What are your experiences with antidepressants

[drag201]

For everyone who takes medication or has taken it before, what kind of antidepressants did you take and what changes did you experience in your behaviour, physically, or mentally? And did it help you significantly?

 

[Gangrel]

It's like taking an expensive pill that makes it impossible to cum and nothing else.

 

[apearl]

All the SSRI's I've taken (Prozac, Zoloft, and Lexapro) just straight up didn't work. All I felt was the negative symptoms. I've taken Cymbalta too but Idk if it worked or not because it kept me up for 3 days straight and made me insanely nauseous, so I quit it early on. I think that anti-depressants can be wonderful for some people but god they did not work for me.

 

[SVEN]

SSRIs (Prozac, Citalopram) didn't help me in any way.

 

[shironeko]

In my perspective most of drugs for depression would not work for me. Antidepressants are not answer. But stop the suffering is, which is almost impossible for suicidal people since no one can or willing to help to resolve everything.

Idk if I have a weird body that resisting most of psych meds, even Concerta has no effect on me. (Maybe it's related to my childhood when I would become sick every few months)

SSRI/SNRI not working.
Bupropion and DXM - worked for some time but not a recovery, with severe side effects.
CBD - like tasting bitter oils and ofc not working

Meds that worked until I tried to kill myself by ODing Z drugs:
Benzos - of course they do, but not immediately, which means there will be a little more time to suffer. (Expect for Triazolam/Midazolam but it's hard to get)
Z drugs except for Zalepron - worked well but needs about 30 minutes to kick in

Antipsychotics - good for sleep, but uncomfortable.

Sodium valproate: wow that's magic I got the symptom stabilized the day after they gave me this in psych ward. (Worked but not for long)

 

[mythofsisyphus]

Sadly they gave me PSSD which has landed me here. But that being said, it's rare, and although they don't help everyone, they certainly have the potential to help. I'd say if you're genuinely at the point of considering suicide, what have you got to lose.

 

[ThatGuyOverThere]

I have luckily never been prescribed anti-depressants, as they always figure they could "cure" my depression and suicidal thoughts via trying to slowly push me back into my old social life. Which luckily never worked.

I have however taken an anti-depressant before, and it was probably one of the worst things I have ever experienced, I was like a robot, I had basically no control over myself. I sat there like a husk and found that While I wasn't happy, I also wasn't sad anymore. I Will never do them ever again, it was one of the worst days In terms of my own self control, I have ever experienced.

 

[Theresnoescape]

I was on sertraline for 5 months. They worked pretty good to be honest, but the side effects gradually got worse and my moods were more erratic. I'm now on prozac. The side effects are less and they still work, just not quite as well as sertraline. My moods are more level and consistent at least.

 

[divinemistress36]

Some worked for a little bit then stopped. Others made me even more depressed and suicidal. They only work for a small percentage of people it seems

 

[ionlyexist]

I was on sertraline 150mg for around 5-6 months, I felt nothing, I was numb to everything, I couldn't even cry. I stopped taking them on some random Thursday. When I was off them, I felt everything too much, I would feel overwhelmed by everything, and my severe anxiety came back.

 

[Eole2.0]

I took many antidepressants but best are Paroxetine for 2 reasons :
Extend Time of sexuals relations and better generals feelings. Literally was a good time but when I stopped it, it was terrible.

 

[Nikitatos]

SSRIs are useless for most people.

 

[coolgal82]

i tried a few during like two times where i tried to reach out for help and they did absoloutely nothing. i dont remember the specific kinds but yeah we tried a few and none did anything (other than make me unwell)

 

[cantThinkOfName]

Had really bad heartburn for weeks, felt no different in terms of being depressed. Didn't help that my doctor and pharmacist could never give the me the damn prescription consistently. I regularly had to skip taking it for a week every other month because I couldn't get them. Can't really say more than that.

 

[ihateearth]

The majority make you gain weight by increasing your appetite. You can literally gain 40 pounds in 3 months on those medications. I do not recommend them because then you'll be sad and fat or fatter.

They can also remove the ability to orgasm.

Wellbutrin is the best and doesn't cause weight gain and side effects. It also helps people quit smoking. Go with Wellbutrin. Don't get fat and unable to orgasm on traditional antidepressants. Zoloft, Prozac, lexapro, and those other demons included.

 

[Trav1989]

The majority make you gain weight by increasing your appetite. You can literally gain 40 pounds in 2 months on those medications. I do not recommend them because then you'll be sad and fat or fatter.

