Many people take anti depressants, and SSRI’s seem to be the favoured group of medicines over the older type tricyclics.I often read how people have resisted this type of medicine as if they’re going to be labelled as some...
Many people take anti depressants, and SSRI’s seem to be the favoured group of medicines over the older type tricyclics.
I often read how people have resisted this type of medicine as if they’re going to be labelled as some kind of nut, be addicted to them, seen as being weak or some other strange notion they’ve conjured up. Let me tell you … these medicines are there to help you and are designed to work on this type of ailment just the same as blood pressure meds help those with high blood pressure, a pain killer to help with pain, insulin for those with diabetes … so what’s wrong with taking antidepressants to help with depression, anxiety etc? Just take them.
You wouldn’t expect a heart patient to try and cope with his issue without medicine or specialist help, so why is depression / anxiety any different?
Seeking help or taking medicine does not make you weak, does not label you as insane, does not make you addicted to them. Depression / anxiety etc is a medicinal condition just the same as having any other medicinal condition, so please don’t ever be afraid to reach out for help or antidepressants. SSRI’s will absolutely help you and why struggle with the quality of your life when it can be remedied?
I’ve written many blog posts about the Dr Weekes / Paul David method of acceptance, and yes, whilst this works, it is difficult to live alongside anxiety whilst you recover and some people just can’t grasp the acceptance notion. So do both - take medicine and study the Weekes method, as you’ll find the method makes more sense as your mind begins to clear.
SSRI’s can be tough to take and many people give them up as can’t tolerate them. My experience with them has always been positive and were the only thing (at the time) to help me recover from 15 years of of / off anxiety.
There are many different types of SSRI’s and if one doesn’t suit you then you can try others - however, you need to give one type at least 6 months before you can tell.
You will not get instant results from SSRI’s and don’t expect to feel well in 6-8 weeks either as many health professionals tell you. Also it’s not a straight progressive ascending line to happiness, but instead you feel up and down for a long time.
Some people feel better after about 2 weeks of taking meds, but beware, as this often proves false and you will probably come crashing down again. Don’t worry though as this is perfectly normal and is a pattern that will repeat itself over and over as you recover on your journey.
This down spiral is called setbacks (blips) and they’re part of the recovery process as your body adjusts to the meds. It feels like you’ve gone backwards and many people despair, rush to their doctor and often get their dose increased. This will not relieve the setback.
What dose should you take? That’s all personal and depends on you, your body, shape, size maybe …… and tolerance. If in doubt start low and work your way up to the required dose, but do this over a long time and not in days as you might as well just start on a high dose.
These meds have side effects and no 2 people will experience the same ones, so do not compare yourself to someone else. Each persons meds journey is unique to them. The meds often make you feel worse to start with as they raise your anxiety levels, so this is why it’s best to start on a low dose. Also when you increase your dose you may also feel heightened symptoms again until all settles. This anxiety increase does calm down and it’s usually only the first few weeks you’ll feel this.
How do you know if you’re on the right dose for you? That’s a difficult one and it’s often trial and error getting it just right, but I’d say if you’ve reached the required therapeutic dose prescribed by your doctor, then stick with it for a very long, long time - 6 months at least.
?The bigger the dose does not mean the quicker they’ll work. You cannot recover quick on these meds and certainly not from anxiety. Remember, it’s what dose suits your body and taking too much can often mean you’ll have continuous side effects and anxiety. Lowering your dose usually remedies this.
Usually around month 3 people often have started getting good days (or hours) mixed with bad days, and this is how recovery starts to feel. It creeps in gradually and you may start experiencing the odd time here and there when you feel at peace from your symptoms (as if someone has switched the lights on) - people often think they’re recovered and become disappointed when a setback crops up thinking they’re ill again. You’re not - this is how recovery works and those setbacks will come back time after time until they gradually get weaker and finally stop coming. Having setbacks means you are recovering (not the other way round).
So expect an up and down affair - read up on the Weekes / Paul David method of acceptance and try to apply it when you have a setback. You can’t stop setbacks, but working with acceptance helps immensely and is something you can apply at anytime.
How do these meds work?
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and helps to make us feel happy (think of it as your happy hormone). Serotonin passes along our nerves (we have millions of them in the body) and when it reaches the end of the nerve it passes through a gap called the Synapses and gathers there for a while before being absorbed by the next nerve ending to travel along that one. The abundance of Serotonin in the Synapses gap is what makes us feel good, so what the SSRI medicine does is that it stops the Serotonin being absorbed too quickly from the gap, allowing it to accumulate there longer before it’s absorbed. This abundance makes us feel happy (hence SSRI meaning Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor).
