Antidepressants?

[Hemps]

Has anyone ever felt 100% perfect after taking antidepressants? I take 150 effexor but still feel quite anxious. I went up to by 37.5 mg but it made me feel weird so back downto 150. I have been taking this for over a year.

Just wondered if maybe I should try and change drugs again. Already changed it three times in the last year.

I take diazepam and zoplicone as well, I get questioned a lot about them when I ring up for a repeat which I hate. I only take small dosage 1/2 tab in morning and 1/2 at night.

Just wondering if anyone can share their thoughts.

[hanshan]

I don't think anyone feels 100% perfect after antidepressants - they fix some problems and cause others, so it's a balancing act.

However, if you are taking an AD for anxiety, it should reduce it to a level that you find manageable. If not, a switch to a different AD or a drug like pregabalin (if ADs haven't worked) may be in order.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I've taken Citalopram and Duloxetine at standard doses and I have never found they take my anxiety away. They pulled me back from a point I didn't think I could cope any longer with and this is what I see them for.

They are anti depressants afterall, they are not geared towards anxiety and there is limited evidence that they work.

Benzodiazapenes work in a different manner, as do hypnotics, both of which you are also using. These have a much greater effect because they hit the area of the brain where anxiety is occurring, they are made to do this. The trouble is, they are habit forming. I have found that these do take away anxiety but you very quickly adjust to them hence higher dosages are required and this is where the habit forming issue becomes a problem.

You have to question whether its working enough for you to cope, manage and work on your recover.

[Hemps]

Sometimes I think the antidepressants are working, but at the moment I am going through a rough patch where I have gone from studying full time to now nothing. There is no work around so I have started to feel anxious again, then then the depression kicks in.

I was on citalopram for about years and found it to be really good but decided to stop taking it because I thought I felt good and when I went back on it again it didn't seem to have the same effect. I haven't found a good antidepressant since.

I am so scared of trying another antidepressant. I am currently taking effexor XR and when I started taking it it made me really sick.

Can anyone ever truely recover from this?

[MrAndy]

ADs are only a prop to get us going again and feel more comfortable they are not a cure
With the right attitude support ,time and patience yes you can recover 100%

[venusbluejeans]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your problem.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

[hanshan]

Hi Hemps,

Yes you can really recover. I have to say that with some qualification, since for me, recovery means taking medication, probably long-term. But it works - I have a good job, I interact with people, I don't suffer from debilitating anxiety or depression.

For you, for the moment, you probably need to find a medication / therapy that works long-term. It seems you have hit an an empty spot in your life, but keep trying and making yourself available, and things will turn around.

[yenool]

Antidepressants seem to be given as a first line of treatment for many different types of anxiety but I have yet to find an antidepressant that significantly helps with anxiety.... and I've tried a lot. Other medications can help with anxiety specifically but generally GPs are less willing to prescribe those for various reasons. Therapy can help some people too and if possible a combination of therapy and medication is considered best.

I think 'recovery' looks different for everyone. What is your idea of recovery? Some people might feel recovery is to be able to work a normal job, study at college or be a stay at home parent without crushing anxiety always getting in the way. Others might feel recovery is only when they become some kind of ultra successful person in a high-flying, high-pressure career and still experience no anxiety whatsoever at all (very unrealistic).

As someone who has chronic depression/anxiety/OCD I feel the recovery process is learning to manage symptoms on a day to day basis, learning to recognize triggers and prevent car crash scenarios before they happen, learning to accept and live with the problems rather than constantly fight against them. Recovery will be being well enough to to find a job or become self employed to such a level where I can support myself and not be on the verge of breakdown the whole time.

[KK77]

Totally concur with yenool's post. Medication can help with your recovery but it won't change life circumstances - you have to do that. Depression can be treated with antidepressants but it's much harder when it comes to anxiety, eg GAD. There actually are powerful meds that relieve anxiety but those major tranquillisers tend to zombify you to the degree of not caring about anything any more. There is a difference between responsibility and anxiety and some tranquillisers can blur those lines. They just mask the problem, not solve it.

I think depression needs to be treated before anxiety can be tackled, which is where ADs can be useful. But they take you only so far and the rest of the journey is down to you...

[Hemps]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I have hit a really hard place at the moment where my anxiety has skyrocketed. I am just wondering if it is I just haven't found the right antidepressant yet to give me enough relief. When I take antidepressants if I go too high I think the side effects make me feel worse. I am now taking a bit more diazepam which I really don't want to do until I can get a doctors appointment next week.

What you are saying is true. I need to get my anxiety to a level where I can deal with it and recover. I see a physcologist once a month but she doesn't see much help, just have a conservation on how I am doing and that is it.

I have been like this for over a year and a half. I took up study hoping to take my mind of it, and this worked really well, but it is over now and the anxiety has come back with avengence! I accept that I have this problem but don't know how to fix it. I try and walk everyday. I do have three boys that stress me out to the max.

Everyone around me doesn't understand what I am going through and my husband just switches off as he doesn't know how to deal with me.

Its so hard. I find that no body I know wants to talk about anxiety, when I know so many out there are suffering so badly from it.