[forgetamine]

Hey,

I've got an appointment with my GP next week, she was talking about prescribing me antidepressants. I don't know yet which ones, but I've been researching them anyway and now I'm a bit scared. The list of side effects is really long and I'm worried that the medication will make me feel even worse than before. I saw that "suicidal thoughts", "self harm" and "anxiety" are some of the side effects of antidepressants, but exactly those are the things I need treatment for so I'm confused.

So I just wanted to hear some experiences from people who have taken antidepressants before. What kind of antidepressant did you take? Did it help you? Any side effects?

I just want to make sure that it's worth taking them and that they don't **** me up even more. Thanks

[Haffyduck]

I took them. I binned them. The thought of taking them made me feel so useless like I had to rely on drugs to pull myself together. I told my doctor I wasn't comfortable taking them and upped the counselling and therapy help. May I ask, are you having any form of counselling? Because that helped me more than any pill!


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Watch Key Phone]

Choosing whether or not to go on medication is a decision only you can make properly. Lots of people do take antidepressants and find them really helpful, and lots of people choose not to, or had bad experiences with them when they tried. I would advise that you give them a go, because there is really nothing to lose, and if you find they aren't helpful or you don't like the side effects you could try switching to a different drug. There are a few things important to remember with antidepressants in particular, though.

First is about the side-effects. Every drug you will ever look at has a long list of side-effects! Especially if you are looking online where there will be a lot more stuff from people who have had one-off experiences and warning everyone that 'such-and-such drug' is terrible. If you really are worried about side effects, mention it to your doctor when you see them and they will tell you how likely (or rather, unlikely) the real bad things are to happen. If even one person gets a heart attack after taking a drug in a clinical trial, then they have to list 'heart problems' on the side effects list, even though it's so ridiculously unlikely that it's barely worth mentioning. So keep that in mind, most side effects are so unlikely they almost never happen.

Antidepressants have been proven to work in some cases, but they can seem to work in a strange way. They often don't have any effect at all for the first four or six weeks. Remember that, four or six weeks. That's a long time, and when you're going through it and you feel terrible, it will seem even longer. But if you decide to try medication, there's really no point in giving up until you've given it at least a couple of months, because they really can take that long to work. There's also the possibility that in those first few weeks, your mood will be more variable. That means you might have days of feeling much better than you have in a long time, followed by days of feeling just as bad as you ever did. This is one of the reasons that suicidal thoughts are common at that time of treatment, because people start to feel better, and then suddenly feel worse again, and it's harder to cope with than a persistent but low mood. But again, if you know what to expect and prepare yourself to struggle with the beginning of the treatment, you will be better able to cope with side-effects if there are any.

My advice is to give them a try, give it at least a month or two before you start thinking about whether they are having any effect. If they don't seem to be helping, then it's your choice whether to try a different type of drug (there are lots out there) or to stop with medication.

Are you having any kind of therapy? If not, I would also suggest you ask your doctor about that, because it will also be very helpful if you get a good therapist.

[Joinedup]

I was taking fluoxetine, one of the sssi's, for cant a year. My main side effect was random sweating. it was imo somewhat helpful but not any sort of instant happy pill. Worth a try imo, the idea is you work with your gp and try and find something that helps, they don't (or shouldn't) pack you off with a prescription for the rest of your life. Obv takes a while to sort out your script because these drugs typically take weeks to even start working.

I also eventually had some cbt which was imo better, but it wasn't available immediately.

[Sabertooth]

Amwazicles gave some good advice.

Seeing as you asked for personal experiences, I'll give mine. I've taken 9 different antidepressants before I found a drug combination that worked for me. For all of those I had side effects but I think it's important to mention that the vast majority of these effects were extremely mild and generally went away after a couple of weeks - things like headaches, earaches, nausea, insomnia, increased appetite, vivid dreams. In only 1 case were the side effects so bad that I couldn't keep taking the drug (for me this was fluoxetine but most people take that one fine, it's usually one of the first prescribed). So 1 out of 9 really isn't too bad.

