# Have you taken an anti-depressant? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930 "2007-10-25T04:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/1 "2007-10-25T04:33:19Z")
If so, what was it like? Edit: did it work? ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/2 "2007-10-25T04:37:44Z")
Yep, Paxil and Celexa. Nah, neither of them worked. I did get those fun sexual side effects though. I eventually decided to say fuck it and live life without them. I’ve been fine. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/3 "2007-10-25T04:42:41Z")
It worked. I felt like myself again. Things mattered to me. I was more motivated to do things because I cared. Then they started to make me sleepy all day so I stopped taking them. I am going to try something different soon. It was pretty great to feel alive again instead of dead inside. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/4 "2007-10-25T04:59:12Z")
I take Celexa. It doesn’t make me happy; it enables me to be happy. It also lowers anxiety and ‘circular thinking’ such as “What if I did bad on the test… I’ll fail out of school, and then I’ll be miserable… and get a shitty job, all because I did bad on this test… what if I do bad on it!!!” repeated 10+ times. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/5 "2007-10-25T05:19:58Z")
I’ve been taking Elavil (Amitriptyline Hydrochloride) for about 20 years, and it hasn’t helped since the first couple of weeks. What it does do, however, is enable me to sleep. I’ve always had extreme insomnia, and Elavil works better than any actual sleeping pill. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/6 "2007-10-25T05:32:00Z")
Yes I do and yes, they work to a degree. I’m kind of wondering when they’ll quit working like the ones I’ve taken in the past. I do need something to help with my horrible insomnia. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/7 "2007-10-25T05:33:27Z")
I haven’t, but my then girlfriend did a few years ago. It changed both our lives. She turned back into the person I loved. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/8 "2007-10-25T06:10:10Z")
I’ve taken Zoloft before, but I stopped about a year and a half ago with few problems since. I didn’t think it worked. FTR, I didn’t expect it to, and didn’t give it that much credit if it did help at all. It may have though. I know others who have been on other antidepressents have noticed a big difference in their situations. Brendon Small ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/9 "2007-10-25T06:18:38Z")
Paxil- had major side effects including psycho-vivid-dreams and extreme fatigue. Prozac- worked okay but had major sexual side effects. Zoloft- have remained on it for years, works well (though I had the dosage doubled last year as I’d reached capacity after a few years). I like it and it’s the most popular among those I know who take them daily. Also helps with my anger management problem. (Weirdly I briefly turned into Priceguy’s girlfriend, but it passed after a day or so.) Almost all anti-D’s have sexual side effects, incidentally, mainly in severely decreasing the sex drive (both urge and surge), but it’s usually temporarily. Prozac- well, I won’t go into the details, but for me it went beyond that; for a couple of people I know though it worked perfectly. Anti-Ds are very different from one person to the next, incidentally. It takes about 10 days or so before you notice any effect and a month or so for full effect, but you definitely feel a major difference. You still get lows but they’re not crippling. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/10 "2007-10-25T06:36:36Z")
Yes, I have, and the thing was crap. Aropax, I think. Just numbed me down, and spaced me out. I reckon it left me with more crap to contend with than when I started. Took months of wrangling with the doc, but I finally got off it after just 11 months back in 2001. These days, I deal with stuff without the meds. Anti-deps help people, I know – but for me, I’d have to be darn near catatonic before they can get near me with the things again. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/11 "2007-10-25T07:33:22Z")
I take Paxil and it helps. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than not taking it. I haven’t had any side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/12 "2007-10-25T08:02:05Z")
Zoloft. Yes, it worked. It was pretty amazing really. Just woke up one morning (which was an improvement in itself) and went to class and thought…DAMN I FEEL GREAT! Had more confidence, more self esteem and was just generally in a better mood. Not that confidence didn’t cut both ways though. I finally had the balls to tell a couple of people I was sick of their shit, which caused some interesting times, but I wasn’t just going to sit there anymore. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/13 "2007-10-25T08:28:06Z")
I’ve taken Effexor, Zoloft, and a couple of others. Effexor was good while it worked, but once I got up to about 300 mg per day, and it wasn’t working as well, my doc wanted to try other meds. I’m currently off meds, but will probably be going back on soon. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/14 "2007-10-25T09:44:14Z")
Everyone in Saudi Arabia takes Prozac, which is OTC here. It would be easier to put it in the water. For Ramadan, I decided to go without. In five days, I was a mess. I went on crying jags over the least little thing. I went back on it was my old cranky self in a week. Wonderful stuff ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_McMillan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@Trisha\_McMillan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trisha_McMillan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/15 "2007-10-25T10:24:37Z")
