Going on anti-depressants next week

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Hmmm... I guess I can understand why...
The problem is though, if you don't even give it a try, how will you know?
The time we spend saying "what if" will convince us not to go outside anymore.
I honestly don't care if you do not want me to talk to you... I just care that your doing this to yourself...
Sometimes even I think "what's the point" but I have to keep going for me, no-one else. Everyone has a hard life...

You have to do it for yourself...
I've woken up some days and thought "what's the point" but I know I have to do this for my own benefit.
I honestly don't care if you don't want to hear what I'm telling you. The only thing I care about is that you are giving yourself a hard time...
*gulp* I mean... ummm... uhhh...

I'm only going on anti-depressants because it's not possible to avoid the things that trigger off depressed or anxious feelings. Unless I hide away in a cupboard for the rest of my life, I cannot avoid the things that make me unsettled or depressed, like winter, people staring at me in the street, feeling isolated when having NT cousins all around me, and change. I don't know how to happily live with these things, so medication will have to be the answer. I can't stop winter from coming once a year, I can't stop people staring at me in the street no matter what I do or wear, I can't stop my cousins from growing up and having social lives and meeting boy/girlfriends, and I can't stop change from happening in life. I can't stop any of those things, I may be able to learn to deal with them, but I don't know how to deal with them (which is what's causing the depression). So medication is the answer. It would be good if I could be able to switch depression on and off like a light, but I can't. It would be nice if I could be able to learn to block these things from my mind but I can't. It's not as simple as that. That is how bad my depression has got.

*phew* That was close...
To be honest I feel like people are watching me when I do something simple like going to the shops, I fear they are looking out their windows to see me acting like I am not normal.
Is it the fear of your NT cousins growing up that it feels like they are growing up faster than you?
I'm sorry to know that it's this hard for you... (I'm not going to cry, gotta man up...) It's tough I know that but I believe in you as I know you can do it as you have the strength yet you need to apply it.

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Last edited by PastFixations on 01 Jul 2012, 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

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The most important thing I can advise you on antidepressants (based on personal experience) is to make sure you're always taking them on time and as recommended. Have a journal to keep track of what you're taking, when, and how you're feeling daily. And don't drink alcohol or anything that could affect the brain (go easy on the caffeine) while you're on them. This is the only way that you can know for sure whether or not the antidepressants are making things better or worse for you.

More importantly, don't let your counselors or psychiatrists or whatever push you to increase your dosage if you're not comfortable with it. If at anytime you decide to stop taking them it needs to be a slow gradual process. I went off antidepressants cold turkey but it resulted in several months of me locked up in my apartment trying to kill myself. So yeah always tread with caution.

The thing about taking antidepressants is that it's a big change with alot of risks both short and long term so I hope your counselors work better with you regarding the use of the medication than my counselors were with me.

Well I am making an appointment with the doctors and she's going to have a chat with me about it first.

Thanks for the replies.

You have the strength and willpower when you apply yourself, you showed this with your response above.
btw... I used to have a fear of going on buses... and I overcame the fear and sure I had help but I had to work for it. I have an insight that tells me you can work on overcoming some of your own fears. I have faith in you.

I think this a good decision. Give it time, and if one type of medication isn't working for you, contact your doctor and ask to switch to another. There are tons of different kinds out there, and no two are the same.

I've been on one lot of antidepressants for 6 months, now I'm changing to another lot because they just didn't work. I had no side effects, really. Or at least no more problems than I usually have. In fact, I noticed that instead of my depression improving, my anxiety improved.

When you go to the GP, normal practice is to start you on the lowest possible dose and try that. Most kick in within a few weeks. If it's having no effect after a few months, they tend to put up the dose. The idea is that you should have the lowest possible dose that's still effective.
Talk to your doctor about your concerns with side effects: I'm sure they'll give you some advice.
Use the suggested website from earlier, NHS Choices, and also patient.co.uk. Both give loads of informations.

Dont worry about side effects too much, I have never gotten nausious from taking ssris, you may have some digestive discomfort for a while as serotonin pays as big a role in the digestive system as it does in the brain, but that usually passes within a week or so. You will probably feel very tired for the first couple of weeks too, depending on what you decide to take (Ive had experience with citalopram, escitalopram and paroxatine).

The only trouble Ive had with sides was when coming off tablets to go onto a different drug. But dont worry about that now.

A bit of advice, always take the tablets at the same time every day, set an alarm on your phone or something to remind you. Taking them at irregular times increases the risk of side effects in my experience.

Hope they help you and allow yu to get on with your life again.

If your doctor tries to put you on paroxatine (seroxat) DONT DO IT. That drug is evil when you are trying to come off of it, terrible terrible withdrawal symptoms. It took me months to wean myself off of it and to be honest I still dont feel 100% even though Im taking escitalopram now. To the extent that Im going to the doc tomorrow to ask to be put on Buspar as well to try and kill some of the left over anxiety that seroxat left me with, even 6 months after stopping them.