OT: Antidepressants?

[JungleWoman]

I was rx'd Zoloft last night for my anxiety. I was just wondering what your guys' experience with ADs are. I have never really taken a med long-term and I really want it to help. I am going to take it here as soon as I put Aaron on the bus.

Id just like to hear your experiences on them for curiosity's sake.

[Isabelle]

....zoloft..and bye? No interest on finding the root of your anxiety? A friendly ear, psychotherapy...?

[JungleWoman]

Sympathetic ears need to be around 24/7 for me to feel better. I have had a hellatious year and a half and the anxiety was starting to physically affect me. I've had it since I was 14 and have dealt with it since then without drugs.

Do you mean by Zoloft and Bye by the dr just writing an rx and sending me on my way?

Oh no, I am being referred to a counselor as well.

[Isabelle]

could you try 6 months of counselling before considering Zoloft? Do you know GABA supplements acts as Valium or as antianxiolic (?) anti anxiety drug without the addictive/adverse effects of a Benzodiazepine? A SSRI like Zoloft is very powerful drug and might not work for anxiety but could exacerbate it.

[peglem]

I've never been on an AD, but my daughter was on zoloft at one time. It did zip for her- maybe the dose was too low? Anyhow, here is a website I like for med info. Its by an aspergers guy and gives info from people who have actually used the drugs, so you get some practical info.

http://crazymeds.org/

[Pamster]

I am one of those people who will need to take one of these for the rest of my life because childhood traumas changed my brain's chemistry. I went over 27 years without treatment for my anxiety/depression and finally got relief from AD's in time, they need awhile to become active at the theraputic level.

I didn't do well on zoloft, but wellbutrin helps me a lot. I have tried a lot of AD's in my time taking them and there are many different ones. But I know I am looking at taking them for the duration of my life because my brain just doesn't regulate itselfproperly when it comes to the chemical balance.

I h ave to wonder how much of my anxiety came from worrying about my son since it definitely got more pronounced after we got his dx. It's so draining to have to think about autism 24/7 isn't it? *sigh*

[MomOTwins]

Andrew is taking 50 mg/day Zoloft at dinner time, has been on it for about a month. We slowly titered the drug, from 12.5 mg/day (just to see if he had an allergic rxn.) for 2 weeks, to 25 mg/day for a month (no effect at all), to this dose. School is going a lot better, but there was a slight downside - we tried dosing in the morning, it seemed to be ineffective and school complained that he was really noncompliant due to the drowsiness, so now we dose with dinner. This timing does trigger a little drowsiness, and he is asking to go to bed at 7:00 at night (then gets up at 4:30 in the a.m. ). We figured out that we need to find physical things for him to do until about 8:00, then reward him with bathtime, and he crashes by 9:00. This gets him up closer to our scheduled 6:00 wake-up call.

One of the other Zoloft issues (at least for kids) is weight gain. Andrew is indeed eating more, but doesn't seem to be putting on weight, so I think he is dealing with it OK.

We were really resistant to even thinking about drug therapy, but this has been a big relief at school. He is focused, getting appropriate grade level stuff done (doing 4th/5th grade math), is more verbal with us (initiating more conversations and giving me a lot more feedback when he doesn't want to do something ), so I think that it has been an overall good thing.

Good luck with the therapy and the Zoloft, they really do go hand-in-hand in addressing the issue.

[lisa6wks]

Pamster,
I am with you. I have been on AD's for a long long time and will be on them for the rest of my life. I have been to counseling, therapy and read many books. I know what caused my problems, I know why I feel like I feel. But it doesn't stop me from feeling it and I decided a long time ago that my children deserved if not a "happy" mother at least a somewhat contented mother.

My brain structure and chemicals are just not normal. I have accepted it and on AD's I feel pretty "normal". I am Cymbalta now, it gives me a little more energy and I have few if any side effects. I don't think I can ask for much more.

Lisa

[tgrimes]

I think zoloft is a good choice for chronic anxiety, but like MomO said can leave you tired during 'not supposed to be sleeping' hours. If there's a place you normally sit and take a break then avoid it! Of course depression can do that to you too, so this may not be of consequence.

[JungleWoman]

Well, I took it and I dont think I will take it again.

It made me pretty sick. I couldnt even drive or go to work. I still feel pretty gross. Hopefully it will wear off soon since I took it about 24 hours ago.

Isabelle, I think your approach is probably the best for me at this time. A lot has happened in the last year and a half and I really need to talk about them to someone who has a good grasp on handling this problem.

I should be getting health benefits from my work soon. I believe mental health is covered too.