?This process of accumulating Serotonin is why we first feel all these side effects - the abundance makes us feel happy, then absorption makes us crash etc etc, over and over until our body adapts.
How long should you stay on meds?
I’ve read that it’s best to stay on meds for at least 12 months - and you can take these for life if needed. They are not addictive!! Addictive meds means your body becomes used to the dose and will then need higher doses to achieve the same results, over and over. SSRI’s do not work like that at all - once your dose works then it will continue to do so without needing to increase.
Withdrawing from meds:
?When recovered many decide they no longer need the meds and decide to withdraw. Never do this on your own, so please discuss with your doctor. One thing I will emphasise is to NEVER, EVER stop these abruptly (cold turkey) because you will certainly crash and become very ill, and probably feel worse than you did when first suffering with anxiety. The sudden ceasing of these meds will make your body cry out for Serotonin, and it’s a very unpleasant and often frightening experience. I personally spent a year withdrawing, reducing my meds by 5mg each time which was gentle on my body - in fact my body didn’t notice at all so I had a symptom free withdrawal. See my page on Coming off SSRI's.
If you have gone cold turkey and feel ill then you must speak to your doctor and reinstate your meds again AT A LOW DOSE to ease your body back onto them. Don’t go straight onto your normal dose but do it gradually. Too high a dose and you’ll get medicine start up symptoms mixed with withdrawal symptoms. Restarting at a low dose won’t feel well immediately but over time the symptoms will ease. Wait until you feel well and then withdraw slowly and more responsibly.
?Many people find once they’ve withdrawn from these meds safely, that their anxiety can return. This is often because they’ve not learnt about anxiety, acceptance etc so at the first sign of not feeling right, they make the same mistake as before and start questioning it, trying to fix it, fight it which leads straight back into the anxiety cycle again.
As well as taking meds, study the Weekes / Paul David method because this will always stand by you throughout life whether you take meds or not.
One important thing to always know is that there is nothing quick about anxiety. It doesn’t start quickly overnight, you can’t fix it quickly, acceptance doesn’t work quickly, medicine doesn’t work quickly and withdrawing doesn’t work quick either. Everything takes it time and you cannot hurry anything when it comes to the anxiety condition - and if you try, then it’ll make it worse.
So take your meds, persevere, read the Weekes / Paul David method too to educate yourself, and persevere some more. The relief you’re looking for will come to you in its own time.
Remember - always consult your doctor or health care professional for advice on your medication.
I often read how people have resisted this type of medicine as if they’re going to be labelled as some kind of nut, be addicted to them, seen as being weak or some other strange notion they’ve conjured up. Let me tell you … these medicines are there to help you and are designed to work on this type of ailment just the same as blood pressure meds help those with high blood pressure, a pain killer to help with pain, insulin for those with diabetes … so what’s wrong with taking antidepressants to help with depression, anxiety etc? Just take them.
You wouldn’t expect a heart patient to try and cope with his issue without medicine or specialist help, so why is depression / anxiety any different?
Seeking help or taking medicine does not make you weak, does not label you as insane, does not make you addicted to them. Depression / anxiety etc is a medicinal condition just the same as having any other medicinal condition, so please don’t ever be afraid to reach out for help or antidepressants. SSRI’s will absolutely help you and why struggle with the quality of your life when it can be remedied?
I’ve written many blog posts about the Dr Weekes / Paul David method of acceptance, and yes, whilst this works, it is difficult to live alongside anxiety whilst you recover and some people just can’t grasp the acceptance notion. So do both - take medicine and study the Weekes method, as you’ll find the method makes more sense as your mind begins to clear.
SSRI’s can be tough to take and many people give them up as can’t tolerate them. My experience with them has always been positive and were the only thing (at the time) to help me recover from 15 years of of / off anxiety.
There are many different types of SSRI’s and if one doesn’t suit you then you can try others - however, you need to give one type at least 6 months before you can tell.
You will not get instant results from SSRI’s and don’t expect to feel well in 6-8 weeks either as many health professionals tell you. Also it’s not a straight progressive ascending line to happiness, but instead you feel up and down for a long time.
Some people feel better after about 2 weeks of taking meds, but beware, as this often proves false and you will probably come crashing down again. Don’t worry though as this is perfectly normal and is a pattern that will repeat itself over and over as you recover on your journey.
This down spiral is called setbacks (blips) and they’re part of the recovery process as your body adjusts to the meds. It feels like you’ve gone backwards and many people despair, rush to their doctor and often get their dose increased. This will not relieve the setback.
