Hope the doctors appointment goes well.  I am on Fluoxetine and it sort of helps.  What i have found though is if I do not eat fruit for a day my depression gets worse.  Apparently lack of glucose can cause this.  I have a doctor who prescribes natural items and she suggested I have apples and almond nuts in my diet.  If I eat them regularly the anti depressants do work better.  I have also found getting a shiatsu treatment helpful too.  The relax session is necessary when you are looking after children.

Good Luck.

hey hope it all goes well with the doc im on escitrolopram and on epilum this is mainly used for people with epilepsy but it helps those with bipolar as well, in the past ive been on tons of meds all havent helped me but it took years till i found the ones that did so persivere. seraquel is a nasty one that i took all i wanted to do was kill myself, dont get me wrong i think of suicide all day now but i cant tap into certain things in my brain which makes me realise the tabs are working to a degree, but with the seraquel i emptied the whole lot and started taking them in a bid to kill myself, ive also have diazepam not good i know alot of people who have been given this and are now conseqeuntly addicted to the bloody things they are a menace take it from someone who knows, ive had tamazepam good for getting you asleep and not much else made me feel groogy all day and as though i had been on drugs the night and morning, citrolopram are from the same family as escitrolopram but not as helpful i found.

there are many others i have had but i would sound like a pill popper if i carried on these are main ones as far as im concerned for depression and anxiety just hope it helps...

sheila

I was on on (not right spelling but how it sounds is) cetelipram (c sounds like s)  it's for anxiety and depression but mainly anxiety as I had agoraphobia as well as depression and day vissions of our daughter dieing violently and had NO emotions.  Sorry this is probably too late but you never know, you may be asking this same question again in a couple of months.  Mine returned my emotions within days but after a couple of weeks I went a bit loopy up and down my Dr thought I might be bi-pola, but I wasn't it was just my brain getting used to it, after 2 weeks of that which was a bit scary everythiing go better.  Hope it works out for you & your family. You are brave to fight your emotions and bad feelings and get the help you need and it's not your fault, it's all medical and out of your control.  You are being a great Mum by getting the help you need.  All the best. xo

Hi Misty Dawn.

I wrote you an article but its been rejected b/c of a word (probably 'drugs'). So I'm dropping you a line instead... Do please see your Dr for a chat. She really is the best equipped to prescribe for you. If it doesn't suit; go back & see her immediately. Don't come off a prescription without medical supervision ( a phone conversation at least). Ask her about the medicare-funded psychology appointments you may be entitled to. Some folks do better with naturopathic-prescribed supplements... Some health-funds now cover naturopathic visits under their extras schemes.

Latest studies suggest 33% of us need help with depression sometime in our lives. Don't underestimate the condition; it is life-threatening.

hugs

Rosalinda

Everyone's answers are great, i have also suffered for many years with depression. I've tried all the medications listed by everyone, at one stage i rattled when i walked!. I think one of the most important plans is to find a doctor that can understand how you are feeling and is sympathetic. Some Doctors hand any drugs out just so they can see the next patient. Also some doctors can refer you to particular groups of people with depression that meet weekly or fortnightly, just for an informal chat and a cuppa but it can be a great help. They usually put you with a group that are in a similar circumstance as you. Another thing that helped me a lot was getting out in the garden in the afternoon - with or without the kids.

Hi Honey,

I am taking Lexapro and Endep and I have found them BOTH great . . I have little side effects when I began the lexapro and the only problem I had with the Endep was a little tiredness . .

For future reference any anti-depressant that makes you feel worse should be stopped immediately!!! This is the info that was given to me by a psychiatric nurse . . . Some AD's have been known to make patients worse and some patients have killed themselves due to these side effects that is why NO doctor is meant to keep a patient on any meds that make them feel worse . . . OMG, please seek out a different doctor as the doctor who told you to keep taking meds that made you worse is an idiot!

Take care matey and if you need any help etc please feel free to Minti mail me . . I have been on AD's for over 15 yrs and have battled depression for even longer . . There is no quick fix but there is hope, support and there is life after depression!!

Cheers Kellz

i have been on and off them  for 7 years. lexapro and lovan were great. the lovan i was on for a year and a half. atm (i am being treated for bipolar) but i am on valpro to stablize my moods and i am suppost to be taking endronax too.

if u want someone to chat to minti mail me.

good luck

Liz

I have been On and off anti-depressants for the past 10 years I have tried many kinds Some have given me bad reactions where I have  ended up in hospital. Doctors so easily hand these things out without knowing the effect that they will have on you. I have currently stopped taking the anti depressant Cipramil which I found to be very helpful as I became pregnant and the doctors told me that it could affect the baby. throughout the pregnancy I have had ups and downs and for a few weeks at a time I have felt very depressed so I decided to go back and talk to the doctor who wanted me to go back on the medication after he tells me its harmful to the baby. I think they find it easier just to medicate you then deal with feelings. I told him no im not taking them so he arranged for me to see a physcologist who I have been seeing every one to two weeks throughout my pregnancy this for me has been great and Im starting to feel a whole lot better about things. It has taken time and a lot of hard work mentally to get to this stage but it is well worth it, Im not saying I will never feel depressed again but I know I will be better well equipped with the knowledge of who to turn too in that situation.  I am hoping not to return to medication but if I truly cannot cope then I know it is there to help.

I really hope that you find the right medication for you as it can sometimes be a roller coaster ride and can become very frustrating I recommend seeing the same doctor each time when dealing with anti-depressants as seeing different doctors can have different results you need to feel comfortable talking to your doctor about depression so find someone you can trust. I also recommend seeing a councellor or physcologist to have some support when things get really tough as they are trained to help you obtain better coping skills.

So hang in there ok

you can conquer this depression and the more support you can get the better you  will be.

hi I have 2 kids 6 & 7 I have been on my happy pills for about 6yrs, i have tried to go off a couple of times but the side affects were really bad. I was on upto 300mg of effexor but they wernt making me as carefree as they should have.

I am now on cipramil 20mg but im only taking half plus i have a referal to a phycologist. I dont want to be on them i just need something to take the edge off.

Im on Zoloft, its one of the more common ones. Most people are ok with it, however a friend of mine was on it and she had side effects like what you experienced.

Celexa is what I was on at one point.. I was at the point of thinking about suicide and I was figured to have been in "clinical depression"
It did help but with a higher doze as the 40mg that the doctor had given me didn't work much.

I'm not sure if it will help you as it differs between people.

Good luck..