tn13
07-06-11, 00:38
Hi all, I'm back again! Honestly I feel like this forum has done almost as much for me in recovery as my therapist has, haha!
I'm happy to report that after three months on 20 mg Cipralex (along with talk therapy and a great support system of friends and family) I am doing so much better. My anxiety is almost non-existent and I haven't taken an Ativan in about three weeks; my depression is also a lot better. One thing I (and others) have definitely noticed is that I am now more outgoing and energetic than I have ever been in my life. I was put on the meds for severe GAD and health anxiety but I have always dealt with social anxiety as well, though I always just accepted it as something I thought I had to live with. Since I've been going through treatment I have been so much more open to socializing with people, no longer afraid of sharing things about myself with my friends that I was always afraid to before thinking they'd judge me, and now I'm no longer content with sitting at home on the Internet nigh after night - if I'm given an opportunity to do something and get out of the house I usually go and do it now. It's quite nice and probably my favourite thing about all of this (other than no longer being paralyzed by fear of dying or developing an illness, of course).
But one thing that I have noticed, and that I'm here to ask you guys about, is that I've noticed my emotions are not as intense as they were before, and that I can't get as excited about things as I used to. I'm not devoid of emotion, but I used to be someone who was very passionate, very emotional (both the highs and lows) and would get so excited about things that I would often have the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling for a month in advance of something I was looking forward to. About a month after I started Cipralex I got incredibly happy and excited about life again, but eventually that started to fade away, and now I'm fairly flat, for lack of a better way to describe it. For example, tomorrow I start an internship that is a very big deal to me and while in my head I'm looking forward to it, I don't really have that physical/emotional feeling of excitement mixed with nervousness that I normally would. I feel kind of apathetic towards things. It's not horrible, but I enjoyed feeling things so deeply, and I want to know if anyone else experienced this on Cipralex at this point, or any point in their treatment? Did it persist until you came off of the drug or does it eventually go away? I've read a lot about people losing their libido on the drug (which oddly enough hasn't really happened to me, but I'm not sexually active so maybe I'd notice it more if I was) so I'm wondering if this sort of apathy is similar to that?
Once again, thanks so much for lending an ear :hugs:
I'm happy to report that after three months on 20 mg Cipralex (along with talk therapy and a great support system of friends and family) I am doing so much better. My anxiety is almost non-existent and I haven't taken an Ativan in about three weeks; my depression is also a lot better. One thing I (and others) have definitely noticed is that I am now more outgoing and energetic than I have ever been in my life. I was put on the meds for severe GAD and health anxiety but I have always dealt with social anxiety as well, though I always just accepted it as something I thought I had to live with. Since I've been going through treatment I have been so much more open to socializing with people, no longer afraid of sharing things about myself with my friends that I was always afraid to before thinking they'd judge me, and now I'm no longer content with sitting at home on the Internet nigh after night - if I'm given an opportunity to do something and get out of the house I usually go and do it now. It's quite nice and probably my favourite thing about all of this (other than no longer being paralyzed by fear of dying or developing an illness, of course).
But one thing that I have noticed, and that I'm here to ask you guys about, is that I've noticed my emotions are not as intense as they were before, and that I can't get as excited about things as I used to. I'm not devoid of emotion, but I used to be someone who was very passionate, very emotional (both the highs and lows) and would get so excited about things that I would often have the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling for a month in advance of something I was looking forward to. About a month after I started Cipralex I got incredibly happy and excited about life again, but eventually that started to fade away, and now I'm fairly flat, for lack of a better way to describe it. For example, tomorrow I start an internship that is a very big deal to me and while in my head I'm looking forward to it, I don't really have that physical/emotional feeling of excitement mixed with nervousness that I normally would. I feel kind of apathetic towards things. It's not horrible, but I enjoyed feeling things so deeply, and I want to know if anyone else experienced this on Cipralex at this point, or any point in their treatment? Did it persist until you came off of the drug or does it eventually go away? I've read a lot about people losing their libido on the drug (which oddly enough hasn't really happened to me, but I'm not sexually active so maybe I'd notice it more if I was) so I'm wondering if this sort of apathy is similar to that?
Once again, thanks so much for lending an ear :hugs: