Anti-Depressive pills, do they work?

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Ausm

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
25,213
14
81
Originally posted by: BaboonGuy
aren't they supposed to also create new brain cells???

I am not even going to comment on this one...


I am currently taking antidepressants if you want some accurate info PM me...


Ausm
 

Bryophyte

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
13,430
13
81
Originally posted by: stormbv
Originally posted by: BigDan
Originally posted by: Encryptic
I've been taking Wellbutrin for almost 2 years now and it does help me a lot. Your doctor at Kaiser should be able to prescribe something or refer you to a psychiatrist.

I took Zoloft for awhile, worked at first, now doesn't help at all. Been on Wellbutrin off and on since last October. Didn't want to bother trying another ssri (selective seratonin reuptake inhibitor) like Zoloft or Prozak, so he tried this. When I take it, I feel pretty good. Lost 30 lbs in about 4 months just because I felt so much more alive. When I'm off it, after a few days it's hard to get up in the morning. I get short tempered and have times when I feel like doing something to hurt myself. I've been off it for a week now and the feelings are coming back.

It's really not a good idea to take antidepressants off and on like that.

Well, I tried after 3 months to go off it, thinking that it wasn't doing anything. Turns out it was. Trying now to go off it because it's summer and I tend to have "winter blues" from short day/low light, figured I might be ok without it. I dunno. Just found out that my birth mother is bi-polar. Hopefully I didn't inherit it.

 

TheNinja

Lifer
Jan 22, 2003
12,207
1
0
dang, does everyone take pills now if they fell bad? I realize there is a major difference between depression and feeling depressed. It just seems that nowadays anyone who feels bad or goes through a tough time says they have depression and gets pills for it. Some people need to grow up and realize life isn't all good all the time. But I realize that some people actually do need the pills.
 

wfbberzerker

Lifer
Apr 12, 2001
10,423
0
0
i've talked to several people i know, and they tell me that they do work. however, i never myself would take them, because i feel that if you're depressed, theres a reason, and i think it's better to confront that problem then to hide from it by taking anti-depressants. (its like drinking your troubles away, imho)
 

tk149

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2002
7,253
1
0
Proper medication and counseling can help a lot. I speak from experience. Good luck!
 
Jan 25, 2001
743
0
0
GUYS:

From reading the thread, it seems like a lot of you need a good dose of PERSPECTIVE:

Whenever you get depressed, think INSTEAD how GOOD you have it. As a middle-class citizen in the wealthiest country in the world you have ACCESS to things that KINGS could only dream of 100 years ago. Yes KINGS.

Think now how it would be to have been currently born in a sh!tstorm country in Africa or Middle East, where you're cannon fodder to the warlords, have no human rights, are subjected to insane heat, contaminated water and food, insects, shantytown shelter, disease, nonexistent health care, no clothes except the ones on your body.


Heck, whenever I feel blue, this PERSPECTIVE perks me up straight up and I pray to God for allowing me to be born here.


But shrinks will never let you know this secret to well-being b/c you're paying his monthly quota for his BMW 7 series. He will feed you paranoia, pills and whatever insecurity drivel he can muster/address out of you so that he has you as a patient for YEARS! Shrinks do good for 5% of their patients. The rest are whining, insecure yuppies that shrinks/parasites feed off of to spawn thier huge lucrative industry.


Any old timer WWII vet will tell you this....to get PERSPECTIVE and a STIFF UPPER LIP when a little brown rain hits you.


Cheers!
 

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
TheeeChosenOne, still doesn't help those with actual chemical imbalances.

Oh, and btw, have you ever suffered an anxiety or a panic attack?
 

Encryptic

Diamond Member
May 21, 2003
8,885
0
0
Originally posted by: TheeeChosenOne
GUYS:

From reading the thread, it seems like a lot of you need a good dose of PERSPECTIVE:

Whenever you get depressed, think INSTEAD how GOOD you have it. As a middle-class citizen in the wealthiest country in the world you have ACCESS to things that KINGS could only dream of 100 years ago. Yes KINGS.

Think now how it would be to have been currently born in a sh!tstorm country in Africa or Middle East, where you're cannon fodder to the warlords, have no human rights, are subjected to insane heat, contaminated water and food, insects, shantytown shelter, disease, nonexistent health care, no clothes except the ones on your body.


