Anti-Depressants making me worse?

Hi all, Last Tuesday I went to my GP for the second time concerning depression. When I went the first time I was refered to a nurse who for one reason or another gave me a clean bill of health claiming my confidence problems and 'over-seriousness' for my age (18) where to blame. Anyhow, I seemed to feel better after that, for a week or two at least.

So I sorta let the matter lie thinking maybe things would be ok. Well, I was fooling myself, because it just came back full force. However this time I seemed to cycle between 1 week depressed/gloomy/anti-social/dull/tired etc etc and 2 weeks where I was secure, sharp and fairly happy; well what I'd call normal for my circumstances actually saying as I don't think I've ever exhibited symptoms even close to the manic stages of Bi-polar.

So after a few months of trying to root out my problem myself I finally decided to visit the GP again. This time I told him exactly how my mood was changing, all the symptoms etc etc and he put me on a dose of 20mg prozac/fluoxetine to be taken once daily.

When I went I was sort of on an upper, I'd just entered it the Sunday before so I was anticipating 2 weeks of happiness at least. Unfortunately on the following Friday in the space of an hour my sunny mood dried up completely. I was surprised to say the least, usually my moods arrive right when I expect them to. As well as the sudden, unexpected mood change I started to feel a good deal more lethargic than I'd usually be, if I closed my eyes I felt I'd be in danger of drifting off.

So you could say I'm a bit pissed, the lethargy seems to have subsided now... and I'm aware it takes about 2 weeks for the effects of the drug to kick in, but all the same... why the sudden, unexpected move from happy to sad in the space of a few days.... has anyone else experienced this, does it get worse before it get's better or what? Because right now it seems to me there's no end to my down mood in sight.

Thanks in advance.

Reply 1

DodgyTrousers

I was on an SSRI a while back for depression, and the first 2 (3 actually I think) weeks were not really any different from before. Except for one thing that is, that I felt sick as a dog every time I yawned :frown:

However, after a while they did start to work. I used to have obsessive thoughts running through my head at night stopping me sleeping, and it got rid of those. I must admit, it wasn't a stark contrast, but it was better.

Most of all, they helped me to properly do the CBT I was supposed to do to get all betterer. You might want to look up Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. It's not too hard to do once you have the hang of it, and it doesn't have side effects. You can easily do it to yourself, and you may have to since the NHS is typically only good for pushing pills on you.

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

Thanks for the reply mate. I'm remaining optimistic about them for the present, I'm hopeful they'll trigger some sort of change in my behaviour and especially thought patterns. At the moment I too am plagued by excessive thoughts about the stupidest most insignificant of things. My only real concern about them was the fact that they made me slip into depression a week before before I usually do, which was very odd and unusual. Then again, maybe that's a sign that they're working, well I'll know in a months time. In the meantime I'll hope for the best.

Reply 3

prettygreeneyes99

hmm one of my friends was on anti-depressants.. they had to change what they were giving her about 3 times before they got it right, just go back to your GP and you'll probably be put on either a different dose or something different altogether

Reply 4

hannah_dru

Actually they can take up to 4 weeks to kick in properly. In my experience I got worse before starting to get better. I had a lot of mood swings and I do still get them now.