going on the anti depressants thread

[madhair60]

had massive breakdown saturday so i think i'm gonna stroll up to the old GP and demand the happy pills because i give up. any advice for a first-timer

[bgmnts]

Been a long time since I first asked for some but the only advice I would be able to give that I feel would be actually be useful is probably unacceptable but I suppose you should just be honest about what you feel and your life has been affected.

[mothman]

I have an aversion to psychiatry that is almost Scientologist in its vehemence. But chances are I may be suffering from depression. I guess the first step is accepting you need help, and asking for it, so bravo MH, I hope the appointment goes OK when you get it. 👍

The thought of going on antidepressants scares me, too. I don't know what they actually do to you, how they alter things. You hear about side-effects, too: I know fearing minor side effects to something that will have a great positive benefit makes me no different to all those antivaxxer cunts, but as I say my relationship with mental health care is... complex!

[Barry Admin]

Good luck getting things sorted man.

You still tortured by the bullying and stuff you went through? You tried therapy and that?

[Twit 2]

When you're going mental, a spell on the meds works wonders, take it from me. No need to get "pilled up for life in a glum racket," neither. Lob them in the pedal bin, a while after you appear normal, and get back on the amphetamines, in your own time. I went a bit mental, only last year, but I'm not now, just look at me.

[no_offenc]

Watch out for nausea, it's not fun but it'll subside.

[Menu]

I have an aversion to psychiatry that is almost Scientologist in its vehemence. But chances are I may be suffering from depression. I guess the first step is accepting you need help, and asking for it, so bravo MH, I hope the appointment goes OK when you get it. 👍

The thought of going on antidepressants scares me, too. I don't know what they actually do to you, how they alter things. You hear about side-effects, too: I know fearing minor side effects to something that will have a great positive benefit makes me no different to all those antivaxxer cunts, but as I say my relationship with mental health care is... complex!

Look into Talking Therapy and CBT as a first move. It's not psychiatry and it's not pills(not that there's anything wrong with either if needed). But it's worked for me - although it's always an ongoing thing.

[Kankurette]

had massive breakdown saturday so i think i'm gonna stroll up to the old GP and demand the happy pills because i give up. any advice for a first-timer

First off, I'm sorry you feel like that. Secondly, your GP will probably want to know what your depression is like and what kind of meds you need; it may take a while to find the right combo. Took me years. Sertraline worked for me but it might not for you. It will take a couple of weeks for the meds to kick in.

Avoid Venlafaxine like the plague. Miss a dose and you'll feel like utter shite.

[Glebe]

Sorry to hear it M. I've been on anti-depressants more than half my life, but you may find you only require them temporarily. I've never been on habit-forming things but I've personally never reached a point where I felt I could cope without them. Again though that's just me.

In any case love and hugs and the very best of luck.

[Pink Gregory]

What they'll do isn't necessarily reverse your mood but what they will do is level you out, make the lows not quite as low.

Obvs. if you can talk to a GP at regular intervals that also helps.  You can get CBT but it never did much for me - I couldn't get to thr only appointment they could offer me and had to do it over the phone, which isn't quite the same.

[Buelligan]

Sending very best solidarity and hugs to you, mads, you are a great and beloved egg, old sport.

[canadagoose]

had massive breakdown saturday so i think i'm gonna stroll up to the old GP and demand the happy pills because i give up. any advice for a first-timer

I hope you get somewhere with the GP. They're generally better than they used to be about those things, and they'll hopefully at least get you on the amphetamines something that will make things a bit easier. Best of luck.

[falafel]

Avoid Venlafaxine like the plague. Miss a dose and you'll feel like utter shite.

The withdrawal is rough but with these sorts of meds it depends what works for you - I wouldn't rule anything out without understanding how it affects you specifically and personally.

[Goldentony]

you'll need to sleep all the time and no fucker will be able to say anything because it's mental health, so it's amazing you just begin the course and when they start working you just lie around needing to sleep 15 hours a day in my experience, if anyone demands anything you can just tell them nah sleep here mate and if they say ah lazy bastard etc you can take them to a tribunal, quids in

[madhair60]

I had worried about side effects before but I don't care what happens to me anymore so I think now's the time really. I may quit my job as well because I'm just taking the piss to be honest.

