Did antidepressants really helped anyone?

[Mack]

So I’ve been taking antidepressants for almost two years. Prozac was the first one, then Wellbutrin, Effexor XR and now Cymbalta. The thing is that the meds seem to make living manageable, but I still lack happiness, ambition and motivation. My doc says that they aren’t a magic pill and I should work on myself, but everything seems so mellow and washed out.

Dunno, maybe I should try new ones or perhaps I’ve reached peek therapeutical effects and the rest is my hard work? Anyone battling/won with depression? Share your stories, Era.

 

[Bradford]

Yes. They help me quite a bit.

It isn't a cure-all. See a therapist, work on yourself, take the meds, it all goes together.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Yes. You yourself seem to even identify they help. They aren't a magic pill to happiness though.

 

[SnakeXs]

Yes. They took the bottom end of my baseline way up. Helped me immensely, but didn’t “cure” anything.

Therapy, however, led me to things that have made me feel better than I have in a long time.

 

[Prophet Five]

I recently got put on Lexapro for anxiety and depression and while I don't feel 100% "me" I feel 100% better than I felt before I got on them.

I'm not good at math but yes. I feel more "human" than I did before I was on them. I think I got lucky though because I know a lot of people go through multiple meds before they feel anything but I'm thankful I took that step and talked to my doctor about it.

 

[SteveWinwood]

Yes, they help many people.

I would tell you to keep trying different ones if you aren't satisfied with your regimen. Be open and honest with your doctor and most importantly be patient. Things may even get worse before they get better but then you've at least ruled out some of them!

I think it took me like six years to find something that I would say actually really helped me. Even now though I don't expect it to last forever and I'll probably have to play with it further in the future.

 

[NHarmonic.]

It's a combination of stuff. If depression is associated with lower levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin, you should strive to make changes so you can improve that. What you eat, hitting the gym, taking the antidepressants, going to psychological therapy, working on your issues, you have to take care of all that.

I feel the pills actually help in the equation.

 

[Rosebud]

As my doctor said, there's not a (legal) "happiness pill". My medicine doesn't make me happy at all, but help me to go through the days.

 

[Strangelove_77]

Life still sucks but it makes it bearable enough not to kill myself.
Ive tried several meds and this has been the most positive reaction.
So I guess it works? I dunno.

 

[TheJackdog]

yes. but this isnt advil. its not a headache that you take a pill and a few hours later its gone.

im no therapist so please dont take this as end all be all advice but this worked for me:

i had to treat depression like i was sick. like i had the flu. if you have the flu, youre what, drinking liquids, resting, eating healthy, etc. AND youre taking medicine. you arent living your life the same way as if you were healthy and didnt have the flu right?

It requires lifestyle changes. in your diet, your routines, your self reflection and considerations. Everything. Therapy and anti depressants can go hand in hand. you arent gonna wake up suddenly happy. and you wont become a zombie who cant experience sadness anymore cause of your happy pills. thats not a thing. you will never be cured from sadness or depression. but you can learn how to deal with it in a healthy way and mitigate its affects on your life.

 

[Joey Ravn]

Yes. Brintellix/Trintellix has helped me quite a bit. I do feel a bit... too dulled down, and it hasn't helped me in the sex department (I've been wondering for a long time if I'm not ace, so the antidepressants have made that even harder to nail down). But, overall, I feel much better when I'm medicated.

 

[Seven of Nine]

I have a similar experience. I am glad that it has taken away my suicidal ideation, but it took a few years of therapy and trying new strategies before I started to feel less depressed. It did help a lot, as without them I wasn't able to take care of myself. I am still learning how to do that but over time I have started to feel a little hope and motivation.

 

[Officer Big Mac]

Yes. Like your doc says you need to invest yourself into things you want. Being passive and letting life just happen while you react isnt going to produce happiness.

 

[The Boat]

Absolutely, but it's not always easy to find the right meds. Therapy is also very important.

 

[Charizard]

Antidepressants aren't about 100% curing depression.

