Hello all you strong ladies.....i have posted this question before about 4 months ago but i am just so tired of feeling this horrible and i feel like i just cant take it anymore! I feel like i just want to die! I always feel sick, dizzy and anxious (to the point where i dont leave my house!), i cant eat and ive lost so much weight, when i do finally get to eat for like 1 or 2 days it all comes back again hardcore, my gut and stomach are always gurgling! and now im beginning to get so depressed cause im trapped in this hell! I havent had a period since February. I tried taking Zoloft 2 years ago and i only lasted for one month on it, I hated the side effects cause it also made me feel sick alot, gave me bad headaches, and twitches but it did calm down the anxiety. Has anyone taken an antidepressant and it actually did help after being on it for over 3 months? Another worry i have is it will help with the depression and anxiety for awhile and then it will stop working then i will have to go through withdrawals on top of everything else!
I have been taking Venlafaxine (Effexor) for almost a year and it's been a life saver for me. It has calmed down my anxiety, mood swings and hot flashes. If you decide to try it, take it slowly; work the doses up slowly. I found my perfect dose at 150 mg. Everyone is different as to what will work for them.
yes they do!! when your estrogen lowers dueing peri and menopause it drops hour serotonin.
Thank u i need to hear about people who have had some success with it! I know its no miracle cure but any little bit helps to relieve the torture!
Thanks! im really considering it i just need to encouragement to stick with it as it takes a long time to help & not to mention side effects!
Hi Brandy,,, I just started amitrptaline well let you no Im on day 5 and seem to feel alittle happier this morning usually I can't even smile until noon since these hormones have hit with all the sleepless nights....
hello...yes please do let me know! I did the blood test to see what antidepressant i can take and zoloft, Lexapro & Celexa are the only ones i can take. Keep me informed!
Hi Brandy, I started this peri hell about 5 years ago. I knew it would be a rollercoaster. I just hadn't expected for the coaster to get stuck at the bottom of a hill in a long dark tunnel.
I finally gave up and requested help from my primary doc. I have been on Celexa 20 mg a day since then. I started to see light reaching me again after just 2 weeks. I feel so blessed we got both the med and the dose right on the first try.
I still have bad days, but they are cyclical again, more like the "old me", instead of being a never-ending slog through the bottom of the deepest trench.
The first few days you may feel a little odd...maybe some headache, maybe thoughts jumping around. Maybe less bloating even, which at first feels odd. Kinda like when a wound is healing and you can feel some tingle or itch or sensation where the healing is happening.
I didnt want to try AD's but I am so glad the doc persisted in educating me about positive experiences his patients had.
I hope you find what works for you. It can be life-saving. Let me know if you want more details. Happy to share. Sara
hello sara, thank you for the detailed reply. i have been prescribed 25mg of zoloft but im just so scared to take it. The last time i took it i had some pretty bad effects and i lost weight cause i didnt have an appetite. If i knew it would eventually start working i would risk the side effects. This hormone hell has been so awful! I get dizzy, nauseated, and then depression sets in cause of how bad i feel. I want this to be over :(
HI are you uk
hi I take citalopram and it really works for me . I also take cbd oil and I feel so much better more like my old self again.
hello no im in the US
I would never frown upon anyone's choice to use what works for them. I have had 2 different doctor's (not my family doctor, because sadly she has taken an extended leave from practice due to her own injury of some serious sort) try to perscribe anti-depressants to me for my Post Menopause however 1 of them made me feel terrible. The 2 different doctors said ... they will help with your anxiety due to Menopause. Oh No They did not, they made me feel very out of control. I went to my pharmacist whom I trust more than any doctor and one of the versions of the Anti Depressants is a drug he refused to fill. Said he would NEVER perscribe that drug for menopause. I unfortunately have every imaginable symptom of Menopause right now, (hot flashes, cold flashes, mood swings, anxiety, vag issues I don't even want to get into, joint pain, extra arthritis pain, itchy skin, stomach issues, bowel issues, leg cramps, bleeding gums, sleep issues, dry mouth, eyes and skin) and these doctors who are not my family doctor only keep saying, we can not treat all of your issues with just 1 med. Both of these doctors refuse to even consider HRT's for me because my mother has had breast cancer.... however prior to her leave my family Dr told me we can revisit HRT's because mom had her cancer so late in life I would have minimal increase in my risk of cancer. UGH I have learned to "pick my battles" when it comes to my symptoms, and for me it is sleep, pain management, and anxiety. And what I have ended up settling on, is Cannabis. THC for sleep, CBD for anxiety and pain management.
wow! I am sorry to hear about your struggles! I did try antidepressants at least 3 different times throughout this horrific experience and each time i walked away with their side effects (eyelid or facial twitches, terrible headaches, worsened anxiety, even more nausea, sleep paralysis) on top of my existing hormonal issues (loss of appetite, nausea, sleep issues, nervousness, taste loss, very dry skin hair & nails) the list goes on! I already feel like im going nuts but when i try the antidepressants it worsens it and i stop them after about a month. i have just felt so terrible i keep thinking maybe i just didnt give the antidepressant long enough to work. And thats really not surprising what the pharmacist said, I noticed generic is worse on me and the pharmacist told me that generics are NOT the same as name brand. Like you i think i have every damn menopause side effect and i feel like i cant take it anymore :( im grasping at straws
Yes, this whole experience is a nightmare...
Is there a specific reason the Dr stuck with Zoloft for you, instead of something different this time?
I understand about being hesitant to try the same one again if the first run wasn't pleasant.
hang in there, we're all here to listen when you need it.
I started the citalopram last week 10mg. It took away the horrible negative thinking and constant thinking and I was more relaxed however; I notice 2 days ago, I Started having palpatations, headache, shaking, numbness in my lips and arms and very diificult to have a orgasm. Couldn't believe that was actually one of the side effects. Anyway, I need to try something else because these side effects are bothersome to me.
hi brandy i have the exact same symptoms - nausea and anxiety, all the time for mist of the past 18 months - im only 42 so i dont know when this will end, so i decided to go back on anti depressants yesterday - escitalopram - or lexapro in the US, its been tested as being the most effective with least side effects, so im giving it a go! starting really slowly and so far im no better but no worse - ive been on ads before and they took 6-8 weeks to work so you need to give them time, zoloft was the only one ive taken that didnt work - i read that from a lot of people it just doesnt work for everyone, so maybe try something else?? x
yes i did the blood test to see what antidepressants i can take and there are only three, but the dna genetic technician said i should really just take the zoloft cause it is the only one my body can process properly
YES!! Same here, i just cant handle those crazy side effects to wait it out and see if it changes anything but then if you think about it you get used to the meds helping then when you try to come off of them its a living nightmare....i should know my mom has been on wellbutrin for 15 years and she cant get off them! She went on them just to help the mild sadness that came with the menopause now she gets anxiety and dark depressive episodes when she tries to come off the meds
i did the blood test to see what Ads i can the zoloft is pretty much my only one...the lab tech said lexapro & celexa are a maybe but she wouldnt recommend cause of how my dna would process it??