Reply #31: Saved my neck, literally.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

I have been on them twice in my life, once when I developed panic disorder with agoraphobia and then when I started to go through perimenopause and had crippling symptoms.

As mentioned above, they are not "happy" pills -- I describe the effect like this:

You're treading water in a pool and your feet can't touch the bottom. It's a struggle to keep afloat and sometimes your go under. With an antidepressent, it's like someone lifted the pool bottom to reach your feet - you're still in the water and swimming, but it's nowhere near the struggle.

And as mentioned, I feel therapy (either cognitive or talk) in conjunction with the meds is important. I find that the meds allowed me to accomplish more in therapy.

Have yourself evaluated by someone OTHER than your primary care physician. You need a full-on shrink to help with this. And be prepared to go through a period fo finding the right med in the right dosage -- it can take awhile and be very frustrating.