[jacq10]

So yesterday my T told me that she thinks that it might be good for me to try some antidepressants (not sure which ones exactly tho ...) just to help with my absolute lack of sleep, and obviously to even out my moods etc ....... but i've never taken any sort of drug like this and so i dont know what the side affects are. I mean i guess i'm scared that if i do take them that i wont actually be "dealing" with my issues because i will "feel" better .... and if i feel better i tend to not talk about things that have upset me. And I also heard that some antidepressants actually keep you up at night? But my T said they would help me sleep........ i'm so confused! Does anyone know anything about this?

[Engel_The_Fallen]

I have taken so many different ones that I noticed the side effects seem to follow a pattern that is there regardless of what you take.

Odds are the first few weeks on a pill you will feel like crap. You will be tired, feel disorientated alot, and have a few other side effects. After this the side effects lessen or go away for the most part, with one or two mild ones lingering. each pill has it's own quarks, so expect to go through a few before the right anti-depressant is found for you.

Some pills are known for having few side effects to most people. Lexipro is a more mild pill, and for me Effexor has nearly no side effects. Another pill that helps people alot is Provigal although it is not an anti-depressant, I know a few people who came off there anti-depressants because the energy Provigal gave them enabled tem to make lifestyle changes.

So in the long run, if your depression is entering the deeper stages, why not give meds a trial run? You can give up a few months, for possibly a few years of control of your depression, or even a shot to see it enter remission.

One key thing to dealing with side effects, is to stay calm. If you freak out over them, you will get more upset and make them worse. If you just accept them and adapt, then you may not even notice alot of them. If any of them are too bad, call your doctor up.

As for sleeping, this is really person by person and drug by drug. Some make you tired alot, some make you unable to sleep, some make you sleep too much, but that is just the way they work. If worried ask your doctor about side effects and mention to him any sleep issues you may have.

[Mikey]

Hi! well they have many positive effects and are primarely used for depression, anxiety, and ocd.
But being depressed can be a cause for bad sleep.
I can relate to you, that you want to deal with the issue, and not let the meds fix it temporarely. But they ususally dont fix the problem, they just make you stronger so you can work on them better yourself...

Do you take any sleep pills or anything?
Absolute lack of sleep is nothing to be taken lightly.
I my self had wery bad sleep the whole summer.
Btw, isn´t it supposed to be you Pdoc and not you T that does the drug talk with you?

[ickydog2006]

Anti depressants have very different side effects for different people. They vary by dosage too.
None of us here can accurately tell you whether you should or shouldn't try them. All we can let you know is really our own personal experiences.

Lexepro gave me one huge mood swing at 15 mg and at 20 mg made me have concentration problems. Prozac made me sick. Wellbutrin 300mg worked the best for me. I know I needed it to be strong enough to work through my issues with a T and without it I almost definitely would have commited suicide (ie I needed it not to avoid my problems but to be able to work through them.)

Now however I am trying to learn how to deal with life without them and have been questioning going back on meds (I've been off them since Febuary with my doctor and T's approval).

It's been hard working on dealing with my problems rationaly now that I don't have a stable mood anymore. But I don't want to be on meds the rest of my life so I'm going to have to face this at sometime or other... I might as well do it now when I'm surrounded by a good support system. Plus I made it through withdrawal once (flu symptoms for a week in my case) and I don't want to have to go though that again.

So basically that's what my situation was. I hope whatever you choose to do works well for you. My last thing, as someone mentioned before, is don't expect this to go fast or perfectly smooth the first time. Most meds take around 2 weeks to a month to take effect and doctors basically have to play guess and check to find what med will work for someone. It's not easy and at times the side effects do get frustrating. It can be tiresome to have a doctor constantly say "Well, this isn't working right o lets try this one".

In the long run I'm glad I chose meds because I know I probably wouldn't have made it through without them. Some people regret making this choice, some people are glad they did.

I hope everything works out for you, whatever your decision may be.

[jacq10]

Thank you so much for your replies everyone ... it really does help so much, seeing as i have absolutely no experience in this department. To be honest i have no idea what types i would even try .. so i just wanted to get a feel for what other people have done .. so thanks again.

[ickydog2006]

I had no idea what types to try either, I just relied on my doctor saying "Why don't we try this"

[lazydaisy]

I just wanted to echo what Mikey said. Very true.

It's next to impossible to work on your problems when you're depressed- and thinking more clearly on meds helps a lot, doesn't hinder I think. It's also difficult to see things that way when you are depressed until you find a med that works and then it just seems more clear. On that note, trying different meds is usually the only way... For me two were horrible one was good, so that's something to keep in mind. If one makes you feel worse, try another one- a good doc can help navigate that more easily.

And sleeping poorly is really bad for you and a sign something's not right. For me, I can get 8 hours sleep and still feel like crud. Some meds do make sleeping harder. Lexapro helped me sleep (during my brief trial) and I had to take it at night cuz I got groggy, but woke up easier in the morning than usual.

HTH