Does anyone here have any experience with use of SSRIs? I was prescribed citalopram way back but never really got on with it (side effects). At one point my doctor prescribed me sertraline, but I went through a good spell and never took it. I am considering, after failing to get any counselling sessions prescribed, whether I should try sertraline, and was wondering what other people's experience with it had been. Thanks.
I'm no expert but I think the efficacy of an antidepressant drug varies from person to person. You just have to find the right one for you. Also, counselling in itself can't necessarily cure depression. It's more about the changes it enables you to make in your life outside of therapy and the counselling process itself can at times be very painful and in the short term, actually make you feel worse. I am currently taking sertraline but as a top up on of my dose of mirtazipine so it's a relatively low dose. My doctor tried to up it a few months ago but it made me feel much much worse. Tearful and suicidal. I did take a higher dose of sertraline a couple of years back without the mirtazipine but it didn't work so well for me. I noticed little difference in my mood. I was still tearful and dissociating. This was after I couldn't get on with the side effects of citalopram. I think you just have to try it and see. I have found that mirtazipine works best for me.
The correct med/combination of meds will vary person to person, as will its effectiveness. Now.. I've been on prozac before, which did absolutely nothing. Citalopram made me really sleepy, and venlafaxine (SNRI)... They were some dark times. So, I have some experience with those ones, and I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow to see if he thinks I should go on them again. With therapy, some people find it more useful than others, but it's also dependent on your relationship with your therapist. Obviously its not going to help if you don't like your therapist or don't feel safe talking to them. Its a valid thing worth looking into. In fact, I'm seeing my mew therapist for the first time on Wednesday.
I am using sertraline right now. This is the only SSRI I've taken, so I can't say much except that I haven't taken the full dosage the psychiatrist prescribed because I don't like the side effects. Personally, I view SSRIs as blunt instruments (I was studying medicinal chemistry, so I started to read a lot of research articles on the subject) that should be used in combination with counseling, and in some cases counseling can be just as effective. You should really talk to a mental health counselor first; doctors often think that medication should be the initial choice without taking everything into consideration.
Yeah. It's just been very hard to get a referral. .... My doctor promised one, and nothing materialised. A year later, feeling down again, I will went to another doctor, who told me the original doctor never made the referral. She then made a referral to the local mental health team, who passed me on to another organisation, and they onto yet another organisation. I have yet to receive any counselling related to my depression and anxiety. All I have had is bereavement counselling ( which has helped me, but my depression had been going on for a couple of years before said bereavement). I feel very fortunate to have the NHS and free treatment, but it's put me off seeking further help for a long time.
I felt very nauseous and had headaches. ---------- Post added 27th Oct 2014 at 11:21 AM ---------- I've had the same treatment by the NHS, passing me from pillar to post and never actually getting me the help I need. Are you a student? Some colleges and universities have counsellors. That's what I did initially because I was waiting for so long.
No, not a student. I did get to see a counsellor once in university but for whatever reason she made me feel exceptionally uncomfortable.
I was on sertraline, and it was working. I couldn't really FEEL much of a difference, but the people around me commented on the change they saw in me. According to friends and my mom, I seemed happier, less anxious, and more outgoing. The drug didn't really change how I felt, but it changed my behavior, which caused me to spend more time with friends, which made me happier. It had a very round-about way of making me better. I was also lucky that I didn't get any bad side effects, although at first it made me feel dizzy and nauseous if I took it on an empty stomach. That went away though. I also used to see a counselor, but I felt like she just got frustrated with me. She kept asking me why I felt the way I do, which is something I really don't have an answer for. I felt like she would get upset with me when I couldn't give her an answer, so she ended up just making me feel worse. It also probably didn't help that I was forced into it. I felt really resentful about that.
SSRI's work better for some than others and there are alternatives to Citalopram and Sertraline. They're not quick fixes to depression of course and you will need to work with your GP to find the right dosage/combination for you. If you are struggling I'd recommend making an appointment. The waiting queue for talking therapies is far too long in some parts of the UK, so I'm wondering if you have considered MIND for interim support. MIND have some excellent local programs that really help people who are struggling with depression and other mental health problems. Your local MIND centre may also be able to refer/signpost you to other groups or organisations while you are waiting for counselling. Truth be told, the volunteers and support workers at MIND are more knowledgeable than some GP's anyway, but they are not medics and can't prescribe drugs. Take a look at their website: Home | Mind, the mental health charity - help for mental health problems
I've been through quite a few actually. I've been on sertraline (Zoloft). If anything it only made me feel even worse, to the point where I tried to kill myself twice in a short period of time. It's known for making some depressed people even more depressed, and I guess I was one of those people. It also made me drowsy and dizzy but pretty much all antidepressants do that for me. YMMV though, just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you. I've been on Celexa and Lexapro too, which didn't do much/anything for me and the side effects were horrible (dizziness to the point where I kept falling over, vomiting etc). I've been on Prozac once in the past and it gave me partial effects then. I'm currently on Prozac (again) and even though I've been on the highest dosage allowed, it hasn't really helped me much. My boyfriend noticed some change in me but I can't said I've noticed much of anything in myself. I'm coming off it now though and it's hell. Prozac usually works pretty well for lots of people though. When I've come off the Prozac I'm probably going to try either Effexor, Remeron or Abilify. Everyone's different and I generally just don't respond to medication very well. So again YMMV.
I was on Prozac for a while but it made me more suicidal so I stopped it. I'm on Wellbutrin now. It helps with the depression I have, but I do have some sucky side effects. I have a much larger appetite, I sleep in cycles of a few hours at a time, and I can't orgasm. Side effects like headaches and nausea usually go away for me within a week though.
A hilarious article by The Onion: Antidepressant Can’t Believe It’s Expected To Fix This Mess All On Its Own
It's weird how different people react to the same medication. I'm on Voxra (basically the same thing as Wellbutrin) as well as Prozac and the only reason I take Voxra is because it removes all sexual side effects of the Prozac (which includes low sex drive, although that could be from the depression itself, difficulties getting and staying erect, can't orgasm). And it actually works!
Prozac made me have insomnia, but it did lessen my anxiety. It lowered my pain threshold though and prevented needed dental work from being done for me. Zoloft(sertraline) made me sleep for 12-13 hours a night and had sexual side effects. I also still had crying fits. Then took me forever to orgasm. Didn't work for me. I have been on celexa for the last 5 weeks. It's hard for me to sleep more than 4-5 hours at a time now on it. I still have some anxiety, but I don't cry nearly as much. The sexual side effects are definitely there as far as getting erect, but it doesn't take me forever once I get there. I do have very odd dreams though while on it and very erratic sleep schedules. Having trouble remembering some things at times. My doctor did just up the dosage, so we shall see what happens.
