Just been prescribed Sertraline after being on citalapram, bit worried

[southey]

Your last post sounds a lot like my situation?

While I would love to be drug free I'm not sure it would be a good idea at the moment?

A bit of my background is that I have suffered Depression my whole adult life, mainly a low level depression/mood but sometimes it can cycle between a sort of feeling great and really low. I thought I maybe could be Bi-Polar but my symptoms don't really fit that great?
Then in 2004 I got hit with Anxiety and panic attacks out of nowhere one day, quit my job and had my first mental meltdown. I went on the Cit' at this time and it got me up and running again but after stopping a year later or so I had another attack and so on several more times over the years every time I came of the meds. During this time my depression stayed the same.

Then recently I swapped to sert' which you know about and I have been good on both the Anxiety and Depression. I don't want these things to come back but know they will re-surface after a while off drug. Drug free would be good and maybe one day it will happen but for now it's the drugs keeping me going?

Steve

[Joshb]

Hi Steve your situation does sound similar to mine,

I just wonder if developing coping strategies will help trying to fix the issues at source, rather than dull the symptoms down with meds. This would mean basically reprogramming how you think about things and making those thoughts and strategies second nature so they permanently stick. I am having a bit of a hard time with low mood at the moment, worrying about the future, have i wasted my life etc etc, I wonder if most people think these thoughts but they just have better coping strategies, rather then dwell on them and turn inwards and start a cycle of worry, anxiety and depression..

I hope the answer can be found within ourselves rather then within the hands of meds


cheers

Josh

[AuntieMoosie]

Steve......you're not my secret identical twin are you??

I,too, have suffered from depression since 1984.....mine started off with severe post natal depression following the birth of my second child.

Since then, I've had many, many episodes of depression, 3 needing admission to hospital.

I was then ticking along nicely, and suddenly in 2004 I was hit with massive panic attacks coming from no where, completely out of the blue, hit me like a ton of bricks

That was the spark that then lead me to becoming completely agoraphobic, being completely housebound and unable to go anywhere, sometimes not even being able to go downstairs or in the garden

Thankfully, I joined NMP and found Robins program, believe me, it's the best thing that's happened to me in most of my life Through following Robins program, I was able to start going out and about at the end of last year.

I still have a long way to go though, I can only handle trips that are close to home, I'm going to be working hard on trying to go further afield now


On the depression side of things, it's really a completely different ball game to that of anxiety and panic really, I know the 2 often go hand in hand, but their treatment is quite different, with different issues from both of them.

I admire anyone who tries to do it the natural way, sadly, I'm not able to do that, as every time they've taken me off of the antidepressants, I've rapidly relapsed, one time so bad I had another admission to hospital

It was then that I was told that I'd have to remain on antidepressants for life in order to keep me well. To be honest, in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't bother me that much, the important thing for me is keeping well and if I have to have medication for that, then so be it

I do try and have had many different natural therapies to work along side my medication, and I've found them to be most helpful too.

I've had aromatherapy, reflexology, art therapy, music therapy, relaxation therapies and some dietry one's too, I found them all helpful and positive things to do

So at the end of the day, Josh, it's really all about learning about ourselves, what works and what doesn't.

Try to keep on open mind on everything, there's really no cut and dried way to treat depression as we are all so different, just try what you can and see what helps you

[southey]

Nice post Auntie

I think for me too it's the meds that keep me well. I have tried CBT, relaxation and other strategies with little success when a anxiety attack comes on. The depression I could live with but the anxiety is too horrid for words and nothing has helped yet except SSRI's (and a few Diazepam thrown in for luck)!

We are all different and I hope Josh can do this naturally?

Steve

[Joshb]

Thanks for the great post Auntie M, I guess the trick is not to fear meds if they are the only thing that helps.

Steve have you tried the CPB4 PANIC in Anuntie M's signature? Its very very good. I have downloaded it all and even joined up all the videos for each workbook and made smaller so they fit on my iphone. I also made audio only versions of of each workbook video to listen to when I cannot watch them. They are packed with great skills. I think the trick is you have to keep on and on with the relearning. I dont expect that something that took you many years to learn can be changed with just a few weeks of cbt. I think it is also about maintenance. you have to keep on with the skills even if you feel ok I imagine it like if you stop practising something like the guitar or whatever, after a short time you get 'rusty' and your fingers cant move or do what they did when you were practising every day.

This is how i am trying to lok at it, although I am still at the early stages so who knows lol.!!


cheers

Josh

[AuntieMoosie]

Thank you Steve and Josh, I'm finding your posts very interesting and helpful to me too

That's right Josh, I think it's a onward learning thing, we never really stop learning and making our skills better as we go.

I keep an open mind and never say never to anything, just do whatever you finds helps you, if it helps you, that's all that matters

Steve maybe that is what's right for you, it doesn't matter 2 jots what path you want to go down, as long as it feels right for you, than you've hit the jackpot and I do agree the anxiety and panic is awful

[Joshb]

Hi, so its been a few days since i stopped taking meds and how do I feel? Emotionally all over the place at times to be honest. I am trying some natural alternatives including Relora. a little inotisol and a little L-Thiamine at bedtime.

I am definitely sleeping better which is good, although i do have intrusive depressive thoughts and low level anxiety much of the time. I feel like I have an internal bully continually chipping away at me, telling me i have failed in life and am not good enough. For me I feel relief may come if I can somehow dis-empower that internal bully as without power it cannot cause me anxiety or give me negative, depressive thoughts. I just need to find a way to properly and believably invalidate my internal bully.... I think hehe

cheers

Josh

[Sparkle1984]

So did the sertraline not work for you either?

[Joshb]

HI Sparkle,, its not that Sertraline did not work for me, (citalapram certainly did not) its that i have decided to attempt natural meds such as those i mentioned in my last post, along side trying to change my mental attitude towards anxiety and depressive thoughts using self help cbt (along with a 6 week group cbt ), self help EMDR and mindfulness.

It appears that from what I haveread so far (please point me to literature if I am wrong), there is no clear case for our condition to be caused by physical ailments in our brain (unless there is some damage to the brain). Rather it is purely how we have come to perceive our world that creates our condition. Therefore we are not actually victims at the whim of our crazy unceasing thoughts

The problem from what I understand so far, is what has taken many years to learn in the way of how we deal with things, needs to be totally relearned.

It seems our emotional responses to things become very real chemical responses and very real physical responses, but ultimately if we can relearn our emotional responses they will not manifest into chemical and physical responses.

It sounds so easy but in reality it is probably one of the hardest things in life to do, especially as it seems to require facing our biggest 'demons' and truly believing they have no real power over us, only what we let them have.

That's how I understand it at present. I guess if I fail or am totally wrong i can always go back on the happy pills which would not be a fail either, but I think to myself am I really that different from other people? some of which seem to handle much more hardship and stress then me without the anxiety and depression. It is not that I am a failure, its just that my method of dealing with life and what it throws at me it is out of perspective.... I think

cheers

Josh