This is the main reason I stayed away from medication for 12 years. That is until 3 weeks ago.
I decided late 2017, after a major depressive episode, that I needed to get help after 12 years of dealing with this depression. I kept thinking that I had a handle on it, and then it coming back weeks, months or years later.
I read The Depression Cure (https://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-withou...) about 5 years ago, and it helped for awhile, but it started to worsen again, and after awhile, getting the right diet, exercise and sleep seemed impossible because of the depression and anxiety.
I started therapy about 3 months ago, and finally agreed to try medication. I started taking Zoloft 3 weeks ago, and the side effects are downright awful. I made it through the first 3 weeks though, and I'm starting to feel a lot better.
Zoloft might not end up being the right medication for me, and there might be a better one, but my goal is to find something that takes 10%-20% of the depression and anxiety symptoms away so that I can start my path to curing this beast with the methods Dr. Iliardi outlines in The Depression Cure. Once I'm at a point where I'm better, I'm going to try and ween off the medication and try to live a healthy, great life without SSRIs.
For the more severe anxiety disorders, the proof of efficacy above placebo is much better than what we have for depression. People don't get better by taking placebos for their OCD. For anyone experiencing anxiety problems, I highly recommend finding a competent therapist who knows CBT. For anxiety that constantly interferes with daily life, medication may be appropriate.
For me the SSRIs completely wiped out my OCD to the point where I sometimes forget that I have problems with anxiety. Depression is downright benign compared to how bad the situation can get with other psychiatric disorders. Unfortunately the demand for competent medical professionals far outstrips what is available.
I do agree that SSRIs are over-prescribed for minor depression problems, but let's not demonize a whole class of medications which are highly useful for more serious psychiatric issues.
Some people need it because their brains is just plain imbalanced, I get that. For some, that imbalance can be fixed with lots of work, however for some, it can't. I'm _hoping_ to be able to fix mine, but I'm willing to work with a doctor to figure out if that's possible.
I wish you the best. Definitely don’t be afraid to discuss alternatives with your doctor if you’re not happy with Zoloft...sometimes it takes a few tries before you find whaat works best for you.
Thanks for the reminder. I'm trying to tough out a month, because side effects tend to wear off within 3-4 weeks, and review with my doctor and therapist then.
I decided late 2017, after a major depressive episode, that I needed to get help after 12 years of dealing with this depression. I kept thinking that I had a handle on it, and then it coming back weeks, months or years later.
I read The Depression Cure (https://www.amazon.com/Depression-Cure-6-Step-Program-withou...) about 5 years ago, and it helped for awhile, but it started to worsen again, and after awhile, getting the right diet, exercise and sleep seemed impossible because of the depression and anxiety.
I started therapy about 3 months ago, and finally agreed to try medication. I started taking Zoloft 3 weeks ago, and the side effects are downright awful. I made it through the first 3 weeks though, and I'm starting to feel a lot better.
Zoloft might not end up being the right medication for me, and there might be a better one, but my goal is to find something that takes 10%-20% of the depression and anxiety symptoms away so that I can start my path to curing this beast with the methods Dr. Iliardi outlines in The Depression Cure. Once I'm at a point where I'm better, I'm going to try and ween off the medication and try to live a healthy, great life without SSRIs.