Discussion Antidepressants: do you think they're making a difference?

[~GeminiVII~]

I have been on antidepressants for a while now (Prozac to be specific, used to be on Sertraline before), and I just kind of wonder if they're really making any difference whatsoever?

Sometimes I lay there and wonder if I'd feel any different if I wasn't on pills. Would I feel better? Worse? Am I just subconsciously telling myself that they're helping?

I guess I am just interested in other people's perspectives on this. If you were prescribed antidepressants before, or are still on them now, do you think they're actually helping?

 

[SilentSadness]

In my opinion, antidepressants have been a huge scam, and if you're on medication without knowing whether it'll help that's a major red flag. I used to be on antidepressants, they didn't help and gave negative side effects, and I realised my problems aren't with "unbalanced brain chemicals" as my doctor blindly asserted but with life itself and my situation. But I don't offer medical advice, so you should decide for yourself. I hope your situation improves.

 

[TransTaxEvader]

Cymbalta used to be really helpful for about a year but now im right back where i started, just with a plan and a will to kill myself instead of being passively suicidal

 

[Mícheál_Ó_Coileáin]

I've been on different antidepressants over the course of years and never noticed any change, I guess that the fact that most of my problems come from very solid ambient and life situations a change that isn't drastic dosen't make me feel better. But I encourage everyone to at least try, maybe It could help, don't take my experience for granted.

 

[~GeminiVII~]

In my opinion, antidepressants have been a huge scam, and if you're on medication without knowing whether it'll help that's a major red flag. I used to be on antidepressants, they didn't help and gave negative side effects, and I realised my problems aren't with "unbalanced brain chemicals" as my doctor blindly asserted but with life itself and my situation. But I don't offer medical advice, so you should decide for yourself. I hope your situation improves.

I respect that, and honestly I do feel the same at this point. Sometimes I feel like I am only taking them to convince myself I am at least trying to get better. But I've experienced no positive changes. All I get hit with now is "You are on the highest dosage we can prescribe you. We can look at alternate medications if we slowly lower your dosage?" I doubt any other forms of happy pills are gonna fix things but hey, doctors know best right!...

 

[SickNSad2024]

why do they say some anti-depressants have the side effects of causing suicidal thoughts? how do they know it's the medication and not something toxic in life like people saying nasty things to you?

 

[SchrodingerIsDed]

No. It's the standard bullshit legal drug slingers pull. They just want that recurrent subscription money. That's why there are no physical tests to measure your so-called "out of wack" brain chemicals. As @sevennn pointed out earlier today, it's like throwing poison darts and seeing if one hits. They're fucking with your brain chemistry randomly, based on what you tell them your symptoms are. Not even what the symptoms actually are, but on how you can convey the symptoms to them.

The psychiatric industry is such a huge scam. They do no tests. They don't know what they're talking about. How do you know the brain's chemicals or structure is out of balance.......if you haven't even looked at it?

It's the stupidest shill ever. People need belonging, exercise, nature, purpose, eat good foods, and to avoid the bullshit foods in all these modern junk foods. Hell I'd bet they put shit in the food just to increase mental illness and metabolic disorders slowly over time because it increases GDP by increasing healthcare needs, health insurance needs, and mental healthcare needs. It's a huge money maker. Capitalism itself: planned obsolescence.

No one had all this shit in the past. We didn't need this degree of medicating before and society still ran.

There is no better money maker than subscriptions. And what better way than creating a bunch of fake mental illnesses? Instead of creating a product that is planned to break down, you convince people they are breaking down and need your drugs to not break down.

Fuck 'em all.

why do they say some anti-depressants have the side effects of causing suicidal thoughts? how do they know it's the medication and not something toxic in life like people saying nasty things to you?

No they actually do put "may cause suicidal thoughts" on the labels of a lot of anti-depressants. And SSRIs have been suspected of increasing the mass shootings across America.

Think about it. They're just randomly fucking with your brain chemistry to "hopefully" land on the right mix of having fucked your brain up. Obviously some peoples' brains are going to go boom when they're changing the brain chemistry randomly. SSRIs don't just increase serotonin. All the neurotransmitters are in balance with each other, and if you fuck with one, you're fucking with all the other ones, too.

