Posted by meltingpot on April 27, 2009, at 14:34:10
In reply to Effects of long term SSRI use... My Story..., posted by newquestions on April 16, 2009, at 9:10:07
Hi,
I just want to give my story as in a way the opposite happened to me although our stories start off very similiar.
I was 17 when I first started experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety but from 17 up to 24 I thought I had some mysterious physical condition and was not treated.
Then when I hit 24 I started to get worst and after numerous visits to the doctors, the final time in tears, the doctor prescribed a tricyclic prothiaden.
The drug was miraculous I had such a wonderful response within a short time and felt as though I'd been given a new lease of life. I continued to take prothiaden until about the age of 27 when it seemed to start wearing off. I came off prothiaden and all drugs for a while and although I felt a bit depressed I was in no way as bad as I had been prior to starting prothiaden.
Then when I was put on Seroxat (paxil) again this worked brilliantly. I stayed on Seroxat until around the age of 31/32, at this point I had been reading a lot of scaremongering about SSRI drugs in general and as I was feeling ok, had forgotten what depression was like I decided to give it a go off medication. After a few hairy weeks coming off the seroxat I was back to normal and I spent about 4 years depression/anxiety free.
Then when I hit 35 the depression/anxiety came back with a vengence, this time I was suicidal and it took two years for me to find a drug and dose that worked. Two years later that drug stopped working.
I have to say that I don't know where I went wrong. I do know that I don't regret for a moment ever taking antidepressants as without them my life would not have been worth living. I've had life experiences that I would never have had if I had not taken antidepressants. I think even if I had of had therapy instead of medication then the therapy would not have worked and I would still have been convinced I had a physical illness.
All I can say now, is that I tried doing the right thing and coming off medication completely and still ended up suicidally depressed 3 years later so there doesn't seem to be any set rules when it comes to this horrible, horrible condition.
Denise
poster:meltingpot
thread:891025
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090426/msgs/893057.html