Is this what 'normal' people feel, or is it a kind of hypomania?

[Lilly18]

Hi all,

I'm on to my fourth antidepressant, first three were ssri now an snri.

I'm not sure if what im feeling is 'normal'?

II'l have a few really really bad days being depressed. They are very panicky depressed days where i even rang my psychologist on the weekend because I didn't know what to do, they were closed unfortunately. Some days are seriousy good. Like a little too much, for example, I had to go into a shop, but wanted a coffee & smoke first, bunnings was next door so I ducked in to get my coffee, got the coffee but also $100 of plants. Ill clean out cupboards, and constantly do things around the house to the point I don't eat all day, then I feel good about that, my tummy is empty and feel like I'm winning. I have to make myself go to bed by 12am, otherwise I could stay up for hours more. Im not sure if the medication has taken away some social anxiety but most of the time i can talk to people now, but not sure if I'm talking too much to them & i sort of wonder after the chat if i was being wierd. Iv even talked to strangers in the shops which I would never do before. I feel that there' is so much to do but so little time in the day..

Is this what to expect?

[Unbeliever]

I've never met a "normal" person... I'm still on the lookout. Perhaps one day.

With standard medications there are no real predictable outcomes. Every person is different and reacts differently to certain types and dosages. So in that way, your reaction is just about as "normal" as it gets.

At the moment your body is still in an adjustment period to the medication. Over time it will stabilise somewhat and then you will know for sure how it affects you and whether it needs to be tweaked to be of more benefit to you.

It is good that you are so aware of the changes and differences. Keep this up because these details are going to be useful when talking to your GP in the future.

As long as you are not doing yourself or anyone else any damage, it is probably nothing to be overly concerned about yet. Just keep up what your doing and be honest with your GP etc about what is happening day to day.

If there is anything "wrong" they should tell you.

[Lilly18]

Thankyou Unbeliever,

I should rephrase that from 'normal' to maybe non medicated people 🙂

I will keep up with seeing my doctor. From what I have read (Dr Google) hypomania keeps sticking in my head, maybe I'm looking too much into it & this med is just working for me?

[Unbeliever]

"Dr Google" is not exactly a certified medical professional with intimate knowledge of the entity known as "you".

Depressed people attempting to "self diagnose" via the internet is more of a plague than the condition itself these days. Using this method rarely finds your truth and usually just points you in unhelpful (or unnecessary panic inducing) directions.

Better to talk through any concerns you have to a professional that actually knows you and has your medical history to refer to.

[Croix]

Dear Lilly18~

I think that Unbeliever is quite right, self-diagnosis is a trap. You have a professional and can use their trained judgment, it's more likely to be right than a search engine.

As I'm sure you know every time you tail off one medication or start a new one the effects can be unpredictable, people react in different ways. Having more energy and being more relaxed around people are not serious problems. I agree buying too much stuff on impulse is not good, mind you I can manage that without medical help:)

As Unbeliever suggest simply keep your doctor informed and see how you feel after the medication has had a change to stabilize, maybe 5-6weeks? You'd have to ask your doctor.

If you find your behavior is worrisome then sing out straight away. As an example many years ago I had a medication that made me too confident, and my driving suffered as a result.

Croix

[blondguy]

Hi Lilly18

I understand where you are coming from with meds...I wasted over 10 years of my life thinking I could 'self heal' You are doing really well by trying so hard with the AD's and good on you!

I used to have acute anxiety for over a decade until it morphed into depression and then started on the AD's

The meds do provide us with a strong foundation on which we can recover more effectively using counseling and all the self help techniques available

Unbeliever has posted very helpful advice above especially with...

• there is no such person as a 'normal' one
• Using Google as a tool for mental health research can be very detrimental to our health as anxiety/depression/social anxiety is such a complex topic.....thus leaving us overthinking our own symptoms or our reaction to the meds we have been prescribed
• Just from my experience on these awful symptoms Lilly....Counseling....and heaps of it. I used to get counseling every 6 months or so until I realised that I was getting worse. Then I increased the counseling to fortnightly/weekly. I had my career back...my personal life back.....my life back

You are amazing by having the courage to post on the forums and I hope you can stick around Lilly 🙂

My kind thoughts

Paul

[geoff]

Hello Lilly, I think the best news is that you can talk to people, that's a great improvement and a start to being a new person.

Well done.

Geoff.

[quirkywords]

Lily

Welcome to the forum.

You have received helpful support from unbeleiver, Croix, Paul, and Geoff, so I won't repeat myself.

As some one who has experienced mania for me it was more about having no inhibitions and being so impulsive that my actions affected my reputation for a long time . I became out of touch with reality and did things I would never ever do when not manic.

I think keeping in touch with your doctor and being aware of any changes is a good idea. You seem to be aware of what you are doing . I found dr Google and other people who think they are experts are not at all helpful.

Feel free to post and ask questions when you want to.

Thanks again for your post as I am sure it will help others reading it.

Quirky

[Lilly18]

Thanks for the reply guys 🙂

Yes I know Google isnt a reliable source of information, reaching out on here is handy to feel not alone.

Definitely feel on top of the world today, I rush everything and have all these ideas what to do.