My experience with anti depressants : an update
It has been over three months since my doctor prescribed me antidepressants for anxiety and panic disorder. a lot has changed since then.
I haven`t gotten a single overwhelming panic attack for months now. My overall anxiety is on a more manageable level i feel normal amounts of nervousness when facing new situations but not in a level that completely stops me from functioning. Overall, my moods are more stable. My biggest fear was that the medicine would make me feel like a zombie and i would loose my emotions all together. This has not been the case ,I still feel everything but the anxiety is so much lower than it used to be.
I assume that its normal to start questioning whether or not you still need the medicine after starting to feel better. I found myself thinking about not taking the medicine.My intuition knows that it is not the right time to stop . My doctor said that I should not stop it without consulting him first because changing the dose has to be done slow in order to manage unpleasant symptoms that some people might get. My daily dose is quite low so hopefully coming of of it wont be a problem but we will have to see when the time comes.
In December last year, i wrote about my worry about side effects. It turns out that mine were minimal. I had low appetite for one day. I also felt a bit nauseous for a day or so after starting the medicine.
The medicine might be a part of the reason why I feel a bit tired but otherwise everything is good. my body is still responding well to it.
Our current plan is to keep taking the medicine at least until the late summer or early autumn. Then i will have another follow up appointment to discuss the possibility of lowering the dose and slowly coming of of the medicine. Our goal is to have the medication as a temporary solution and not a permanent one. I want to eventually be able to return to a life where the medicine is no longer needed and get back to managing my anxiety in other ways. But right now we need a combination of both the medication and healthy routines.
My opinion about anti depressants has changed during this experience. For years i was slightly against them and afraid that taking some would basically ruin my life. But after being on these i now think that if your nervous system has been on overdrive for years and nothing else seems to help this might be an option worth looking into.
What changed my opinion was noticing that even after being in therapy for years and learning coping skills my anxiety was still almost a daily struggle. Especially over the course of the last months of 2023 i was in a bad spot mentally. Constantly feeling anxious and overwhelmed ,being freaked out by the smallest things and not even knowing why i feel this way. I was ready to try everything that might help me to feel better. After having multiple discussions with a nurse and having all my questions answered by a doctor i finally felt ready.
I still think that we need to get our mental health services in order and offer talk therapy or counseling as a first course of action but starting antidepressants is not that scary after all when carefully planned and done under the doctors supervision.
I want to end this by saying that there is no shame in being on antidepressants people take medicine for all kinds of things and mental health is no different. The most important thing is you and your well-being ❤
