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antidepressents any good?

Hi I went to the doctors today cause of anxiety and hes referred me for councelling. The thing is i cant help thinking that it wont work since its like a constant dull/suffocating anxious feeling thats there most of the time and I can't get rid of it and just don't feel like doing anything at all. (Sorry I know this is boring) Also at night sometimes I go into this weird state of mind where im concious of my breathing it feels like im not taking enough oxygen in and just cant relax it lasts for hours and now I even hate the thought of going to bed lol incase this happens.
Anyway if your still reading this im wondering do you think councelling is the way to go cause I can't see it doing much. I was given some antidepressents last year but didn't take them cause I heard they can make you worse or something plus I felt ok then but I still have them in the kitchen draw if they are still in date lol should I take them? Or is councelling best?

(for the 5% still reading Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

Xx Tomásíona - Mháire xX

14

Riddy

Hi I went to the doctors today cause of anxiety and hes referred me for councelling. The thing is i cant help thinking that it wont work since its like a constant dull/suffocating anxious feeling thats there most of the time and I can't get rid of it and just don't feel like doing anything at all. (Sorry I know this is boring) Also at night sometimes I go into this weird state of mind where im concious of my breathing it feels like im not taking enough oxygen in and just cant relax it lasts for hours and now I even hate the thought of going to bed lol incase this happens.
Anyway if your still reading this im wondering do you think councelling is the way to go cause I can't see it doing much. I was given some antidepressents last year but didn't take them cause I heard they can make you worse or something plus I felt ok then but I still have them in the kitchen draw if they are still in date lol should I take them? Or is councelling best?

(for the 5% still reading Thanks :smile:

yeah they are good - I'm on them at the moment myself I'm on tofranil........(absoultely disgusting tablets.....) and I think they are working alright - i'm not as depressed nor as jumpy as I was before going on them, nor am I as self-concious either :smile:

- both councelling and antidepressants are good together in my opinion and they are worth taking if you believe it will make you better :smile:

xoxo

Reply 2

Em444

3

what about trying both? give counselling a go and if it doesnt work then youve still got the back up of the pills?

but hey, dont take any medication without talking to your dr first. if you want to take them go back and take the pills with you and ask if its okay if you take them... cos circumstances might have changed and your dr needs to know if your taking them anyway. in other words, dont just start taking them on your own accord.

good luck with whatever you do

m xxxx

Reply 3

Riddy

OP

Em444

what about trying both? give counselling a go and if it doesnt work then youve still got the back up of the pills?

but hey, dont take any medication without talking to your dr first. if you want to take them go back and take the pills with you and ask if its okay if you take them... cos circumstances might have changed and your dr needs to know if your taking them anyway. in other words, dont just start taking them on your own accord.

good luck with whatever you do

m xxxx

cheers, it wont make a difference if I take them since he offered to prescribe some today but I said no :rolleyes:

I just took the councelling but I just doubt it will help, I mean its really good for curing panic in social situations etc since cognitive behavioural therapy can be used but how can talking to someone help mild continous anxiety feeling (or whatever i have) that lasts throughout the day? It just comes on on its own :confused:

Cant find the tablets anyway, must have thrown them out, they look like beetles!

Reply 4

Riddy

OP

tammy_girl

yeah they are good - I'm on them at the moment myself I'm on tofranil........(absoultely disgusting tablets.....) and I think they are working alright - i'm not as depressed nor as jumpy as I was before going on them, nor am I as self-concious either :smile:

- both councelling and antidepressants are good together in my opinion and they are worth taking if you believe it will make you better :smile:

xoxo

Cool at least they are doing their job, im gonna go back and ask for some. The thing is what happens when you stop taking them, does the problem come back again or does the medicine somehow alter the chemicals in the brain or something. Glad your feeling better :smile:

Reply 5

Mad Vlad

19

Right, first things first.

Antidepressants aren't a cure. They merely help you have more emotional energy to do day to day tasks and deal with your issues.

My recommendation is that you try counselling for a month or two, and then take their advice as to whether you need meds or not.

Meds should be a last resort - they were for me and I realised that I had no other option but to go on them. A lot of people just think that they're a silver bullet. They aren't.

Reply 6

Barny

17

yeh man, anti-depressants are good ****, hit them hard, hit them often.

Reply 7

Spiral Architect

1

Some experts believe running for at least 20 minutes a day is just as effective as anti-depressants.

Reply 8

friendlyneutron

11

SpiralArchitect

Some experts believe running for at least 20 minutes a day is just as effective as anti-depressants.

