New user - slightly scared!

[TrapezeSwinger]

Hi, this is my first post on the forums. I have suffered with severe anxiety most (if not all) of my life which in some instances had overlapped into depression.

A couple of months back I plucked up the courage to finally see my doctor about this and I was given 20mg of Citalopram, but after hearing pretty bad things in the news and from people I know (and also the internet...) about it, I didn't take it. Today I went back and my doctor has given me 20mg of Fluoxetine and I am determined to take it this time.

Just wondering if there's any tips you guys could give me, or even possible warnings of things to look out for? I'm a first time user of antidepressants and I am really scared of having an adverse reaction (although I get the feeling Citalopram is a lot more "dangerous" in the side effects department?)

Planning on taking my first tablet tonight after my tea - is this a good idea? Also, I'd just like to hear some positive/success stories, to make sure I don't back out and freak out about it again! Thanks in advance x

[m.elise]

Firstly, well done for going to your doctor about your issues! It really isn't as easy as one might think. So I applaud your courage to seek help.

I was on Citalopram for almost 10 years and never had any problems whilst taking it, but after having taken it for so long, my dr. switched me to Fluoxetine. I really had a hard time adjusting to it for about three weeks and had some pretty bad anxiety and lots of sleepless nights. BUT I've been on it for about five weeks now, and am feeling much, much better.

My encouragement to you is to not psych yourself out. Just go with it and see what happens. Meds affect everyone differently.

Oh and I take mine in the morning as sometimes I can feel a bit jittery after taking it. But I have a friend who takes hers at night. See what works best for you. Best of luck.

[Veronica H]

to NMP.

Vx

[TrapezeSwinger]

Thanks guys I'll be taking the first tablet in the morning, I'll try not to stress out about it x

[ExPerson]

TS,

I was a completely first time user 6/7 weeks ago. Up until last year I'd had a normal, happy life but for 9 months out of the last 12 I suffered from depression after a series of family health issues, financial issues, and work stress all happening at once. My thread (below) is pretty much a live play out of what I was thinking from the first days of taking flux until about the 3/4th week:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=116424

For me, weeks 2-3 were pretty rough. I was very anxious, and probably felt as bad as I felt at my worst points of depression. I'm now on week 6/7 and I have to say that I've felt completely different for around 2 weeks now. I am much better now. Much clearer. Much happier. Much less stressed. I don't know if it's the Prozac or not - I don't want to over analyse things - but I can't think what else it would be.

Side effects were something I was worried about. It seems to me that everyone gets something, but for most people these go away. I was concerned about not being able to go out and have a drink with friends. You hear scare stories about complete loss of sex drive or having crazy mood swings. I have, and have had, none of these things.

You'll probably have a few things during the first few weeks, but if my experience is anything to go by, then I'd advise that you tough it out because the end result for me has been fantastic. I'd say 5 or 6 weeks is when most people see some benefit. For me, and the way I felt, this seemed like an unimaginable amount of time - I thought I'd never make it through 2 weeks never mind 6. But, now that I'm here and in a better place it's difficult to remember how I felt before.

I'd definitely stick with it for the first 6 weeks and see how it goes. I found this forum a bit of a lifeline during the middle weeks, and I've got a few ranting, depressive, and now a touch embarrassing, posts up on here. But it did help to articulate how I felt without burdening loved ones further.

Good luck with it all - and know that there's a good chance that treatment will make you better.

ps I am by no means the meditating type, but I found meditation/breathing exercises to be really helpful during the worst of my anxiety. I actually started listening to self-help style meditation tapes - and while I by no means believed in everything they said, I found the process quite calming. Whenever anxiety took over I did 15 mins of breathing exercises and things improved a bit. This especially helped in the morning when I didn't want to get out of bed.

Good luck again!

[TrapezeSwinger]

Hi EP, thanks for replying. My situation I think is very similar to yours. I've even been trying out the meditation tapes too of an evening, which I might stick with even if they don't help so much as they're great to fall asleep to I think I'll be using this forum quite a bit too instead of burdening my family with any crazy worries or thoughts!

I managed to bite the bullet today, I took my first tablet at 1pm. It's now 9pm and so far I've felt nothing at all! I'm not sure when side effects usually kick in but thankfully I have been fine so far.

Thanks for the encouragement guys, hope all is well with you

[restless28]

This is my first day on this site too but already I am finding it very helpful. I came off citalopram after the winter left us and had been on it for many years. As was said before everyone is different and may respond to it in different ways. It did not stop me from having panic attacks though as I was always waking in the night with sweats and going to the loo a lot of times. I wanted to see if I could manage without it for a while as it was really affecting my tinnitus but I would not hesitate going back to it if I feel I really need it especially when the winter comes in again as I suffer with SAD too.
Anyway enough of me - I'll tell more as the days go by! Thanks to yoy all for being here to support each other.

[Amandala]

I am so thankful for this thread! I just finished weaning off my cymblata this week and took my first prozac 10 minutes ago and I am already freaking! I thought taking it after work would be good so I'd be home and safe.
Please let me know how you get on, I know everyone reacts to meds differently but I am so excited I am starting the same day as someone else!
Hopefully we can get through this together!

Amanda

[ExPerson]

I managed to bite the bullet today, I took my first tablet at 1pm. It's now 9pm and so far I've felt nothing at all! I'm not sure when side effects usually kick in but thankfully I have been fine so far.

Any positive or negative effects come on gradually. They won't happen after 1, 2, 3 or even 4 days. I felt in no way different until about after 10 days i.e. it was about the 10th day that I felt negative side effects (it was the 5th/6th week before I could categorically say they'd affected my mood in a positive manner). Best just to try and forget you're taking them at all - it's actually not as big a deal as you think - or certainly it wasn't as big a deal as I thought. If you start to get side effects then just treat it like you knew it was coming and concentrate on relaxing as best you can. I tried to treat the horrible 2 week period that I had as though I was sick with a cold/flu. I just kept telling myself to stick it out and they'd help eventually. Of course I didn't know if they would at the time, but I know they have now.

I know the the tendency is for people to report the scare stories - it's natural given that when you're feeling at your worst, you want help from anywhere you can get it (even an internet forum) - but it's also important to remember that this medication had helped a bunch of people. It's just that there's no so much desire to come and post on depression/anxiety forums when you're feeling better. I've found myself at numerous points over the last week or two just sitting in a smug bubble of positivity because of the fact that I'm not super-stressed/on the verge of tears/jaw clenched/etc/etc. So, obviously, I'm delighted I took Prozac and delighted I toughed out the hard part. I feel better now than I've felt for a year, and I wish I hadn't toughed it out for so long now. If it works for me it can work for others - so it's certainly worth trying.

Good luck

[TrapezeSwinger]

Thanks so much for the reply EP - I thought it was possibly too 'early' for side effects yet, but I'm really going to just try to forget that I'm taking anything. Extra worry will just make things worse, right? After I took the first tablet it was such a relief - like part of the fear was just getting over that first hurdle. I'm going to expect to not be too well in a couple of weeks, but after reading your post I'm optimistic that the medication will work for me

To Amanda & Restless ~ I'm on day 3 now and so far I haven't felt anything negative. My mood is usually very up and down so I've been quite surprised that I haven't had any real negative thoughts since I started taking them! This could be placebo, but who knows. And yes, this forum is brilliant, I only know one person IRL taking this medicine but it can be awkward discussing it face to face (for me at least >.<)

Good luck everyone, I'll keep you posted with how I'm getting on x