What dose should you take? That’s all personal and depends on you, your body, shape, size maybe …… and tolerance. If in doubt start low and work your way up to the required dose, but do this over a long time and not in days as you might as well just start on a high dose.
These meds have side effects and no 2 people will experience the same ones, so do not compare yourself to someone else. Each persons meds journey is unique to them. The meds often make you feel worse to start with as they raise your anxiety levels, so this is why it’s best to start on a low dose. Also when you increase your dose you may also feel heightened symptoms again until all settles. This anxiety increase does calm down and it’s usually only the first few weeks you’ll feel this.
How do you know if you’re on the right dose for you? That’s a difficult one and it’s often trial and error getting it just right, but I’d say if you’ve reached the required therapeutic dose prescribed by your doctor, then stick with it for a very long, long time - 6 months at least.
?The bigger the dose does not mean the quicker they’ll work. You cannot recover quick on these meds and certainly not from anxiety. Remember, it’s what dose suits your body and taking too much can often mean you’ll have continuous side effects and anxiety. Lowering your dose usually remedies this.
Usually around month 3 people often have started getting good days (or hours) mixed with bad days, and this is how recovery starts to feel. It creeps in gradually and you may start experiencing the odd time here and there when you feel at peace from your symptoms (as if someone has switched the lights on) - people often think they’re recovered and become disappointed when a setback crops up thinking they’re ill again. You’re not - this is how recovery works and those setbacks will come back time after time until they gradually get weaker and finally stop coming. Having setbacks means you are recovering (not the other way round).
So expect an up and down affair - read up on the Weekes / Paul David method of acceptance and try to apply it when you have a setback. You can’t stop setbacks, but working with acceptance helps immensely and is something you can apply at anytime.
How do these meds work?
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and helps to make us feel happy (think of it as your happy hormone). Serotonin passes along our nerves (we have millions of them in the body) and when it reaches the end of the nerve it passes through a gap called the Synapses and gathers there for a while before being absorbed by the next nerve ending to travel along that one. The abundance of Serotonin in the Synapses gap is what makes us feel good, so what the SSRI medicine does is that it stops the Serotonin being absorbed too quickly from the gap, allowing it to accumulate there longer before it’s absorbed. This abundance makes us feel happy (hence SSRI meaning Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor).
?This process of accumulating Serotonin is why we first feel all these side effects - the abundance makes us feel happy, then absorption makes us crash etc etc, over and over until our body adapts.
How long should you stay on meds?
I’ve read that it’s best to stay on meds for at least 12 months - and you can take these for life if needed. They are not addictive!! Addictive meds means your body becomes used to the dose and will then need higher doses to achieve the same results, over and over. SSRI’s do not work like that at all - once your dose works then it will continue to do so without needing to increase.
Withdrawing from meds:
?When recovered many decide they no longer need the meds and decide to withdraw. Never do this on your own, so please discuss with your doctor. One thing I will emphasise is to NEVER, EVER stop these abruptly (cold turkey) because you will certainly crash and become very ill, and probably feel worse than you did when first suffering with anxiety. The sudden ceasing of these meds will make your body cry out for Serotonin, and it’s a very unpleasant and often frightening experience. I personally spent a year withdrawing, reducing my meds by 5mg each time which was gentle on my body - in fact my body didn’t notice at all so I had a symptom free withdrawal. See my page on Coming off SSRI's.
If you have gone cold turkey and feel ill then you must speak to your doctor and reinstate your meds again AT A LOW DOSE to ease your body back onto them. Don’t go straight onto your normal dose but do it gradually. Too high a dose and you’ll get medicine start up symptoms mixed with withdrawal symptoms. Restarting at a low dose won’t feel well immediately but over time the symptoms will ease. Wait until you feel well and then withdraw slowly and more responsibly.
?Many people find once they’ve withdrawn from these meds safely, that their anxiety can return. This is often because they’ve not learnt about anxiety, acceptance etc so at the first sign of not feeling right, they make the same mistake as before and start questioning it, trying to fix it, fight it which leads straight back into the anxiety cycle again.
As well as taking meds, study the Weekes / Paul David method because this will always stand by you throughout life whether you take meds or not.
One important thing to always know is that there is nothing quick about anxiety. It doesn’t start quickly overnight, you can’t fix it quickly, acceptance doesn’t work quickly, medicine doesn’t work quickly and withdrawing doesn’t work quick either. Everything takes it time and you cannot hurry anything when it comes to the anxiety condition - and if you try, then it’ll make it worse.
So take your meds, persevere, read the Weekes / Paul David method too to educate yourself, and persevere some more. The relief you’re looking for will come to you in its own time.
Remember - always consult your doctor or health care professional for advice on your medication.
