[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation

I really don't want to harsh your buzz because I'm really glad all of that happened to you, but antidepressants typically take 2, 4, even 8 weeks to work. Within a week is very unlikely. The reason I'm saying this is that there also could be serious side effects within that timeframe and, even if you're feeling better now, you need to be hyperaware of them because they include things like suicidal thoughts. Antidepressants can sometimes do the opposite of what is intended. The brain is complicated and it often takes more than one trial before you find the one that works for you. I went through at least 4 different antidepressants until I found one that worked- although I'm type II bipolar, making it more complicated, but my wife, who is not, had the same issues.

Like I said, I'm really happy for you that you got sleep and feel more energetic, but please, please, please pay attention to what your body and mind are telling you more than usual over the next couple of months.

Woo! That's really nice to hear! You're really lucky haha I remember for me during my first week while my body was getting used to it I was feeling really nauseous and couldn't sleep lol.

Also like @[email protected] said I agree you should be careful as it is unusual to be feeling better that quickly. There are many reasons that could happen tho, the obvious one is placebo (but who cares really if you're feeling better); second one is that the desicion to go get antidepressants has had a positive benefit to your life and made you feel like you want to make even more progress, in turn increaseing your happiness; third one is mania (extreme euphoria) which is extremely unlikely, but a dangerous potential side effect of anti-depressants and you probably need to call an ambulance if this happens; and finally fourth one is that it really has just worked extra quickly for you, which is unlikely but not impossible!

So whatever the reason is I'm glad it's working out for you, just be mindful of your emotions but don't worry too much as you'll probably be able to tell if something is seriously wrong.

Good look for the future :)

Congrats! I started mine in May of this year and can absolutely relate to the "headache I didn't know I had" feeling. I'm less agitated and more able to enjoy things. The biggest thing for me was being able to enjoy social gatherings again. Since starting my meds we have had 3 parties at our house. Which is more than we had in the 10 years prior. Really a life changer. I hope it continues to go well for you!

Happy to hear that you are feeling better!

I've been on them for about 10 years now , they've made a big difference to my life , I don't think I'd be here now if I wasn't

Congrats! I have used antidepressants several times to help manage my depression. It can be amazing how helpful they are. Not just in the relief of symptoms, but in giving the breathing room to engage in longer term, deep impact activities, like therapy and exercise. Despite the popular advice, neither of those is really easy when you are in a depressive episode, but I was able to engage in both longterm thanks to antidepressants, and that made lasting changes to my mental health. I have occasionally refilled a script for antidepressant, (just in case), but haven't actually needed them for years

What are you taking? I've tried a couple different ones - effexor, pristiq, lexapro. The yawning and sweating drove me crazy. If you start having weird thoughts, remember it's the med. For me the 'suicidal thoughts' were really just an absence of fear of death - feeling like I'm one of a bazillion people to have lived, we all come and go, and my like holds no more meaning than any of those before or after me.

I took Mirtazapine for a while last year, just the sleep and appetite helped a lot. I've considered asking about something else, since my mood and anxiety isn't great, but I don't know.

I had a terrible time on antidepressants, but that's because I'm bipolar type 2 and they don't work on us. Instead I got a mood stabilizer and naltrexone for the anxiety disorder, and I'm like a new person. Naltrexone is actually incredible, it's usually used for alcohol abuse but it worked super well for my anxiety and I'm so different now.

Anyway not to make this about me, just sharing your feelings that it feels great to improve so much. I'm glad for you OP.

Hey, I'm so glad it's helping!

Finding the right med for me was 100% a game changer. My brain would race for hours at night time, but now I can sleep throughout the night, and if my dog wakes me up to go potty, I can fall right back asleep afterwards. Words can't express how that changed my life.

An even bigger change for me was brain fog. I'd lived my whole life with it constantly. That's gone now, and I was able to go back to school and earn my AS because of it. Turns out I wasn't lazy or dumb, just exhausted and constantly foggy.

I wonder a lot about how we'll view how we treat people who struggle to do well in school as lazy in the future. The fact that I was so easily labeled as such by teachers in my childhood and sometimes treated cruelly because of it is pretty wild, considering what I know now.

I was having a few drinks last weekend and you know that slight buzz you get when you're only a few drinks in? I thought how fucking good would it be to feel like that all the time.... Is that kind of what this shit does??

I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful new chapter in your life!