Did antidepressants help you?!
Question: Many years ago when my wife had an affair and we divorced, I was put on Prozac. I did not have a good experience. It was the only time in my life that I considered suicide. I walked out of work in the middle of the day and was walking along some railroad tracks. I heard a train coming and seriously considered throwing myself in front of it. That was my only experience with antidepressants. I understand that they have helped many people, but your question was, did they help me. I would have to say not only did they not help, but they made matters worse.
Answers: Many years ago when my wife had an affair and we divorced, I was put on Prozac. I did not have a good experience. It was the only time in my life that I considered suicide. I walked out of work in the middle of the day and was walking along some railroad tracks. I heard a train coming and seriously considered throwing myself in front of it. That was my only experience with antidepressants. I understand that they have helped many people, but your question was, did they help me. I would have to say not only did they not help, but they made matters worse.
Yes, Lustral got me back on balance. But exercise was also a great tonic for me.....just walking out into the country every morning and evening was a great tonic. Try not to curl up into a ball and disappear into a corner....I did that and it doesn't work.
Yup Zoloft and Klonopins worked for me...best thing that ever happened to me
Yes, they saved my life.
I get depressed, a lot. But I refuse to use any sort of medication.
What I do is meditate, go outside, do things that I love, eat what I want to eat, talk to my friends, and try to have a good time. I avoid pushing myself away from people and the triggers that make my depression occur. You just have to be in tune with yourself. If you become too reliant on medications, they won't work and you will become weaker.
Prozac put the color back into my life--I'm finally free of a world made of shades of grey.
no, i was an undiagnosed bipolar sufferer and i was prescribed Prozac. i quickly went 'nuts' and ended up taking an overdose. not a pleasant experience.
xxx
At first cymbyax helped, but it made me sweat like crazy and gain 10lbs in a month. After that (about 2 months), things took a turn for the worse and I was taken off of them.
I have been on several meds including Zoloft and Prozac- both did not help me.
Of course, every body is made up differently, so what might help you could do nothing to others.
Talk to your doctor and remember sometimes it's just about trail and error.
Good luck. :)
at first they made me 20x worse but within eh 7 months they kicked in but only to be taken off abruptly and my depression to never go away. it got better but then i got it again... not cool... so i currently have it with no meds
Use the multidimensional approach to treating depression, including occupational therapy (keeping busy, so you have little time for unproductive introspection), relaxation exercises, either 4, or more Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily, (some people take up to 10, depending on size, and potency) or preferably, "krill oil*". Work your way up slowly to 20 - 30 minutes of exercise daily, depending on age, and physical condition. Don't rely on antidepressants, which are only effective in the long term with about 30% of people, have side effects, like sexual dysfunction, and are unsuitable for young people, causing a demonstrated increase in the rate of suicide, homicide, and aberrant behaviour. You can, however, include supplements such as Inositol, SAMe, or herbal remedies, like St. John's wort (Hypericum Perforatum), which has been demonstrated through independently conducted German double blind testing to be effective in many cases, including clinical depression. American testing, which I strongly suspect of having been influenced by those with a vested interest in maintaining/increasing their billions of dollars of profits for antidepressant sales, has (not surprisingly) shown it to be ineffective in clinical (major) depression. Counselling, in the form of Rational Emotive Behavio(u)ral Therapy, or Cognitive Behavio(u)ral therapy is advisable, at least in the early stages, after which it can become a bit "same old, same old" for some people, and lose effectiveness. Closely examine the http://www.1-800-therapist.org website, and I suggest setting an initial limit with the therapist of, say, 6 months, so they have no (unconscious) reason to try to stretch it out, indefinitely, as some do. Go to the searchbar* at http://www.mercola.com and enter: "EFT". Give it a good tryout, preferably through a registered practicioner: there is a locator for the USA there. In Australia, there is http://www.findatherapist.com.au/ Phone (Australia) 1300 365 411, and www.naturaltherapypages.com.au See http://www.babcp.co.uk/ in Great Britain. In other countries, type the term: "therapist", followed by your country's 2 letter code, for example, if I was in New Zealand, I would type: "therapist;nz" and then enter it by clicking on the green "go" arrow, on the right hand side of the address bar, to use the search engine, (for those of you new to computers) or press the "enter" key. The WebFerret search engine consults several other search engines, and collates the results. Try yours, Yahoo, AltaVista, or Entireweb, otherwise. If the amount of daylight you have been exposed to recently has reduced, perhaps due to the change of seasons, instead of taking 4 Omega 3 fish oil supplements, daily; replace 2 of them with cod liver oil supplements for the winter months only! (or, as probably a better alternative to the 2 cod liver oil supplements: 1 teaspoonful of cod liver oil, with a little butter, to ensure its use; I take mine on sourdough rye bread, or toast, covered with fishpaste, and pepper, to mask the strong taste). Consider having your doctor test your vitamin D levels, using the 25 Hydroxyvitamin D test. Optimal levels are 50 - 55 ng/ml (115 - 125 nmol/l. It should be above 32 ng/ml. Those people who receive adequate exposure to sunlight, daily, won't need the vitamin D from cod liver oil, but many people, particularly those in latitudes far from the equator, find this difficult, to achieve. You can also enter "depression", or "Seasonal Affective Disorder" in the Google, or Wikipedia websites. Detailed information on the above may be found in the blogs of detlef schtraka, and shaneris, at www.myspace.com
The old saying time heals all wounds is so true.
