Hello, Well, I have tried to fight severe anxiety & depression (classified by the shrink) for a long time. The last few weeks my mood has plummeted further & i cry a lot & feel I can’t be bothered to carry on, so off to the Dr for drugs I have been advised to go. I have had anti depressants on and off for 14 years. I hate them. They make me feel SO ill. I just can’t deal with the side effects, but nor can I deal with my life. I feel damned if I do take them, damned if I don’t. Please reassure me that I am doing the right thing. I am so intolerant of drugs & making myself even more physically ill by taking them just seems wrong.
You are doing the right thing. I have suffered with terrible anxiety and depression for about 15 years and have been on and off anti depressants all that time. Yes they make you feel rubbish at first but once they are in your system and you have got over the initial side effects then I feel very good on them. Don’t suffer needlessly. Best of luck xx
I also take anti depressants and can’t manage without. The previous post mentioned they take a while to get into your system and they do. It can take up to a month before you feel the effects. There are so many types of tablets that won’t suit everyone and they all have side effects but most settle down with time. Discuss the options with your gp so they can help with choice. There’s also counselling available on the nhs that might help you.
It took me a while to pick myself up but you wouldn’t recognise me now from the crying, suicidal person who wouldn’t even leave the house to peg my washing out in my garden. I had medication and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and I’m fine now, still on tablets but they work and I’d rather have them.
Please see your gp, they will try to help and do what’s best for you. Only you can decide what to do but give it serious thought. Take care.
Min x
Hi Anon,
Have you talked to your doc about alternatives such as counselling or psychotherapy?
I’m not discounting ADs, as I accept they may be helpful for some people, but I’ve had a very negative and unhappy experience with them, and I’ve tried a few. I may just have been very unlucky, but all had horrible side-effects of some kind - many of which were initially dismissed as “part of your condition” - and none seemed to do anything positive, despite my persevering way beyond what was necessary or sensible, in some cases.
Do speak to your doctor about your concerns, and how awful you felt on them last time.
Prescribing is very fashionable at the moment, but I think rates of effectiveness can be exaggerated, and too little attention given to potentially distressing side-effects, which are all too easy to brush off as “part of your problem”.
Minor side-effects may be acceptable in return for something that really works, but no drug should be making you feel worse overall than you did before taking it. I’m definitely in the latter camp with ADs, but I suffered far too long before finally admitting it. I kept thinking I just hadn’t given them a proper chance, and that tomorrow, or next week, I’d start to feel the benefit. I never did.
I wouldn’t go down that road again, and certainly wouldn’t get duped into trying just a little bit longer, and a little bit longer, but still feeling poo!
Of course, with hindsight, I may have been expecting ADs to fix MS - which I didn’t know I had. So that might explain the disappointing results. But still wouldn’t explain the horrendous side-effects.
Tina
x