Who has actually been helped by medication?

[mismashful2]

So, my thread is clear: who has actually been helped by medication, and in what way?

My psychiatrist prescribed me escitalopram, but I'm too scared to take it, although I really hit rock bottom today, with lots of thoughts about suicide.
Do they help reduce these thoughts? Do you feel less anxious?

[panic_down_under]

Do they help reduce these thoughts? Do you feel less anxious?

Antidepressants have been keeping me almost completely free of inappropriate anxiety for almost 3 decades. They enabled me to continue working for another 12 years until I chose to retire. Without them I could literally not walk out my front door to get the mail because of severe agoraphobia, with them I travelled the world.

Antidepressants work by stimulating the growth of new brain cells (http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/depression-and-the-birth-and-death-of-brain-cells/99999) (neurogenesis) to replace cells killed, or prevented from growing by high brain stress hormone levels. The therapeutic response is produced by these new cells, not the meds directly. BTW-the cognitive/behavioural therapies seem to also work (http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(13)00471-X/fulltext) by the neurogenesis mechanism and it should be considered in addition to meds if they are an affordable option.

Escitalopram is one of the two SSRIs most seem to tolerate the best (its parent compound citalopram is the other), but should still be started on a low dose - no more than 5mg for the first week - to limit the severity of any initial side-effects. If your doctor has prescribed a higher starting dose ask if it can be lowered, but it is important that you get that okay first as there may be valid reasons why you should begin on a higher dose.

[roseanxiety]

Panic down under, you seem to have a lot of "insight". Thanks for that thoughtful response. Glad to see you here. (?)

[AntsyVee]

Escitalopram has done wonders for me and pretty much keeps me physically symptom free. It also helps me not dwell on negative thoughts.

Hey Ian :welcome:

[panic_down_under]

Panic down under, you seem to have a lot of "insight".

I eat a lot of carrots :D


Hey Ian :welcome:

Thank you. There seem to be a lot of us refugees here.

[Mermaid16]

I started taking Sertraline when I was 20, I am now 41 and it has pooped out (stopped working) on me this year. The last 20 years I have been pretty much anxiety free. Of course I have normal stresses of life, but that is different from the debilitating anxiety. In July last year the anxiety came back full force, in November I was hospitalised for a month. I tried many different medications and nothing would budge the anxiety. It was only late December and this month that I have been taking Nortriptyline (which is an older tricyclic anti depressant). I am finally starting to feel like my old self. I still suffer from some agoraphobia, which I am in therapy for. Medication does work, but it doesn't solve everything, you still have to put in some of the hard work yourself and work on your thinking and behaviours and learn to change them so you are able to cope better.

[lliiaamm0099]

Without antidepressants I would not be where I am today, for 6 years of high school I was almost a complete mute due to severe social anxiety disorder. Because this got so extreme I developed panic disorder and agoraphobia. I only left the house to go to school. My doctor then reluctantly prescribed Paroxetine with pregabalin which changed my life. I became incredibly social and so happy and outgoing I had zero fear to leave the house, I then finished my A levels at college and I am now studying for my Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degree and Plan on becoming either a Neurologist or Neuropsychiatrist

[swgrl09]

Escitalopram changed my life ... seriously. The only reason I am not on them now is to try to have a baby. Otherwise I still would be. I actually felt "normal" and like myself again.

[mismashful2]

And how gast did it work for you guys? Don't want to wait another 6 weeks :(

[swgrl09]

I started to feel better in 2 weeks. Difficulty with sleep stuck with me for about a month or so. I think once I got up to 20 mg for a few weeks I was good.

[panic_down_under]

And how gast did it work for you guys? Don't want to wait another 6 weeks :(

Antidepressants typically begin working within 3-12 weeks. There is no way of speeding this up, new neurons take time to bud, grow and mature.

However, you could try taking hydroxyzine (Vistaril) to ease anxiety until the escitalopram kicks-in. Hydroxyzine is a prescription antihistamine with anti anxiety properties. It isn't as potent as the benzodiazepines (BZDs), but is often potent enough to make a significant difference and unlike the BZDs it doesn't block neurogenesis.

*Hydroxyzine comes in two forms, hydroxyzine pamoate (Vistaril) and hydroxyzine hydrochloride (Atarax). Anecdotally, the pamoate form is supposedly the more effective anxiolytic.

[mismashful2]

Hmm, I still didn't take it. I'm 19, and I read that under the 18 you can't take AD's, and that it's risky between 18 and 25..

[panic_down_under]

Hmm, I still didn't take it. I'm 19, and I read that under the 18 you can't take AD's, and that it's risky between 18 and 25..

This because of the "blackbox" warnings? They were much overblown. Suicide rates had been dropping steadily in the 2 decades before the warnings were issued based on dubious data and went up after them, just as many clinicians had predicted.

Spooked by the warnings many doctors simply stopped diagnosing depression and other disorders so they wouldn't need to prescribe meds. This articles gives a synopsis of the issue: Antidepressants' Black-Box Warning — 10 Years Later (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1408480)

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hmm, I still didn't take it. I'm 19, and I read that under the 18 you can't take AD's, and that it's risky between 18 and 25..

They prescribe them in the UK but it's the territory of the specialist in under 18's.

The warnings that stretch much further into the late twenties are catered for in the UK as doctors are advised to take greater care in monitoring younger patients.

If you let the side effects put you off, you wouldn't take any mental health med since drug companies have to include everything including the rarer events which are quite serious, or can be.