Pills For Depression, How Good Are They?

[Saffy]

Sometimes it takes time to get the right one .. my sister started on Prozac (hey, it's a family thing) but they kept her awake all night ... Me? I slept all the time initially, but that's the way your body repairs itself .. or that's my excuse for staying in bed all day sometimes ... *grin*

[Saffy]

I'm on a permanent pill vacation, Saffy.

 

I can't remember what reality looks like I'm so dosed up. I was finaly diagnosed bi polar when I was 26... I was less surprised than the Doctor, in fact I was the one who insisted I was seen by a specialist as there was no way depression was causing my god complex.

 

Depression itself does come back, sometimes you cope and sometimes you need the pills to help you through. Every time you work through a bout of depression you learn new coping skills that you carry with you.

They make you stronger, even if you don't feel it.

 

What do you mean by God complex?

[mojo1]

What do you mean by God complex?

 

I was so high on life I honestly felt untouchable. I stared down a truck on the parkway, I walked round a six inch wide ledge outside my 12th story flat to name just two examples of my scarily crazy antics. I honestly thought I was invincible. I had a real god complex, nothing or nobody could touch me.

[Jabberwocky]

A doc put me on prozac in the 90s to help with asthma of all things.

 

They made me very, very honest. I lost that ability we all have and need to tell little white lies and got into some bad scrapes because of it.

 

There was a woman I knew who went to the gym and really looked after herself and one night she said to me `I may be in my late 30s but men in their late teens chat me up when I go to pubs and clubs.`

 

I said `Well blokes of that age will sh.ag owt, even you!`

 

She didnt talk to me for about three months after that.

[Saffy]

A doc put me on prozac in the 90s to help with asthma of all things.

 

They made me very, very honest. I lost that ability we all have and need to tell little white lies and got into some bad scrapes because of it.

 

There was a woman I knew who went to the gym and really looked after herself and one night she said to me `I may be in my late 30s but men in their late teens chat me up when I go to pubs and clubs.`

 

I said `Well blokes of that age will sh.ag owt, even you!`

 

She didnt talk to me for about three months after that.[/QUOT

 

LOL ... well .. umm .. no answer to that one ... the truth drug !

[Jabberwocky]

A doc put me on prozac in the 90s to help with asthma of all things.

 

They made me very, very honest. I lost that ability we all have and need to tell little white lies and got into some bad scrapes because of it.

 

There was a woman I knew who went to the gym and really looked after herself and one night she said to me `I may be in my late 30s but men in their late teens chat me up when I go to pubs and clubs.`

 

I said `Well blokes of that age will sh.ag owt, even you!`

 

She didnt talk to me for about three months after that.[/QUOT

 

LOL ... well .. umm .. no answer to that one ... the truth drug !

 

Same with Champix... my OH did the old `Does my bum look big in this?` and I said `Yeah it looks bloody huge in it and vast out of it`.

 

I got sex that night... lost two teeth and had a swollen lip for three days.

[SHsheff]

I think it depends on the reason for your depression. It can be for understandable reasons like not having enough money, a bereavement, family or job problems, etc. In these cases, an additional chemical can help to soothe the way you see things. (I'm purposely not giving details because I don't know any!)

 

But, if the reason for your depression is because of a chemical inbalance (shortage, if you like) in your body make up, then the addition of that chemical via medication can make you ok again.

 

It's down to your GP to determine which of these apply to you, Jabbers. My way of seeing it is: if you're lacking in some chemical, then the addition of that via medication will help - and won't make you anything other than the way you should be!

 

If, however, you're suffering a bad time because of outside influences, then taking a drug will alter the way you see things such that you're (temporarily) able to deal with what's happening. Giving you a breathing space, if you like, while things get sorted.

 

Just as an aside, St John's Wort is freely available in the UK via health food stores, yet in Germany for example it's the anti-depressant drug of choice.

 

Maybe if you have reservations about what you've been prescribed it'd be worth either researching what it does, or/and going back to your GP to ask for more details?

[Jabberwocky]

I think it depends on the reason for your depression. It can be for understandable reasons like not having enough money, a bereavement, family or job problems, etc. In these cases, an additional chemical can help to soothe the way you see things. (I'm purposely not giving details because I don't know any!)

 

But, if the reason for your depression is because of a chemical inbalance (shortage, if you like) in your body make up, then the addition of that chemical via medication can make you ok again.

 

It's down to your GP to determine which of these apply to you, Jabbers. My way of seeing it is: if you're lacking in some chemical, then the addition of that via medication will help - and won't make you anything other than the way you should be!

 

If, however, you're suffering a bad time because of outside influences, then taking a drug will alter the way you see things such that you're (temporarily) able to deal with what's happening. Giving you a breathing space, if you like, while things get sorted.

 

Just as an aside, St John's Wort is freely available in the UK via health food stores, yet in Germany for example it's the anti-depressant drug of choice.

 

Maybe if you have reservations about what you've been prescribed it'd be worth either researching what it does, or/and going back to your GP to ask for more details?

 

Cheers for that! I`m sort of assuming that the docs are assuming its a chemical imbalance combined with a pretty crappy life for the first 40 years of it, but I explained that my life is now brilliant and I have absolutely nothing to moan about apart from being depressed for what I can see as no reason.

Thats maddening, I should be on top of the world but Im moaning like an old fart.

 

Theyre referring me to some sort of councillor in a few weeks time- that should be a barrel of laughs!

[xXMessedUpXx]

It really does vary between drugs and people.

 

I've so far been on 3 AD's.

 

fluoxetine (Prozac)

-on this for about 6 months

-helped initially, lowered anxiety

-increased insomnia

-eventually sent me hypomanic so had to come off it

 

Citalopram

-on for about 4-5 months

-didn't improve mood

-sex drive went completely

-mood swings got more extreme

-still increased insomnia

-increased self harm and suicidal indention-ended up with suicide attempt

 

Trazodone

-on for around 6 months

-at forst made me drowsy and helped with sleep

-sex drive came back

-kept me stable for a while

-had to keep have dosage upped, ended up on maximum

-sent me hypomanic

 

After that i got taken off Ad'sand put on Olanzapine(mood stabiliser), then was switched to another mood stabiliser: Quetiapine

Now back on fluoxetine with Quetiapine

 

I'll either be on meds for a few years or if i still relapse possibly life.

[pattricia]

Cheers for that! I`m sort of assuming that the docs are assuming its a chemical imbalance combined with a pretty crappy life for the first 40 years of it, but I explained that my life is now brilliant and I have absolutely nothing to moan about apart from being depressed for what I can see as no reason.

Thats maddening, I should be on top of the world but Im moaning like an old fart.

 

Theyre referring me to some sort of councillor in a few weeks time- that should be a barrel of laughs!

 

You dont need all that cr*p, youve got your own high. Writing on forums & FB.