[QUOTE=SP2263] It worked. I felt like myself again. Things mattered to me. I was more motivated to do things because I cared…snip… It was pretty great to feel alive again instead of dead inside. [/QUOTE] QFT On Prozac and have been for the last 2+ years. Took a variety during my very dark teenage years - Seroxat, Efexor, Cipramil, Prozac for the first time and they were worse than useless because of my destructive lifestyle at the time - didn’t take them totally regularly, drugs and alcohol habits etc… For some the side effects were truly frightening and it was the same most recently in the period before the positive antidepressant effects of the Prozac kicked in, just horrible - increased anxiety, paranoia, shaking. But the benefits now are immeasurable. Enables me to be myself and no longer at the mercy of my fear, self-loathing and arbitrarily wrought self-destruction. Also relieved some of the symptoms of my OCD as a nice bonus. May not work for everyone but works for me! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/16 "2007-10-25T12:44:33Z")
Just started taking lexapro two weeks ago and my mood’s been constantly good, with energy I didn’t know I had before. I wasn’t sure what I expected or if I even thought it would work but it has wonderfully. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/17 "2007-10-25T12:45:29Z")
Started Lexapro about a month ago and I love it. It’s having exactly the effect I need. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/18 "2007-10-25T13:07:32Z")
I tried a bunch of different drugs before I found a good balance. I’m not sure how many of these qualify as straight-up antidepressants, some are for anxiety… holy crap I did not realize how many different drugs I tried. I’m not sure I would recommend that unless your situation were, say, life threatening. It is so disruptive to go through so many meds so quickly. I was not remotely stable at that time, in part because of all these medication changes. **Paxil** = made me sleep 16 hours a day, right through classes, which was awfully depressing, so I’d call this one a fail. **Prozac** = tried this three separate times. Once it kicked in, it worked great for a month, then ceased all effectiveness. I did not experience any side-effects whatsoever. **Effexor** = Horrible side effects. Lost 20 lbs in one month because I couldn’t eat, had no motor functions, kept walking into walls and occasionally had to turn off all lights and electronic devices and lay in total darkness because of sensory overload. It was like being drunk all the time–in the bad way. Being on this drug was hell. **Wellbutrin** = I honestly can’t remember what happened with this one. Maybe it just plan old didn’t work. **Neurontin** = Similar effects to Effexor, only slightly less awful, but didn’t do a damn thing for my depression or anxiety, so we ditched it. **Lexapro** = Worked all right, I guess. Accompanied by pretty extreme insomnia–it helped with depression, but increased my anxiety. I fidgeted and shook frequently, which drove other people nuts. **Abilify** = My face went numb and I couldn’t breathe. **Celexa** = The sweet spot! No side-effects, no exaggerated sense of anxiety. We had to find a good drug to combine this with… **Depakote** = This is a mood stabilizer, actually worked excellently well for 2 years, though it required continuous blood test to monitor my liver functions. Unfortunately, it caused me to gain 60 lbs, and my doctor feared I would develop diabetes, so away it went. **Seroquel** = atypical antipsychotic, this replaced the Depakote and helped stabilize my weight. I was on a combination of Celexa and Seroquel for another 2 years and during that time was able to piece my life back together. **Risperdal** = another atypical antipsychotic, taken on an ‘‘as-needed’’ basis for panic attacks, night terrors, and flashbacks. This combination of Seroquel and Celexa, with Risperdal thrown in for emergencies did greatly reduce the frequency of flashbacks and nightmares as well as panic attacks, and prevented my depression from spiraling out of control. It did take a full 6-8 months process to slowly taper off these medications when I felt I was ready. I lost 50 lbs within the first six months of being off these meds, and my anxiety returned, but I’m dealing. I think I needed to be on those drugs on the time, but it’s not something I would recommend unless symptoms are severe and your life is in danger. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/19 "2007-10-25T13:21:42Z")
I was on Lexapro for a bit over a year. It did help, though I found that while it kept my lows from getting too low, it also kept my highs from getting too high. (I don’t mean literal highs, just that no matter what happened, I’d only get so happy about it, even if otherwise I’d have been freaking out with joy.) I’d been doing well for awhile so I decided to wean myself off and see how things went. Oh, and I did get some of the sexual side effects, and it didn’t go away after a few weeks. It was really, really hard to get to orgasm. Not quite impossible, but very difficult. It was a fair tradeoff, though, because I was much more functional otherwise. I haven’t felt like I needed it since; if I did, I’d look into it. Though I think I’d get a counselor first before going for meds. I couldn’t find one I clicked with before when I was looking except for the guy who was so popular I was lucky to be able to get in once a month, which was pointless. I’ve since moved, so I’d have to start the search over again. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930/20 "2007-10-25T13:40:39Z")
Celexa–worked well, but sexual side effects-- Spoiler for TMI: no orgasms, even the ones you wake up having, for over a year! Paxil–didn’t work, plus sexual side effects Serzone–worked great! until the FDA found out it was causing liver failure. :rolleyes: Effexor–no sexual side effects, but isn’t working so well for me as it once was Time to go looking for a med change…::sigh:: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-taken-an-anti-depressant/423930.md?page=2)