dear Wittnall, I have been taking a SSRI AD for over 20 years now as I was given many different types beforehand, but the side effects were too many, loss of sexual drive or being able to have an ***********, being nauseated, loss of taste in food and couldn't eat and most of these AD's were SNRI, but every one is different.
The doctors have to weigh in what other medications you are taking but they don't know what AD will be the best for you.
Most have their favourite AD and will certainly try these first, because many years ago they were given 'kick-backs' from the company, whether this still happens today I don't know.
My Dad who was a GP used to get these kick backs from the rep.
What these drugs do are that they affect certain brain circuits and the chemicals (called
neurotransmitters) that pass along signals from one nerve cell to
another in the brain. These chemicals include serotonin, dopamine, and
norepinephrine.
According to a medical website ' Unfortunately, it's not that simple. We really don't
know what causes depression or how it affects the brain. We don't
exactly know how antidepressants improve the symptoms', however AD's are prescribed to people with depression and that most seem to work for them.
This SSRI I was given was to help with my depression and it's supposed to also help with my anxiety which has caused me to have OCD for such a long time, and whether it has helped with my OCD is debatable as I still do them.
It also took awhile for this AD to start to work, but once I had overcome depression with maybe the help of this particular AD has kept me free from depression, however I have had relapses but they last only a couple of days.
I would be really interested in knowing how awful your depression is, and how long you have suffered. Thanks Geoff.
