I have been on them since November, and the weirdest bit is that the more people that I have told, the more people I know that are on them, or just come off them.

No need to confess, unless you want to, but a poll is added

I have never, but have been prescribed them in the past (got worried about comments made by friends and family, shouldnt have though). Has it helped at all mate? Curious thats all.

What happens when you stop taking them, how long until the depression kicks back in ?
Will you have to take them forever ?
Will the effects reduce over time ?
If so will that mean upping the dose or taking the tablets more often ?

Pinocchio (eff nose)

They wean you off them, rather than a cut off, and the average time is over 12 months. They stop the bad chemicals getting to the brain, which I can understand, and I am not as bad as I have been, but it is very much forward and backward steps.....

Citalopram?

Work colleague has been on them for about 10 monthse and seems to be a lot better but I also have a mate who has been on them since about 1998. He keeps on trying to come off them but can't.

Ouch to the not being able to come off them. Do you know what they are on?

No, unfortunately...but I'll try and find out. My mate has issues with depression and has to write down things which are either good or bad for him. He had a lot of time of work but now has mananged to get a job and his life back on track, albeit still on the pills.

The work colleague suffered a family bereavement but also makes regular telephone calls to a counselling service, which helps. She has been on the pills before and has come off them, so it depends on the individual and the severity of the depression. I'm sure you'll be ok

I find that thinking that I am lucky helps. You might want to pass that on.

So many views, so few votes, or posts.

Nothing to add or say because I have no experience of this.

Not sure if you'd want a flippant comment about sodding the pills and looking at Vicky P pictures instead.....

Odd stuff of on youtube, but she loses out to Susanna Reid, there.

Just seems odd that people would open such a thread, with nothing to comment, and not even vote "no".....

I'll always be here for you blahblah, keep the head up baby.

Was offered them when very young, and sleeping pills, but went for the time healer, as wasn't a fan of unnatural stuffs.

no from me too, and like murf, I haven't experience to talk about it.

Best of luck though mate.

and I'm always around if you fancy a chat, I'll tell you about my FF season - that'll cheers you up

Thanks, all.

Like I said in the quoted murf response. Why open it and not vote no?

I did a few happy pills in my yoof and quite enjoyed them to be honest.

Though I fear you are talking about different happy pills...

No. Ecstacy does not count

Made me smile, though

Was on anti-depressant pills for around 9 months.

Woke up one morning and decided I didn't want to take them any more, so I stopped. I'm not sure that was the correct medical way of weening myself off them, but I don't think I suffered any side effects.

TBH, I'm not sure they had that much of an effect on me. I still felt like **** while I was taking them, and they didn't seem to help my mood, but the counsellor said I should take them, so that's what I did.

Went through a bad time in my mid-20s and had a couple of spells on them - not Prozac but something similar. They certainly helped, and I only experienced one side-effect (not serious but inconvenient). Sorry to hear you're suffering blah, PM me if you want to talk about it.

The important thing is to make changes in your life while you're on them so that you don't just slip back when you come off - and don't just think that everything's OK when you're on a high and stop taking them immediately.

It's a fine line between depressed, stressed and 'fed up'.

I have many periods where I'm the latter, and some where I'm the middle one, but have always thought 'just snap out of it' about the former.

Like most people, I've tinkered with the idea of taking mood lifters (like St John's wort), but have not succumbed yet. However, I do find solace in alcohol.

I don't know whether I'm normal, borderline alcoholic, or a minor depressive. I don't find things get on top of me, I function well at work, I've always been a joker, but as I grow older, I do grow bitter about the dicks who are ruining this world, and what's going to be left for my kids.

Hard post to answer, but a good question.

Pass the Valium.

I've never taken them myself but I've watched the effect on my ex at close quarters.

Sometimes they worked a treat and she was OK for a while but at other times they seemed to exacerbate her state of mind/behavior. The thing is that in her case, she would seem to deliberately avoid taking them. Like she wanted to make the help she was getting fail. Hope that makes sense.

'The Nutter' as I call her needed (and seriously still needs) proper help - she self harms and quite happily displays the scars to anyone who cares to look - plus she feigns suicidal thoughts on a regular basis. It's a load of bullshit to be honest but there really is a insecure person crying out for help there.

I'm in no way lumping you in with the mad woman that I have to deal with but one thing I would say is that a great question to ask yourself is why you have to take the stimulus to feel OK.

As someone said above... get that bit straight in your mind and the rest will fall into place once you come off the prescription you are on right now.

Good luck young man and don't forget I will always be indebted to you for inventing the Combo TFF/FPL idea... even though it's now taken over large swathes of my spare time!!!

Take care


Rich

Most of these pills have sexual side effects that are pretty severe.

Stay away from Zoloft unless you want to be an emotionless zombie.

The best cure is open therapy to talk about what bothers you. Be it past or present...

Everyday is a new day. Good Luck!

