Is there any point to antidepressants?

[ItsGalindaWithaGah]

I’ve been feeling absolutely awful, crying all the time, panic attacks, etc.
Although there have been other difficulties, the main issue is work and things going on there.
I spoke to the doctor who has signposted me to counselling (although there’s a long waiting list) and wanted to prescribe antidepressants. I said okay but haven’t picked them up from the pharmacy. I feel like while I’m still at work, antidepressants won’t have any impact, because I’ll still be in the situation that’s causing me to feel like this.
Time off work or leaving would be the ideal situation but unfortunately this definitely cannot happen.

Will antidepressants have any impact even though everything is so awful at work? I just don’t want to feel like this anymore.

For many years I refused antidepressants, even through pnd and the loss of a parent. It took my goddaughter dying, my work with an asd child and my own asd child to realise that I needed help. It took a good six months to start feeling ok, the first set have me awful migraines, the second set I felt worse before I felt better.
Problems are still there, my child's asd will never go away, but I can calmly cope with her anger and refusal to do almost everything, most of the time.
It got to the point, where intrusive thoughts of harming myself, such as 'i could walk in front of this car and it would all be over' where I told my dh how I felt and he took me to the docs.
Take care, someone once said to me, if you broke your leg you would go to hospital to get it fixed, same scenario with your depression.

Yes! OK they won't make your workplace be lovely but they will help your thoughts not be all over the place.

They will also help you engage better with counselling.

This will make you in a better place which make you either: less trodden on at work OR far more likely to find a job elsewhere.

I agree with everyone. I need my ADs and for me they're a medication to treat a medical condition. If I was diabetic I wouldn't try to cope without insulin.

@Jennygentle

Sertraline was fantastic for me. No numbness, just a sense of perspective and hope. I sometimes wonder if therapists who disapprove of ADs have an agenda..

I used to be a therapist, and whilst this isn't how I feel about anti depressants, you are right, there is definitely a proportion of them who do believe this.

In my view, the gold standard treatment for anxiety and depression is 1:1 long term therapy in addition to anti depressants in the short to mid term. There are some things that "a cup of tea and a chat" definitely won't fix, and there is no shame whatsoever in taking anti depressants.

Op I was you four weeks ago. Started sertraline and it’s saved me. I feel so much more balanced and am enjoying things again. Please try them: I felt awful for a few days at first but huge difference in the longer term x

Are you in the US? You'd be pretty unlikely to be prescribed an SNRI as a first port of call in the UK - much more common would be an SSRI like sertraline or citalopram. They don't numb you.
No, I'd tried a few SSRIs but couldn't handle the anxiety as a side effect.

@kowari

Are you in the US? You'd be pretty unlikely to be prescribed an SNRI as a first port of call in the UK - much more common would be an SSRI like sertraline or citalopram. They don't numb you. No, I'd tried a few SSRIs but couldn't handle the anxiety as a side effect.

That's really interesting, as SSRIs are often used to treat anxiety. ADs are like the Pill, it seems, it can take ages to get the balance right.

That's really interesting, as SSRIs are often used to treat anxiety. ADs are like the Pill, it seems, it can take ages to get the balance right. It might have been temporary, but not something I could cope with at the time. I already had anxiety as well as depression but it was unmanageable while taking them.

@kowari

That's really interesting, as SSRIs are often used to treat anxiety. ADs are like the Pill, it seems, it can take ages to get the balance right. It might have been temporary, but not something I could cope with at the time. I already had anxiety as well as depression but it was unmanageable while taking them.

Yeah you have to give it a good 6 weeks, which sucks .

I personally found they made me feel numb because I got no real lows or highs. And made me really forgetful and not really myself. They blocked the pain and intuition so well that they let me carry on living in a bad situation - but maybe I would have stayed in it anyway but crucified myself for it.

I am on two antidepressants because I generally need more meds to get the effect but they really work. I started to get my usual winter depression and starting mirtzapine alongside sertraline made me feel fine again.

I’m on citalopram, and can feel joy again. I also take magnesium daily, which is calming and helps me sleep. I started that for muscle cramps, but it seems to have an all over effect.

That's interesting about magnesium @Imissmoominmama. I am taking Vit D3 and K2 drops and I definitely feel much better than in previous winters.

I resisted ads for years through some horrible mh issues, but finally started taking them for pnd.

They’ve been life changing for me. The world became colour again, and my overwhelming anxiety melted away. I feel much more able to cope with life and don’t live in fear of the day. I’m no longer tearful and furious, I just feel more balanced and better equipped to live my life.

I put myself through absolute hell mentally due to negative thinking about ads. I wish I’d started taking them years ago, and made life easier for myself.

I’d suggest taking them and see if they help you. Hopefully they’ll help you get through this difficult period until you’re able to sort the cause!

It's interesting to read about how different people respond differently to them. I'm glad I tried them when I was a young adult if only to know that they don't work for me. If I had tried SSRIs for the first time this year I think the agitation and anxiety could have led to me losing my job, as with the bullying I was barely coping. Then if I had gone onto venlafaxine I think I would have been able to cope just enough that I would still be in the same situation. A crystal ball would be nice!