Not doing well with anxiety medication, should I switch?

[Manalishi]

I've been on antidepressants for a month now, and while they've mostly stopped my panic attacks, they've come with side effects including constipation, diarrhea, and reflux. In the last week I feel like it's gotten worse to the point where the side effects are nearly as debilitating as my original anxiety and panic attacks, all this while only being on a half dose.

I'm seeing my GP tomorrow afternoon, in the meantime I was hoping others could chip in if they've had similar experiences to mine, and if the side effects persisted this long, or if they eventually went away.

[smallwolf]

Manalishi,

Sorry to hear about the side-effects you are experiencing. Sometimes the cure appears worse than the problem - first hand experience.

While I might not have had those side-effects...

Definitely tell your GP about the side-effects and ask about the possibility of different medication - there is no harm in trying. My medication (for depression and anxiety) is from my psychiatrist and each time I tell her about the side-effects of each medication to determine things like whether the dosage should be increased, whether I think it is working etc. to work out the answers to the question that you are posing.

The other thing to note is the length of the time that medications take to work. With the first medication I was one, I had side-effects of memory loss, creeping skin sensation and others. Being up front with my psychiatrist about the side-effects was helpful.

Tim

[geoff]

Hello Manalishi, welcome to the forums.

I know it's always frustrating when people start taking an antidepressant (AD) because they're never sure whether the side-effects will be a problem and this in itself could be the cause, however, if they are a problem then the side-effects may last until your body can adjust to the new AD.

There have been AD's that I've been given to try that have caused side-effects and have stopped taking them, not because of having constipation or diarrhoea but other trouble.

Hope you can hold on until tomorrow.

Geoff.