Zoloft works really well for me without really drastically changing my personality. I hated things that made you a zombie, and Zoloft was like the one thing that didn't. I've seen people have reactions to it, but none of the effects made it any less worth trying. :3

No idea... but its odd to have a pill to change your state of mind.
Wont you become some middle mood zombie?

actually, I kinda already was like that. But if that's the typical result, then maybe I'm better off without

I basically took pills for my ADHD. And I hated it. D:
It was suppose to keep me calm, but at the same time
I lost my appetite. So I lost a lot of wait and It calmed me
down so much, I didn't want to do anything but lay down.

sounds like I took the same thing. I didnt mind the loss in appetite, but I was unmotivated

I mind it, I like food. Now I weigh like 107 or something. I don't take those pills anymore,
But I still don't eat as much.

which ones? I've taken concerta for ages now and that's never happened to me at least

I forgot what it was, as soon as I stopped taking then I threw it away and did the victory dance.

OMG SERIOUSLY?

Antidepressants and ADHD medications combined aren't unusual, and they don't really interact with each other. ADHD medications are generally a form of amphetamine that stops the hyperactivity; it doesn't actually affect mood at all, just concentration and energy levels. Antidepressants, on the other hand, are SSRIs or SNRIs, which affect an entirely different neurochemical and don't really interact with each other. Note that I only know this because I was on both for a long time >.>

Well, I myself am primarily on Celexa for anxiety - though apparently it's listed as an antidepressant. Maybe check with your psychiatrist to see if that works? I find that on Celexa I generally have much better control of my emotions and anxiety, though sadly motivation has been something of a problem for me as far as art and animation goes...I somehow doubt medication could fix THAT tho.

I was on many anti depressant pills and similar type pills from second grade to about sophomore year, for a neurological disorder I have called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. I would blame the many many different pills and brands I took during my developing years on my general carelessness about everything, if there was a way know if I would have the same personality if I didn't take them. I stopped taking them eventually mostly because I hated my doctor person guy and the pills were always so fucking expensive. I didn't see what the point was anymore.

I took pill cocktails to control seizures and behavior problems of mine.

Some of the biggest things to avoid are allergic reactions, but there are those problems that can also be more of a pain then strait out cause problems.

Some of my problems have been lockjaw, extreme unpredictable mood swings, thinning blood and either it was slight liver damage or kidney damage and weight problems galore. Thing is, you have to or someone you know and spend time with will keep track of problems or you could end up getting hit by some of the problems medications can deliver.

Another problem for me was after a while medications of each type started to lose it's effects. Meds aren't always a one stop deal...At least for me, and I have a huge weight problem I'm trying to get under control right now, so no meds for josh.

Honestly, nothing beats good ol' fashioned exercise. Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise is usually enough to keep me from feeling depressed for hours.

I know I'm most likely clinically depressed too but I'M TOO OLD TO GET PRESCRIBED SO I GOTTA TOUGH IT OUT ; ;....

so I have no idea lol

I have limited experience. All I know that the side-effects can really kick you in the balls whilst your body/brain adjusts to the pill.
The first one they tried on me was Sertraline, I think. Increased heartrate, constant fidgetting and restlessness, felt foggy headed, felt nausious, bloated and hungry at the same time, exhausted but couldn't sleep (and then when I did I hate really short, vivid dream moments depicting a brain being dissected of all things). It was like some terribad trip, only without the full-sensory spectrum of crazy. After that first pill, I outright refused to take another. They quickly set me up with some different ones, and the side effects were far better (hot-cold shivers at random, random nausia and brief confusing dizzy spells) which eventually wore off.

I can't even tell if they really 'worked'. Been on them for some time, and whilst I believe there has been an improvement, it's kind of hard to really say "It was the pill" when it could have also been due to time and personal adjustment, y'know?

I'm still on prozac...40 mg

I was prescribed something ages ago that I've forgotten the name of. It sorta worked to make me more balanced, but I also stopped being hungry completely. I knew I needed to eat, and I would, but I just had no taste for food anymore. Stopped taking it because of that.

I was prescribed adderal and effexor. Both worked wonders for when i was in high school. Effexor was for my depression that I didn't even realize I had. I felt fine most of the time and never like a zombie. When i finally got taken off the medication I felt the effects immediately. I can still manage without them but I know I would be better off with them. Good luck to whatever the is decided.

I was on citalopram for a bit. Aside from making me sleepy and able to stare at a wall without getting bored I couldn't tell that it affected me much., but my depression was minor and didn't really need drugs.

"able to stare at a wall without getting bored"

I've tried so hard to find a good way to describe that feeling to people, but this is EXACTLY right.

They're all rather addictive, aren't they?

Well they do have withdrawal symptoms which can be quite bad but I never felt addicted to Zoloft. I kept forgetting to even take it actually, and eventually just stopped because it was completely out of my system and I felt great, better than I did when I was on it in fact. I'd been trying to tell my therapist I didn't need it anymore but she just insisted that if my mood was better 'it was working' so I shouldn't stop :/ Ugh that lying bitch, I'm so better off without it. Don't listen to therapists that try to pressure you to take meds...

