[CW: DEPRESSION]

spoiler

I've been at a really low point with my mental health, I've lost the motivation to do most things save for personal hygiene and grooming. I wouldn't say that my situation is severe thankfully, but it is seriously hindering my academic, physical health, career prospects, and personal relationships. I want to talk to my doctor and get started on antidepressants before I really lose control of my life.

One of my close friends is on antidepressants and that gave me enough courage to actually seek help from my primary care physician. But right now I need some more information.

My question: Those of you who are on -or have been on- antidepressants, what were your experiences? I'm really worried about side effects (mainly CNS, Autonomic, and especially the risk of serotonin syndrome) while taking these kinds of drugs. But I'd also like to know about your experiences first taking them, how you've adjusted to doses, and how you overall felt. Experiences with other therapies are also welcome!

Please don't be shy, and share as much as you feel comfortable! Thank you!

penguin-love

  • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]M
    ·
    edit-2
    4 months ago

    Might be experiencing bad ones right now. Recently got put on buspirone and I've been having really vivid and painful nightmares in which I'm tortured, killed, or subjected to a harrowing traumatic event. They've gotten increasingly frequent over the last few weeks to the point where for the last few nights, I've been waking from nightmares in a cold sweat every 40-90 minutes.

    It might also be entirety unrelated to the medication. Worth noting that it's an anxiolytic, and neither an SSRI nor an SNRI.

      • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]M
        ·
        4 months ago

        I honestly don't know if it's actually buspirone related.

        Having said that, I stopped taking it the day before yesterday and last night I actually got a full night's sleep and don't remember having any nightmares at all. Just a weird dream in which I drove a go-kart and was running for joint-mayor of a city with a close friend the dream made up, on a platform of curing diseased trees by taking them out of the ground and bringing them to a plant hospital and raising the ceilings of all multi-story buildings somehow.