Should I take my anti-anxiety meds?
Was recently prescribed GA meds for my anxiety that just wont go away no matter the effort. Have tried therapy, exercise, meditation, caffeine-cutting, etc. Doc prescribed lowest dose of said medication (think Lexapro, Cymbalta, etc.) However definitely nervous to take as I have never been someone to take psych meds in my life. I've been dealing with this anxiety for a few years and have kind of "normalized" it but there are days when it overwhelms me to the point where I wish I had meds for it.
To those who take, what are the effects? Symptoms? Scary stories or experiences while on these? Which is better Lexapro or Cymbalta? Apologies if I sounds like a p*ssy, would hate to get side effects that 1) get in the way of my 3+ year relationship in any shape way or form and 2) get in the way of my thinking / work output / drive. I work in IB/PE and still pretty junior so have a steep hill to climb until I am no longer working the brutal 90+ hr weeks.
Any advice helps.
Everyone is going to have their own opinion on this but I’ll share mine. I’ve had anxiety my whole life so I understand how debilitating it can be. You shouldn’t take meds as a quick fix, but if you’ve tried other things and it’s still impacting your life then you absolutely should take them. I only get to live once and if taking a pill makes my live substantially better then I’m taking it.
Well, you should take the advice of your doctors and not random people online.
Tried that. Addressed concerns with doctor and all they said was "it's trial and error" and "have to see how your body reacts to them". Which of course I don't want to leave to chance, hence reaching out to like minded people who may have or are taking these sorts of meds. Curious to hear stories and opinions rather than a "yes" or "no"
Thats just how meds work, theres no good way to predict how medication will affect you. Unless you want to upload a pdf of your medical records and give details on why you were prescribed, the WSO PE forum will not give you better instruction than your doctor. PE people arent built different.
Sometimes the posts on this forum are just shocking
I cannot function without my anti-anxiety meds. Lexapro is weak af though.
What's stronger? Zoloft?
MDMA
I took some while waiting way too long on a potential cancer diagnosis (ended up being something else) and was shocked by how well it worked. Was kind of concerning, basically felt no anxiety or worry even though the dr said 50/50 it’s cancer
Everyone is on anti depressants, something like 15% of the population. I’m sure that’s even higher on Wall Street. I had to get on them when I started in banking. The anti depressants are not the issue. Make sure you don’t overdue any anti anxiety aka Xanax/ k pins, which are addictive. Note anti depressants are not addictive. You may experience some side effects while you find the right drug and dosage. Just be transparent with your boss or HR if your work is being impacted during that time. Hopefully, things will be better for you soon. Hang in there.
wow what thats a super high population taking antidepressants. anyway same hre, taking prozac. dk how its affected me yet. dont feela change. butmaybe i should switch meds..
Yeah I’ve taken some milder ones before. Non-addictive but a little bit of annoying withdrawal effects when I stopped after about a year.
Also my side effects were initially erectile disfunction and night sweats. I started on one of the drugs and went high as fuck and it didn’t do anything for me. I switched over to Lexipro on a very low dosage and the issue was generally resolved in a few weeks.
Now the only side effect is weight gain. It sucks but much better than the alternative.
I started taking SSRIs last year and they were seriously life changing. If they're right for you, they're fantastic, and I would trust your doctor's guidance. However, I do have a bad experience with Lexapro specifically because of the sexual side effects. Talk to your doctor about Viibryd instead -- it's a relatively new medication but works fantastic, it's an SSRI just the same. No sexual or appetite side effects. I have taken Lexapro, Zoloft, and Viibryd, and the latter is by far the best. Would recommend.
Support this one! Switched from Prozac to Viibryd a couple of years ago because of sexual side effects, made a huge difference in my life. I also noticed that they just worked better overall, prozac I felt contributed to more weight gain and I generally just never felt it was as effective. Switched to Viibryd and it's a noticeable improvement.
I struggled with anxiety for a long time (10+ years) before starting Lexapro. It's been hugely helpful, and I only wish I started earlier. Yes, I tried all the things before meds - lifting, meditation, caffeine reduction, etc. Still do all of these things, but I do believe I need the help of medication, at least for now.
100% recommend taking and something that’s made a huge difference for me. I went from not being able to sleep through the night (had to have my phone on full-sound under my pillow every night) and being miserable at brunches since I was constantly checking for work emails to being much happier overall. I sleep through the night and all of my relationships have become 10x healthier.
I’ve also not gotten any pushback from those I’ve told about this (I’m open about it at work and with friends) or any sort of judgement. I think of it like working out at the gym, you may think everyone is watching / judging but at the end of the day 99% don’t even think about it
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