Has medication helped anyone/ do you take medication?

Does it work for you if you have depression or anxiety?
And what are you taking?
I havent tried anything and was thinking maybe because its the last resort.

well.. for one, i hate taking meds just because i don't like having to remember to take them and all... and i'm a super hypochondriac, so if it says anything about 'feeling dizzy blah blah blah' on the bottle, i'll feel dizzy or whatever! haha

but.. when this agoraphobia stuff started for me about a year ago, i started taking zoloft.. it wasn't terrible or anything, but i didn't notice like "hey! i feel like i want to conquer the world today!" or anything, haha.. i kind of just quit taking it because i forgot to get it refilled.. my life didn't fall apart when i quit taking it, i felt kinda crappy for a few days, but nothing crazy happened.. but when i spoke with my therapist about it, i realized that i had been a little more on edge and uneasy about things.. so i decided to see what else my doctor (my therapist doesn't prescribe stuff to me) reccommended and she started me on the lowest dose of paxil. i take it before bed so i don't feel dizzy or anything. like i said, you just notice the effects over time, you don't wake up the next day feeling super... but i don't mind it right now. i feel that it just keeps me more 'balanced', if that makes any sense.. it keeps my feelings from getting way out of hand.. idk, if you haven't tried anything then maybe you should try a low dose of something just to see what happens, it couldn't hurt.. and different medicines work differently for everyone, so make a decision with your doctor about it if ya want..

agoraphobickatie said:

she started me on the lowest dose of paxil. i take it before bed so i don't feel dizzy or anything. like i said, you just notice the effects over time, you don't wake up the next day feeling super... but i don't mind it right now. i feel that it just keeps me more 'balanced', if that makes any sense.. it keeps my feelings from getting way out of hand..

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Thats what I was on for depression a few years back. Like she said it didn't quite stop me from feeling sad or anything but it kept me from spiraling out of control. Kinda like I could only get so upset then hit some kinda invisible wall. The only problems I had was my appetite was gone for a week I think and coming off of it I got those weird brain shocks but nothing serious.

I just started taking xanax and it has (so far, only had it twice) worked wonders for me, because without it I have literally having panic attacks all day everyday, I tried klonopin for a while, but it just made me feel ****tier (way too intense for me because i have a low tolerance for medicine) where as i take .25 milligrams of xanax and I'm good, the best way that it has been described to me is that xanax is more like doing a once daily inhaler to quill asthma as opposed to klonopin being like a rescue inhaler. I've been completely agoraphobic for the last several weeks and this is the first thing that has breathed some hope into me

I'm currently taking Lexapro. It's usually prescribed for depression, but it's oddly not helping my depression. I'm taking it for anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, though, and it's helped those immensely. I would have panic attacks on a daily basis. I would be constantly obsessing over my health, and freaking out over the smallest things. I don't do that much anymore. I still occasionally worry about health things, but it's nothing like before. I don't have many panic attacks these days either because they were due to health worries.

I would definitely recommend Lexapro for anxiety and such. I'm just not sure about depression. I still find myself incredibly down. But I'd much rather be depressed than scared 24/7.

I would also take Clonazepam (Klonopin) for panic attacks. That helps pretty well. It's like a mild tranquilizer.

My meds are in my signature below. My OCD is currently being treated with ERP therapy by my psychologist and my depression went into remission (reason being I don't know). The med that made the greatest achievements for my SA personally, was Adderall XR. It made me talkative, face my fears, and treat my SA through exposure. I sadly cannot tolerate the med anymore and stopped back in early March.

I take Lexapro and like how it is working!

Im on 40mgs of Celexa, have been on it for a year. On a scale of 1-10 it has helped me around a 7, which is a lot better. I don't have as many symptoms as I had before. BUT! Its no miracle cure, you have to trust in the medicine, and keep telling yourself your going to get better.
And there are going to be "bad days" but you can bounce back easier from them with the medication.
My downfall as of late has been being invited to a party, I really dont want to go...
I don't get strong reactions like that all the time when Im invited to stuff but for some reason this one thing has been getting to me. But we'll see what happens. Also Ive decided to start taking Fish Oil along with the medication..so hopefully that will help even more.

I've tried prozac which helped for a while but I refused to increase the dose so the effects kind of wore off. This is the drug I would recommend for SA/depression as it has better effect than most other drugs and there are no side effects. I also tried Venlaxafine which didn't help much and has nightmarish withdrawal systems, even if I missed one dose I would get horribly dizzy and nauseous.

Island_chic said:

I take Lexapro and like how it is working!

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I tried this for a few weeks but it didn't do anything but make me feel slightly nauseous. I probably should have given them more of a chance but I hate going to my GP surgery as they are really unflexible and tight about giving out appointments.

renegade_reloaded said:

Are u asking if medication has helped people ? Well if ppl tell u that a med has worked for them...it isn't necessarily true that it will work for you. So this isn't quite an exact method to find a med that works. Trying them is the best idea.

If u ask me, I've tried almost all meds from all classes: benzo's, SSRI, and now I'm gonna try IMAO. I also tried some antidepressants, herbal, and some other classes of meds (gabapentinum for example) that are not exactly for SP and anxiety, but they sometimes work. I have spend the last 6 years doing this. Nothing worked. But yet, I belive I wasnt lucky enough to find a med that works for me. Other ppl did.

Only med that worked against anxiety 4 me was zolpidem tarthrate (this is the active substance), witch gave me anxiety free moments, but also lots side effects: lack of balance, freakin' amnesia afterwards, dizzzines, and sleepiness. It has helped me go to college for an year, than the effects wore off, so bye bye college

Also, Seroquel is awesome for my sleep, I take like 100mg to fell asleep, also my mother uses it. I think it could even put a horse to sleep lol

Good luck in your search for the right med FOR YOU, i hope you find it and find it quick. And remember, luck is not the only factor here, patience is too.

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Zolpidem(Ambien) is a nice med I took some tonight, tho I prefer Lunesta.

I was just put on Celexa. I will let you know in 8 weeks how it is working.

To treat one-off episodes of anxiety, Inderal (or any beta blocker) seems to work well. Seems to really limit the fight-or-flight response - heart rate stays low, no massive perspiration, tremors don't get too bad, etc. In my experience anyway. I think they limit the amount of adrenaline released into the bloodstream? I don't think you're meant to use them every day though, unless you're treating blood pressure issues. If you're after a long-term, every-day treatment, then yeah i think anti-anxiety and anti-depressant meds are better. But if you have a one-off talk to give or something, beta blockers might be good for you. They apparently don't get you addicted or dependent either which is nice. But i guess you might get a habit of, or psychological dependence on, reducing those manifestations of FOF.