Heck, whenever I feel blue, this PERSPECTIVE perks me up straight up and I pray to God for allowing me to be born here.


But shrinks will never let you know this secret to well-being b/c you're paying his monthly quota for his BMW 7 series. He will feed you paranoia, pills and whatever insecurity drivel he can muster/address out of you so that he has you as a patient for YEARS! Shrinks do good for 5% of their patients. The rest are whining, insecure yuppies that shrinks/parasites feed off of to spawn thier huge lucrative industry.


Any old timer WWII vet will tell you this....to get PERSPECTIVE and a STIFF UPPER LIP when a little brown rain hits you.


Cheers!



rolleye.gif
Thanks, Tony Robbins. I guess I'll ditch my Wellbutrin and go back to having fits of depression or breaking down crying for no apparent reason at all and cope with them by thinking about how much better I've got it than a starving Ethiopian.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
After my divorce (a very ugly period of my life) I was on a few different kinds for a while, both SSRIs and MAOIs.

These things are placebos, IMO. One after the other did nothing for me. Finally I realized that my depression had nothing to do with my brain, and everything to do with my mind. I started getting out more, finding good friends (as opposed to the ones from the bar that helped put me in that state I was in) and getting on with life.

Now I'm happier than I've ever been.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Also, some anti-depressants kill your libido. That was enough to make me more depressed than I was before taking the damn things.
 

naddicott

Senior member
Jul 3, 2002
793
0
76
Recent NYT article on the safety of Depression drugs.

Don't get anti-depressants through a Doctor, find a good p-doc who knows the ins and outs of these meds. Family doctors are too prone to giving a prescription for whatever med had the prettiest ad in their most recent trade magazine, or provided them with free samples.

For all the ridicule Freud and the Couch have gotten, Therapy (specifically Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy) has a better record than meds for long term recovery from Depression (i.e. not relapsing), unless of course you feel like going on meds and staying on them permanently to avoid relapsing. That's based on hard data from cohort studies with large participation (to the extent that these types of studies can have large numbers).

Given your stated willpower and the desire to beat the problem, I would say CB-Therapy would be the best approach, and a good therapist will reccomend Meds (and a p-doc to prescribe them) if they think they will help in your case.

Good luck.
 

Luagsch

Golden Member
Apr 25, 2003
1,614
0
0
Originally posted by: jjsole
Originally posted by: BaboonGuy
aren't they supposed to also create new brain cells???

this is very new, it was reported to have done so in mice recently. The results are getting a lot of attention and interest.
WEEHHHEEEE gimme those pills!!!! i'll become brain from tha pinky and the brain.... f34r me world
 

Luagsch

Golden Member
Apr 25, 2003
1,614
0
0
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Also, some anti-depressants kill your libido. That was enough to make me more depressed than I was before taking the damn things.
... ok... forget it... i don't want them anymore...
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
OK, I had to add just one more thing.

Talking to a shrink has gotten a bad wrap, but I think that's what helped me the most. The important thing is to find one you like. I talked to few different people, and the first two were no help at all. I then spent a few sessions talking to a guy who was really insightful and helped me figure out what was going on in my head.

There are times in life when there's just too much going on in your noggin to deal with it on your own. High stress things like divorce, death of a loved one, etc. Even a usually well adjusted, intelligent person can have problems dealing with some of the tough things in life, and having an impartial person to talk to even for just a couple hours can help straighten things out.
 
Jan 25, 2001
743
0
0
BobberFett,
Good friends is a sure thing to better well-being.

In European culture, everybody is always doing things with friends: going to pubs and restaurants after work, doing activities on the weekends, coffee and cake on Sunday afternoons. They also work much less and have more vacation and generally don't really give a sh!t about work.........essentially the mode of being is "WORK TO LIVE" instead of "LIVE TO WORK" like Americans do (I'm American btw, but have lived in many European cities for years).

In America, it's all about work, paranoia, making money. Then at 8pm one goes home in huge traffic only to sit in front of the TV and pig out on one's already overweight body. On the weekends, it's all about sulking and complacency. Then they go to the shrink.


