anti-depressant

[blueblue]

Hello,
I wanted to get feedback on these medicine. Anyone who has taken anti-depressants if you would like to share your experience.

Did you have side effects? What were they? Did they last long? How long did it take before you saw a difference? Do you feel they helped and were worth any side effects? For those that ended up stopping them, did you stop because you were better or the situation has corrected itself? Did you have any problems with stopping the medication? Any other insight you could offer someone considering them?

Thanks!

[Marie]

i've been on a few and i don't remember what it was (i'll try to remember, i'm pooped!). I had no side effects at all and yes i got better.

You should never stop because you "feel" better. That's the whole point of anti depressants. You should only stop them for the doctor.

My depression comes and goes but it's been gone for a few years now but it might come back one day.

Was it worth it? Yes. It was so bad that i couldn't even get out of bed.

You have to figure out (the dr has to really) if you are depressed because of things going on around you or if it's because of a chemical imbalance.

A lot of people don't understand that the brain can get sick just like any other organ and not producing enough chemicals is one of those things that can affect your brain and basically your whole life.

Don't let the side effects scare you. They may do nothing at all to you :) My husband took the same thing I did and the meds made him catatonic but did nothing but good things for me. Most anti depressants did but wellbutrin worked well for him. I heard great things about zoloft too.

Good luck and if you need encouragement, help or anything about depression, feel free to pm me. I've been down that road personally and I've also been there for people with severe depression (husband and sister).

ps: i forgot to tell you that sometimes, it's good to have counseling at the same time. Also, you may have to try a few meds before you find the right ones for you and that's normal and ok. Just because if works for A doesn't mean it's going to work for you. I'd make sure my doctor was a good doctor and that he would really be knowledgeable in depression and made sure he was working with you to find the right ones, right dosage etc.

[angela256z]

Zoloft - My cousin took this and it made her very moody. She would have visions or dreams about killing her children. She stopped taking it and did not have a problem.

Prozac - My sister took this. It made her crazy. She acted very wierd she always looked drugged and she was sleeping all the time. She said she felt like a crazy person.

Paxil - My cousin uses this now. She says that she is still a little moody with them, but she doesn't have the feelings towards her kids and other people anymore.

Celexa - I took this. I could only take half at first because it kept me a wake, but after about 4 weeks I felt so much better. It worked very well.

[aprilstorm]

I was on Paxil at one time and it made me become a true b****..I said what I wanted to say and I didn't care if I hurt your feelings..everyone would tell me I was a b**** and I would say "oh well...this is me..who gives a **** because I don't...if you don't like it then to bad"...one day I said that and it hit me I really was a big b****..I told me doc I didn't want to take it anymore because I didn't like who I had become..she put me on wellbutirun..that made me gain weight and I also felt very forgetful...since my hubby is home she has taken me off it and we testing to see what happens..so far so good.

Good luck

[Dorothea]

I take Zoloft, thank goodness. I am much easier to be around now:p
I have no real side affects from it. It also doubles as my med for PMDD, so I double the dose in the week before my period. It helps for that too.

When I was a teenager I was on Paxil (made me have to pee all the freakin time!), Prozac (like Angela's sister, I was also very sleepy). Neither of those seemed to help much with my depression.

It takes a few days, honestly, for the first affects from taking an anti-depressant (for me). But it takes about 3 weeks before I feel a little better on a constant basis.

I think, at this point in my life, if I were not taking the Zoloft I'd just be a little less able to stay calm, to focus on the light at the end of the long tunnel...

[egonzalez1975]

I think with anti-depressants it's truly a hit or miss. It depends on how that medicine interacts with the chemicals in your brain. You can always try one and if it doesn't work for you then discontinue and try another. Most doctors will work with you through this intial phase because it is very common to try several before you find the right one for yourself.

I hope all goes well!!

[mamacita]

Hi Everyone; Good Morning!

Well, currently I am taking Zoloft, and it helps me alot! I had to start taking it about 2 wks after my husband left last Sept 24th for MX!:thumbup:
It has helped me tremendously. I used to cry every afternoon @ work so much and I couldn't concentrate. I then had anxiety attacks too worrying so much about everything.

