WITHDRAWAL IS WORTH IT antidepressants carry risks. When considering whether to take them, always discuss it with your doctor and try the lowest dose first. Dose can always be turned up. Side effects can be troubling. Interactions with other drugs can be an issue. As a result your ability to drive could be impaired.
WITHDRAWAL IS WORTH IT because antidepressants should only be short lived.
Great care should be taken that it is safe for you to drive on the drugs you are taking. DVSA.gov has a page that advises on medication and driving. Should you be involved in an accident and it should become apparent you are impaired, this could result in all sorts of trouble. As well as the issue of possible injuries, your insurance would be rendered invalid. Of course the situation goes downhill from there.
https://www.gov.uk/drug-driving-law
WITHDRAWAL IS WORTH IT LET’S NOT PAINT THEM THE VILIAN TOO MUCH
Antidepressants have their place and I can’t say with my hand on my heart that I could have coped without. My only regret is seeing them as a long term crutch. Some of the side effects can do more harm than good should you suffer them. Migraines run in my family but the meds made mine far more frequent. Weight gain didn’t help the issues that led me to take them in the first place. Right now, you could be saying, ” how does a tiny pill make you fat “. Asking that very question, I looked into it. SSRI’s change your metabolism by increasing appetite. In addition to that the way in which our bodies burn calories. Coupled with any other medication you may be taking can cause your chemistry to change. As a side effect of that, the longer we take them for the more the body settles to it’s new way of working and can get stuck in it. Making the journey back out more difficult.
WITHDRAWAL AND THE SIDE EFFECTS
Withdrawal is more difficult the longer you have been on the medication. On starting the course of meds they take around two months to start working. Expect withdrawing to take up to 3 times that! Imagine your mind as a snow covered hillside with your thoughts like little sleds. Each sled making their own path each time. Depending on your state of mind, many thoughts take the same path. Taking antidepressants is like a new snow fall that allow the sleds to take new paths in the snow. Over time the new pathways become permanent and you can lose who you were prior to treatment. Of course you want to change some of those thought patterns. However a blanket of fresh snow tends to cover everything up and you don’t want to change everything.
Keeping part of who you are is important. When you look back and try to recover good memories, they may have been covered up. That in itself can cause new anxiety and in some cases depression. Problem being that you never feel in a good enough place. Last place you want to be is at the top of your medication dose range and feeling hopeless again. You won’t get all of the withdrawal symptoms but you will almost certainly get a couple. If you follow medical advice and take your time they should be short lived and mild. Sleep issues, vomiting and nausea, bowel problems, new anxiety/ depression, co-ordination loss, aggression, just to name a few. Bad days will get further apart and less dominant. It is worth gritting your teeth and going through these days. Put your head down and weather the storm. The sense of achievement on the other side is awesome.
