Well after a much-anticipated appointment with the area's only (Dx) real psychologist, I was finally diagnosed (heck yeah depression and social anxiety!) and put on a trial prescription of Zoloft starting Monday, since it's been working for my mom. See, the hope is that once that kicks in and I gain some control over my emotions, we can finally move on to the whole trans issue. Yay~ But uh, I've never been on any sort of medication before, and I'm kinda nervous. I mean, I've done my research, looked into side-effects etc, but I'm still not quite sure what to expect. So! Zoloft! Experiences? I know it varies depending on the person, but did it/does it work for you? Anything I should be watching out for? Halp. :help:
I dunno, not to be rude or anything but being on powerful anti-depressants at 15 is weird for me, maybe it's common in north america tho.. Anyway, I hope it helps you.
I had been on Paxil for years. It stopped working ,so now I'm on another med. Anyway,watch the side effects because the younger you are,the more problems you can have. If you start getting more depressed or feel suicidal,let someone know right away. There is a controversy concerning anti-depressants and young adults. I hope the meds. help you. Depression sucks.
I was on it for a time. Back when I was...oo...a freshman in high school i think. No...sophomore. Turns out i was just going through Seasonal Affective Disorder, but it did help me. I just called them my happy pills. They worked well, and i was pretty damn happy. So...I probably didn't really need them. But they do work.
It didn't work for me. I started getting depressed again after a few months, so I switched to Lexapro. Mini-rant: I hate telling new doctors or authority figures I take it (which happens frequently due to the fact that I have a bunch of medical issues) because I can see the wheels turning in their head and their eyes change, they're not just neutral anymore, they're interested because I'm crazy. Well, fuck off. /is done with rant
Well I'm...pretty depressed. .__.;; But I know the risks of increased suicidal thoughts in people under 18, and I'll let my counselor know if anything's wrong. ...Not to mention the risk of becoming manic if I turn out to be bipolar like my mom, but yeah. They'll be keeping a close eye on me.
Hopefully you can also work out your trans issues with the psych and not just get pills. The issues are what is causing the depression along with all the teen year fun stuff. Make sure the psych knows that and really, really, let someone know if the meds you are on don't feel right. I can't stress that enough.....
Also, whatever you do, never stop your meds without consulting your doctor first. I learned this the hard way and would only wish it upon the people on my hitlist.
Right! I almost forgot about that. :x And btw I still haven't started them yet. My doctor hasn't been in lately...probably tomorrow or the next day, though.
You are very right Remington....stopping anti-depressant medication abruptly can lead to a "withdrawl" syndrome. Anti-depressants are not addictive but your body just needs to be weaned off them slowly, so you dont bounce back into a depression. Zoloft is a brand name for Sertraline, an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor). I guess you've looked all that stuff up on the net. I've spoken to a number of people on SSRIs and the major complaints are insomnia, light headedness and sexual dysfunction (men can find it difficult to have an erection). The most important thing to mention is that you might feel a bit worse before you start feeling the effects of the drug...it can take up to 4 weeks to start working. In those 4 weeks you might feel you have more energy but your mood could still be rock bottom. So its important that you speak to your doctor if you start feeling suicidal at all. Depression is a tough condition to deal with and I hope that you can pull yourself up from here with the help of Zoloft. Its a good drug, and I hope it works for you.
I am on Prozac, and except for a few mild side effects, it is helping. Depression sucks, and if your doctor recommended the medicine, you should probably take it. Just be patient until they find the right dose.
Ohh you'll like zoloft because you will feel much more confident about yourself. It also makes you not really care about stuff which is awesome. I have the same sort of thing you have, depression and social anxiety. It doesnt start working until like 4-5 weeks into the medication. You'll start to notice it because youll feel better about yourself and youll be happier. OOhh and another thing I noticed was that usually I see negative outcomes of things but zoloft has made me see positive outcomes of things and to relax and not get all beat up about certain things that happen. When it comes to doses you'll probably start off around 25 mg, then go up every week by like 25. and you'll probably top off at around 100mg. Right now i'm at 100mg. Since you will most likely increase in those doses it will probably take like 6-8 weeks for it to really kick in a lot. but you'll probably notice the effects around 5 weeks. I really really recommend Zoloft though because it has really helped me out a lot with my life. Hopefully it continues to do that. Obviously it cannot make you happy 24/7 but it definately helps and I do notice it. Hope everything goes well for you!
Yep, 25 mg. I neither want nor expect it to make me happy 24/7, I just want my moods back to normal. I've taken all these tests for depression, they always ask how long I've felt "more depressed than normal", but I don't know what 'normal' is anymore. And yeah, I have depression, social anxiety, and (kinda self-diagnosing here, but I match a lot of symptoms) I think OCD, so yay! 3 in 1!
Don't self diagnose. I used to do it a lot and I ended up being wrong and just causing a lot of stress for myself. If you really think you have something, there's no harm in researching it, but make sure you get a professional to confirm before going around and saying you have anything.