I was in a dark place a few years ago.

Was offered drugs but ran a mile away. The thing that got me through was the love of family and friends.

Use the time while you're on pills to sort the problems out and then come off them if you come off them without sorting the issues that have caused the depression then things will get worse.

I personally am not a fan of anti-depressant drugs and a lot of GPs IMO are FAR too quick to prescribe them.

As I've said, use the pills as a springboard to get going and sort any issues you have out.
All the best.

Me too, but I was there just last week.

Millwall is a very, very dark place.

p.s. good on you for taking the wise option, takes a strong man to run from it.

I''m always here to dish out the love if anyone needs it

I've just voted 'no' as I've never taken prescribed anti-d's.

I would add, though, that not all depression is caused by external circumstances, Sometimes physiological reasons are the root of the problem - the body not producing sufficient serotonin or endorphins, for instance. If this is the case then long-term medication may be necessary.
Correct dosage is another major issue. Too little is ineffective, too much can cause further problems.

Perhaps you might find it helpful to keep a diary detailing your state of mind and daily intake? If the problem persists you then have something concrete to refer to yourself and/or show your doctor. Far better than trusting to memory.

Good luck with it.

Depression and all of it's associated conditions such as anxiety, bi-polar disorder, eating disorders and self harm are very complex conditions and whilst often interlinked are also all very different. Depression can arise from both internal physiological factors and external social and relationship factors. Many physical ailments such as underactive thyriod function and diabetes can also be mistaken for depression.

Trying to pinpoint the cause is not easy but goes a long way to coping. Is the anxiety triggering the depression or viceversa, is the self harm due to life experiences causing an underlying depression etc.

As Flyman said if it is an endogenous depression, one that is caused by physiological factors then medication can often be the only way to treat. Older drugs could do this but sometimes with unpleasent side effects such as blurred vision, insomnia and tremors. These would often only last for a week or so but then there were the longer term effects such as various kinds of libido and sexual problems. Not what you want when you are down.

The newer drugs are easier on the side effect front but also sometimes less effective and we also don't know enough about them yet. They are all safe if taken correctly and the effects both good and bad monitored.

There are times when depression is quite normal, bereavement, loss of a long term job or relationship breakups do leave you feeling crap and these feeling should not be medicalised. Support from family and friends is crucial but everyone is an individual and will seek help and cope in their own way.

When the depression does not lift or is compromising the way in which you can live your life to the full in the prevailing circumstances then that is when you may need to seek help or have a change of tack. Without sounding to off the wall there is a great deal of evidence which shows that one of the earliest and most effective steps you can take is to lead a healthy life style. Good diet and exercise can often be far more effective than pills. Talking therapies are invaluable whether this be self help groups, a good primary care CPN, counselling be in private, NHS or voluntary and various therapies such as CBT or psychotherapy.

If you are on anti depressants always take them as prescribed, keep your GP informed of how you are doing and combine the drug therapy with some of the other methods mentioned above, and as has already been mentioned come off them slowly. Do remember that if they are working then there is no shame in taking them.

no, i haven't been on any anti-depressants. to deal with things, i use good diet, exercise, introspection and problem solving, and knowing when it's better to stop caring too much sometimes.

this has been an informative thread for me showing Fiso at its best.

@blahblah: all the best chum. sometimes, the best help is knowing that people are there for you.

Many thanks to you all, and to Spiny for the edit, as I found the original a bit of a shock.


I could(should) have been on them for periods of my life for the last 24 years (43 now). I get overly introspective, and scared, but not sure if paranoia (although this time it probably) is the right word. In the past something from outside has happened to me (new lover, starting Poly etc) which has kicked me out of it, this time I went to the doctors.

The best analogy that I have is of swimming. Where I used to get changed, dive in and swim, there are phases, of jumping in, holding my nose, needing pushing in, going and getting changed having a shower getting dressed and going home; sitting outside with a cig then going home; driving to the car park; and not going. This analogy applies to almost anything in life, especially something with any consequence.

I know that the fear of fear is greater than the fear itself, but it is so much easier said than done......

One of the weirdest bits is that my "good" times take me back to so long ago to when I felt that good; but every good bout is followed by a drop, but not as bad as previous lows.

Never realised blahblah. Maybe I should stop calling you dad - probably doesn't help the paranoia

I must say that I'm completely ignorant on this sort of stuff, but to me it seems pretty positive that you can talk about it. Has to be a good thing in my book.

Always thought that pills just make the effects of any illness better without getting to the root cause, i.e. they're never going to fix the problem. Having read a few things on here I realise that there are times when pills may actually be the only answer, or at least may be necessary alongside other treatment.

Is there anything that you could focus on that makes you feel really good or that you're really good at? Some sport or activity that you can fall back on to give you a solid core / foundation to your life and that you can rely on to make you feel good if other things are going wrong?

I guess it's not as simple as that - I did say I know nowt about this...