Let's talk about SSRI's

I've been fighting Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and light depression for a few years, and recently I feel that it is getting worse. I never got any grief counseling after I lost my son b/c I was so afraid that they were going to try to make me get on SSRI's and I am a natural type of person who believes that you can acheive the same things by eating healthy, exercising, and having the right vitamins and minerals in your diet, as if you were to be taking some magic pill. One is better than the other in my book, and I was very scared to try depression medication.

However, my mental state of mind is getting to the point where I am afraid of how I get and how I feel, and I think that it may be the right time for me to get a mixture of counseling and medication that fits my needs. I found a mental health clinic that works on a sliding-fee scale and helps people with this. I've set my first appointment for next Tuesday, and am just wondering if what types of medications are the best, etc. I know the Dr. will tell me all of that, but I wanted to get some advice from people who are on them, and what your thoughts are.

There have been many posts on this board debating whether mental illness is real, etc. I'm not looking for any responses that are going to make me feel any worse than I already do. Please only respond if you have any positive feedback, or answers that correlate to this topic. Thank you!

 

Been on Prozac for years. My coworkers, family and friends can tell when i have been off of it for a while. I think they should spike the tap-water with the stuff.

The most common used SSRI's are lexapro, cymbalta and effexor. prozac, paxil and zoloft were the first 3 to come out and are still used, but tend to have some side effects.

wellbutrin is not a ssri- it is classified as an "atypical" antidepressant, but a lot of people have luck with it.

each of the ssri's tend to have other uses as well. for example... paxil works great but tends to kill a man's libido. but it is also approved by the FDA for use in panic disorders/social phobias. prozac can also have sexual side effects but works great with obsessive complusive conditions. zoloft and paxil can upset your gut for a few weeks before you get use to it. prozac can cause vivid dreams.......

picking an antidepressant is a hit and miss kinda thing. what works for one may not work for another

and don't feel bad about using one. many depressed people have a 'thin' (for the lack of a better word) blood-brain barrier and their serotonin tends to get washed out into the blood stream and then out of the body. an ssri makes that blood-brain barrier tougher for serotonin to get washed out. so it's not like you are having an addition chemical into your body- the ssri just allows the natural serotonin from being washed away.

good luck!

 

I've been on Lexapro for almost 2 months now. Originally prescribed to help with sleep, it has also mellowed me out. I find the little things don't bother me and the bigger things can be worked through. A couple of years ago when I was seeing a psychologist, I had been put on an ADHD medication. It helped, but as I look back now, I really wish she would have put me on something like the Lexapro because although some of my symptoms fit into an unspecified ADHD, I really think I was dealing with a lot of anxiety stuff with my job.

Good luck when you go in. Be open to your choices and I know you'll make the right one.

 

I've been on Wellbutrin XL since February and Zoloft since July. Once I figured out the best time of the day to take them, and they stabilized in my system, the combination has worked pretty well for me.

 

About 4 or 5 years ago, my wife convinced me to go get some for 'seasonal depression'. It was celexa, I think. Maybe Lexapro - I can.t remember. Whichever one has the cartoony commercial about seasonal depression.

FWIW, in hindsight, I ain't depressed and never was. I got sold by the commercials they play in the winter, figured it was an easy way to put me in a better mood when the days are so short.

Anyway - that shit is fucked. I felt like I was in a swimming pool. I was on the lowest dose - and half of it. Ejaculating was a chore. I kept feeling like I needed to yawn, but there was no yawn. I had fucked up dreams. I confused my dreams with reality - asking my wife about something I thought had happened that I had only dreamt.

I lasted about 4 days - that was that. And then my insurance went up for a few years.

I say avoid them. You made it through pain I cannot imagine without them - I say keep trying different things.

And FWIW - the job of a doctor is to prescribe meds. That's what they do - fill scrips. For the most part, they won't recognize that you *might* be better off without the meds.

 

Zoloft! I was on Zoloft.

 

There is a big difference between seasonal depression and major depression. Seasonal depression is usually fixed by some sunlight or ultraviolet lighting like a tanning bed. Or if nothing else, it will correct itself when spring rolls around.

Major depression is much more severe. And everyone notices some bizarre stuff the first few days- it's usually stomach upset or just feeling spacy. But SSRI's takes AT LEAST 2 weeks to work and usually up to 4.

 

Thank all of you for your responses. I have a friend who took Paxil and she said that she only took it for a couple of months, and they weened her off and she's never needed it since. I know that mine isn't seasonal b/c it's getting worse. However, it is definitely important to me that whatever it is that I am on, is only a temporary thing until I get "healed" per se.

I appreciate your diverse feedback and information about the certain types of medication.

 

i kinda agree with meat but i also believe it is totally your choice and if they help you then that's great. Don't ever let anyone make you feel bad if you do decide to go on them. But i have to say that from my experience (zoloft then paxil) that grief is a journey and you're going to have to take it whether you take meds or not. You're gonna have to face your grief either way, it doesn't stop for anything~their just is no magic pill that will make it all go away. it might take the edge off but my experience was that the side effects of paxil just made things worse. of course, their are newer drugs now and everybody is different, so you might not have the same experience as me.
Paxil made me feel very tired, it made me feel spaced out, i couldn't remember nothing, i had horrible nightmares, and one of the things that always freaked me out was not being able to feel any emotion whatsoever.

I think one of the things that has helped me the most is my murder victims group. its really cool to talk to people who "get" how i feel. and you see other people dealing with the same issues as you and you realize you aren't insane, that your feelings are just a natural process of grief.

I think talking to a counselor is pretty wise cause i really think getting to the root of the problem is better than just trying to mask it. i wouldn't advise just going on meds and trying to go it alone. You really do need some support in this.
whatever way you decide to go, i hope it works for you. heck, with these new drugs they got out now they might not even have any side effects and i wouldn't blame you for going on one. at least it would get you to a level where you could work on your grief. cause depression (grief) can make you not even want to get out of bed on most days.

 

Meat admits he was on them for 4 days... hardly enough time to see if anything works- much less a drug that says it takes 2-4 weeks to get the full effects from.

And a major depressive episode is not something you can just get over without living in misery 24 hours a day. You body actually washes out a chemical that is necessary for a stable mood. SSRI's just prevent your body from washing away what it needs.

If your body was washing away it's own insulin, people wouldn't think twice about taking a medication to prevent that.

And it's not a grief issue, JB. People can grieve in both therapuetic and nontherapuetic ways ON or OFF antidepressants. It just depends on their ability and desire to deal with it?