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Original poster

Has anyone started on an anti depressant and not had awful side effects? Any positive stories very welcome.

77 replies

StrugglingAndSad · 20/07/2025 18:32

I think I need to try antidepressants - I’m 53 and on HRT but my anxiety and depression has spiked horrendously over the last few months. I’ve scared myself recently with really dark ideation and hopelessness.

But I’m scared of taking them. So many awful stories of side effects of worsening anxiety and dizziness etc. Which are the best to start trying with, too?

I would love to hear some positive stories, but in the absence of any positive stories the bald truth about their impact.

OP posts:
LemondrizzleShark · 24/09/2025 12:08

MedievalNun · 20/07/2025 20:23

Not RTFT but I’ve been on several different meds over the years to control depression, mental health problems & anxiety.

Citalopram worked for a long time but I built up a tolerance; I didn’t have any side effects but it took about a month for any improvement.

Sertraline - I was only on this for about 6 months, they had to take me off it as it caused a problem with my heart rythym (& showed up something that we weren’t aware of so did some good I suppose!)

Currently on Mirtazepin. It took some time to get to the right dose but again, no side effects. It means I’ve got some measure of a stable life. I do get bad days still but I can cope with them a bit more, if you see what I mean.

See if you can book a double appointment with your GP to look at the different ones and see which might be worth trying.

CAVEAT : even if you do have success on tablets, see if you can also have counselling. I found that having counselling as well as the tablets means I can cope with break-through days much better. Good luck xxx

I’d agree re counselling. For me, the psychotherapy “cured” my PTSD. The antidepressants allowed me to get out of bed and actually go to my psychotherapy appointments.

toottoot3 · 24/09/2025 20:26

Almostwelsh · 22/09/2025 11:32

I would consider that an awful side effect, but I guess it depends on your situation beforehand.

Show quote history

@Almostwelsh I agree, I did come off it due to that, but it helped in every other factor.

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