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[racjen]

I've tried 7 or 8 different anti-depressants, all in an effort to control the awful anxiety which menopause has brought with it, and for me the initial period has always been so bad I've not made it past a week on any of them. The effects have varied: increased anxiety or zombie-like sedation, but worst of all, increased depression which has got to the point where I'm unable to do anything but lie on the sofa crying and actually making plans about killing myself. this happens no matter how low a dose I start on, just takes longer to get to the critical point. I'm curious to know, when others on here say that their first few weeks on an AD were pretty tough but they stuck it out, exactly how tough are we talking here? I cannot imagine staying on a drug that made me feel that bad for longer than a week - I'm convinced I wouldn't be here now if I had. But sometimes when I read other people's accounts of their experiences I wonder exactly how bad they've felt and carried on anyway. Our tolerance of pain and distress differs so much from one person to another, but in my case to go from not being depressed, just anxious, to frighteningly suicidal has been too much to cope with. If you've made it thru a bad period and got to the point where it's started to help I'd love to hear what it was like for you x

[paisley]

I understand what you mean. I took antidepressants when I had PND & like you when I started them I felt worse than the symptoms I was taking them for. I think it took about 2 weeks for the really  horrible side effects to subside but even when the side effects subsided they took the edge of how I was feeling but not totally. I tried quite a few. I did start them again when I was in perimenopause & the same thing happened. I think I am just sensitive to any medication. And as you say the problem is we are all so different in what we can & cannot tolerate.

[Annie0710]

My daughter was given sertraline for sudden onset anxiety.  Within 4 days of sertraline she had her first full blown panic attack, andcso stopped the meds.  Her MH went to pot and developed agoraphobia .  Drs told her she should've ridden the two weeks and she'd have come through it.  This time she's on another one,  mitra-something I think and her initial 2 weeks were horrendous, suicidal, she tried sectioning herself but she's in such a better place now.  Not fully recovered but much better

Is there someone that can be with you almost constantly for the initial couple of weeks ?

[renee]

I started Mirtazapine 15mg 9 days ago...within a day of starting them I felt awful. Drowsy, depressed, angry, irritable and just down right awful.

I told my hubby how I felt straight away so he knew to keep an eye on me as I was thinking Id be better off not here!

9 days in Im sleeping alot better, not depressed but I do now have restless legs and feel a bit tired. I too have terrible anxiety/insomnia and have tried many different forms of help in tablet form/CBT and counselling with little relief.

Im not even sure if Ill be able to stay on this one as the restless legs are quiet painful. My advice would be talk about how you feel to your closest loved ones and friends....keep talking throughout starting any medication.

I wish you success and relief from anxiety as it truly can cripple you ☹

[CLKD]

Why have you been given anti-depressant medication instead of anti-anxiety support?

What did you tell your GP was the worst - I have 20mg Propranolol [Beta-blocka] at night to stop the awful anxiety surges. Plus an emergency drug for when the anxiety floors me.  Because I know it works within 20-45 mins., I don't have to worry about taking 'extra'.   Neither has made me feel bad, I had Valium on an as necessary basis for years until it made me feel ill a couple of times.  That was either 10mg or 5mg.

Depression caused deep, prehensile early morning fear  - I would wake anytime after 3.30 get dressed, then sit for hours, not daring to move in case I felt worse. I couldn't eat.  Drink.  Concentrate  - better now ;-)

In the 1980s some ADs made me feel really poorly and it took 5 tries to find something that didn't.  From then on I didn't look back and each drug has served me well for 5-6 years before my brain became used to it, it eased the depression so that I was able to get out of bed each day.

[Kwebst]

Just thought I'd drop my experience in. I was started on 40mg Citalopram 3 months ago for stress and depression. First couple of weeks I DEFINITELY had much worse anxiety symptoms in the morning and terrible nausea. It was horrendous. Also, I would  say I began feeling that I was on the verge of agoraphobia and if I went to busy places I felt slightly panicky which I have never felt before. I have anti nausea medication for migraines so I would take these if it got really bad.
The way their action worked was explained to me is that they increase the level of serotonin in the brain, the happy hormone. However, the body produces a neurotransmitter to stop the action of the serotonin. This is necessary otherwise our synapses in the brain would be constantly firing. When you start taking the antidepressant there is a massive increase in neurotransmitter to get rid of the serotonin, hence you feel worse (cos you actually have even less serotonin kicking about than when you started!) After a couple of weeks the body just kinda thinks “stuff it, I can't get rid of all this serotonin” and gives up, hence less neurotransmitter is produced.  That's when you start feeling better. I'm sure this is probably oversimplified but it helped me knowing that there was a genuine physical reason I was feeling worse and to just go with it. Three months in I'm not 100% but the tablets are helping me cope better with a difficult situation and I'm able to be at work now. Being signed off and counselling helped too.
BUT I also know someone who after only 3 days on antidepressants started having very bizarre and suicidal thoughts which she had never had before and were completely out of the blue. There is a place for antidepressants and they have really helped me but I do think they're not for everyone. Unfortunately it's probably trial and error to find out if they work for you.
Sorry for the long story! 😆

[racjen]

Well personally after 8 tries I don't think I'm prepared to give it any more goes....

CKLD we've had this discussion before, ADs are routinely used for anxiety, they're a standard treatment for both. Beta-blockers also make me depressed, I'm on diazepam but my tolerance is increasing and not prepared to keep upping the dose and getting dependant so right now I'm a bit stumped. Not much else on offer.

