medicine

I am so petrified of taking any anti depressants I am ruining my marriage and my life.I just read all the horror stories and the people who say they become "hollow" or incapeable of "feeling" and that just cant be me!!!!!!I just cant understand how 4-5 months ago I was livin life fine and then boom a fall from the top like you aint never seen.So weird and frustrating it consumes my whole day thinking where I went wrong!!!!!! I would take anything over these mental issues.

Taking an AD was one of the biggest decisions I have faced. I worked on getting my anxiety under control for YEARS and finally got tired of having that little bit left that could push me into a panic attack. I have had tons of therapy over that past couple years, and we just couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. I used Xanax, which worked great to get me out of a deep anxious cycle, but it is not a long term med. I’ve also been on buspar, which is for mild anxiety and not an AD...but o could not shake that last little bit.

I started on Lexapro just a year ago. I was terrified of the side effects I had read about, because of course I had reasearch the heck out of medications for the last 2 years. I started off by taking just a nibble of lex and working my way up to enough that I felt better. Never had a side effect.

I totally agree that if you are going to go the route of taking an ssri, that you go to a psych doc. They usually are so much better at prescribing than a GP.

Good luck!

MVP,
I am new here but I understand depression, I've had it my whole life. I didn't want antidepressants either, I grew up with a depressed Dad & my worst fear was being like him. All I can say is, it is a lot easier with the medication, It's all about the chemicals in our brains that need adjusting. This is something that is beyond our control, we try to control but it is actually impossible. The medication takes a few weeks to work, my experience was that everything seemed colorful again, I didn't have to work as hard to think, complete a simple task, life became easier. The dull feeling thing is only if you're on too high of a dose of medication. I have been on Prozac for 25 years. It does take a while for the body to adjust sexually, it may require more work, but it does still work! I usually up my dose by 10 mg in winter, which helps a lot. So, starting at a low dose, work with your Dr. to find the therapeutic level that you need and give your brain what it needs!
Good luck, I hope this helps,
Lisa