[Pink Gregory]

I had worried about side effects before but I don't care what happens to me anymore so I think now's the time really. I may quit my job as well because I'm just taking the piss to be honest.

Any side effect is better that wanting to be dead all the time.

I can tell you that from experience.

[The Guppy]

I've tried a few different antidepressants and never had a serious side effect.

Not-serious side effects I had:

Legs jiggling all around when I want to sleep
Sleeping a bit too fucking well
Not sleeping very well
Yawns feel nicer
Orgasms five times more intense than usual, but ten times harder to reach
HUNGRY
Less suicidal
Random weird mild headrush that lasts four seconds and you don't know when it's gonna happen but it's fine

Found one that suits me eventually.

Any side effect is better that wanting to be dead all the time.

I can tell you that from experience.

+ fucking 1

[poo]

Have you tried crazy golf? It worked for Mr T.

[madhair60]

This all started because of crazy golf poo mate

[Glebe]

I had worried about side effects before but I don't care what happens to me anymore so I think now's the time really. I may quit my job as well because I'm just taking the piss to be honest.

Don't worry Mads. Be kind to yourself and give yourself a break and get the help and support you need.

[TrenterPercenter]

I have an aversion to psychiatry that is almost Scientologist in its vehemence. But chances are I may be suffering from depression. I guess the first step is accepting you need help, and asking for it, so bravo MH, I hope the appointment goes OK when you get it. 👍

The thought of going on antidepressants scares me, too. I don't know what they actually do to you, how they alter things. You hear about side-effects, too: I know fearing minor side effects to something that will have a great positive benefit makes me no different to all those antivaxxer cunts, but as I say my relationship with mental health care is... complex!

There are some questions around suicide and violence, but it's really difficult because obviously people that generally take anti-depressants are taking them for reasons that are also big factors in suicide and violence.  The amount of people taking them though without significant side affects does imply that for most people they are relatively safe.

The main problem is that the big studies have found that over the long-term they don't appear to work.  I would seriously advise against viewing mental health conditions as adjuncts to the self like normal "illnesses".  They don't work that way.  You can change your brain chemistry somewhat which could then give you some emotional space to solve things, but also just going to the GPs, taking your MH seriously and speaking to someone also have big n influences on recovery.  What tends to happen is people get "parked" on SSRIs which means continually taking then forever despite them not really affording individuals the positive changes that could be achieved through proper therapy or you could just ask you GP to buy you a new house but there is massive underfunding in MH services.  Ideally you would want therapy prescribed with every SSRIs prescription.

[Pink Gregory]

The main problem is that the big studies have found that over the long-term they don't appear to work.

This has somewhat been my experience.  I am in no doubt that I've needed them, but after a year or two (or more) on the same dose you do start to forget what it was like to be in utter despair, because you have a different kind of utter despair, sometimes.

Admittedly, when I went on them at 17, I had no therapy at all, and they were prescribed by a helpful but I suspect not all that good with mental illness family GP.  Got moved on to a massive dose of Venlafaxine *and* Mirtazipine at one point when I was around 22 and I'm surprised I came out of that intact.

[Glebe]

Yeah counselling/therapy are a must.

[Zetetic]

The main problem is that the big studies have found that over the long-term they don't appear to work.  I would seriously advise against viewing mental health conditions as adjuncts to the self like normal "illnesses".  They don't work that way.  You can change your brain chemistry somewhat which could then give you some emotional space to solve things...

I think Trenter is very much worth listening to here - they can provide an opportunity for change, in yourself and your circumstances, that depression is currently making very difficult. While combining them with talking therapies is a good idea if you're supported to do that, there are other ways of taking advantage of that opportunity if you're not (which I'm sure others would expand on).

Having said that, I have been on antidepressants for over half my life at this point and I intend to stay on my current drug for the foreseeable future, because I am very glad of them. I have discontinued for brief periods without serious ill-effects, mostly because of incompetence on my part on ensuring that I had a steady supply.

For the avoidance of doubt - I've also gone to talking therapies several times in my life, and experienced huge variation in how helpful they were. Some of that was down to the counsellor, psychologist or psychotherapist - but a huge part of it was to do with how I and my life was different at those different times.