I can see how/why this happens..............The educated elite (which you all are) finish school, move to another city to start a new job and then get into this doldrum. No friends in the new city. No activities to share with people. Then at work, you and your commrades don't want to socialize after work b/c you get enough of them at work as it is. OR one is embarrassed to ask a colleague to do some things and vice versa. So these Tech workers all end up by themselves, lonely, sulking, depressed. In school, tech guys weren't the social flower to begin with which compounds the same feelings of inadequacy they felt in HS. At work the social and performance paranoia continue. So then one buys drugs from their educated Drug Dealer (Shrink) to get over "depression."

If one thinks and over-analyzes too much then that will lead anyone into trouble as we can all be too hard on ourselves. A sedentary/complacent life leads to the spiders crawling into your brain and setting cobwebs in there. One need to be a WARRIOR and get over it, by doing some or all of the following:

1.) Make friends
2.) Get a dog
3.) Start exercising everday doing something you love. DO THE OUTDOORS!
4.) Join a hobby club
5.) If married, start a family. A kid really adds PERSPECTIVE about what really matters in life. ASK ANY PARENT.
6.) When blue, CONSTANTLY REMIND YOURSELF:........Think of how good you have it versus the BILIIONS & BILLIONS of others on this planet that are really, truly suffering legitimatel. This will make you feel much better about your life.
7.) Don't find a religion, but go to a black church with Gospel SINGING. One hour there will root up your spirits the way no "white boys" church can (I'm white btw).

To repeat, MAKE FRIENDS.....b/c good friends will make your life much RICHER and keep you away from the doldrums! FYI, single friends are much preferred b/c married friends are all into their families and don't have so much time.


 

Nocturnal

Lifer
Jan 8, 2002
18,927
0
76
Originally posted by: TheeeChosenOne
BobberFett,
Good friends is a sure thing to better well-being.

In European culture, everybody is always doing things with friends: going to pubs and restaurants after work, doing activities on the weekends, coffee and cake on Sunday afternoons. They also work much less and have more vacation and generally don't really give a sh!t about work.........essentially the mode of being is "WORK TO LIVE" instead of "LIVE TO WORK" like Americans do (I'm American btw, but have lived in many European cities for years).

In America, it's all about work, paranoia, making money. Then at 8pm one goes home in huge traffic only to sit in front of the TV and pig out on one's already overweight body. On the weekends, it's all about sulking and complacency. Then they go to the shrink.


I can see how/why this happens..............The educated elite (which you all are) finish school, move to another city to start a new job and then get into this doldrum. No friends in the new city. No activities to share with people. Then at work, you and your commrades don't want to socialize after work b/c you get enough of them at work as it is. OR one is embarrassed to ask a colleague to do some things and vice versa. So these Tech workers all end up by themselves, lonely, sulking, depressed. In school, tech guys weren't the social flower to begin with which compounds the same feelings of inadequacy they felt in HS. At work the social and performance paranoia continue. So then one buys drugs from their educated Drug Dealer (Shrink) to get over "depression."

If one thinks and over-analyzes too much then that will lead anyone into trouble as we can all be too hard on ourselves. A sedentary/complacent life leads to the spiders crawling into your brain and setting cobwebs in there. One need to be a WARRIOR and get over it, by doing some or all of the following:

1.) Make friends
2.) Get a dog
3.) Start exercising everday doing something you love. DO THE OUTDOORS!
4.) Join a hobby club
5.) If married, start a family. A kid really adds PERSPECTIVE about what really matters in life. ASK ANY PARENT.
6.) When blue, CONSTANTLY REMIND YOURSELF:........Think of how good you have it versus the BILIIONS & BILLIONS of others on this planet that are really, truly suffering legitimatel. This will make you feel much better about your life.
7.) Don't find a religion, but go to a black church with Gospel SINGING. One hour there will root up your spirits the way no "white boys" church can (I'm white btw).

To repeat, MAKE FRIENDS.....b/c good friends will make your life much RICHER and keep you away from the doldrums! FYI, single friends are much preferred b/c married friends are all into their families and don't have so much time.

Please pass the crack that you're smoking over to me. I will glady take a hit of that.
 
Jan 25, 2001
743
0
0
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
[
Please pass the crack that you're smoking over to me. I will glady take a hit of that.

