Antidepressants for Anxiety

[DassaJassa]

Hello all

I've been suffering daily anxiety for in excess of 4 months, on a daily basis i experience chest pains, tightness, random pains, pressure headaches, feel like I'm suffercating, fear of dying and various other symptoms.  I've considered antidepressants before but are fearful of the side effects or the intial weeks of treatment.

I'm interested in hearing peoples stories on their experiences with antidepressants, primarily on how it made them feel, whether it reduced symptoms or any general experiences or feedback 

Thank you for time 🙂

[DassaJassa]

Thank you this Mary.
This has brought me some comfort. I'm on day three now, I feel quite tired and a bit off, seem to be more forgetful then usual but hard to say, I'm keeping a positive mind but i really appreciate your message

[DassaJassa]

Hey Jay

It's hard to tell what's going on with my issue, my first anxiety attack occurred while on illicit drugs, panicking from what i thought was a heart attack. Needless to say I've never touch drugs since then and never will again. I can't seem to find what I'm exactly anxious over, I suppose it's fear of death in general. That's all I can seem to dig up when I try and work my brain out. I'm anxious for no reason most the time and it's the symptoms that come on first, then off we go to more severity and panic, I don't know if I've damaged my brain from drug use and this is me now or what the go is. I've never been an anxious person before

[Demi1]

Hi DassaJassa's,

My name's Demi, it is lovely to meet you 🙂 I really want to thank you for posting/having the courage to share what you're thinking/feeling/considering. I hope you find both comfort and support within this forum. I look forward to hearing from you soon x

Umm, so my experiences. I was diagnosed with PTSD and Anxiety in March, after my best friend and younger sister attempted suicide. I wasn't able to sleep, was having flashbacks, panic/anxiety-attacks, shaking uncontrollably etc. My GP/ counsellor and I discussed interfering with medication in order to help me sleep/control the physical evidence. I began taking Zoloft, 1 tablet each morning. I found it did help me sleep, also helped control my shaking/panic-attacks but also kind of numbed my mood overall. So as much as the benifits for myself personally outweighed the one negative that I felt somewhat "numb" (less happy/less stressed) I definitely recommend discussing this decision with both a GP/counsellor/Psychologist in order to fully understand the risks/positives/negatives.

Not too sure what else to say, if I think of more to add I'll definitely reply soon x

Hope you're well and finding great advice here at Beyondblue.

[DassaJassa]

Thank you for your message Demi

I'm so sorry you had to witness or experience that, the world is a cruel test on our sanity sometimes.
I understand what you mean by feeling numb. I'm on day 3 so I'm not sure exactly what degree of the AD I'm feeling but today I just felt like I couldn't keep a train of thought or remember anything, I kept forgetting things a moment after thinking about it, suppose that's the desired effect but I'm still hopeful it will all level out.
I still can't shake the feeling that at any moment I'm going to have a heart attack, pass out or something life threatening, this seems to be the root of all my anxiety but I can't seem to shake the thought no matter how much I find reassurance in things.

[Demi1]

Hey ☺️ So glad to see you're still posting! How was your day? Anything interesting planned for the rest of the weekend?

I remember the first few days of taking the antidepressants are the hardest as your body is adjusting to the medication. For about 4/5 days I felt dizzy, light-headed, nausous and quite down/sad. I find, since being on the medication, I have also become quite forgetful, had to get my family to remind me of a specific task a few times (though I still often forgot haha) My suggestion is telling your family/close friends that you are on the medication (if you are comfortable doing so of course) and explaning that it may effect your memory/mood a bit in the beginning and just to be patient until your body gets used to it. As for your concerns about having a heart-attack and passing out, I definitely recommend seeing a counsellor/Psychologist and expressing these thoughts/feelings as they will be the best people to give you advice/tactics for coping/blocking out these thoughts. I am currently seeing a Psychologist so if you have any questions/concerns about that feel free to ask!

Look forward to hearing from you, Demi x

[blondguy]

Hi Dassa

I think we have spoken before on another thread, your topic is valid and important and reading the great posts from everyone here too

After 4 months of having the anxiety feelings (symptoms) its still early for you even though your symptoms are severe. The AD's are not evil or problematic especially when we need them.

I wasted 13 years thinking I could handle anxiety on my own. This was a bad call. After my GP put me on AD's the severity of (my) anxiety reduced by about 50%.

If you can have therapy to offset the AD's temporarily go for it, in the meantime

you are not on your own Dassa

Paul

[Melfunction81]

Hi DassaJassa

I feel for you, I remember all too well when I first started getting anxiety and panic attacks. My situation is a little different as I suffer with depression, psychosis and PTSD so it has taken a long time for me to find the right medication that helps my anxiety and doesn't make everything else worse but once you get the right one it can help a lot. Try chatting with your GP about getting a mental health care plan and a referal to a psychologist as usually medicare can cover the cost of 5 visits. You might find that a psychologist can teach you ways of calming yourself with breathing exercises or CBT.

In my experience it usually takes around two weeks for medication to do its thing but I have never felt worse while waiting for it to work the one Im on now made me feel amazing until it leveled out now i just feel uh....normalish? I dont know if that would be the right word lol but i feel a lot better than I did before I was taking it.

I hope you find the answers youre looking for and start to feel better soon

Xo

[blondguy]

Hey Dassa

Just something I read from Demi1

" I found it did help me sleep, also helped control my
shaking/panic-attacks but also kind of numbed my mood overall. So as
much as the benefits for myself personally outweighed the one negative
that I felt somewhat "numb" (less happy/less stressed) I definitely
recommend discussing this decision with both a
GP/counsellor/Psychologist in order to fully understand the
risks/positives/negatives"

Demi has some great advice here Dassa. Nice1 🙂

you are not alone here Dassa

My Best

Paul

[Demi1]

Hey Dassa 🙂 How are you going? (I know sometimes that seems like a ridiculous/ difficult question but I think it is nice to be asked, even if you feel as though you cannot put it into words.) Please know that we are all thinking of you, and would love to hear from you (only if you are wanting to share of course.) Hope you're travelling okay x

Why thank you Paul, I've never had anyone quote me before haha.