I'll also add that I had no serious side effects from fluoxetine or citalopram - which there's a very good chance anyone will be put on as first and second choice respectively - and no difficulty discontinuing them. People do have issues with these, but part of the reason that they're first choices is that they're generally extremely tolerable.

[Catalogue of ills]

Side effects vary quite a bit but wear off fairly quickly. I felt like I was on the cheap whizz for about three weeks which is apparently longer than normal. Had a tight jaw for a while longer, like when you've been on the pills on a night out but not as bad. Tell your manager you're starting on them, I had to take a couple of days off can't do my job love whizzing my tits off over here need to run home if that's alright with you can't sit still bye.

[JaDanketies]

My fiancee (used to) say "Oh my God, everyone hates me and this minor problem is the end of the world," and I would be supportive, but after a day or two I would ask, "have you been taking your anti-depressants every day?"

And she would say "THEY DON'T WORK LIKE THAT! They don't just stop working because you stop taking them! Why do you think I initially had to take them for weeks for them to start working? This minor problem is actually the end of the world, and is entirely worth all of the anxiety and depression I am feeling, and you are being unsupportive by mentioning the fact that I have not taken pills for this serious and clearly-relevant mental health problem I have."

And I would Google, and show her that the half-life of her SSRI is just one day, so there is half as much happy drug in her brain whenever she missed a dose. And I would show her NHS websites that said it is important to take your antidepressants every day. But she knew better.

Anyway, eventually she asked a doctor, and the doctor said that skipping doses can make your depression WORSE. So don't fucking skip doses! Take them every day. Buy a pill box if you need to. (I'm still awaiting my apology).

She's also started CBT (she's done it a few times in the past tbh), and I think this might also be helpful. I particularly like the 'unhelpful thought patterns' pdf she got me to print out. I think if she could recognise that she was having 'unhelpful thoughts', that might flag up to her that her catastrophising thought processes are a symptom of depression, and not a realistic appraisal of the situation.

[Ray Travez]

I have an aversion to psychiatry that is almost Scientologist in its vehemence.

I'm interested in this. What set your mind against them/ the profession?

[madhair60]

can't get hold of my fucking doctor anyway. cunt

[Kankurette]

Skipping does of Venlafaxine gave me brain zaps, terrible achy knees and horrible nausea. Even taking the pill later than planned - I was supposed to take it at a set time - made me feel like shite. I missed a dose when I went to Primavera one year and ended up buying a load of ridiculously overpriced shampoo from a pharmacist because I was too out of it to know what I was doing. It also made my anxiety increase - I had a LOT of panic attacks and meltdowns on it, as have friends of mine. Sertraline is better but I'd still rather not miss a dose. Citalopram made me gain a lot of weight, and it hasn't all come off (and Venlafaxine didn't help much either in that regard).

Also, it bears repeating that you might not need them forever. I've accepted that I'm going to be on meds until I die and while I have had therapy, and it has helped to an extent, I do need antidepressants. Even if I was rich, or living in a utopia, I'd still need them. But other people only need them temporarily. Also, it took me TWO YEARS to get therapy on the NHS and during that time, I had two suicide attempts under my belt, not to mention that this was when the Roberto Martinez thing was going on

Spoiler alert

(you don't read the football thread, and I don't know if you remember me bringing this up on Facebook - it was about 6-7 years ago - but I had a lot of intrusive thoughts about Martinez, who was managing Everton at the time, and I was planning to kill him and then myself because I thought it would make Everton fans happy if he died and i'd become a hero, and it was so real and vivid that I was frightened I was going to do it)

[close]

, and it was really taking over my life. And I was self-harming a lot. And that didn't speed things up and I had to phone them up and ask when I was going to get seen. My brother's had to go private to get help. And even then, when you do get a counsellor/therapist it's the luck of the draw. I got a good one but other people have had shit ones - my mum has. Even if meds don't work in the long run, I'd rather take my chances.

[madhair60]

thanks to work I do have access to counselling but basically I've avoided pills because I was worried about them changing me or making it so I couldn't draw comics, make stuff (I know this is childish but honestly if I can't do them I don't really see the point in being alive?). And last Saturday I absolutely lost it, I'm talking gibbering maniac clutching his head babbling kind of breakdown after going Hulk and roaring at people and thumping things. Went properly menty. So now I'm like right dose me up please as I am a danger to myself and others.