Anti depression anxiety drugs

Like Aspen said, Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs can have a HUGE range of side effects. Even if you're taking the same type of drug as another person you're likely to not have the same symptoms.

From my own experience: My Anti-depressant keeps me awake. I take it first thing in the morning, and I feel great until about 5pm at night. Then I get really tired and hungry. When I first started it I felt dizzy, queasy, and like I was slightly not all together "there". After a few weeks those symptoms mostly went away, and now I just get dizzy if I stand up too quickly. When I miss a dose I get REALLY crabby and moody.

I'm glad you're getting help! Keep trying therapists until you find the right one, sometimes it can take a bit of work to match up with someone you like. I'm proud of you for admitting that you can't do things on your own. That was my first step to begin getting better too.

 

Sometimes, it takes a number of weeks before you begin to see any difference. This is especially true of a group of anti-depressants called SSRI's. Even then, the idea isn't to zonk you out and numb all feeling, but to take the edge off the worst symptoms so you can cope a little better. The most important thing is to continue working with your counsellor while you are taking the med's. Like coming out, it's a journey... it's not easy and there will be a lot of bumps in the road, but keep at it and engage with process and you can improve your quality of life.

Wishing you well. Let us know how you are getting on from time to time.

 

As others have said, antidepressants and antianxiety drugs work different for everyone. I started on an antianxiety medication about a year ago and it has really helped with my anxiety. I felt the effects right away - within about 24 hours. However, I felt like I was high on some crazy upper. That lasted about three days, but I took advantage of it and got caught up on a lot of things that were causing me anxiety. Since then, the only side effect I've noticed are night sweats, which I'm okay with. The medication has changed my life for the better.

I hope you get your issues sorted out. Best of luck.

 

Many things have been stated in this thread... One thing I feel wasn't really stressed, and is important, is that there are many drugs out there to try for your depression and anxiety.

By all means, if one of them gives you unpleasant side effects, or just doesn't make you feel good / sick, or just uncomfortable... there are more to try. From my experience, it's never been a problem to call up the provider, saying something like, "I'm not liking this drug, did you have another in mind?".

Being someone who has taken these sorts of drugs for most of my life, I know how it isn't really easy to find the right combination - but working and being honest and open with your care providers, you can hopefully find the right medication or medication combination that is right to you.

If you're curious about possible side effects, although I caution you as knowing these things sometimes causes many to be paying attention to them to such a degree that they have it set in their mind that they have them, you can typically get a print out from your pharmacist. With the pharmacy I use, the pharmacist gives me the drug information sheets every time something new is filled. The person prescribing for you should be able to do the same. I personally avoid looking these things up online for the pure reason that I trust information given to me by either the doctor or pharmacist much more than what I might find on something like wikipedia.

The self-harm things, I would really think that is something that you would work on with your therapist. It's glad to see that you've found a therapist, and I hope you and them get along great! That alone can be difficult... finding the right therapist.

In many cases, these medications just take the edge off. You really still need to practice exercises and techniques that I'm sure your therapist would be able to go over with you, if you told them that you wanted to focus on it for a while.

I really wish that there was a simple pill out there that you took daily and it made all your depression and anxiety go away completely on its own - but (at least in my experience), it takes effort to cope in other ways. At least in my case (yours can be different), the meds take the edge off, making it easier to cope with.

Best of luck! Do your research, and be open and honest with your providers.

 

My meds have cured my panic attacks, I haven't had one for a long time, although I used to get them fairly often. My day-to-day anxiety is at a much lower level as well. So yeah, it's pretty great...

Hang on, there. <3 You'll get through this.