Antidepressants for anxiety

Hi All,
Long story ahead, feel free to scroll to the end. Mainly interested in other experiences in general and with Zoloft.
I’m usually on the Crohns forum but am pretty new to the anxiety side of things. I’ve had several major life changes and am dealing with an inevitable move, not really sure where I’m going but we can’t afford our apartment, taking care of my mother who has many health issues, and trying to clean out a huge house that belonged to my parents ( and dealing with their tension and fights with each other), while trying to afford to pay my bills and keep a part time job and keep myself healthy. I’ve always been able to make it all work, look at the bright spots in it all, make meaning and find connections. but suddenly last winter/ spring I started having issues. I my thoughts got more negative. I started to have anxiety after finishing the graduate program I was in but tried to schedule things to stay occupied. But figuring out how to make all of this work with finding a job started a series of panic attacks. I was really happy/excited when I found a part time job Then suddenly nothing sounded appealing.i eventually got past that but some of the thoughts I had at the height of the panic were really concerning and not like me. I get stuck on negative thoughts that make me feel like I’m a bad person and cause more panic attacks. I did better for the length of the summer when I was spending more time with work and less with home issues. But between the changing seasons, a deadline to move out of my place and several things that were said reminding me of my worst thoughts, I started down another bad loop that at times leaves me afraid of myself and guilty and questioning everything. I was recently given a medication to abort panic attacks but that left me more apathetic and accepting these thoughts as truth. Now I have a script for an antidepressant but I’m worried about the side effects and these thoughts getting worse and not better on them.

Thanks Searching, I started buspar in the spring prescribed by my primary care doctor and started seeing a psychiatrist and counselor. the Psychiatrist is now advocating for adding zoloft. Im having trouble finding an affordable therapist that does CBT

Hey Labradorite. I've seen you also post in the same two forums that I do, crohn's and anxiety/panic. It's unfortunate to meet under the circumstances of being ill but on the bright side we can relate to what each other has gone through.

I thought I'd share my experience with depression in case it would help. I have had depression and social anxiety for a long time. The first antidepressant I was put on a little over ten years ago was Paxil. It took me a good three or four weeks of a slightly worsening feeling then I suddenly came out of it feeling much better. The first time you take an ssri, there's a good chance that it will cause some initial worsening of depression and anxiety. In my experience it wasn't that bad and I think it helped that I had the time to take care of myself during that period. I had never had a panic attack in my life at that point, however. I will say that after several months of feeling great the medication did seem to even out. To explain what I mean, it seemed that the medication kept me from becoming depressed like I was, but it also did not deliver quite the same uplifting mood and happiness as it did initially. Also be aware that if you start taking an antidepressant and then decide to quit taking it you MUST taper gradually. Any good psychiatrist will help you through that. Take care.

Hi All,
Thank your for taking the time to respond!
Things were a bit better this week and I’m trying to put as many methods into practice as I can to manage this and take one day at a time. I was on Lexapro briefly several years ago when the gastroenterologist I was going to thought it would help me deal with the stress I was under and help treat the Crohn’s disease flare I had. I remember feeling so numb on it, definitely something I’d rather avoid and they didn’t taper me off of it, it was stopped cold turkey while I was hospitalized with a crohns flare. The brain zaps and shaking were not pleasant. Not sure which scares me more at this point, not treating this or over treating it.

Thanks Scaredy Cat! Yes the resources have been very helpful. I spoke to my doctor and will consider giving the medication a try.