 

[TransilvanianHunger]

why do they say some anti-depressants have the side effects of causing suicidal thoughts? how do they know it's the medication and not something toxic in life like people saying nasty things to you?

If someone does not have suicidal thoughts despite being depressed, starts taking medication, and they begin to have suicidal thoughts, it is fairly safe to assume that the medication has something to do with them. If the suicidal thoughts stop when the person gets off the medication, then it is very likely that the medication was causing them.

If a person has suicidal thoughts without being on medication, or if they are taking medication while dealing with some horrible life situation that would cause them to be suicidal, then the medication may just going to make the suicidal thoughts worse.

Anti-depressants are way over prescribed. They should not be a first-line treatment for "depression", because honestly most people with that diagnosis don't really need medication. Psychotherapy works better and its effects are longer-lasting for most forms of "depression", with severe, biologically-caused depression being the exception.

 

[zappynomore]

The side effects arent worth it for me, but everyone is different.

There was a pain killer I use to be on and its know for having the side effect of making you happy.

And man that was the best I ever felt on it. Was like an instant happy pill.

 

[shadows_and_silence]

i havent been on every medication under the sun, but for sure i know prozac is completely and utterly worthless. it might just be my experience though

 

[Michi_Violeta]

I honestly don't think they do, but I don't want my opinion to prevent someone from seeking help and medication if they believe that can help them.

They smooth the edges and numb the pain a bit, but they also sort of numb you too and they all have side-effects. Fundamentally, they don't change anything: sure, you won't feel as bad, but your life won't magically change. Your trauma won't disappear, the abusive relationships around you won't change, the things missing from your life will stay missing. A very kind and empathetic psychiatrist that saw me once said: "Well, you're not crazy, you have every reason to feel the way you're feeling and I could pump you full of lithium but you'd just piss it straight out".

On top of that, we still don't fully understand the way the brain and the mind operate. We haven't solved —and I believe we will never truly solve— the hard problem of consciousness. Go read on Prozac/Fluoxetine, for instance: it's mechanism of action is still not fully understood how it works or why it can both ease suicide ideation or increase it. What are our feelings? Just physical stimuli? Abstract products of an equally abstract entity that's somehow dependent on physical matter? And, if we cannot answer these questions, then why can we presume we'd be able to effectively and safely have an effect on said feelings through chemistry alone? And that's just on a philosophical/epistemological surface level, the whole discussion about Big Pharma and how our culture fails to acknowledge that we're living in profoundly unhealthy socioeconomic systems is another can of worms. And an ugly one at that in which antidepressants aren't a good thing either.

Maybe antidepressants+therapy work in some cases and if you want to heal then my suggestion would be to go that route, emphasizing that therapy would be doing most of the heavy lifting. In others, well, if you don't have the will to live and were dealt a shitty hand in life, why would taking medication help? To distract you from the pain so you don't make a choice you do want to make? To keep living life all numb? Nah, I don't find any dignity in that. I don't need help, I don't need drugs: I need life to be a bit less fucking unfair to those of us who've done the work, who've done everything we can, and we still get fucking put down by life just putting more pain in our way.

 

[OhWellDerp321]

I mean. It did help me for about a week.

I felt better because I was more calm.

Not sure if I remembered correctly though. But I think you have to take it forever.

Like to me, that was too much. If its forever... then its just numbing the feelings.

Eventually the depression is still there.

 

[Michelstaedter]

I have taken antidepressants for almost half my life and in fact I feel that I have gotten worse over the years. I cannot say with certainty that they do not work, because with experience I have seen that there are people who do find them helpful and others like me do not.
I am currently taking antidepressants and I do not feel well at all, I am anxious, depressed, tired, anhedonic and I see that my life is in free fall.

 

[steveholt]

I have been on antidepressants for a while now (Prozac to be specific, used to be on Sertraline before), and I just kind of wonder if they're really making any difference whatsoever?

Sometimes I lay there and wonder if I'd feel any different if I wasn't on pills. Would I feel better? Worse? Am I just subconsciously telling myself that they're helping?

I guess I am just interested in other people's perspectives on this. If you were prescribed antidepressants before, or are still on them now, do you think they're actually helping?

