Side Effects

[Pen]

Hi I am supporting a loved one with Depression and Severe Anxiety. I have suffered from mild anxiety and have had a couple of depression episodes thankfully they were short. My loved one became depressed 6mths ago so we started a program of exercise, mindfulness, eating healthy, self-help books and professional therapy and although this did have a positive effect a upset at work caused a major setback so a antidepressant medication was prescribed. After 2 weeks there was a vast improvement but then he stopped sleeping and developed severe anxiety. More medications were prescribed one to help sleep and one to calm. The puzzling thing is that he feels normal around 7pm until bed time A this time he takes antidepressant and the anti psychotic. when he wakes he is anxious and has constant panic attacks all day until about 7pm. After advice the solution was to increase the dose of antidepressant but there has been no real improvement in 2 weeks and he feels that he has reached breaking point. After some research i have found that one of the possible side effects of the antidepressant is anxiety panic attack's So I am eager to hear from anyone with a similar experience.

[blondguy]

Hello Pen. Welcome to the forums and thankyou for posting too!

You are really going through a difficult phase right now with your loved
one and yourself as a carer too. I have had severe anxiety since 1983 and
after all the natural methods failed my female GP put me on a AD in 1997
and the chronic anxiety disappeared.

I did have depression but the AD's
were prescribed for the anxiety. I used to read a lot about the side
effects but as there are so many it was counterproductive to my
recovery.

Just for your info I take the AD in the morning and a small 'calmative'
before bed and have been doing so since 1997. My GP has been the one
doing the fine tuning with the meds...and I still have frequent contact.You
have been trying so very hard Pen, and covered many of the topics that
can help with depression.

Is your loved one having regular visits to a
counselor/GP? I dont blame him for reaching breaking point as you said
because acute anxiety is physically and mentally exhausting.Sometimes
people can start to have anxiety after commencing AD's because they are
'overthinking' or fearful about the AD. (just from my experience with
myself and others)I am interested that he had a vast improvement
from the initial consult, which is great..even for 2 weeks until his
sleep went downhill. Has your loved one had any time off work during the
last six months?

Work may be therapeutic but some good quality rest in
the early stages of anxiety/depression can also be beneficial too:-)As
you would be aware the AD's arent a total fix. They do provide us with a
platform on which we can heal ourselves using other coping mechanisms.Just
re chronic anxiety FYI, I had to get a community health worker to come
to my home(1985) as I was nearly paralyzed with anxiety attacks. He
could only do 1 visit at home for me which was great but I saw him once/twice a week at the community center for 6 months so he could help me properly. He was a psychiatric nurse and to this day I have never had the quality of therapy he provided. The frequency of his help was also invaluable.

I do hope there is something here that may be of help to you Pen. Thankyou for having the strength to reach out:-)

My kind thoughts for you and your loved onePaul

[Pen]

Thank you for sharing and for your encouragement

I am finding the more story's I read the less alone I feel

To answer your questions

After he stopped sleeping he he was hospitalized several times and because of these episodes he was assigned a mental heath professional to see weekly and we have had follow ups with both his local Gp and the Psychiatrist in charge. We even have had a initial appointment with a psychologist but she really cant help until he is stable again.

He did have some time off work when the depression started but he is the type of person that needs to work and felt that he would be better working than not. He is not capable of working at the moment, he finds people overwhelming, every little task difficult even with direction and decisions impossible.

Yes in the first 2 weeks after starting ADs he improved rapidly we thought it was great, he was happy to take them but then lack of sleep effected everything.

It was explained as a dip or a catch up or that the depression symptoms was under control so the anxiety symptoms could take over.

I realize that everybody's journey is unique I m just trying to understand

Thanks for Reading

[blondguy]

Hi Pen, Thanks for posting back, it means a lot...and I didnt acknowledge that you were also having some anxiety as well Pen. My apologies for that and the delay in you receiving a reply too.

I have been recently employed in a role (corporate) that was way too much for my residual anxiety/depression. Does your loved one have a career/job that has much pressure attached to it at the moment? Can I also ask if you and your loved one have a support network?...Even a couple of people?....(I have only 3)

You are right about everybody's journey being unique. These forums are rock solid secure and your privacy is paramount here. I am a volunteer and have been on the forums since January this year.

My apologies again for the delay in responding...we are normally a lot quicker:-)

Paulx