antidepressants, do they actually work? Options

[deadinaditch]

i have a history of depression in my family, and for the last couple months i've been having a hard time with mood swings. i have all the symptoms of the disorder: aches and pains in the neck and shoulders, apetite loss, sleeping too much, all of it. they haven't taken me to a doctor yet and i'd actually like to have a second opinion before they send me off to the haven of piss tests (scary thought) and blood drawing (scarier thought).

both of my parents are prescribed to wellbutrin.

has anybody had any experience with any sort of medication, becoming prescribed and its afteraffects? is it worth it? does it work? does it change how you act? is it likely i'll have seizures? i'm kind of afraid.

thanks a lot...

[believe]

I've been on several anti-depressants (zoloft, depakote, prozac and trazodone for depression/sleep issues over the last 12 years), most recently EffexorXR. If you've ruled out being a temporary thing due to real life (a few weeks) which you've seem to and other things haven't helped, I'd by all means look at medication. Its best to try other things first, but if you need it? Its beyond worth it.

There is no comparision to my life now and what it was before. I'm a much more stable, happier and stronger person. While I still have some anxiety and depression issues, I'm much more capable of dealing with them and functioning. I'm still me, just a far less miserable me.

Side-effects: Generally the one I hear about (with the people at work and freinds) is people feeling funny or not liking the way it feels or having a particular drug just not work. This doesn't feel good, but as you're not feeling good to begin with, there's nothing to lose. I had a bit of dry mouth with EffexorXR, but nothing otherwise. The side-effects they list are possible, which is why you need a doctor involved, but I wouldn't get too freaked out by them. Seizures and such, if the drug your prescribed causes them are rare and could happen with any medication you're been prescribed. On very rare occasions, people just have allergeric reactions. The anti-psychotics sound like something to be a bit more wary of, but there are so many anti-depressants availiable now that people are hardly limited to that. Topamax seems to cause some short term memory issues, which is icky enough to me that I'm noting it here.

Just remember that if you get a drug thats not working for you, you can -stop- it. Most doctors start you on small doses for this reason. If you feel funny, you can taper off or just stop depending on how long its been. A drug like these certainly affects brain chemistry, but it doesn't change your personality from type a to b or anything that dramatic. Atm, it doesn't sound like you're functioning like the real you anyway. ._. Its hard to be properly yourself when struggling.