It is just that once you are no longer constantly thinking about killing yourself and shit it is a hell of a lot easier to start making positive changes in your life, go to therapy, etc. Like, to do those things you have to be able to drag yourself out of bed to begin with and even just that is very hard for many people without antidepressants.

 

[LexingtonKruger]

I have tried a bunch of them. The ssris tend to make me feel numb and almost like I'm not even present.
The atypical antidepressants allow me to retain my feelings but sometimes those feelings can be too intense.
I prefer the atypical antidepressants as I feel more functional on them, although I am still depressed.
Depression alters the way your brain thinks.
Someone who has been depressed their whole life will just think more negatively than someone who has not. These pills won't fix the way you think, they just help keep you from that edge where you act on suicidal ideations .

 

[Sunster]

before i got on them i was a mess. after i got on them i was better.

 

[Deleted member 18944]

Antidepressants are affecting the physical aspects of you. Not all depression is rooted in a chemical imbalance and that means that if you fix the imbalance and are still having issues, you need to work on your mental state then.

 

[Kernel]

I took Zoloft way back but it made me a zombie. It fixed the depression but i really felt nothing.

 

[Protome]

My partner probably wouldn't be around without her antidepressants. They're not a be-all-end-all cure or anything but nothing is. Them combined with good therapy can turn a life around though.

 

[leafcutter]

I was on lexapro for about 4 years (roughly 2006-2010), and I tried to use that time to work on myself. Got my degree, went to therapy, forced myself to have an active social life and exercise etc. I'm sure if I wasn't doing all those things, I wouldn't have been able to drop the meds eventually (although some people are on meds their whole life and that's fine).

I'm in a much better place now, but lexapro was just something to get me up and moving, so to speak. Just functional enough to start improving my life through various other methods. It never made me happy on its own.

 

[jeelybeans]

I did one of those DNA tests on the effectiveness of medications (mine was called genomind) and my body reacted to exercise more positively than the average person. It also reacted to exercise better than 90% of meds. So everyone's body is different. I'm still prescribed on something and ya it mostly just "levels it out", but it is not going to make me happy or motivated.

 

[Deleted member 29237]

Antidepressants have had varied effects on me. Certain types were completely unsuitable and ended up making me worse; others helped significantly but had adverse side effects that resulted in me having to come off them over time.

One thing I will say is that alcohol seems to suppress the effect; three to four sober days result in me having a noticeably better mood. Additionally regular cardio exercise (ideally at least 30 minutes 4-5 times a week) does wonders!

 

[Turin]

Prozac has done me a lot of good in the long term.

The chemical assistance helped enable me to deal with my issues. Still a long way to go, of course.

 

[Acorn]

The media's pushing of the "happy pill" shit has pushed the wrong expectation.

It's like painkillers, they don't take away the pain totally or even mostly but they take enough of an edge off that it's manageable.

Edit the happy pills shit really annoys me, because they originally referred to people on high dose benzos in the early 20th century mental institutions.

 

[Fright Zone]

Yeah they’ve helped me a lot this year. They don’t make me feel happy just make me feel ‘normal’ enough to leave the house.

 

[Quinton]

They help me function greatly

 

[AnansiThePersona]

I've only tried Lexapro and that shit made me feel like a zombie. I was gonna try one of the alternatives... but I'm taking a break from school and have no health insurance. Being depressed is not for poor people :/

 

[bane833]

It's like painkillers, they don't take away the pain totally or even mostly but they take enough of an edge off that it's manageable.

Click to shrink...

The good ones do. ;-)

 

[Henry Jones Jr]

Yes they can help people but, like everything, they don't work for everyone and they are not a cure all. Therapy tends to have fuller, longer last effects. Also, I believe SSRIs tend to have a greater effect on those with more severe depression.

 

[jb1234]

I take Cymbalta and it has really helped lift my mood and especially the way that I'd think about myself. The sexual side effects suck but it's not like I was getting any before the drug.

 

[Andrew Korenchkin]

Yes.

Don't be that guy.

