Do you take anti-depressant/anxiety drugs?

I do. Vitamin D from the sunlight while I do a 3 mile walk. Let me tell you, those endorphins released really counter that cloud of cortisol I create when I just stress out and get down on life.

Valium: doesn’t hardly do anything, calming effect if you take enough, I hardly ever use it.
5-htp- helps with mood and rest- if I didn’t take it I think I would get depressed.

Yes.
>I don’t care to share that information here.
>Yes. The side-effects are too numerous to go into here.
>I don’t skip doses of what are regular medicines for me.
>Some make me feel better, and some make me sleepy.

I do not.
But for a short while, when I separated from the service, I did. Zoloft.
I found a better substitute, so I quit taking the meds.
The superior substitute was:
About four sessions with a professional, and a divorce.
More expensive than drugs, but more effective.

No, but I have in the past. Xanax when I was shaken hard by a break up with an SO the drug was miraculous. I took it for about 6 weeks. I was able to eat again, stopped having dry heaves in the morning when I woke, stopped shaking so much for no specific reason.

When I stopped taking it I was nervous to not have one with me in case I needed it, but within a few weeks that went away.

I have taken a few here in there in the last 20 some years since I took them. Maybe I have taken a total of 15 in the last 20 years.

I took Buspar, which is an antianxiety, for 6 months about 15 years ago. It did calm me a little, but it disrupted my sleep. My doctor had kind of insisted I take it, I was going through a very very bad time with a physical illness and she felt it would help my anxiety and maybe my pain. When I went off of it she wanted me to stay on it.

I tried Prozak for 5 weeks, which I really thought was a bad idea, it didn’t make sense to me at all, and it was horrible.

Yes, and I have been on the same “cocktail” for over ten years now.
I have Bipolar Disorder 2, PTSD and Panic Disorder so I take these all on an every day scheduled basis

Lamictal, Mirapex, Ativan, Paxil and Neurontin

Yes, I am aware of the side effects. The list is too long to mention. The only side effects I have are some memory issues from the Neurontin and weight gain from the Paxil.

If I missed any of them for more than a day, I’d be in a world of hurt (some in half a day).

With them, I am able to be a somewhat functioning human being.

Mostly people who are on SSRI don’t have any side effects, although many are known. Usually it’s a problem, though, with stopping the medication as there can be unpleasant withdrawal effects when you stop.

I take Effexor XR daily, and Xanax as needed.

Effexor somewhat reduces sex drive. Xanax can make you sleepy.

Effexor has horrible withdrawal symptoms, and by day 2 without the pill I’m a freaking mess. I hardly ever take the Xanax, so I don’t feel any different without it, unless I’m having a panic attack.

Like most (all?) of these drugs, you don’t feel much of anything when you first start taking Effexor. It takes a good two weeks or longer to feel better. It saved my life, pretty much.
Xanax makes me feel sleepy for about the first 15 minutes after I take it, but then I feel fine. Just normal and calm, as opposed to being in a panic state.

I used to take Paxel. I took it for 2 years.
It robbed me of all small emotions. I had no small sadness or small joy. When I felt sadness, it was great sadness that hit me like a mac truck.

I was incorrectly diagnosed with “Anxiety Problem” because I was panting like a dog due to pulmonary embolism and pleural infusion in the E.D. My lungs were closing up like severe asthma and I was trying to get enough oxygen. In the E.D. they gave me “Lorazepam” (trademarked as Ativan) 0.5 mg for my supposed anxiety. Very soon (like just a few seconds) after they gave me the Lorazepam I felt my body quickly become paralyzed and also like I was floating in air a couple inches above the gurney. I thought to my self “never, never, never again will I ever take that drug again.

@JLeslie years ago they gave me Buspar too, I guess they didn’t want me on Xanax long term- I quit working after awhile so I took more and more and then something went haywire, I got arrested for fighting with random woman in restaurant in Palm Springs haha.

@trailsillustrated My aunt, who is a social worker, and a benso lover, said therapists joke that Buspar isn’t addictive because it is like a sugar pill.

