Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Elliemay]

Thanks for all the help, I dont think I can take this drug. A lot of people have had weight gain with it & bad withdrawals even at tiny doses 

[jorainbow]

Elliemay not that I'm pleased to say at last someone else but I have a drug phobia too and am resisting sertraline because of it. I took venlafaxine 13 years ago and though it worked the side effects were not nice. I've just spoken to my gp who has assured me sertraline have no side effects which I've read differently. I've just had 2 good weeks of little anxiety and my insomnia had gone and this seems to be a side effect! He didn't seem impressed that I had referred myself privately to a memo clinic either xx

[babyjane]

I would not trust a GP who claimed a drug 'has no side effects'.  Drugs are chemical substances and even the best of them will cause some effects until the body adjusts because it is something alien to the system.  Saying that some are definitely worse for side effects than others.

I may be wrong but it is my belief that Sertraline is one of the cheaper SSRI drugs and that is why the GPs like to try it first but there are many other options.  I resisted Sertraline and was given Citalopram.  It wasn't too bad but the side effects did go on a bit so I asked for the gentler, sister drug called escitalopram.  That also had side effects for a while but they were gentler and more tolerable.  It took about 3 weeks for my system to realise something was different and I am still doing quite well on it.

I am hypersensitive to chemicals, medications and alcohol so I am always wary, but if your GP is committed to patient welfare as mine is, he or she will help you find something that will help you as then you will not go to the surgery as often.  It stands to reason.

Good luck.

[Elliemay]

thanks for the replies, well done jorainbow for trying them too. i would have a real problem physically taking any tablet, it's so annoying. My GP actually did prescribe escitalopram which is better for the liver seemingly but i ripped the prescription up because he was so nasty! (i had actually gone about a trapped nerve that is very real, he told me to google health anxiety, take the tablets & sort it out...) Grrrr...

Ive had untreated depression for years really, always believing i can drag myself out of it, but if im honest ive hardly been able to get out of the door all winter and have had to make a huge effort for my part time work for which i have to be quite extrovert. the thing that scares me is that last year, I did manage to get an psych appointment (after asking for  20 years) and only then because i flagged up on the questionnaire as having ADHD! However the Psychologist said he thought it was an anxiety disorder that ive had since childhood that was causing the inability to concentrate. i occasionally get mild hyper moods, and agitation.i know that a lot of ADs can increase this and i dont want to have an episode that sets me back. The psych said he wouldnt like to medicate me as he believes im sensitive to it. so then i get an arsey GP literally throwing a perscription at me without looking at me, who am  supposed to believe? :-/

Re the hormone connection, I know it's related to meno because i had similar dark moods on zoladex for endo 20 years ago but at that time i knew nothing of side effects and was more trusting of GPs in those days!

the phobia is counter productive because it's like telling someone with a fear of heights that the only way they can get rid of it is to jump out of a plane, except they have to do it constantly for the next 24 hours. its such a big flippin' deal but GP doesnt understand that.

[Elliemay]

  for the others with meds phobias, you don't want anyone else to be going through it but at the same time it's refreshing when people understand. Im sure a lot of it is based on common sense!

[babyjane]

I have lost a lot of my life to anxiety which I did not even realise.  It was only when it became unmanageable nearly 3 years  ago that I asked for help.  If I had not I would still be lost in my life and missing out on so much.

I still have limitations and if my husband wants to do a travelling project he knows he can't include me, but other than that we can do things together again.

[Elliemay]

I thought i was managing mine really well until i went for CBT with a brilliant counsellor & realised how many of my coping strategies were actually safety behaviours that were adding to the anxiety! Ive not had a holiday for 10 years :-( new relationship too. He wants me to move in with him and I'd love to im scared to because he doesn know the full extent of it... :-/ Fancy meeting the love of your life 4 years into the meno with all the joys it brings! :-D

[babyjane]

at least you have now met him and this is how he knows, and loves, you.  My husband of 40 years has been on a steep learning curve through my menopause 

[Elliemay]

yes, maybe i should stop worrying about the anxiety & get treatment for the VA, that might help enormously!

[CLKD]

I have a phobia as well as anxiety due to it and depression.  Since taking beta-blockas I have felt a lot better and since upping my dose of AD even better than that 

I have taken an AD since the mid 1980s and have never put weight on due to it.  I did put weight on when I stopped exercising  - almost 2 stone, walking several times a day for 14 months got me back to something more reasonable.  I borrowed a    ..... 

I have safe foods.  I do safe stuff.  It's about Himself and me having a Life together rather than my being shut inside the house, deeply afraid.  I wouldn't be going out and about without medication and I never want to be 'that' frightened again.  I had to try various ADs - I was told that "Prozac" didn't have any side effects but I found some  which weren't funny at the time  .  So my GP kept going until he found one that suited. 

Common sense and phobia don't go hand in hand ..... the logical part is telling me to eat/take the drug/step out the door but the phobia makes it impossible  . Until I had the BBs .........

Maybe write down what is the worst symptom and sort out easing that first?

[jorainbow]

Well the script is in the back of the drawer. Thought I'd check with the pharmacist and though she did say everyone is different it won't cause insomnia (first on the very common side effect list) and will make me drowsy so can't drive. It will also make me feel worse first so bearing in mind I only feel this bad for a couple of days  I'll stick with   meditation, relaxation, exercise and wait to see what is said at the meno clinic xx

[CLKD]

I NEVER read the list on the paper in the packet  - I can make up my own side-effects ......... Companies have to list every possibility in order to avoid being sued!

[jorainbow]

A friend once told me to just bin them! The pharmacist gave me a copy to take away. I've binned it 😂😂

[CLKD]

The leaflets don't even come out of the packet. Life's to short to stuff a mushroom 

[Elliemay]

Forget the anti-ds, that dog emoji just cured the depression! :-D

Ooh you lot have some brill ideas, I like the idea of listing symptoms in order of yuk. Xx