I have been on mertazipne for years ... in my eyes they help for a bit then its just a ritual bit of candy... but dknt give up o them tbey do work

 

[dust-in-the-wind]

Cymbalta used to be really helpful for about a year but now im right back where i started, just with a plan and a will to kill myself instead of being passively suicidal

Cymbalta was great for me for 8 years. Now nothing works and I want to die. I am thankful for the 8 years I had.

 

[fallingtopieces]

It's no surprise you'll get negative responses on a suicide discussion board.
The answer is, it depends on the person and their circumstances. They are not meant to be "happy pills", but they can alleviate the symptoms of depression, alleviate some suffering for many people, and for some give them the space to make positive changes in their life for a more lasting recovery. That includes things like finding motivation to change diet, take on physical exercise, spend more time outside, being more social, possibly working towards removing themselves from a negative environment, etc... But ADs are not meant to be magic bullets. Some of us reach treatment resistant making it harder for anything to work. Others it might be situational and/or they have no support system, are isolated or have made themselves isolated in which case meds may not do much at all.

If it hasn't been said, if you choose to get off your med(s) make sure to patiently taper off.

 

[vitbar]

I've been on a few sorts and felt how you describe: vague. Since starting the ones I'm on now I'm left with no doubt that they are working. Nothing else has changed, but everything is different.

 

[maniac116]

I've been on venlafaxine for about 10 years & it gas definitely helped. I think the Dr needs to be a good listener or I have the wrong person.
Maybe I'm just lucky but it has helped me for sure.

 

[Fall_Apart]

Cymbalta was great for me for 8 years. Now nothing works and I want to die. I am thankful for the 8 years I had.

Have you ever tried Entact? I have been using it for almost 5 years and I have noticed that the effect remains constant over time

 

[~GeminiVII~]

It's no surprise you'll get negative responses on a suicide discussion board.
The answer is, it depends on the person and their circumstances. They are not meant to be "happy pills", but they can alleviate the symptoms of depression, alleviate some suffering for many people, and for some give them the space to make positive changes in their life for a more lasting recovery. That includes things like finding motivation to change diet, take on physical exercise, spend more time outside, being more social, possibly working towards removing themselves from a negative environment, etc... But ADs are not meant to be magic bullets. Some of us reach treatment resistant making it harder for anything to work. Others it might be situational and/or they have no support system, are isolated or have made themselves isolated in which case meds may not do much at all.

If it hasn't been said, if you choose to get off your med(s) make sure to patiently taper off.

Honestly, I completely respect that. I know its a touchy subject and everyone has different views on it, especially here of all places. They affect everyone differently. Just from being on them so long, I do sit there and wonder if they've really done anything to help. Some days I feel worse, other days I feel better. Is that the AD doing the work, or is that just how I'm feeling on that certain day?

I guess you just start to wonder if it's just a placebo effect or if they're genuinely doing something. You take a painkiller to ease pain. You take an anti-emetic to ease nausea. "Are the ADs working, or am I just wanting to say they are, so they must be, right?". But a doctor just books you in for a review and asks you how you're doing. There's no vindictive test to confirm if the AD is doing what they want it to, like other types of medication.

Like I said before, I know different medications affect people differently. Nobody is the same. Maybe there is another pill out there that could help. I do agree with @SchrodingerIsDed to a certain extent though. It is too easy for a doctor or psychiatrist to just throw medication at you without actually testing. One doctors appointment about low mood and anxiety and I am handed sertraline on a silver platter like its a pot of skittles.

Just glad to hear other people can relate I suppose. Im trying to work with ADs and therapy but who knows if things will ever improve.

 

[MsifuentesX22]

Usually, antidepressant doesn't work

 

[dust-in-the-wind]

Have you ever tried Entact? I have been using it for almost 5 years and I have noticed that the effect remains constant over time

I have never heard of that in the US?

 

[Neowise]

I am on Trimipramine and it's been brightening my mood without any negative side effects. It was the first and only anti depresssnt that I tried, I guess I was very lucky.

 

[blackIronPrison]

I was on zoloft and rexulti for awhile, nowadays nothing.

