it doesIt took me 20 hours of my life, if that makes you happier.
Stay strong!my parents just left to the hospital because my mom might been having the beginning of a stroke
i hate my life
it ended up being "just" face paralysis but damn what a scary night. just woke up and i feel like i havent slept at allStay strong!
Hope things will get better for your mother.
The last few weeks have been surreal for me. Things happened and I was prescribed antidepressants and this time I took them (I refused to for years). These Sertraline tablets had a terrible way with my body and mind though. I was experiencing persistent panic attacks. I could barely string sentences together. It felt like there was someone standing behind me with two fingers and thumbs pulling back my eyelids at all times. On day five I woke up as usual feeling horribly sick but I could feel the top of my head going cold also, like it was freezing with a million pins and needles, and yet I was sweating with a soaring temperature. I was shaking and panicking, eventually completely losing control of my breath. I had to for the first time in my life call an ambulance. I won’t go over the details of what happened when they got here but it was absolutely awful, and things got worse. The last few weeks (heck, months even) had already been hard for me, more so than usual. I couldn’t catch even a little break when trying something with an open “come on, let’s do this!” frame of mind. But it's ok! I made it through.
It’s been five days now almost without that stuff entering my body but i've still had to wait for it to exit. Gradually I’ve gained control of myself again. I feel a bit groggy but I'm starting to feel like me. It takes five days before 99% of the Sertraline leaves your body. This stuff works for some but it's obviously not going to be the route for me. Besides all the scary stuff that happened to my body, I was a completely different person during my time on this medication, unable to function on a basic level, laugh, enjoy music etc. In a super strange way, this whole nightmarish experience has left me more optimistic than I’ve ever been about my future. There are other things I can do to help manage my anxiety and lift myself up away from depression. A big part of that can be talking, and I'm starting to be more open. A couple of people helped me out here recently, and I'm grateful for that. Over the years in fact people have shown me such kindness here, even when I've been difficult or distant. I love this community so much.
So yeah, long story short: Scary, unpleasant few weeks but I'm feeling optimistic and also grateful for everything I've got.
The last few weeks have been surreal for me. Things happened and I was prescribed antidepressants and this time I took them (I refused to for years). These Sertraline tablets had a terrible way with my body and mind though. I was experiencing persistent panic attacks. I could barely string sentences together. It felt like there was someone standing behind me with two fingers and thumbs pulling back my eyelids at all times. On day five I woke up as usual feeling horribly sick but I could feel the top of my head going cold also, like it was freezing with a million pins and needles, and yet I was sweating with a soaring temperature. I was shaking and panicking, eventually completely losing control of my breath. I had to for the first time in my life call an ambulance. I won’t go over the details of what happened when they got here but it was absolutely awful, and things got worse. The last few weeks (heck, months even) had already been hard for me, more so than usual. I couldn’t catch even a little break when trying something with an open “come on, let’s do this!” frame of mind. But it's ok! I made it through.
It’s been five days now almost without that stuff entering my body but i've still had to wait for it to exit. Gradually I’ve gained control of myself again. I feel a bit groggy but I'm starting to feel like me. It takes five days before 99% of the Sertraline leaves your body. This stuff works for some but it's obviously not going to be the route for me. Besides all the scary stuff that happened to my body, I was a completely different person during my time on this medication, unable to function on a basic level, laugh, enjoy music etc. In a super strange way, this whole nightmarish experience has left me more optimistic than I’ve ever been about my future. There are other things I can do to help manage my anxiety and lift myself up away from depression. A big part of that can be talking, and I'm starting to be more open. A couple of people helped me out here recently, and I'm grateful for that. Over the years in fact people have shown me such kindness here, even when I've been difficult or distant. I love this community so much.
So yeah, long story short: Scary, unpleasant few weeks but I'm feeling optimistic and also grateful for everything I've got.
Yeah, I've been doing a lot of research and there are other medications. I'm naturally kind of (secretly a lot) scared all over again about trying meds cause of what happened but we'll see. I'll give whatever a go.
In fact, I was prescribed Diazepam with the Sertraline, and told only to take them if I was panicking or feeling really anxious about upcoming events, situations etc. These have been doing their job but I understand they are not supposed to be a full time thing. Since my whole episode I've been taking a Diazepam if I've been feeling some kind of attack coming on and they've been working (perhaps too well). Maybe if I could long term be able to use something like this for just troubling situations, it might work out better for me.
Kai, besides the side effects, sertraline (or any antidepressant) sometimes doesn't work because depression has multiple causes and triggers, some people need a combination of medication, therapy and lifestyle change
Our body is not a collection of separated systems. Example: hypothyroidism (when the thyroid is not producing sufficient hormones) can lead to depression and anxiety symptoms. Sometimes people are diagnosed with depression without knowing they have a thyroid dysfunction..... the use of antidepressants doesn't fix the root cause. Lithium, used for some cases of depression, can lead to hypothyroidism. HYPERthyroidism, on the other hand, can lead to panic attacks and anxiety. The main cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's thyroiditis and the main cause of hyperthyroidism is Grave's - autoimmune diseases (when the immune system attacks the body's own tissues)... and autoimmune diseases (diabetes type 1, psoriasis, vitiligo, rheumathoid arthritis, celiac disease, Crohn's) can be associated with depression. Diabetes type 2, which is not autoimmune, can be associated with depression and certain autoimmune diseases. Some biochemical events that occur due to external influence are the same.
For people with autoimmune diseases, diabetes type 2 and other chronic diseases, besides medication, a key step is self-care/lifestyle change, managing stress and inflammation. Among the hypotheses that try to explain the origin of depression, a recent one says that inflammation plays a role.
It may be helpful to consult a Functional Medicine professional
Thank you Fer for writing to me I appreciate it so much. This was a very interesting and helpful read. I luckily don't live with any autoimmune diseases, but I do have irritable bowel syndrome. Years back my doctor believed I might have had Crohn's but it was ruled out. The IBS does have a negative effect on my life though, and certainly can add to my low moods and anxieties, along with tinnitus, my hearing problem I've lived with since I was a child.
I'm working on making lifestyle changes, and the plan is also to have counseling eventually (it's taking a long while to come to fruition even though I'm on a list for help). I reached a point where I was willing to try anything, but medication round 1 unfortunately didn't work for me. It does make me scared and reluctant to try other drugs. In case I did go down that route again, I think professionals finding out more about my brain and how it works next time could help.