Sure.....here (passing to you)..........it's called PERSPECTIVE........from the makers of GET A LIFE. ;)

This drug is FREE.

But likely, most y'all will want to PAY for your brand drugs and the drug dealer (Shrink) that dishes it out to you.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
Originally posted by: TheeeChosenOne
GUYS:

From reading the thread, it seems like a lot of you need a good dose of PERSPECTIVE:

Whenever you get depressed, think INSTEAD how GOOD you have it. As a middle-class citizen in the wealthiest country in the world you have ACCESS to things that KINGS could only dream of 100 years ago. Yes KINGS.

Think now how it would be to have been currently born in a sh!tstorm country in Africa or Middle East, where you're cannon fodder to the warlords, have no human rights, are subjected to insane heat, contaminated water and food, insects, shantytown shelter, disease, nonexistent health care, no clothes except the ones on your body.


Heck, whenever I feel blue, this PERSPECTIVE perks me up straight up and I pray to God for allowing me to be born here.


But shrinks will never let you know this secret to well-being b/c you're paying his monthly quota for his BMW 7 series. He will feed you paranoia, pills and whatever insecurity drivel he can muster/address out of you so that he has you as a patient for YEARS! Shrinks do good for 5% of their patients. The rest are whining, insecure yuppies that shrinks/parasites feed off of to spawn thier huge lucrative industry.


Any old timer WWII vet will tell you this....to get PERSPECTIVE and a STIFF UPPER LIP when a little brown rain hits you.


Cheers!
The problem with people who needs the meds is that they can't think like that when they get depressed. TheeeChosenOne, you know too many rich people, and obviously nobody with any real depression issues.

Also, BD231, you might want to look at getting the allergies dealt with. NAET. Wierd sh!t, but it works.

 

Tinkerhell

Golden Member
Jul 12, 2003
1,225
0
0
Paxil CR worked for me. Effexor XR is supposed to be good too. If you're depressed you should get help whether its talking to someone or getting on a pill. A pill can do wonders but maybe all you need is some therapy
 

Encryptic

Diamond Member
May 21, 2003
8,885
0
0
Originally posted by: TheeeChosenOne
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
[
Please pass the crack that you're smoking over to me. I will glady take a hit of that.

Sure.....here (passing to you)..........it's called PERSPECTIVE........from the makers of GET A LIFE. ;)

This drug is FREE.

But likely, most y'all will want to PAY for your brand drugs and the drug dealer (Shrink) that dishes it out to you.


rolleye.gif
Yeah, I'd prefer to pay for Wellbutrin because it really helps. I like being in a good mood most of the time and not stuck in the doldrums for no reason at all. Thinking about how I have it so much better than some people is not a one size fits all solution.
 

amnesiac

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
15,781
1
71
DO NOT LET ANYONE "RECOMMEND" A CERTAIN MED FOR YOU.

It's purely trial and error; everyone has different reactions to different meds. SOme people are fine with minimum dosages of Wellbutrin, Paxil, Depakote, etc.. others need combinations of several meds to get on track.

One of four things will happen when you take the meds:

1) Nothing. Some people just don't react to SSRI meds at all.

2) Nothing (or mild reduction in depression), but you win bonus crappy side effects. Sleep disorders, sexual dysfunction, and other fun stuff. And you're still depressed. Woo.

3) You are less depressed but have lost all capability for emotion. If you didn't like all that trouble of feeling like a normal human, this might be up your alley. Personally, not being able to feel sad OR happy, or anything in between got irritating. If I'm going to feel like a cyborg I at least want a laser beam arm.

4) You are less depressed and have no side effects. This is, obviously, the best outcome, but it's a crapshoot. Some people arrive here with their first attempt at antidepressants, which makes me happy to hear. Others end up here only after months and months of trying different meds that cause #1-3.

All in all, antidepressants can be a good thing but be prepared to have a long, uphill battle with the meds if you do. If you'd rather try other methods to combat depression, there are many many alternative treatments available. Try working out regularly. Put your body in a pattern. Eat well, sleep well. Improve your lifestyle and living environment. Take herbal supplements. It's more work than popping a pill or two a day but it's a lot safer. :)

Hope you get yourself feeling better. :)