Can you tell me your positive experiences of medication for anxiety?

[trunumber]

What worked for you? I'm considering asking the doctor - my friend is on sertraline but the possible side effect of insomnia puts me off (I realise the doctor will recommend but like to have personal opinions too)

I have found fluoxetine helpful but better to take in the morning if insomnia can be a problem. Also St Johns wort was quite calming. Mirtazapine is quite sedating but does cause me to have a big appetite which wasn't very helpful.

Thanks so much Orange, that's really useful. I don't currently struggle with insomnia so it's something I REALLY want to avoid having as a side effect

I take duloxetine for my anxiety-works absolutely brilliantly with no side effects. I took fluoxetine previously for depression when he worked well for that, but not my anxiety.

I take sertraline and the initial side effects were hard but worth it.
I'm able to function. Find things funny and be more like me

Paroxetine is the one for anxiety.

I had what felt like every side effect going from Sertroline until I stopped it. Insomnia wasn't one of them, I'd actually not heard of it being an issue. Is it perhaps you are overestimating the likelihood of that happening due to your anxiety?

My husband takes a low dose of Mirtazapine and it has been life transforming for him.

Insomnia was part of his problems and it also helped with this. Once he was able to sleep things started to improve drastically.

He hasn't had any issues with appetite on it.

He has been taking it for years now, and hasn't dared to try to stop as he feel so so much better.

Yep Purple, you're absolutely right that my anxiety is making me overly focused on it. My therapist said the same (I've been considering meds for about 7 months now) but I just can't seem to get passed it

Thank you so much everyone, I really appreciate your replies

I've been on Mirtazipine since June and its changed my life for the better. My anxiety is pretty much gone. It did give me savage munchies though, but they have gone. It was a small price to pay.

Interested to hear the munchies can go, I was on olanzapine at the same time as mirtazapine which was not good at all but could have been the combination more than anything. Otherwise it was good.

I have been on sertraline for years. It saved my life, and was the only medication which stopped my thoughts spiralling and repeatedly playing through my head.

I take it in the morning, so no insomnia, and found I felt a bit weird for a few weeks, then absolutely fine. I'm an ex MH nurse too, and have seen so many patients start it, ride out the first few weeks, and been transformed. Others respond well to fluoxetine but I didn't. So much is down to individual brain chemistry, and what works for one won't work for another, for reasons we don't always understand.

What I will say, is that I have never seen a medication side effect that is as debilitating as the condition is has been prescribed to treat, particularly after the first few weeks when the body has adjusted to it.

It's so worth trying different ones until you find what works for you. It took years for me, but i now have a life free from anxiety and major depression. Totally life changing.

for you.

@Orangeblossom77777 Olanzapine plus mirtazipine is a major munchie combination! I would imagine I would just inhale the whole fridge if I took both of those!

Mirtazipine made me almost homicidal with anger, and affected my mum the same, but I have seen others improve drastically on it.

It's so weird how individual people's responses can be!

Thanks everyone.

Yeah I hate the variation! I just wish we could predict how we would respond to meds

It does just show how we are all different doesn't it. I guess it is a case of trying and seeing what suits. I'm on fluoxetine and very small dose olanzapine now and watching the munchies. The psych just said be careful and aware of the munchies problem and avoid stuff you crave, not easy though.

I am on sertraline. The first few weeks were rough, but now I absolutely love it. The occasional insomnia for me is worth the change it’s made to my day to day life in terms of functioning. I feel the best I have in probably 10 years. Hope you find a solution that works for you! Sending lots of love ❤️

SirChing, l TOTALLY disagree. My condition is practically refractory due to side effects.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow Oh no, that sounds horrible. I genuinely have never come across that before. Sometimes we changed meds to one that might work better for that person, or that has side effects they tolerate better, but never as bad as the condition itself.

I am so so sorry that's the case for you

I don’t think I’m that unusual...

My adult DD has been on citalopram since April and it has honestly been life changing for her. Insomnia wore off after the first week or so.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow I can only go off my own experience working in working age adult acute/PICU wards. I can only remember two cases out of 100s when we couldn't get people well, and we had to transfer them to the Maudsley in London so they could try. I don't know if service users were "lucky" in my area and seemed to get well, or whether we had better than average psychiatrists and pharmacists.

Most people experienced some side effects, but we tended to tinker with their meds until they were minimal and liveable with.

I truly truly hope that you do get treatment in the future that is right for you, without prohibitive side effects. No one should have to live in mental turmoil. Like I say, I am so sorry for the problems you have had. Feel free to PM me if you ever want a chat x

I was on 40mg of citalopram alongside propranolol (standard release) to deal with the panic attacks/anxiety I was having. Life saver.

Interesting thread. I just want something to increase my appetite, I just eat to live, no interest in food at all, probably from low mood, disinterest.

I would love to have to munchies again, but cannabid might help there too, if I could get it legally. Still, the underlying issues need to be tackled, like many here. Wishing you all well.

Veeeeeh you want Amitryptiline, chlomipramine, Paroxetine or Mirtazapine for appetite.

This is why l won’t take them!

SirChing, I truly think I’m a freak. My GP is bemused, so are various psychiatrists. 5 have made me much much worse and 2 have given me anaphalaxysis. I don’t respond in a normal way. I hate being like this.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow You aren't a freak! You just have unique brain chemistry which is choosy about what it will respond to. It's discerning, not freakish!

If it's any consolation, it took about 8 years to find a combo that works for me. I saw several psychiatrists, and it was a fella who had recently become a consultant that sorted me out. Sertraline and venlafaxine together. They would have to prise them out of my cold, dead hands now!

Please don't give up hope, but maybe ask to see a different psychiatrist? And GPs themselves aren't the best with treatment resistant MH stuff. I really wish you the very best. MH issues are a total bastard

I’m with a fantastic consultant now. Even though l have to pay😖. Seeing a consultant for mental health on the NHS at the moment seems impossible.