Time is really the only thing that will help you cope.
If you deaden your mind then your life becomes stagnant.
Busy yourself with anything to take your mind off of yourself.
What did people do before anti-depressants...they dealt with the pain...and others comforted them.
Many many years I struggled more than most people do with depression and a down mood. A few times my moods even got to a point of emotional crisis, and my family was very worried about me. Following the births of my babies depression followed deep and strong...and very long into the babies' first year. All these years I tried everything I could to get ontop of my moodiness. I tried so many things to cheer-up. Exercise, reading self-help books, music, prayer, getting out among people, journaling, reading to my babies, eating certain foods, artwork, walking in the woods, taking respite days alone,counseling, watching funny movies....
..........and nothing worked much longer than a day at most to raise my moods.
Once when again in crisis, I saw a psychiatrist, and for the first time was given an anti-depressant medication. Over the years to come the medication was adjusted, and other ones tried. There were improvements and stabilization of my moodiness.
Today I am stable, not the least depressed. No, I'm not saying I'm cured. What I am saying is that anti-depressant medication fills in the gaps my body can no longer provide for. Anti-depressant meds have given me my life back!
We all suffer from depression in one form or another. Usually, I come on here and just read the encouraging posts that most of the brothers/sisters have written, and it helps me tremendously.
I know that you have been through a lot lately, and my heart goes out to you. Time will truly make a difference.....it just takes patience. I'm sorry that you're depressed, it's a terrible feeling....but know this: we, your extended worldwide family have much love for you dear sister, and you are not alone in your trial.
Agape
You may not feel they are helping you but depending on whether you have the right anti-depressant for you, It can & will move Mountains for you. I am taking them at the moment & i've just found the right one for me & i'd be in a right mess if I wasn't taking any. They have the chemical 'Seratonin in' which is the chemical that makes you're brain feel like everything is better. You could and probably would get worse if you didn't take anything, but it is very important you have the one that suits you best. On my prior anti-depressant i WAS VERY TEARFUL & UNHAPPY thinking my life was just getting harder to cope with & straight away my G.P said, you're on the wrong anti-deppressant & he changed it & within 2 day's I was muchy more at ease with day to day life. I will continue to take these as long as I know I need them, you can trust these drugs, I wouldn't be without them at the moment.
Yes, at first.
Like many, they don't last or have worse side effects.
We are all unique and what may work for one won't work for another.
Medicine is still an art and not science, per se.
They did help me get a grip, find a base, give me time to find other means.
Like a lot of medication, it eases our symptoms to allow our bodies to heal itself.
Meditation, exercise, consciously looking up rather than down (so to say) helps me.
I have taken anti-depressants on and off for years. None really helped me. The side effects were really bad. Some gave me terrible headaches and some made me gain weight. The last time I took anything was about a year ago. I took Cymbalta fro about 9 months but they gave me terrible nightmares. Now I don't take anything. I just try to feel my life with things I enjoy and talk to my husband when I feel I can't cope. He helps me through it all.
I know anti-depressants must help some people though, everyone is different.
I think they play a great part in controling and supressing depressive thoughts.
I have seen peole with such deep depressions/suicidal etc come around really well with a combination of drugs and therapy.
Generally people who try the two prongs approach, fair better.
Some have, some haven't. It depended on just how depressed I was and the different type of antidepressant I was on.
I have never taken them but I have a friend who when he is on his meds is great when off not good at all.