Everybody's different and reacts to different medications differently so it can be a case of trial and error to find one that works without nasty side effects.

I take Effexor and Celexa.

The Effexor was my first anti-d and pulled me out of a bad depression. I had bad side effects when I was getting used to it, but they've mostly passed with time. I still have a slight problem with nausea and dizziness about 4 hours after I take it, and it's knocked the hell out of my sex drive, but to me it's worth it. No weight gain - iff anything it's been an appetite suppressant for me.

The Celexa - got me out of an even worse depression that I went into when I was on the Effexor. the only side effect that I'm aware of is it's made my skin more oily.

I also take risperidone (an anti-psychotic) to augment the anti-D's and help with dissociation / feelings of paranoia. Side effects are interesting. It causes me to lactate slightly and it's knocked my menstrual cycle completely out of whack. And I have a slight tremor in my hands from it. Despite the side effects it's worth taking it for me, because once we reached the right dose I felt like a completely new person.

I'd say give meds a try, but give yourself a month to see if they have any effect. You should see some small benefit after taking them a couple of weeks but it really takes at least a month for them to kick in, and you may have to spend some time messing around with dosages.

I'd strongly recommend getting a referal to a pdoc rather than just getting meds through your family dr. Pdoc's are specialists in psych meds and so are more likely to be up on the latest research and are better able to adjust dosages / combos.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

--splitimage