Yup, a whole cocktail of ‘em. No real side effects from the current ones. If I didn’t take them for my BPD, I’d be lost in a place where I don’t want to be. I feel almost normal now.

I do not but I do know their side effects in great detail
I just posted here to note here that it is not safe to take any such medication without a doctors prescription.

Only once, about 11–12 years ago, proceeding a traumatic, long term divorce.
My doctor gave me Paxil, and it was a fucking nightmare. I was in zombie land, and then, about 10 days in broke out in hives. I was allergic to the crap and stopped immediately.
Horrible stuff, for me, just horrible.

I took Xanax for awhile to take the edge off of my stress, but…IMO, short of brain chemistry issues, these drugs just mask symptoms that are really wake up calls to make changes in your life.
I didn’t need drugs, I needed a new life, and I got it. Viola…no more depression and anxiety!
Depression and anxiety are really our friends in disguise, they are telling you, from your bodies standpoint, that you need to make changes.

@Coloma Tell that to someone with a mood disorder.

@Mr_Paradox Well of course there are exceptions, like I said. If someone has an actual disorder that is not the same as a situational thing.

Never. I have been very fortunate to not have any type of anxiety or mental illness.

Do you take anti-depressant/anxiety drugs?
I used to.

>If so, which one/s do you take?
Ic Sertraline and fluoxetine and another brand (not simultaneously).

>Are you aware of its side-effects. What are they?
Yes I was. In fact, I stopped taking my last prescribed antidepressant because it was making me puke almost every day.

>How do you typically feel if you go without them for a couple of days?
I never felt any difference while taking any of my medications. I was told that I was on the highest legal dose of all three meds.

>How do you feel once you have taken them?
No mental difference. If anything, nausea.

@JLeslie I guess it’s not addictive but if it quits working and you take more and more it could be bad. As in my case l!

@trailsillustrated I think all those drugs can be addictive, my non-medical opinion. Antianxiety and antidepressants. They say SSRI’s are not addictive, but I beg to differ.

@JLeslie Prozac nation. In my case, the interaction with my brain chemistry was a disaster, and don;t forget, there is a high suicide rate for many of these compounds. I think, in reality, about 95% of these drugs are being mis-prescribed, recklessly, prescribed for the vast majority and the terrible side effects are minimized.

@Coloma Prozac was awful for me. I think probably because I didn’t need it. Depression was not my concern. I do have a girlfriend who had a wonderful experience with Prozac. She lost weight and said she felt normal for the first time in many years. I have another friend who has tried several SSRI’s, never Prozac, and has never really been happy with any of them. She takes them, and then is afraid to stop them, and then finally switches or completely goes off. This is over many years. She isn’t starting and stopping just after a few months.

The suicide rate I don’t think is fair to the drug, because many people are depressed and suicidal before taking the drug, that is why they are taking it. But, if they actually commit suicide while taking it, it must be reported.

I do think these drugs are given out like candy. @Rarebear said there are almost no side effects. I am not saying he gives them out like candy, but the medical profession seems to have this umbrella thinking that the drugs are worth a try, no harm no foul. I know many people who have side effects, who stop taking the medication. But, as I said I know people who feel the drugs did them a lot of good.

@JLeslie Yes, but…sometimes the way these drugs interact with an individuals brain chemistry they can increase depression and result in suicidal actions. Scary. All I know is that Paxil was a nightmare, I felt 1000 WORSE than I did with the original stress and depression which was situational not chronic. The mild calming effect of Xanax was the best route for me.

Between my divorce and a very high stress job with a crazy boss…it’s a wonder. I am strong, no doubt. lol

@Coloma I do believe the drugs can make suicidal thoughts worse, I am only saying the stats are a little dishonest so to speak. My doctor actually prescribed Prozac and Klonopin to me simultaneously. I did not ask for the benso (the klonopon) but he said Prozac can make people very anxious initially. So, he knew that, even though my cheif complaint was anxiety, not depression and my chronic pain of course. I don’t think most GP’s bother to prescribe an antianxiety drug with it. This guy was a psychiatrist. I felt much worse also. I felt “crazy.”