The problem is that the people who really need anti-depressants would find it hard to motivate themselves to go running (or get out of bed, for that matter). I've heard that it's also quite common for people to have to try a few different anti-depressants before they find the one(s) that work for them, I know I did. I've been on a few and was beginning to get a bit skeptical until I was prescribed the one that i'm currently on (and beginning to taper off after a good 2 years of being on them, which i'm so pleased about! :smile:

), which made a huge difference. It just seemed to give me that kick up the backside I needed to help me respond to psychotherapy. It's a shame that doctors have to prescribe them as first-line treatment in some areas because of the waiting lists to see a psychiatrist/psychologist/counsellor of some sorts.

Reply 9

Xx Tomásíona - Mháire xX

14

SpiralArchitect

Some experts believe running for at least 20 minutes a day is just as effective as anti-depressants.

But I can't do that.........I have arthritis in my knees, ankles and wrists and have psoriasis all over so its actually a battle for me to run for at least 20 minutes because my skins extremely dry and cracks, and my joints swell up and its extremely painful :frown:

so I have to rely on anti-depressants :frown:

xoxo

Reply 10

Sarky

18

I came off antidepressants after being on them for four and a half years since i was in yr 11. I'm in my second year of university now. It took that long to come off them because of the physical side effects which often made them into an addictive thing which i had to take otherwise i was so physically sick i couldn't function even though the depression had gone. At the time, they probably made all the difference in the world although i believe if i had been referred earlier to a psychotherapist i may have not need medication for as long. If you can possibly see a counsellor without the need for medication then do it. Like someone said they are not a solution, and coming off of them can have its own problems. I'm currently suffering from really bad anxiety attacks, so bad i am considering leaving university, and my psychiatrist is hesitant to put me back on medication because he wants me to try and get better without it. I know he's right, but after being so dependant on something for so long the thought of getting better without medication terrifies me.

I wouldn't want that for anyone.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Reply 11

still_ill

why does everyone think medication is a last resort after therapists? In my experience they're more reliable than any therapist. At least it's qualities and side-effects are clearly stated on the label, whereas therapists vary hugely in quality and style not to mention being extremely expensive with no guarantees of effectiveness. You can easily spend years and years in therapy with no change at all.

Maybe I'm just being too cynical, but after 4 years in and out of therapy, on and off anti-depressants...

Anyone have a success story to share?

Reply 12

Chewwy

17

imasillynarb

yeh man, anti-depressants are good ****, hit them hard, hit them often.

when the page loaded i just saw your username flash up, and i knew your post was gonna be like this. if you hadn't have made this post, i would have made it.

Reply 13

Revenged

15

SpiralArchitect

Some experts believe running for at least 20 minutes a day is just as effective as anti-depressants.

Sorry, but it really annoys me that you lot are actually listening and replying to this rubbish...

It's rubbish... firstly, he says 'SOME' experts 'BELIEVE'... therefore it's not a fact - it is a belief. Secondly only some experts think this, so it may only be 2 in several million experts. Lastly, I need to point out that you can use the phrase 'some experts believe' and say any rubbish, apparently some experts believe that 98.7564% of people would believe you if you do.

Please learn to be a bit more cynical, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise the impossibility in comparing the effect of exercise and that of anti-depressants - it's a bit like comparing chalk to cheese, they are totally different.

I apologise for the rant, i had to say something though... i'll actually come to the point of the post... please realise that anti-depressants are artifical means to make you artifically feel fine but you have to understand it isn't a cure - it won't target the underlying causes of the anxiety, which is why i agree that you should only take anti-depressants as a last resort after other things.

Revenged

Reply 14

Mata

16

I wouldn't go for the antidepressents first... I'm not a fan of medications for children/teenagers, especially not before trying the therapy route.

Medication was not a cure for me - they just squished down the problem. If you have anxiety, there may be things that you need to talk about/discover about yourself. I used to have anxiety, panic attacks, separation anxiety etc, and they were because of things that had happened and the way that I was feeling. Therapy or counselling can really help with that, as long as you try to have an open mind, and to be honest both with the therapist and yourself.

still_ill

Anyone have a success story to share?

I wouldn't say that therapy has been a success exactly... I now know what's causing the way I feel (mostly) which helps in dealing with it, and I don't feel that I need medication.

What therapy helped me with was knowing why I am the way I am, and how I can make myself feel a little better, which I don't think antidepressents can do.

For some people antidepressents are the answer (I know someone with psychotic depression, and antipsychotics/antidepressents were literally essential) but for the OP's anxiety, I think that some sort of counselling might be of benefit before going for medication. If the counselling doesn't work then obviously medication might be in order.

antidepressents any good?

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