Like with anything, it effects people differently. What specific med was your doctor wanting to put you on ?
You’ll get a lot of anecdotal and amateur opinions, but one thing is for sure, it’s often a good idea to get a second opinion from a different doctor for any major health decision
If you’ve got a good doctor who will keep close tabs on you and you have a good relationship with him they should be fine. I’m assuming that you would also know if there was a problem and needed to quit taking them (slowly)
My doctor put me on amitriptalene (sp) type drug due to chronic core body pain.
I was on it a week and my mind got incredibly fuzzy..
I took myself off of it because I HATED what it did to my mind, i felt like I was on a triple dosage of NYQUIL constantly.
I told the doctor I would just live with the pain, recently I had surgery that resolved the issue and no more pain, so i chose to live without the drugs for half a decade in pain that have my mind foggy.
I have seen several people with severe depression brighten up dramatically after using the correct medication. I have heard of antidepressants being used as an adjunct for things like chronic pain but I have no real knowledge of this. They do have side effects and require monitoring.
There are alot of variables, which you probably don’t want to disclose here: gender, age, family history of depression, are there family members who can monitor any mood changes, etc....and how long have you known/trusted this doctor.
My non-medical opinion would be that your initial concern is indicative that you would be a careful user of them.
And, your doctor’s medical opinion seems to be that they would be useful to you.
So, I’d give it a try.
Ive taken Zoloft for about 10 years for panic attacks, It works like a charm. I don’t notice any side effects either.
Yes, my father was put on Paxil after my mother died. He had been a joy as a father until a major automobile accident began causing him chronic pain when I was a teen, and he had become increasingly depressed and difficult and angry through the years. After he was put on Paxil, not knowing that it was an anti-depressant, he became once again the wonderful man I had known when I was young. It was a great gift to us in his last years to once again be able to see his angelically sweet smile and know that he was enjoying life. And his physical pain did get better along with the emotional pain.
The Paxil helped in another way, too: it reduced his appetite, which means it reduced his weight, and that meant less pain and pressure on the areas where he was injured and better overall health.
There had been times when this incredibly brave man, a WWII vet with a Silver Star and two Bronze Stars to his credit, was suffering so much he seriously considered killing himself. Thank God this stuff rescued him.
My uncle was prescribed Xanax for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He says he took them for three weeks, but then he threw them away because they gave him terrible nightmares. He said the “good feeling” wasn’t worth it.
Not me,stay away from any doctor that prescribes them.
I did some investigation and am taking Cymbalta for chronic pain of fibromyalgia. Wish I had tried it earlier. It doesn’t completely end the pain, but enough to allow me to live somewhat normally.
As mentioned by someone else, people are affected differently by specific medications. I would advise investigating online whatever drugs your physician recommends, then try what seems reasonable to you. For example, Lyrica is also recommended for fibro, but I wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.
Personally, I have absolutely no side effects with Cymbalta.
Good luck, I hope you find relief.
...and there is your problem. Don't take medical advice from anonymous people on the internet.
Took dep meds for 10 or so years. After a few hits and misses, we locked in on a dosage and med that worked.
There were side effects (they all have one thing or another). But the “moods” smoothed out.
The downside was when I decided that I wanted to go natural. I was able to do that BUT the withdrawl symptoms from the med (all documented but more severe than I anticipated) were as close as I could imagine being on acid or some other mind altering drug. It was an interesting week or so.
Citalopram, generic Celexa, 20 mg daily, few or no side effects, feel better, less anger and should be added to water supply along with low level of fluoride and we all would be nicer.
I’m very sorry you are in pain LTZA, but why would antidepressants be prescribed because of chronic pain?
Aren’t antidepressants used to treat people who shouldn’t be depressed, but are anyway, due to a chemical imbalance in the brain?
Wouldn’t correcting the chronic pain lift the depression?
Innocent question. I’m just trying to understand.
took prozac for 1.5 yr, nothing bad to report
My daughter has been taking them for a few months. She takes the absolute lowest dose possible.
She had three major surgeries in two months, and the doctor felt her depression although related to the surgery would help her with pain.
She is feeling well and healthy now so the dosage is being eliminated but it helped her over the hump.
Just follow your doctors instruction and tell them of your concerns.
She was working part-time at Walgreens and saw what she considered to be a dramatically-growing overprescription of anti-depresssants that she openly worried about the society that blithely accepted such forces that allowed and/or foisted upon its population such overmedication. She thought the insulation of the populace from the true costs, via insurance paying the lion's share, was unexpectedly a major, contributing culprit. It was her chief professional complaint from a fairly short list.
HF
I’ve had several doctors over the years try antidepressants for my pain. None of them ever actually worked on the pain, but some of the ones that caused drowsiness were nice because they helped me sleep. (Until I developed a tolerance for them, which I seem to do fairly quickly.)
Right now my doctor is trying one to treat my hyperacusis (hyper-sensitive hearing). Hasn’t had any effect so far, but I’ve only been on it for a week.
I’ve never had any that actually altered my moods. All they do is make me drowsy.
My 18 year old daughter takes Cymbalta, 60 mg for chronic pain in her joints. The only side effect she has is fatigue, so she takes it before she goes to bed.