Personally, I think the fields of psychology and psychiatry are way way way too young for me have much trust in them.

 

[areyousafe??]

They definitely work, however I have found that with time, I build up a tolerance to them and the effects wear off. When this happens, my psychiatrist increases the dosage, and they start working again. I'm now on the maximum dose so not much can be done, and I'm not willing to try another antidepressant.

 

[Kanoh]

Against depression itself they work good for me, unfortunately they don't do anything for my OCD.

 

[Fall_Apart]

I have never heard of that in the US?

It probably has a different name in the US, but the active substance is escitalopram and I think the name should be Lexapro for the US market.

 

[deadbidaylight]

I've been off and on different antidepressants for more than half my life and I will say that overall they have helped. And when I was younger I never really experienced any negative side effects.

I had absolutely horrific PPD after I had my daughter and ended up in crisis at the hospital after telling my dad that I could vividly picture myself hanging from the closet in my bedroom. I was breastfeeding at the time so they prescribed me Zoloft as it was the only safe for breastfeeding antidepressant on the market. Within literally 2 days I was feeling better. Talking to my dad was the best thing I ever did. Fast forward a few years and my body decided to react to it and I would pour sweat from my entire body constantly. I switched to Wellbutrin and it helped for a while.

Now I am plagued with crippling anxiety and can't even drive anymore. To compound on that, it has basically ruined my life since I was literally ON MY WAY to take my driving test to become an AZ licensed driver when I had my complete breakdown and was hospitalized for seizure-like symptoms. Turns out it was my body's response to severe stress and lack of sleep according to numerous tests. This happened in November and I still can't drive because everytime I get behind the wheel, it starts happening again.

So now I'm isolated, and can't work because I can't get myself to and from anywhere on my own. We live in the country so it's not like I can take public transit. This tanked my mental health so horribly that I'm at my ultimate low- hence ending up here.

I've spoken with my doc and he has prescribed me venlafaxine for the anxiety. I don't know if it's working yet since it's only been a few weeks, but I am sleeping terribly, I'm always exhausted, and I can't climax with my partner or on my own. I'll probably have to try something else.

Sorry for the long winded life story!

 

[grapevoid]

Though I have struggled with suicidal ideation most my life, I had never actually attempted suicide. Early last year I was feeling very low and having some weird mood swings related to woman stuff. My doctor prescribed me an antidepressant and within 6 months I had attempted suicide and came very close to succeeding.

I am currently off all mood stabilizing medication but I dipped so low while on them I'm not even close to how I was when I went for help to begin with, I'm much worse off.

It's no surprise you'll get negative responses on a suicide discussion board.
The answer is, it depends on the person and their circumstances. They are not meant to be "happy pills", but they can alleviate the symptoms of depression, alleviate some suffering for many people, and for some give them the space to make positive changes in their life for a more lasting recovery. That includes things like finding motivation to change diet, take on physical exercise, spend more time outside, being more social, possibly working towards removing themselves from a negative environment, etc... But ADs are not meant to be magic bullets. Some of us reach treatment resistant making it harder for anything to work. Others it might be situational and/or they have no support system, are isolated or have made themselves isolated in which case meds may not do much at all.

If it hasn't been said, if you choose to get off your med(s) make sure to patiently taper off.

Yes. Medication is meant to be used as a tool in conjunction with other methods like therapies, I can't imagine many of them work well without the other parts of the puzzle. I've heard many people say medications have been very successful for them as well.

 

[returntostardust]

They definitely do work, but there are different kinds and not every type works for everyone. Sometimes it is also the case of dosage.
If you think that the antidepressants you are currently on do not make you feel any different, or maybe even worse, then it's best to report this to your psychiatrist so that they could put you on a different dose/ different medication altogether.

But otherwise, from my, and some other people's experience while taking escitalopram, I can tell you that if they end up working for you without any major side effects, it is highly possible you will start feeling a bit low on mood, or rather, everything you feel will be a tad toned down. I am not sure if this is strictly citalopram side effects or standard for any antidepressant, but it dilutes almost everything you feel (as well as libido, if that is something important to you).

On a positive note: by making you really passive, it does alleviate negative thoughts, sort of like dropping a secure soft blanket over your being.