As Amwazicles said, it takes about 4-6 weeks to have a positive effect IF the drug works for you. If it doesn't work for you (as most didn't for me) you can try a different drug, it's not really a big problem (I should add, my 9 drugs are quite an atypical case). However, I think it is important to expand on exactly what this positive effect is. Antidepressants are NOT "happy pills" - you don't take them and then suddenly feel happy. Rather they help lift the depression by helping you to help yourself. They can return feelings of pleasure in activities, they can help with increasing motivation and then you can pull yourself up and out. There are a lot of misconceptions about how they work, they're not magic and you will not feel instantly happy.

Yes, antidepressants can increase suicidal thinking in young people in particular but they can also help people get out of depression and get on with their lives. There are bad aspects to most things in the world. I would say, it's probably worth giving antidepressants a shot if you're feeling seriously depressed. A good doctor will tell you to come back within 2 weeks to check up on you and see if you're experiencing increased suicidal thinking, monitoring people is important so make sure the doctor is prepared to do that. If you take the drug and the side effects are bad, you can switch to something else (tbh this is unlikely). If you take it and it doesn't help you, you can switch. If you take it and it does help you then wooo! Given that the waiting list for counseling is usually many months long I'd say give antidepressants a shot then at least you tried. If they don't work you can pin your hopes on talk therapy instead, but in the meantime they might be able to help you.

[forgetamine]

Thanks for all your replies!

They are really helpful, it has definitely stopped me from worrying so much. I will give it a go and see if it works, if I experience any bad side effects I'll just get another appointment. It's better to try it than not doing anything at all. I know it will take a couple of weeks until they work and I'm not expecting them to turn me into a completely happy person but I hope they will make my life a bit easier because I'm going a bit crazy at the moment.

I've got an appointment with a counsellor next week who is specialised in the kind of problem I have and I hope they can help as well. I've had one bad counselling experience before where the counsellor just didn't understand my problems but I hope I'll be more successful with the new counsellor.

Any more experiences?

[Watch Key Phone]

Good luck!

Counselling/therapy can be a tricky one to get right, because if you end up seeing someone you don't get along with it can feel like you're not making any progress. My advice there is to keep trying new people, don't settle for a counsellor who you don't think is right for you. When you find the right one it will feel like a miracle!

[forgetamine]

(Original post by Amwazicles)
Good luck!

Counselling/therapy can be a tricky one to get right, because if you end up seeing someone you don't get along with it can feel like you're not making any progress. My advice there is to keep trying new people, don't settle for a counsellor who you don't think is right for you. When you find the right one it will feel like a miracle!

Thanks! I'll keep trying until I find one who understands me. The counsellor I used to go to gave me up after five sessions because he didn't really know what to do, but I'm sure there are some good counsellors out there, I just have to find them.

[gracej27]

just thought i'd join in on this thread!

i've been taking fluoxitine for about 3 months now, despite being 100% against the drugs for the first 6 months! i did this to help me get through my A level exams and wished i'd have started sooner, as they only started to take effect around the times of my exams as opposed to all the work up to the actual examinations.

in an ideal world i would have been on and off the tablets as quickly as possible, but my doctor has insisted i stay on them for at least 6 months, as coming off them too early often causes people to become lower than they were originally

as said above, only you can decide what is best for you, and your life, depression is such a personal thing that no 2 people probably feel the same or react to treatment in the same way

i still have the odd down day, but thats just life, everyone feels like that at some point!

the tablets really have helped me, but i don't want to depend on them for any longer than i have to, long term medication is always best to avoid in my book

hope this helps!

keep smiling (:

[uwotm8?]

eat healthily, exercise regularly and make a real effort to think and act positively. if your still really struggling with day to day life, then yeah maybe you should try them. i think they should be a last resort tho. personally im not a fan. ive been on some b4 and always had small side effects. also look up 5-HTP and its effects on depression on the net. u might find it quite interesting.