God they always are.

I haven't trusted much in the way of psychologists or therapists after some pretty negative experiences earlier in my life, so I can commiserate with the "telling you how you feel" sort of theme going on, at least. That said, iirc a lot of these anti-depression drugs carry a significant possibility of a created chemical dependency, from everything I've witnessed.

They can, but it varies just as much as it does with whether or not it will work. I was on ridiculous amounts of Prozac and Citalopram (on separate occasions) until I got irritated with the whole thing after many months and just stopped completely cold turkey... had no side effects at all. Felt much better as soon as the last of it was out my system.

However, with some people it can cause some bad withdrawal issues. They're not uncommon, but they're not common either.

I never had much luck with meds.

I know that "lol snap out of it" is the single least useful piece of advice to give, but that's eventually what actually worked for me. One day I just sorta looked at my situation and where I was headed, and decided that I was wasting my life being sad. Ever since then not a single fuck has been given.

Basically I came down with an incurable case of Ataraxia.

I hope you find something that works for you.

i'm on some rrrright now!
*nods*
it's a combination of heart medication but it also works as an antidepressant
tho the anti depressant doesn't work for me so much.
they make me walk around like a zombie most of the day and make me extra silly and make me sleepy and sleep 12 hours a day at least.
it's a medication based on natural products so ppl can't get addicted to it.
(tho i've had plenty of non-natural based pills to =3= )
*hug*

I layed on my back depressed fore a whole year. Six months before back surgery and six months after. Never saw a psychiatrist though I probably needed one. I'm still lazy as hell and I gained about 60 pounds but at least I'm trying to get out and do stuff now.
I'm kicking my own ass to get it in gear.

My experiences thus far:

Lexapro: Do not ever fucking take this, no matter who tells you to. The only reason this shit didn't kill me is because it literally made me too depressed to even move.

Wellbutrin: Will make you feel like your brain is made of cotton. Best to avoid it if you can. Unfortunately I'm kinda stuck on it because nothing else seems to really work, though my psychiatrist has lowered the dosage recently and I'm feeling a bit better.

Lamictal: Decent mood stabilizer, but it'll mellow out moods at both ends. So if you have a habit of getting SUPER EXCITED OMG about things, this'll put an end to that while you're on it.

Abilify: I actually didn't tolerate this stuff too well. Made me horrifically sick to the point where even a few sips of water would give me a crippling stomachache. So I'm guessing your mileage might vary.

Effexor: God damn. Makes your eyes more light sensitive, *might* give you some trouble focusing them, and you better hope no part of your body will respond to the "It's that time of the month!" signal because your brain will be pounding that button like a crackhead monkey eager for it's next fix.

Lithium: Made me hallucinate a lot and somehow destroyed my internal sense of balance. Like, closing my eyes for too long would make me fall over because I couldn't tell which way was down.

I døn't knøw specifically høw it wøμld affect øthers, bμt the generic versiøn øf Prøzac (Fluoxetine) had a cønsiderably impreßive effectiveneß øn me. I gave it a trial rμn øf abøμt 1 pill every day før twø weeks and saw a cønsiderable imprøvement in my cønfidence and demeanør. Began tø shøw møre signs øf søciable and extrøverted tendencies.

Nøw I døn't knøw if this is nørmal, bμt the effects lasted før at least føμr mønths after taking that twø-week trial. The ønly side effect I had was a very dysfμnctiønal sleep cycle. I jμst slept when my mind and bødy were bøth exhaμsted and the høμrs were varying. It was like my day never trμly ended før føμr mønths and I jμst tøøk naps periødically thrøμghøμt this "day". Dø bear in mind, this side effect I experienced isn't øn the μsμal list øf expected cønditiøns.

If yøμ care tø read, here's an article øn the general descriptiøn øf the medicatiøn, in case yøμr døctør hasn't briefed yøμ øn it. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedh.....th/PMH0000885/

Hey, not taking resolute medical advice from furries is your first big step. All medications affect certain people certain ways, and all have adjustment periods. Don't take a pill for two days, decide it doesn't work and fuck off onto the next thing. Ask your doctor questions, find out all you can. They are effectively working for you, after all.

I take wellbutrin (well, the generic, but they're chemically identical - another thing to note, with very, very few exceptions, generics are identical to the brand name stuff) for my narcolepsy, but it also helps greatly with my motivation issues. Helps me think a bit more clearly, and puts JUST enough bounce in my step to help me take initiative.

my mom whent from zombie to slug that could talk to me, that about it

Sometimes things are chemical imbalances, and medication can help "jump start" the body into doing it's thing again. People forget that just because you go on meds, that doesn't mean you'll be on them forever. I, personally, really resisted being put on medication, but I'm glad I did. I also was able to have a good six months this year without meds - and I'm glad I did that too.

