine entirely - but that is OK. I am able to live and enjoy my family - that is all that matters.

I do hope that your GP will be sympathetic and able to help.

mis it’s true what you say, enjoying life and my family is all that matters and all I want atm, thanks.