Now this has all subsided and I feel much better! I have been on Zoloft now for 9 1/2 months. Will probably stay on it until we get through this INS nightmare and the life in LIMBO. Once my husband gets his I601 waiver approval then perhaps I'll taper off and get off of this medication by the time he gets to come back home.

I think if a person really needs to take antidepressant they need to do it and be under a Physician's supervision, it has helped me through the bad days more than you can believe!

Take care of yourselves, being stressed out and not functioning isn't fun nor is it good for you!

God bless,
Mamacita:o:bounce:

[blueblue]

Thanks everyone for your input!! This helps a lot. Up until now I have been more afraid of the medicine but it has gotten so bad that I have to look at this seriously. I really appreciate your sharing your experiences.

[angela256z]

I started taking the celexa when I split from my first boyfriend in 2001. I went through so much stress and depression from the break up in just the first two months that I miss carried our baby. I count that as a sign that he was not the one I was suppose to be with since I am now with the greatest man ever, but it helped so much. I cried all the time. I was not motivated to work, play or anything. I was really depressed and it got really bad when he rented a room in my cousin's house with his new girlfriend. About 4 weeks into taking the medication I felt so much better. The crying stopped the pain in my stomach stopped and I was feeling motivated again. It is very scary to think about taking the medication, but I tell you they help.

[lidiana]

I've been taking Lexapro, same a Mamacita it really hit me about two weeks after my husband left. It has helped tremendously, no side affects. I was one that thought since I was feeling better, I could just get off but within two weeks I was back to where I was feeling before. So I'm back on them.

[mi_corazon]

So, this may be a dumb question, but how can you tell? I mean what are the signs of depression? To me I have just thought all of my emotions have been a change in hormones from being pregnant and then having the baby...but now I just think that my moodiness is stress.

[Marie]

you can be very very fatigued, crying a lot, depressed for no reason.

I found a self diagnosing test thing. This is what they do when you go to the doctor, they make you fill something out to gauge you.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression/MH00103_D

[angela256z]

Every little thing would make me cry. I would watch the Maury show and cry. I remember I was in Mexico for a wedding and on our way home there was this little old lady sitting in a chair crying because she lost her passport in the airport and they would not let her go back home to the US. She must have been like 70 years old and I got so upset and cried and yelled at the people to help her cause they kept telling her to call her family to help her. It made me cry so much and then after all that I got on the plane and still cried and it ended up turning into me crying over my ex. Then to top things off we land in Phoenix and my Ex's little brother was there boarding our plane and that made me cry again.....what are the odds.

[Ginger]

If you do not want/scared/can not afford antidepressants, you can try a natural one. There is a herb called St.Jones Worth. You can buy it in the capsules at any drug store and it considered a natural antidepressant. My nutrition teacher told us that it was a time when she was taking it for 3 years. It is not as hard on your body since it is herb.

[egonzalez1975]

Angela, I know that your story wasn't funny at the time. But, reading it I couldn't help but giggle a little. Darn the luck that day!!!!!! I think that day alone would have sent me into depression!!!!!

[angela256z]

Yeah...I look back on it and think...Oh my gosh was I going nuts and I laugh at myself too. Then the little brother at the airport. Wow what an end to my best trip ever in Mexico. I am actually now still friends with the little brother, but he is home in El Salvador trying to get his papers with through his wife now.

[Marie]

If you do not want/scared/can not afford antidepressants, you can try a natural one. There is a herb called St.Jones Worth. You can buy it in the capsules at any drug store and it considered a natural antidepressant. My nutrition teacher told us that it was a time when she was taking it for 3 years. It is not as hard on your body since it is herb.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work for everyone and you still should consider talking to your doctor. That made my husband catatonic too.

I was on effexor.

[Pinkpig]

3 votes for welbutrin here.

St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

[jsierra1982]

i have taken a few over the last 6 1/2 years- i was first diagnosed with both depression and panic disorder when i was 18. i took celexa for years, but it made me VERY sleepy--but it worked! the sleepiness was worth it for me to not feel sad from the depression and sick from the panic all the time. now i take lexapro, which is related to celexa--it has no side effects for me and works almost as well as celexa. i took wellbutrin for a while, too, and loved it. i also take lamictal now as i now have a secondary diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

someone else said this, but DON'T stop taking them when you feel better! you'll crash within a couple of months.

don't be afraid of antidepressants. they literally saved my life.