They can also remove the ability to orgasm.

Wellbutrin is the best and doesn't cause weight gain and side effects. It also helps people quit smoking. Go with Wellbutrin. Don't get fat and unable to orgasm on traditional antidepressants. Zoloft, Prozac, lexapro, and those other demons included.

Very good point about the weight gain on these medications. I've known many people who felt the need to see a therapist and ended up being put on antidepressents and then a few months later they've gained noticeable weight.

 

[ihateearth]

Very good point about the weight gain on these medications. I've known many people who felt the need to see a therapist and ended up being put on antidepressents and then a few months later they've gained noticeable weight.

It's really ridiculous. As soon as I stopped taking Lexapro, the weight gain fell off. After that, I didn't take antidepressants for several years. you can also see it with celebrities. Kanye West gained a lot of weight on Lexapro.

I also had a friend who lost the ability to orgasm on SSRIs. Zoloft or Prozac I think. He was able to orgasm once he stopped taking it.

 

[Surai]

In my perspective most of drugs for depression would not work for me. Antidepressants are not answer. But stop the suffering is, which is almost impossible for suicidal people since no one can or willing to help to resolve everything.

Why do people not care for us , seems selfish like they don't want to be near us or have a so called chance of shouldering some of our burden on them. But I would never put that on them. They don't even listen like we are invisible to them its a feeling not like any other.

 

[DoneWithThisLife]

I've been on a few different SSRI anti-depressants over the last 40 years. Paroxetine worked well but coming off them was a horrendous experience. I've tried Quetiapine, Venlafaxine, Citalopram + a few more that Just had awful side effects & had to stop them after a short time. Prozac did ok for a while but stopped working for me after a couple of years. Currently on Sertraline for over 10 years, they keep things stable(ish) & seem to have no really nasty side-effects except constant tiredness.
There is no 'one size fits all' with anti-depressants, it's trial and error until you find something that suits you and they do not help everyone.
Personal experience has taught me that if I stop taking them completely I absolutely know about it within a couple of months so choose to take a regular small dose.
It's all down to personal choice but it might with worth a trial to see if they may be of any benefit to you.

 

[Trav1989]

It's really ridiculous. As soon as I stopped taking Lexapro, the weight gain fell off. After that, I didn't take antidepressants for several years. you can also see it with celebrities. Kanye West gained a lot of weight on Lexapro.

I also had a friend who lost the ability to orgasm on SSRIs. Zoloft or Prozac I think. He was able to orgasm once he stopped taking it.

Yeah, my father and ex-wife were both on that at different points and gained substantial amounts of weight.

 

[xandermax]

They can buy you time.

 

[dune_dweller]

For everyone who takes medication or has taken it before, what kind of antidepressants did you take and what changes did you experience in your behaviour, physically, or mentally? And did it help you significantly?

I've been on Celexa and Prozac and both made me hypomanic.

As a result, I've wondered if I have undiagnosed bipolar 2, but likely will never know.

 

[HereTomorrow]

Prescribed an SSRI at 13-14 (don't remember which one, I don't want to). It made me incredibly sensitive to light and a pounding headache for hours at a time. If anyone knows that scene from iCarly where Carly falls backs after a superpowered flash photographs her as she walks in her apartment, I did that when opening the door to go outside.

Spoiler: iCarly

Because of that I never wanted to go outside which made the psychiatrist think I needed another antidepressant because my depression was getting worse.

If there was any positives, it made my mood a tiny bit better, but it was "I'm no longer super sad" instead of "I'm no longer suicidial". I eventually, with parental consent (because they didn't agree with me taking it) got off them.

Before I went on SSRIs they gave me a blood test and my Vitamin D levels were near crisis levels and my parents were telling the psychiatrist I needed Vitamin D and not SSRIs and she didn't agree and kept pushing me to continue saying I needed it to recover, but eventually I got off of it with no withdrawal symptoms.

Vitamin D helped more than SSRIs, and suprisingly the psychiatrist and the therapist didn't believe it at first, but couldn't really deny it either.

 

[whotookmylexapro]

Half of the ones ive take (prozac, luvox, zoloft) worked for a couple months - a year before it suddenly stopped working and i had to look for another med. The other half (cymbalta, caplyta, buspirone) didnt even work for me

It sucks taking a medication with some positives only for it to stop working abruptly shortly after. Its like being offered a hand to help get up and the get kicked in the balls after