[Introvrtd1]

I didn’t see this one on the list of threads so…Anyone on this? How are you doing? How long have you been on them?

Dr prescribed me sertraline just recently when I told him I had problems with anxiety and trouble sleeping. Not sure I want to be on them because of dependency concerns. Well…may try them. May not. I don’t know.

Would like to hear your experiences with this ssri.

Thanks.

Intro

[Yaowen]

Zoloft worked pretty well for me. But I find that Citalopram works better. But please do not allow this to influence you. The reason I say this is that brain anatomy, physiology and chemistry is not identical in everyone. We are different even in our brains. So what works for one person might not work for another. This makes it almost impossible to give advice.

There is a growing body of research which links depression to actual pathology in the brain: 1] atrophy in parts of the brain not related to brain aging; 2]atrophy of brain dendrites; 3] lack of protective glial brain cells; 4] reduced regional cerebral blood flow which can be seen during brain imagining studies and 5] reduced regional brain energy utilization [glucose metabolism] also visible during brain imagining. There are other forms of pathology that have been found too.

Anti-depressants are not "happy pills." They are medicine to stabilize and hopefully reverse brain pathology. They do not cause happiness or dependency otherwise they would be sold on the black market for this purpose. And they are not.

Depression can be a chronic condition requiring life long medication. Epilepsy is a chronic condition requiring life long medicine. So is Parkinson's Disease. I think it can help to think of Clinical Depression in this way. It is a brain pathology corrected by medical treatment which can sometimes be lifelong treatment.

So I am not sure how helpful it is to think of being dependent on these medicines or at least not in the way substance abuse victims are dependent. They are a corrective and healing and stabilizing medication types. They do nothing to people who are not afflicted with depression. Substance abuse drugs can effect all users. For this reason, some people can expect to be on an antidepressant for life just as an epileptic can expect to be under drug treatment for life.

A lot of what I have said here is based on medical research. And to be fair and honest it must be openly admitted that all medical research is subject to limitations: how large was the study, how many participants, how long did the study last, how objective was the study, how about other research studies that reached different conclusions, how about new discoveries. So one must be careful with medical research. I do think it is fair to say that evidence seems to be building for depression involving actual pathology of the brain.

I wish I could tell you what you should so. But I am not qualified. Zoloft worked pretty well for me. It was very helpful. I did notice that I tended to develop insomnia while taking it. That was really the only thing that bothered me about it. SSRI's can cause insomnia. Others, of course, will have other experiences, good and bad.

Hopefully others who are on or who have tried Zoloft will see your post and respond. Depression is an illness. It is not a character flaw. Even those who work against depression-- doctors, psychiatrists, neurologists-- sometimes are afflicted with this illness. It is nothing to be ashamed of.

I hope you will find what works for you and what really helps you.

[Introvrtd1]

Originally Posted by Yaowen

Zoloft worked pretty well for me. But I find that Citalopram works better. But please do not allow this to influence you. The reason I say this is that brain anatomy, physiology and chemistry is not identical in everyone. We are different even in our brains. So what works for one person might not work for another. This makes it almost impossible to give advice.

There is a growing body of research which links depression to actual pathology in the brain: 1] atrophy in parts of the brain not related to brain aging; 2]atrophy of brain dendrites; 3] lack of protective glial brain cells; 4] reduced regional cerebral blood flow which can be seen during brain imagining studies and 5] reduced regional brain energy utilization [glucose metabolism] also visible during brain imagining. There are other forms of pathology that have been found too.

Anti-depressants are not "happy pills." They are medicine to stabilize and hopefully reverse brain pathology. They do not cause happiness or dependency otherwise they would be sold on the black market for this purpose. And they are not.

Depression can be a chronic condition requiring life long medication. Epilepsy is a chronic condition requiring life long medicine. So is Parkinson's Disease. I think it can help to think of Clinical Depression in this way. It is a brain pathology corrected by medical treatment which can sometimes be lifelong treatment.

So I am not sure how helpful it is to think of being dependent on these medicines or at least not in the way substance abuse victims are dependent. They are a corrective and healing and stabilizing medication types. They do nothing to people who are not afflicted with depression. Substance abuse drugs can effect all users. For this reason, some people can expect to be on an antidepressant for life just as an epileptic can expect to be under drug treatment for life.

A lot of what I have said here is based on medical research. And to be fair and honest it must be openly admitted that all medical research is subject to limitations: how large was the study, how many participants, how long did the study last, how objective was the study, how about other research studies that reached different conclusions, how about new discoveries. So one must be careful with medical research. I do think it is fair to say that evidence seems to be building for depression involving actual pathology of the brain.

I wish I could tell you what you should so. But I am not qualified. Zoloft worked pretty well for me. It was very helpful. I did notice that I tended to develop insomnia while taking it. That was really the only thing that bothered me about it. SSRI's can cause insomnia. Others, of course, will have other experiences, good and bad.

Hopefully others who are on or who have tried Zoloft will see your post and respond. Depression is an illness. It is not a character flaw. Even those who work against depression-- doctors, psychiatrists, neurologists-- sometimes are afflicted with this illness. It is nothing to be ashamed of.

I hope you will find what works for you and what really helps you.

Thanks Yaowen

[neverending]

I am on sertraline. I tend to switch between it and prozac over the years. I started ssris when prozac came out so I have been on them for many many years. I have tried various other antidepressants but they don't seem to work as well for me. However I am bipolar and therefore on other meds as well.

Hope you do well on the zoloft.

[sarahsweets]

Hey @Introvrtd1

Originally Posted by Introvrtd1

Dr prescribed me sertraline just recently when I told him I had problems with anxiety and trouble sleeping. Not sure I want to be on them because of dependency concerns.

Can you explain more what you mean? Do you wear glasses, take allergy meds, use an inhaler or take birth control? You are 100% dependent on all of it.

Would like to hear your experiences with this ssri.

Thanks.

Intro[/QUOTE]

[*Beth*]

My doctor just prescribed Zoloft, which I will start taking tonight. However, I was on Zoloft for several years years ago. I found it helpful back then. I hope I will now.