What is the most effective (and safe) anti-depressant?

Question

Please do not answer unless you have a medical background or have taken the prescription yourself. Thank you!

Answer 1

I was on a very high dose of Amitriptyline for a couple of years and the effects of it on my depression were good but the side effects were horrible!...;

Answer 2

Some of the more commonly-used medications for anxiety disorders include:

Anti-anxiety drugs such as XanaxÓ , AtivanÓ , ValiumÓ , and BusparÓ
Antidepressants such as ProzacÓ , ZoloftÓ , LuvoxÓ , PaxilÓ , and AnafranilÓ
These and other medications have been shown to reduce the symptoms of anxiety, although they often do not eliminate them entirely. The advantage of medications is that they can take effect relatively quickly, with a reduction in symptoms occurring within a few minutes, days, or weeks after beginning a medication. The disadvantages are that they often have unwanted side effects, and the anxiety may return when the person stops taking the medication.

Answer 3

That's for your doctor or specialist to decide. There is no one that is the magic bullet for everyone and they all have some side effects which vary from one person to the next. What works well for one person will have adverse effects on another person. I take Paxil and am doing pretty well on it but some people have taken or attempted to take their life while on it. This is not a question to be taken lightly or determined by the Yahoo Answer Community.

Answer 4

Paxil has worked fine for me, but, and a big one, It is hard to get off of it, for example if I don't take it in the morning time(my usual time to take it) I will feel the effects of not taking it that evening!!! I have read about it too, and it is not a good drug to get off of once you have been taking it. So if you feel like you may some day stop taking an anti depressant, I wouldn't try Paxil. How about Zoloft or Prozac??

Answer 5

I get very anxious when it comes to taking these kinds of meds because of side effects, but I did take Paxil and it worked on getting my chemical imbalance back to normal. I also took Buspar in combination with it which worked by itself also after I got taken off the Paxil. There are some side effects to Buspar but they usually go away after about a month when the meds have accumulated in your body like they are supposed to in order to do theie job. Some anti depressants will cause weight gain ,Paxil was fine for me.

Answer 6

I am a nurse. I have seen great results with Lexapro. My patients are very happy with the drug as it does not have a lot of the nasty side effects... It also does not make them feel like they are happy all the time- rather, they feel happy and sad appropriately throughout the day. I also take Lexapro and like it. In the past, I had used Celexa (similar to Lexapro), Paxil, and Prozac.

Answer 7

St. John's Wort is a natural herb anti-depressant with very few side effects. In Germany, it's one of the most popular perscriptions for depression, although it is easily available over the counter here in America.

Answer 8

Exercise

Answer 9

I take Celexa and it works wonders! ive been on it for 3 years now, and i have never once had a side effect or reaction to it. i feel normal and live a great life! i also tried paxil which made me feel awful, if it werent for celexa i dont know where i would be

Answer 10

Why the hell would you ask a doctor. They know nothing about anti-depressants. Go to www.askapatient.com and type in the drug you want. They will give you the real truth. Here is an example for the drug lexapro which is tolerated fairly well.

http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21440&name=LEXAPRO