Anti-Depressants and Me

Here's a little story about my experience with anti-depressants. A bit of insight into my views may help you consider yours. Here it goes..

A lot of my life has been filled with challenges.. poverty, bad home situation, and all the associated.

I've gone through issues after issues all without medication. Facing one thing after another. Just going on and on. I became numb. Distant. A shadow of my former self, so to speak.

This situation continued through my life, going up and down until the start of 2012, when I was beginning to go down again.

As is usual, I didn't notice it so much besides people around me telling me I was different. I felt different, but I was the same as ever right?

This carried on for some months until one night my heart started pounding. Slowly at first.. then I could feel it bashing against my chest painfully. My fingers, toes and face were going numb and tingly and very cold. I was dizzy and disorientated and sweating a lot. My tongue was tingling and had a terrible taste. I was terrified.

An ambulance was called for me fearing the worst and I received a diagnosis there on the spot... a (physically) harmless anxiety attack. My first full scale anxiety attack.

Since then I began to get them more and more regularly. My life began to change as I developed a fear for unfamiliar places, incase of an anxiety attack. Even going to the gym, which I used to love, was so difficult as the rise in heart rate made me fear a heart attack. Everything in life became difficult to the point even trying to relax sent me into a frenzy.

Pass a few weeks and a few doctors visits, I decided I had to do something about it. At this point I was having days off work unable to face the day ahead.

I decided before seeing the doctor that anti depressants where my best choice, pending his opinion, and he agreed that they may prove useful.

Pass another 6 weeks or so where I gradually became less and less anxious, life was beginning to look better. I wasn't in the clear yet, and I'm still not completely even after a few months of taking them, but things actually are looking a whole lot better.

Myself and others have noticed a change in myself. My anxiety still continues to diminish and my underlying depression is near gone. I've returned to being passionate about my interests and I've become close with people I've known for a long time but never really talked to. I never even realised how held back I was until I've become better.

So hearing that, I'd like you to consider if anti-depressants could possibly be a good choice for you. Make up your own mind, understand what's in what you're taking and go on what feels right to you.

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.