i got perscribed zoloft for some post partum depression and im wondering if i should take them or not. are they addictive? will i be extremely depressed when i get off them? is there any bad side effects i should know? my dr. said its safe but personally im not too sure about anti-depressants , i asked my dr. if this would just be temporary and he said "maybe" which makes me uneasy.
2007-11-01 06:30:56 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Mental Health
I am so happy that you have asked this question
My answer to you comes out of my own experience, and from my heart, to any new mom experiencing depression. Truly I do not mean to scare you. I do, however want to communicate about a potentially serious condition with even more serious consequences. It isn't fun to talk about. But you really do need to know.
Post partum depression is a serious condition with potentially deadly consequences (You've heard of the mothers who kill their newborns? - that's the one) .........So, it is absolutely necessary to get yourself treated. (I've been there - that's why I know) It is so important that you do not delay getting onto medication by even a day. Postpartum depression can have milder times, but the intensity of it can come up rapidly and intensely, overwhelming your thoughts and feelings and actions. Something that would seem unreasonable to you on a normal day, can look and feel like the only way out on a day of postpartum depression. Your thinking and reasoning can, in a matter or minutes or hours become way outside of reality.
I take Zoloft. This medication has been a godsend. My ability to think and reason and figure things out has returned.
Antidepressants work differently from other drugs, so far as addiction. Zoloft is not addictive. Infact you have to make yourself remember to take it. The reason you take it is because your body and your hormones have thrown you a curve-ball. You are lacking chemicals in your brain at this time. The lack causes the depression (difficulty functioning, and down mood, and change in thought patterns, loss of hope and perspective of a future) Zoloft is used to "kick-start" your body into making these missing chemicals -- much as using "starting fluid" will help to get a stubborn car started. Once started functioning for a number of months, most people can slowly end their use of Zoloft. Only a few of us who have had serious (other reasons we don't function) defincency that we are incapable of maintaining a normal brain chemical function.....and we need longterm replacement therapy.
So, when you asked your Dr. if this would just be temproary --- this is why he answered "maybe". Because in most people it is a temporary situation that can be changed by use of the medication. (I'm just not one of those people)
Will you be extremely depressed when you get off of them?
Assuming you are like most people, who's healthy function can be re-started by the medication, and you stay on it a long enough time to re-establish your own functioning - and you taper off rather than stop suddenly (Always under Drs approval and supervision) chances are you will not return to depression - and your brain chemicals will remain at normal levels on their own.
Any bad side-effects? Of all the medications I have tried, Zoloft is just about free of side-effects for me. I just have to take a nap each day.
Before starting on antidepressants - I held a personal belief that depression could be overcome by "thinking my way out". But I was uninformed as to the REASON for my depression.
It was far more dangerous for myself and my babies for me to be unmedicated. 3 of my 5 I was seriously dealing with postpartum depression. I'm just fortunate we're all still alive.
I just want to warn you other new moms of the potential dangers of NOT getting medication.
The antidepressants will help you to think and reason and to not experience the depth of how low you can feel. It helps to even out the holes in the emotional and mental road of life, so you don't fall so deep. Antidepressants like Zoloft work like a safety net for the trapeeze artist. You don't hit so deep or so hard. And they keep you safe. -- Your precious baby too.
For any mom who is deeply depressed and is experiencing fears of harming her children - place your baby in their bed, or in the arms of a neighbor - and walk out the door of your home. Received the help you need at the hospital. You will heal. And everyone will still be safe. Let yourself get the help of the antidepressant your body is not making right now. Do it out of love for your child. When you are stable, you can return to being a loving and caring mom - likely to never again be so ill as to think of harm. Antidepressant medications do work and help in a helpless situation. They provide the ability to hope.
2007-11-01 07:41:58 · answer #1 · answered by Hope 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, Zoloft is not addictive. The side effects are minimal, at least in my own experience. What your doctor was trying to convey to you was probably that when you discontinue the medicine you may get discontinuation syndrome which does not involve you "craving" the medication itself. It is not addicting in the same what cocaine would be, rather you just get some symptoms because your body has become used to the drug which may or may not include more depression. However, if your doctor "weans" you off of the drug when the time comes, the effects should be lessened.
2007-11-01 07:30:15 · answer #2 · answered by stl07 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some of Zolofts side effects include suicidal thoughts drowsiness and addiction. You can not stop taking zoloft suddenly you have to be weaned off. I would not recommend Zoloft Would ask for a different med I prefer effexor
2007-11-01 06:37:50 · answer #3 · answered by Cara 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask lestermount
2017-02-17 17:52:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It can be dangerous and hard to stop taking it suddenly.
2007-11-01 06:34:06 · answer #5 · answered by Steve C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