I was started on Citalopram for my first round, and had good results with that. No side effects of note. However, it wasn't a high enough dose to reset me, and didn't do as well after my "weaning off" period." Since then, I've been on the generic of Welbutrin, and had good results with that. I do have a slew of issues if I take it at the wrong time of the day (I have to take it in the morning. If I do evening, I get dizziness, tinnitus, and nausea like clockwork at 7pm. It's weird), and that is apparently somewhat normal. However, I function very well on it - I personally don't have any problems feeling zombie-ish or uncreative.

Good luck.

as far as antidepressants went prozac (40mg) has been doing the best job and i never had any problems from withdrawing either. the only downside is, until prozac fully works properly, it'll take a good 1-3 weeks and it'll give you a couple of sleepless nights. also, prozac makes you feel like you never want to eat again, but probably have to at some point. expect to lose some weight. can be different to other people though!

one of my family members also used to take citalopram and she says it's great, but i never really had it myself.

Me, I don't actually have a useful stance on this one; I tend to overreact to meds, so I have zero idea how or how well they'd work normally. Whatever choice ya make, I hope it goes well!

As someone who requires anti-depressants to function, I can tell you that if they do turn you into a "mood zombie" you're not on the right one. Everyone's neurochemicals are different, which is why some meds work brilliantly for some people, but work extremely poorly for others. Personally, I take a combination of 300 mg of welbutrin and 10 mg of Lexapro daily, and it's the only way I can be un-depressed enough to get out of bed, and I will likely continue having to take them for the rest of my life. But I still have a full panoply of emotions, because I found the combination of medications that works for me. Which is another thing: don't be afraid to combine medications (on doctor's recommendation, of course). Sometimes a single pill doesn't cut it, and it takes two or three to help with everything.

Also, one word of warning that I learned the hard way: do not be afraid to push your psychiatrist. If the pills aren't working for you after a month or so, tell them to change them. My psychiatrist had me on Prozac for 4 months despite me telling him repeatedly that it wasn't doing anything for me, and only eventually changed after I was hospitalized for a suicide attempt. If it's not working, then change to another pill. Like I said before, not all pills work for everyone the same way. Good luck though.

Everyone reacts entirely differently, but...

Fluoxetine/ Prozac- zombified me. I found it gave me a weird hazey feeling in my head; I couldn't concentrate or make decisions/ logical thought processes without considerable effort, like walking through water. A bit like being drunk except with no confidence- boost or boost of any kind.

That was my personal reaction to it, but everyone is different.

Citalopram/Celexa/Cipramil- Same effect as Prozac but not quite as bad. Didn't improve my mood at all though.


Those are the only two I've been on... I personally appear to have a negative reaction to SSRIs. I've kind of just... avoided medication now, because I'm got work and exams and studies and being cotton-headed is very unhelpful.

However, that's me. No reason it shouldn't work for you at all.

Good luck, it's not fun having doctors and psychs and stuff in my experience

THA FUCK?!?

private messaging you now.

Prozac made me suicidal, but it's when I was in 8th grade and it said on the bottle "May have reverse effects on teenagers." so eah.

I was really depressed/anxious (Seasonal affective Disorder's big brother.) back in late september, and I got given some Xanax. It was really nice, I mean like instant 180, I was able to function, nothing got to me, and I only had to take it for about a month, and I was back on track.

I'm usually the type to just man up and put up with feeling crappy, but this had gotten so bad I was snapping randomly and had trouble at work. So your mileage may vary.

I've managed to get by without drugs, but I've had conversations with people who've used Prozac and Abilify. Abilify seems to work very well for schizophrenia, I'm not sure how effective it is against other problems. Prozac does seem to have a kind of zombie effect on many peopl, especially at large doses; maybe see if you can arrange a lower dosage, the side effects may be less bad.

Smoke weed :3!

Also, you should start calling your psychiatrist Fraser for the lulz

Hey there, managed to stumble upon this, and I couldn't help but put in my 2 cents...

One of the things that I still carry from my experiences w/these types of meds is that they don't do all the work, they're simply a working cog in the larger machine of recovery. Pills alone without therapeutic counseling, lifestyle changes or will to live+improve, simply won't cut the mustard.

My history with similar medications ( was also on Abilify @ one time, but also took various combinations of Risperdal, Zoloft, Adderall ) was without supplement of a supportive living situation, financial stability (practically had to beg Bristol-Myers Squibb for many months, Abilify was over $400 a refill w/out insurance) or regular therapy. At the time I experienced various side-effects, like an increased lack of focus, lethargy and increased appetite. On that note, I wouldn't hold it against you at all for the change of weight, I've had a massive gain myself years ago because of Abilify from which I'm still trying to recover. After less than a year with no visible improvement to my situation, I quit medication cold turkey much to the protestation of my parents and doctors— not an advisable decision by any means, I just happened to be lucky that I was able to keep myself stable + function as well as I did after that.

Today, my depression isn't nearly as bad since I've worked hard on making changes to my life: I've taken up regular exercise, rekindled my fascination with art as my hobby, go to therapy regularly, religion, etc... If anything, I think my problem now is attention deficit, still bad, but as damaging as the mental hell I had to endure in my days before.

It's about the will to live, improve and make life the best you can. I hope your situation works to your favor.