What is your opinion on anidepressant drugs?

Question

I take zprexa and it realy helps me, I would be a complete disaster without it. I can sleep at night because of it.
I think some people genuinly benifit from some of these drugs.

Answer 1

I AM ON WELLBUTRIN AND PAXIL AND i JUST HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH MY DOCTOR ABOUT WHY I DONT FEEL BETTER ..HE SAID WELL THE MEDS ARE NOT GOING TO MAKE MY PROBLEMS GO AWAY i HAVE TO CHANGE MY LIFE A BIT .. BUT WITHOUT THEM I AM A TOTAL BIOTCH.... LOL .. AND IT FEELS GOOD TO BE ABLE TO ADMIT IT

Answer 2

I've been on practically every anti depressant there is- and now I'm weaning myself from Cymbalta (horrible side effects) and going back to my very first, Prozac. Dee is right; Zyprexa is NOT an anti depressant. It's an anti psychotic. I was on it for a while as a mood stabilizer and I hated it because I gained a lot of weight. My psychiatrist at the time said, "Oh well, your mental health is more important right now than the weight gain" NOT. How can a person feel happy if they're overweight? That's just my take on it; if it's working for you, keep on it. There are a LOT of good books out there - pro and con regarding antidepressants. "Listening To Prozac" was the very first book I read on the subject. I think though that psychiatrists are prescribing meds a little too freely without understanding the side effects. If I knew I had to be weaned off of Cymbalta or I'd get very sick, I NEVER would have said yes to it. There's another book by Greg Critser called, "Generation Rx" and basically he writes about the various pharmaceutical companies and how they're really cleaning up - it's so easy now to go into a doctors office and say, I'd like to try ____ " and get it with no problem. I agree with you, many many people benefit greatly from some antidepressants but I think it's the patient's job to read up on the side effects of them before they start using them.

Answer 3

There are times when antidepressants are not going to "fix" what is wrong and why a person is feeling blue. Antidepressants are for altering the monoamines which are believed to play a part in mood regulation. Norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine are the three basic types and depending on the symptoms of a person's depression and medical history, will help the prescriber determine which course of therapy to take.

Having said this, I have taken antidepressants that affect both the serotonin and norepinephrine (and combo of the two). For me personally, I saw a major improvement in the level of my depression when taking the combination antidepressant.

In addition to which monoamine an antidepressant is altering, antidepressants also have different classifications. MAOI's, SSRIs, and Tricyclics. There is also another category called atypical.

If a person's depression is a chemical imbalance issue, then they can expect some degree of improvement with antidepression medication as long as there is no other medical or mental health conditions requiring additional or different types of medication.

Answer 4

6 years on Paxil almost killed me. I would have quit sooner but the withdrawals were too awful and I had to go to work.
My anxiety wasn't cured by Paxil, because it was caused by other problems. No doctor bothered to check for other problems, so for 6 years my health deteriorated. It has taken me almost 2 years to recover. I think in another 4-6 months I will have recovered from Paxil, it's side effects, and the original problems that were never treated and grew worse.
Personally, I will never ever use these types of drugs again. No way.
I am healthier off that poison that I ever was on. I can't believe I wasted 6 years feeling high as a kite on Paxil

Answer 5

I think that people who need antidepressants obviously get benefit from taking them. There was a time when I took Cymbalta for depression. It helped when I needed it and once I felt that I didn't need it any longer, I began to ween off of it.

http://www.whatwinnersdo.com is my personal addiction website but I have many many posts on how much the withdrawal from Cymbalta sucked.

Answer 6

I agree with you. But I think the number of people that's true for is relatively low.

Most people don't get much relief from them, have side-effects, and screw around with half a dozen different meds before finding one that works or just giving up.

And besides that, talk therapy is proven to be just as effective as drugs.

I think doctors push them too hard. But if used correctly, they can be helpful.

Answer 7

Zyprexa is not an anti depressant. It is an anti psychotic. I took it for years and it helped very well with the auditory hallucinations. Did tend to gain some weight though.


Good luck and take care of you!
Dee

Answer 8

After working 30 years in the field of mental health, I do believe through observation that anti-depressant medications and other psychotropic meds do work.

Answer 9

i totally needed my medicine, w/o it i was WAAY bad...i mean i was constantly in trouble at school because i just didn't care anymore and i had ALWAYS been a pretty good student and after i started takin it i calmed down and "got my act together" as my mother says :D I think ppl who bash antidepressants are assholes b/c unless they have needed the medicine themselves, who are they to say if it works and whether or not to use it. W/o it i might've been kicced out of school and my whole future coulda been fucced up

Answer 10

Any drug that does not wear of the following day is addictive, for good or bad. Taking such chemicals should be a last resort.