 

[NeverWas]

apparently I get a bit suicidal when taking antidepressants, so I don't anymore.

 

[No Onions]

I'm on Lexapro and Its probably the reason I'm alive today.

 

[Grizzo]

Yes it does help and it basically saved my life or at least made it manageable.

 

[Pooh]

They definitely help, but yeah, they're not a cure-all. For me it helped me get out of crippling depression and anxiety so bad that I didn't want to leave the house. But I also felt like a zombie, so I eventually got prescribed something else to boost seratonin levels and make me feel more emotional and motivated. Overall it's a huge improvement over a couple years ago for me... even though I am far from perfect, I'm functional, working, and happy with my job. But that said a ton of personal health is behavioral as well. If you can, seeing a behavioral therapist can really help get you prevent yourself from getting into negative cycles and promote a healthier mental lifestyle.

 

[fontguy]

Antidepressants typically aren’t your one stop shop for mental health—they often just open the door to healing. But an emotional blunting effect is common, and it’s up to you whether or not that’s tenable. I highly, highly recommend seeing a counselor on a regular basis.

If your problems are very treatment-resistant (and it sounds like that could be the case), I can’t say enough good things about Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. I’ve been on 14 different antidepressants over the years, and none of them helped as much as TMS.

Ketamine/esketamine is another fairly new treatment to explore. I have not tried it, but it is another “the pills aren’t cutting it” treatment that my mental health professionals think is very valuable.

 

[boontobias]

Can i piggyback this thread to ask if anxiety meds help people

 

[TrishaCat]

YES
Antidepressants took me from "can't bring myself to get out of bed and wanting to give up on college" to "somewhat functional, was able to graduate college".
They aren't perfect; they didn't cure me so to speak and it doesn't sound like they're doing that for you either, but they made my depression much, much more manageable for me. If you feel yours aren't doing enough you can always switch or change dosage after talking with a doctor about it, but I'd recommend doing other things as well to try and manage your depression. Therapy really is a good idea.

 

[Aztechnology]

Personally? No, it always made me feel worse. Getting therapy and learning to cope, not have disastrous thoughts, better handle anxiety and the roots of my sadness were the key. Anti depressants numbed everything but life wasn't enjoyable without highs and lows.

A perspective shift is the only "cure" for depression in my opinion.

 

[sanstesy]

Tried loads of different ones and none had an effect on me other than one making me sweat like hell when sleeping.

 

[LunaSerena]

Can i piggyback this thread to ask if anxiety meds help people

Click to shrink...

A close family member started with anxiety meds last year (and by close I mean she lives under my same roof) and it has helped her a lot. The meds do leave her “emotionally blunted” according to her, but at the same time she hasn’t had any anxiety attacks since then that mean a visit to the ER because she feels she’s going to have a heart attack.

It’s been a slow process, but they’ve allowed her to start doing other things - like exercising - and therapy to face the root issues behind the anxiety.

 

[onadesertedisland]

Yes. Talk with you doctor.

 

[Fury451]

They are a tool in the toolbox. And often times crucial one, but it’s just one part. Therapy is also valuable, and beyond that more permanent ways of understanding how you think, or you might get yourself into certain patterns are situations and how to improve those by changing things that you do and what is that you approach life.

 

[Ezra]

I remember this article from 2018:

https://www.theguardian.com/science...ork-antidepressants-are-effective-study-shows

 

[Deleted member 2085]

Not for me they didn't. Stopped taking them after the my first pill.
Therapy, on the other hand, helped immensely. But I don't have the proper insurance to visit my therapist anymore so... *shrugs*

 

[PhoncipleBone]

 

[elektrixx]

It makes ignorance bliss, once you get over the side effects.

Currently on duloxetine. Formerly escitalopram and some other one that gave me hallucinations in the mornings. Been on lamotrigine for a few years too.

 

[Deleted member 56580]

That & sports basically saved my grandfather from suicide

it DOES help

 

[Volimar]

I take Citalopram. Helps me a great deal.