Antidepressants?

[bandXtrb]

Can anyone comment on his or her experience with antidepressant medication? Did it improve your mood? How long have you been taking them, and do you still take them? Are there any negative effects that you are aware of?

I quit taking meds several months ago because I was not sure what it may be doing to my body, and I think it was a foolish thing to do.

You can PM me if you don't want to post here.

 

[Lola]

i am on celexa (sp) anyways, it is suopposed to calm you down then give you enegry. I am not sure how well it is working though. It made me get an upset stomach occasionally. You could try zoloft maybe

 

[arigato]

I've taken medication for anxiety that is also used for treatment of depression: paxil, celexa. It really depends if the depression is chemical in which case, the drugs might help. I did not notice a great improvement with respect to my anxiety so my issues were more of the emotional type than an imbalance. I haven't seen any documentation but I feel that taking these drugs for about three and a half years has somewhat impaired my memory. Then again, it could be old age setting in. I stopped taking them about two years ago.

 

[bandXtrb]

Yeah, it was the memory loss thing I was concerned about. Anybody know if thats possibly true?

 

[Zorro]

<< Yeah, it was the memory loss thing I was concerned about. Anybody know if thats possibly true? >>




I forget what was the question

 

[amnesiac]

I've been on the following combinations to treat severe depression:
Paxil
Wellbutrin
Zoloft
Paxil + Wellbutrin
Paxil + Wellbutrin + Depakote
Paxil + Wellbutrin + Depakote + Neurontin

In every case, the cure was worse than the disease, as they say.

I had symptoms ranging from sexual dysfunction to sleeplessness to heavy perspiration and more.

I've been off any sort of drug for 9 months, opting to combat my depression with non-medical methods, and frankly I feel better than I ever have in my life.

 

[ChrichtonsGirl]

I've taken Zoloft and Klonopin on and off for about six years. Whatever the negative side effects, for me at least, the benefit of taking them outweighs them. I have noticed some recent memory and concentration problems, but they're related to something else, not the meds (but the meds exaggerate them some days, I think).

Zoloft doesn't improve my mood. The best way I can describe it is that it takes some of the depth out of the valleys of my depression. The lows aren't as low anymore, but the highs aren't as high either. It just sort of makes my mood in general more even, not necessarily better. I still have days when I have panic attacks and get very depressed to the point where I think about harming myself - but I know if I wasn't taking the meds, I probably would go further than just thinking about it.

If you're concerned about the side effects, definitely talk to your prescribing doctor (I hope you're seeing a psychiatrist for anti-depressant scripts). He/she might change the dose or give you something else; you're right though - quitting on your own was foolish (I did it too, several times).

If you don't think your prescribing doc is listening to you or if you don't feel like he/she's addressing your concerns about side effects, switch doctors if you can. Finding the right doc for this kind of thing is really key to managing your symptoms and dosages.

Good luck!

 

[IGBT]

Do a little research on something called "sam-e". See if it's right for you. I hear it works best with a b-spectrum complex.

 

[VirusDub]

I was on a combination of Paxil and Risperdal for a while for severe depression with psychotic features. The Risperdal made me sleep literally 20 hours a day, so the Paxil was never upped from 20mg for fear of upsetting the Risperdal (which was only at 2mg). Anyway, therapy worked better than the Risperdal, so I was on the Paxil alone for about four months. I got up to 80mg along with 200mg of...damn, I completely forgot the name...Anyway, the Paxil had the effect of increased anxiety and paranoia, which obviously wasn't a good thing. It also completely decreased my sexual drive. I had to force myself to become aroused, and when I managed to, it would take as long as an hour (painfully) to "relieve" it. Anyway, I found that they do help, but only if you're in therapy at the same time.

 

[Ns1]

5htp

 

[AkumaBao]

Blah! Made me worse! I think I've been on about every one that has been listed above, and none of them were any good. Celexa was close, but not close enough. I guess it depends on the type of problem though, considering doctor's find MAO inhibitors the presciption asprin, one-drug-does-all kinda thing.

 

[cherrytwist]

Have taken the following in the past:

Ativan (sic?)
Trazadone
Zoloft
Zoloft + Paxil
Paxil
Prozac
Lithium
Prozac + Lithium

At different times, different medications seemed to work well. Other times, the side affects weren't worth whatever positive effects they had.

I have chosen to stay away from meds and don't regret my decision. At times I reconsider taking something for anxiety, but as long as I'm functioning well I'll stay off of them. I haven't taken meds for about 3 years and feel pretty good.

 

[gopunk]

never, but my ex is now on them, and she's a lot better to be around now.

 

[Willoughbyva]

Hello, I am on Celexa after being on Luvox for a few years. I also take a little risperidol. My diagnoses is OCD. I like these meds a lot more now then I did when I started on them. I feel a lot better most of the time, though sometimes I feel like I am not as sharp as I used to be.

Good luck and taking these meds is ok for most people. If you don't want people to know then don't say anything, but there are a lot of people on SSRI's.

Good Luck again.

Will

 

[PG]

I got diagnosed with clinical depression and I now take some Prozac. It does seem to help, but then again I'm getting more accepting of the divorce, so I'm not sure how much of my improvement is due to Prozac and how much isn't. I started at a 20 mg dose, got bumped up to 40, but now will be taking 30 when these 40's run out. I've been on it for about 2 months. I really don't like taking things like this, but I haven't seen too many side affects that I can tell. I've had trouble sleeping and only get about 5 hours of sleep a night, but I'm not sure how much of that is due to the Prozac and how much is due to the simple fact that I've got a lot of stress in my life now. I've been told Prozac is well known for sexual side affects, but since I just got divorced I don't really need to worry about that. Or at least I don't think so. I don't think the affects are permanent anyway.

 

[hoihtah]

nothing beats a nice warm bath with a full body massage to follow.

 

[kassy]

I took Prozac and Prothediene (sp?) for a year, prozac in the morning and the other in the evening.
They made things easier to 'deal' with because they basically they made me numb to life. Sex Drive went to hell in a hand basket, weight loss and shakes were the side effects that I had while taking both.
Everyones experience is different, work with a doctor and find something that works for you. It can take a while but be very upfront with the doctor and say if the medication isnt working.
Good Luck.