[Daniel_R]

Rhodiola rosea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodiola_rosea

[forgetamine]

Thanks everyone! Went to the doctors yesterday and they put me on Citalopram. Now I'll just have to see what happens..

[Anonymous]

I recommend mirtazapine if citalopram doesn't work for you. Not many people take it because it can sedate you, but other than that it's really really safe (in terms of side effects, and other things)

[beebie]

I've been on ADs on and off for a long time now. I used to be so against them but have been on my current ones for about a year and a half - I don't know for certain if they do help, but the feeling of 'something is better than nothing' does. I'd say they at least take the edge off the MASSIVE lows, and when you're experiencing that, anything's worth a try. It's not a cure in itself but an aid with other things. Best of luck with it

[Anonymous]

well ive been on anti depressants since early march now. initially they did help with going about day to day business. since then ive upped my dose to the maximum of this particular drug and the feeling of impending doom has gone but ive become a bit more roller-coster-y mood wise.

[~ Purple Rose ~]

It is up to you, but you need to make sure that if you do take them, you give them time to work, and be as aware as you can be of any changes to your mood that your doctor may need to know about, such as feeling suicidal.

I have been on anti-depressants constantly for over ten years (amongth other things, I'm bipolar) and the only one I had a bad response from was venlafaxine/Effexor. I am currently on paroxetine/Seroxat, which I was very nervous about taking, and actually nearly refused it, but I have had no side-effects at all, and the combination of medication I'm on now seems to really suit me.

Talk to your doctor about any concerns you have, they will start you on a low dose of probably Prozac or Citalopram as they are two of the 'safer' anti-depressants, and they will review you after a short while to see how you are doing with them, and maybe increase the dose as your body gets used to them.

[Rybee]

In my experience, drugs > therapy.

I'd be crippled without my medication. Go to CBT therapy to help with my anxiety and it just made me more anxious and pissed off. Nibble on a bit of diazepam and it's happy days...

[briesandwich]

I've been on Sertraline for over 3 years now. It wasn't by choice - I was told I had to take them as part of my admission to hospital. I think it was for the best, even if at the time I really didn't want them.

The only side effects I had were for the first 2-3 weeks I had quite severe headaches and nausea. After about a month of taking the medication I didn't really feel my mood itself improve, I didn't just wake up feeling very happy. I gradually felt like I had more energy, and that I was taking part in more things I used to enjoy and concentrating more. Things weren't 100%, and they still aren't, but I know they would be a lot worse without the medication.

If you're thinking about talking therapies also, medication can sometimes be given during your treatment as it can help people in their therapy.

Good luck, I hope you feel better soon.

[Popppppy]

(Original post by forgetamine)
Hey,

I've got an appointment with my GP next week, she was talking about prescribing me antidepressants. I don't know yet which ones, but I've been researching them anyway and now I'm a bit scared. The list of side effects is really long and I'm worried that the medication will make me feel even worse than before. I saw that "suicidal thoughts", "self harm" and "anxiety" are some of the side effects of antidepressants, but exactly those are the things I need treatment for so I'm confused.

So I just wanted to hear some experiences from people who have taken antidepressants before. What kind of antidepressant did you take? Did it help you? Any side effects?

I just want to make sure that it's worth taking them and that they don't **** me up even more. Thanks

Personally I couldn't have got through it without the anti depressants. I was on Fluoxitine (Prozac). The only downside were
1) If I didn't take it with a meal I would feel really ill.
2) It kinda messed up my libido.

But the pros completely outweighed the cons for me.

[Exopaladin]

Drugs are definitely worth it for me, not so much antidepressants which eventually end up making me worse than I was to start with. Mood stabiliser I'm currently on has me better than I've been for a long time though.