I (F20) have depression and undiagnosed adhd (adult adhd doesn’t exist in my country). I believe my depression was caused by the lack of treatment and educational accommodations for my adhd. So I’ve been on 20mg Escitalopram (Lexapro) for about a year, ever since I almost kms, then I switched to some other SSRI for about a week but immediately got bad side effects and my psychiatrist decided to let me quit SSRIs altogether, but keep some other “mood stabilizing pills” (perphenazine, valporate).
It’s been more than a month since then and my mood has been way better than before, my IBS went away and I stopped being super sleepy and became more productive.
What the hell is happening? Aren’t pills supposed to make you feel better?
(Tho they definitely saved me in the beginning. If you are considering going on medication I say go for it.)
Here is a cat for any kind stranger who decides to answer to my questions:
Nursing student here. I don't have the expertise to comment on a specific med other than some basics on the super common ones we've studied, but my in-general take away from my education so far is that our bodies, brains especially, are unpredictable little assholes. Pharmacology is a frustrating field cuz the same med can do 50 different things to 50 different people.
Figuring out which ones work for an individual really is just a matter of guess-and-check. We know what they should do, so that's a good starting point, but the individual effects and side effects... /shrug.
Keep an eye out for changes, but a month out of positive outcome from stopping a med is best case scenario - yay!!
Thank you! 💖