Anyone else here on anti-depressants?

[Bleeve]

On Lexapro now for a couple of months.

I don't feel that different, but tend to do have a better outlook on life.

I started working out around the same time and have actually lost about 10 pounds so far.

[pandagirl]

I'm going into my third week of Lexapro and the only side effect I'm having is being really, really, really TIRED all the time in combination with insomnia.

 

Did anyone experience this and did it go away after the first month or so?

[Ross PK]

I'm going into my third week of Lexapro and the only side effect I'm having is being really, really, really TIRED all the time in combination with insomnia.

 

Did anyone experience this and did it go away after the first month or so?

 

Do you take them before you go to bed?

 

The last med I was on made me tired and kept doing that for the one or two years I was on it.

[sunshinegirl]

I've taken Effexor for situational depression - two separate times.

 

Like others I had felt like I was watching my own life but not participating in it. I felt detached, uninterested, foggy, hopeless. Also like others have said, the meds helped me climb back into my own skin and start living my life again. They weren't happy pills; I still saw a counselor to address some of the non-chemical roots of my depression. But I slowly regained a desire to get out of bed in the morning, and over time I regained a sense of hope and optimism about life.

 

I had no weight gain or other side effects, and I went off the meds after just 3 months each time.

[Dazzel]

I am bipolar II and have been on many antidepressants. I haven't had any negative side effects really except with Cymbalta (which gave me dry mouth, dizziness, isomnia, drowsiness, and headches....taking this pill was a pain in the arse). I have taken many others with no problems, however....Risperdal, Zoloft, Lexapro, Effexor,etc.

 

Right now I am on Lexapro and Lamictal (a mood stablizer made specifically for bipolar people).

 

Weight gain does seem to be a common side effect. I actually lost weight when on Effexor. Lexapro is making it quite hard for me to lose weight, however.

[Cherished]

I really feel that antidepressants are best taken in conjunction with psychotherapy/counseling.

I was on them for a few months because of a situational depression. the situation got better.

However, I went on them with a therapist, who was able to give me a prescription based on a visit and diagnosing my need based on his diagnosis from my visits. I was able to go off of them and eventually therapy.

Nowadays, you can go to any medical doctor and they will put you on meds just for stating you are depressed, pretty much. I mean people can exaggerate to their doctors so they can be one of the people part of this hip trend of popping the latest antidepressants. Notice how posters enjoy sharing the name of the drugs, many of which we can recognize as buzzwords from commercials. "lexapro" "zoloft"...sound pretty, don't they?

I really feel that people shouldn't even be allowed to be on these drugs without visiting a psychiatrist/therapist/psychologist in conjunction with taking the drugs.

My therapist was great, he still emails occasionally.

He prescribed antidepressants as only a last resort after he had me try a few weeks of exercise and getting out of the house. Most MDs aren't going to make you do this. You tell them "I don't feel like getting up out of bed" and they're already pulling out the prescription pad to get you out of their office and onto the next patient.

I know this for a fact because I had a medical checkup and I told the nurse practitioner my situation and she pulled out the pad and wrote me a prescription for Paxil.....I saw my therapist that week and he stated that he wouldn't have prescribed that particular drug for my prescription, so I didn't use that drug, later I did go on one he prescribed for a few months.

So yes, it is so easy to get on these drugs, even nurse practioners will put you on them if you tell them you're depressed. Most likely if you're on them right now, you probably don't even need them.

[mark982]

i first was on lexapro, i couldn't even speak when i was on this. then was cymbalta 30 mg.believe it or not make me "really" think about sucide,so that was out. now on seroquel,i love this stuff.

[Cherished]

i first was on lexapro, i couldn't even speak when i was on this. then was cymbalta 30 mg.believe it or not make me "really" think about sucide,so that was out. now on seroquel,i love this stuff.

 

Wow, what pretty names for those drugs.

Have you thought about getting off of them altogether?

What do you think would happen?

[D-Lish]

i first was on lexapro, i couldn't even speak when i was on this. then was cymbalta 30 mg.believe it or not make me "really" think about sucide,so that was out. now on seroquel,i love this stuff.

 

Seroquel is a heavy hitter. Really heavy hitter. My doctor prescribed it for me for my sleeping disorder. I would take it at night and wouldn't be able to drag my ass out of bed for 12 hours... then I'd drag my ass around all day feeling tired.

 

I know it's a popular drug for bi-polar. When I was in rehab, half the ward was on seroquel- all of them were like zombies!!!!

 

I'm fine on Wellbutrin. I like it a lot.

[Blackfrost]

then was cymbalta 30 mg.believe it or not make me "really" think about sucide

 

I was totally like this with Prozac. 3 days into taking that, and I was either going to kill everyone around me, or kill myself - if I did not immediatly stop. I remember standing in front of my bathoom mirror, pulling chunks of hair out of my head.....it was insane. That scared me for a long time about taking AD medication.

 

10 years later, and I'm on Welbutrin, and I couldn't be happier. It obviously does something noticable to my general behavior, because, people who have known me for years (prior to the meds) are always commenting on how tranquil and (this is an actual quote ) How Obi Wan Kenobi I have become.....whatever the hell that means. I also laugh and smile alot more, and it seems to depress me appetite as well. It's almost like a wonder drug for me. This medication makes me feel like I am a normal person who fits into the world I live in.

[Cherished]

Wow, see what I mean! People on the 'hip' drugs sure like to name drop them!!!

 

Are you guys all even going to therapists or counseling?

lol

[carhill]

Seroquel is a heavy hitter. Really heavy hitter. My doctor prescribed it for me for my sleeping disorder

 

No kidding... Quetiapine is a drug primarily used for schizophrenia. I used it for my mom's psychosis (mainly visual hallucinations) when I cared for her at home. It did make her sleepy but calmed the psychotic episodes. Later, we had to go to Zyprexa, a much stronger drug, but that was only after full-time care began.

 

Both those drugs carry significant health risks, from sudden heart death to spikes of diabetes. IMO, no brain med should be approached casually. I would only consider treatment under the care of a psychiatrist/neurologist with concurrent psychotherapy. I have enough of these drugs (variety and quantity) to scare me and I haven't touched them once, not even on my worst day. I just tough it out. Someone talked about an overwhelming feeling to run, like you don't belong. Know that one well. The psychological tools I learned in MC help manage it, but it's still there, like a irritating brother.

 

OP, if your feelings and thoughts are chronically troublesome, try concurrent psychotherapy and/or CBT. The drugs will center you enough to really absorb and put into practice the tools you'll learn. View the meds as an interim measure. Good luck!