[Susannah]

Hi Racjen,
I've only taken one AD - an SNRI called Duloxetine -it differs from an SSRI in that it it supposed to reduce pain for conditions like Fibromyalgia in addition to helping minimise the effects of anxiety and low mood.  I felt very tired for the first few days of starting the pills but no noticeable worsening of symptoms or mood.  It took approx 6 weeks for me to see any benefit but I asked doc to up dose from 60 to 90mg as I still felt it wouldn't be enough to help me cope with the demands and pressures of my work.  I did have quite severe diarrhoea for about three months after upping the doze and took Imodium straight after the ADs but was loathe to give them up as I was feeling so much better in terms of the crushing anxiety, disassociation and low mood. I stuck with it somehow and the bowel issues disappeared and now after nine months on them I can function fairly normally at work.  I still have fears about a lot of things but they don't get to me the same as they did before.  I also have a lot of aches and pains and feel tired often but I did before taking the AD and put those symptoms down to perimenopause and erratic bleeding.

I believe I suffered adverse childhood experiences from birth to at least three years of age which has resulted in an inability to cope well with very trying or traumatic events or circumstances and I don't think I'll ever cope in the same way as most other people.    I practise mindfulness and had some CBT counselling but I think as long as there's too much stress in my life I'll need the medication.

Have you heard of seratonin syndrome?  It seems to prevent some people from taking many different types of ADs and if you've tried a lot already with terrible side effects I wonder if your doctor has mentioned this. I know well the feelings as if the mind is imploding and of not even feeling human or being able to make sense of things I took so much for granted before and feeling useless and that family would be better off without me.  But life and things can change for many and unexpected reasons or a new perspective can gradually dawn.  I really hope you can find something or someone to help and that you'll keep looking and trying.  With much love, Sue xxx

[am#]

I take alprazolam (xanax maybe in UK) just when i need it , maybe once a month or maybe one every day , but works well for me .

Susannah i can certainly relate to you refering to childhood events making you maybe sometimes unstable now , i think i would beable to cope fine with life now if old things were not lurking in the back 

xx

[racjen]

I've tried SSRIs, SNRIs, NRIs, tricyclics, tetracyclics - in fact here's the full list: citalopram, mirtazipine, lofepramine, venlafaxine, reboxetine, amytriptiline, sertraline. I'm not really asking for suggestions of yet more types to try, because clearly my brain just doesn't like them. What I'm really asking is, has anyone out there managed to ride out the genuinely seriously suicidal phase (which could last several weeks with no guarantee of an eventual improvement) and ended up feeling better? Because I really don't believe it's possible, and even if it were, I can't believe it's a good thing to do (especially when the anxiety clearly has a hormonal basis). And no, I have no one who could be with me constantly for two to three weeks to prevent me from taking an overdose, so on balance it really doesn't sound like a good idea.

[CLKD]

I wouldn't be here with the Anti-depressant medication prescribed through the 1980s/90s, then an anti-anxiety during the 1990s until now. Without my emergency anti-anxiety med I wouldn't be here. 

I meant to say: it's the physicality that takes over, even though I am aware of the logicality and reason for the flight/fight response, knowing isn't enough 4 me to work through until the medication may/not kick in to ease symptoms. 

Are you able to remind me how the anxiety affects U?  How is your diet overall, I found that sudden hunger would [and still can] trigger intense anxiety surges ........ panic would then set in.

[Annie0710]

Given what I've witnessed with my daughter riding out the horrific settling in period I do believe one can get through it BUT as you say you have no one to be with you during that stage then I agree it'd be unwise to put yourself through it

[Peroxideblader]

I wouldn't be here without escitalopram I stopped it foolishly thinking I felt better which I did because I was on an AD had awful side effects coming off it then crashed and burnt. I've been back on it now for 5 years and realise I need an AD like a diabetic needs insulin and not to be ashamed. But the first few weeks I was so ill on them felt far worse but I knew I had to ride the storm to the 3 week mark to help me recover and within 6 weeks I felt much better.  I've tried about 8 over the years and escitalopram is the only one that works for me.  Sadly the ones that help for sleep like mirtazapine sent me so low I had to stop.  It's personal choice but I need it to keep the lows from getting too low

[racjen]

Hi CKLD, it was brought on very suddenly when I started on utrogestan, and then carried on even after I stopped it. I get anxiety first thing in the morning, it gradually builds from about 7am to a plateau of pretty intense fear which, on a good day will then begin to subside (especially if I get out for a walk and a bloody good cry); on a bad day it can hang around all day. IT's not like a panic attack - nothing sets it off and it doesn't bubble up and then subside, basically it just sets in and then it's there at that level for as long as it wants. It's a feeling of intense nervousness in my stomach, like I know I have something horrible I have to do (like a bad attack of pre-dentist nerves). My diet is good and I'm on various supplements like magnesium which are meant to help; eating or not eating doesn't really affect it either, nothing does, it just has a life of its own and it's driving me f*****g crazy 

[CLKD]

Have a 


Many years ago a 'therapist' told me that anxiety cannot sustain itself for more than 20 mins..  I could have  her.  I walked out.  My longest panic attack was nearly 2 days ......... it started, rose, I had to leave the Theatre, how we drove home I don't know  - I shook so hard that our bed moved across the room  .  Even though I was rigid with fear 

Even though I knew what the flight or fight response was doing .........

Adrenaline like that has no where to go.  So it feeds on itself.  I have tried deep breathing; relaxation and stretching from toes to neck ..... sometimes it does work.