Are you on antidepressants?

[AnxiousAlison]

It's recently been reported in the news that 1 in 7 people are currently taking antidepressants and this increases to 1 in 4 women over the age of 50.

I briefly took Prozac 20 years ago. I'm now in my mid 40s. I've battled anxiety and depression for most of my life. I'm single and childless and wonder how different my life would have been if I had sought more help or stayed on medication.

I came off Sertraline after a year. The HRT has helped a great deal and an alternative method I didn't expect would work. My DH got a pulcetto device for insomnia. I tried it too and after a few weeks my sleep improved and my anxiety is gone. My teens regularly run tests by hard means

Yes for over 20 years. No symptoms now but when I stop the symptoms come back. I’ve decided not to try and stop again.

I first taking Citalopram about 15 years ago. I stopped them for 18 months just before Covid. However on 2021, I had a bad year….i had to have my gallbladder removed, and had my cataracts treated. Then in September I came off my bike and badly broke my shoulder which needed surgery. I was in severe pain and became quite dependent on my husband…..I couldn’t even wipe my own arse! I became depressed again with a return of suicidal thoughts (never acted on them). I went back on them. 5 years later things have improved for me-moved from London to Somerset 2 years ago, happy here and making friends locally. I’m semi retired. I’m a mental health nurse and when I hit 60 this year got my NHS pension but working 2 days a week ‘bank’ (basically a zero hours contract, but I’m turning down work as 2 days is fine for me alongside my pension ). My GP recently suggested coming off the meds and I agreed so I’m reducing them, and feeling ok so far though it’s only week 1. My only concern is that I do tend to get low in the autumn/winter with things improving from March onwards. I did wonder if I should have waited 6 months but figured out there maybe another reason in 6 months time.

Worst case scenario….i go back on them again, and consider remaining on them for life.

Thank you @Spidey66. It's so helpful to hear other people's experiences especially a health professional. I'm sorry to hear that you went through such a terrible time and glad to hear things are better for you now. It's my dream to move to Somerset! I'm currently just outside of London.

20 years. Came off them to ttc and pregnancy. Worst 2 yrs of my life. An abusive marriage didn't help. Switched from prozac to escitalopram 10mg OD about 5 years ago. Im just a dour person

I'm sure you're not a dour person. It's a chemical imbalance.

Citalopram since I was 16. On and Off beta blockers for anxiety too. My brain just doesn’t seem normal

Been on Fluoxetine/Prozac for years and years.
i remember one time when my dose was too low and I was just sitting in my car sobbing and sobbing.
sometimes I do reduce my dose, but I can’t see me ever coming off completely. The price is low / no libido, but I think the chemical imbalance in my brain needs them to function successfully.

i have had CBT which helped a lot with my thought processes, but my mind just gets so low without any outside triggers , and fluoxetine helps that.

Are you able to identify what you are sad about in your life @SewYellowLikeButter or isn’t a general unhappiness?

Yes, on and off since I was in my teens - currently on paroxetine which suits me best and will likely be on it for life - mine is for anxiety rather than depression though.

Yes, went on them at 16/17. Have had some occasions off of them, but the vast majority of time I have been on them (about 30 years).

Yes, went on them at 16 until I was 22. Then stopped them for a year thinking I was better and went back on at 23 and have been on them ever since, they’ve completely changed my life.

Thank you @howgoodisdat. What are you taking and for how long?

Thank you @XenoBitch. What are you taking?

I am not because I’ve never needed to be. But two of my closest friends and my sister are. My sister has always struggled with emotions and her menstrual cycle. Each friend has a burden to bear. I have been lucky and had a less emotional mind than my sister and a less traumatic and difficult life than my friends.

I am very interested to know the long term effects of the antidepressants. I’m not sure there’s data on the impact of taking them for 25 or 30 years yet.

I have been on loads of different ones. At the moment, I am on duloxetine.

Yes
citalopram for around 16 years off and on.
mmmmmmmmm I love them
residual physical anxiety from historic CPTSD which will just not shift despite years of therapy and life generally being great.

I’m on escitalopram 10mg, it has been 6 years now. I’d like to come off eventually, I’m in a much better position now to what I was when I first went on them, I exercise, eat well, sleep well etc so I’m hoping when/if I do wean off them the healthy habits I’ve built will do for me what the antidepressants have done. But I wouldn’t have been able to build those habits if it hadn’t been for being on medication.

Has anyone been able to wean off ? Ive tried so many times. Im worried about what theyre doing to my brain tbh! Im on escitalopram.10mg. Most of my colleagues are on them too

I've come off several times in the past with no issues whatsoever (as in, no side effects or anything) but long-term I cannot function without them, so I've accepted I'll be taking them in some form for the rest of my life.

It doesn't bother me. No different to someone with allergies taking antihistamines IMO.

Sertraline 100mg for the past year for debilitating OCD and anxiety. They haven't changed my world but I can now function daily. Couldn't imagine ever coming off them.