How should i feel being on anti depressants

[nell007]

im currently on Cipralex (aka Lexapro) - its been 7 weeks with no improvement from the reason i was on them in the beginning. How are anti depressants meant to make you feel? after this long and assuming its the correct med should i start to feel like myself again? ive had major anxiety for past 12 weeks  because of huge amounts of stress and the as a side effect from the contraceptive pill i was on.. ive had major side effects on the anti-d and currently tapering off them to see if it makes a difference but overall how should i feel once i find the right ones?

thanks any advise would be great.

[RubyWitch]

You are free to choose which way you want to go with your treatment, and as you can see, there are a number of options available.

I would just like to add that while I agree there is no "miracle pill" out there, there ARE medications that HAVE proven to be "miracle pills" for many of our posters. One cannot make a blanket statement for or against any treatment plan as we are all very different. If you want to attempt to go a "natural" route, I wish you the very best and hope it is successful for you. But should you find that it's not enough, I don't want you to feel like you've failed if you do indeed give meds another try. I would also like to advise you to NOT take anything, even if it's "natural," without discussing it with your doctor. Too many people believe that if it's "natural," it can't harm you and that is medically incorrect. If you are on any other meds, there could be a dangerous interaction.  
Please remember that we can only offer you opinions, NOT treatment plans.
Greenlydia  

[nell007]

Hey there thanks for the response
Im currently on the therapy thing as well as tapering off meds.. i still think the meds are half my probs.

I will be going back to see my doc next week to see what is the best options but i do like the idea of being off anti depressants - esp cause i agree that there isnt a miracle pill so why be on them..??

anyways thanks again

[M4Y0U]

Hello there,

While i approve finding the right anti-depressants may be a solution and give you improvement. I think a lifestyle change mixed with a therapy might be the key. But you can talk to you doctor about Cymbalta which is a SNRI ( Lexapro is a SSRI ) and it might also be the key for you ( you should feel better, in response to your question ).

Personally i think there's no miracle pill and anxiety is something that need to be worked on hard.

I often suggest people physical activity and healthy diet as a lifestyle change. But it isn't all. Food form the grocery are processed and modified to the point they lack the nutriments we need for good health and the reason is to maximize profits. So we must be careful to what we eat and unless we grow our own food, sprout our own germs and hunt our own animals i think we all need food supplements and vitamins ( multi-vitamins and mineral complex like Centrum ). Vitamins B are especially good at reducing anxiety and giving energy. A  vitamin B6 deficiency may lead to anemia, depression, dermatitis, high blood pressure (hypertension), water retention, and elevated levels of homocysteine. Just to give you an example.

Mental and physical health is not so complicated. Our modern lifestyle( including diet and lack of exercise ), from my point of view, is responsible for the increase in mental and physical illness and people are more and more aware of this but there is still a long way to do.

So i give you 4 choices after you tapered off Lexapro.

First choice is the lifestyle change, physical activity and healthy diet combined with natural anti-anxiety medications that might help you with anxiety until it is cured.

Anti-anxiety medications like Serelax and Seredyn ( that can be bought over the internet or at you local food supplements store ) are made of ingredients that are also available to purchase individually so you can choose what works best for you. I will name them all here.

-Gamma-aminobutyric Acid (GABA) ( included in Serelax )
-Passionflower ( included in both Seredyn and Serelax )
-Kava ( included in Serelax )
-Valerian ( included in both Seredyn and Serelax )
-5-HPT ( included in Serelax )
-L-Theanine ( included in both Seredyn and Serelax )
-Niacinamide ( included in Seredyn )
-Magnesium Taurinate ( included in Seredyn )

Along with this i also suggest trying natural ''superfood'' ( food that contains extremely high portion of nutriments ) supplements like Green+ or SuperfoodRX that can also be bought to you local food supplement store ( if sprouting isn't your cup of tea ). Those mixed with multi-vitamins and minerals complex will compensate for the lack of nutriments induced by out modern lifestyle.

Second choice is a therapy that might cure the problem to the root.

Third choice is a switch of antidepressant ( like trying Cymbalta after tapering off Lexapro to see if it can help you ).

Forth choice is antidepressant along with therapy.

I am pretty sure will all those advices you can cure you anxiety. You have many options to choose from. Pick the one that sounds better to you.

Please consider that I'm not a doctor and you should not take anti-anxiety remedies combined with antidepressant and those are all issues you should discuss with your doctor.

Best regards,
M4