Does anyone know if Lexapro is bad? Does it do any harm? Are there any other cures to depression and anxiety? Dealing with all sorts of things isn’t fun especially when it’s during these times we are living in. I am hesitant to trust any kind of medication that Big Pharma has pushed out to the public. Lexapro seemed to be helping but I keep hearing that it is also very harmful to take it. Does CBD oil work? Can I ween myself to CBD oil instead?
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I would stay FAR, FAR away from any antidepressants that they push. There is something not right with their drugs. I was on them for a little while while I’m the service and after I got out. I can’t really describe it very well but I felt very weird and off when I was on them.
I’ve recently started on ashwaghanda supplements and have been very pleasantly surprised with the results from it. I’d recommend you look into it before you take their poisons for too long. Just my opinion though
Seek the lord, he will guide you through.
God bless you
Meditate every morning before any activities and as soon as you wake... Roughly 10-15 min a day to quiet your mind. Seems so simple, yet the benefits are amazing. It'll get rid of the depression and many other ailements you may have.
I have found the way you talk to yourself in your own head makes a world of difference. Even just being conscious of it. If you use negative words while talking to yourself, you will feel bad. If you use positive words, you won't.
So for example, if you wake up and your first thought is really "damn, I'm still alive", try to follow it up with something positive like, I am awesome! Or even, I have a roof, food, friends. Life is good, I have what I need.
Just try to be aware of how you talk to yourself and practice stopping yourself from saying negative things, and instead say positive things, once you have done this and put it into practice, I promise you will BEGIN to feel better.
This will sound very unhelpful but truly your best defense is to start reading the Bible and working out. Force your mind to look up, not down! You have to replace the feelings of depression with something higher up. It won't be easy and it won't replace the pills quickly. However, if you are diligent and you stick with it, it will last a lifetime and cost you nothing. I'm praying for you, we have been conditioned to believe we cannot overcome depression and anxiety without big pharma. There are a lot of herbs out there to help balance you out. Hit the books, offhand I would suggest valerian root & chamomile for anxiety. There is a product you can get off Amazon called Chi'll Out by Ohco. These have helped me in dark times. Again, it won't be easy and will take time to overcome this. Pour your heart into research, God and building yourself up, mentally & physically.
Oh, please be careful with those. They change your brain chemistry and it can take years to lose the side effects of going off of them . The side effects of withdrawal can be horrid some say worse than a heorine withdrawal on the mind and body. There are many groups out there experiencing this. Just as everything, please do your research. If anything only stay on them as short as possible. But, don't just research the medication, research and look for people that have gotten off of them and can tell you or you can read of their trauma. Look into benzobuddies, there are groups there that share antidepressants story's. 🙏 just saying.
Yes! Withdrawal from psych meds is the same as heroine withdrawal. You actually learn to sympathize with the drug addict and why they won't withdraw. At one point in the psych med withdrawal I thought "I need to go back on it to stop this!" A second later I realized I was thinking just like an addict.
Absolutely, I was put on benzo's back in 2003, I was stuck on them for 14 years cause the withdrawal was so monstrous and the dose I was taking ,I became tolerate and everyday was hell unless I uped my dose. I was living in hell even while being on them. I finally put 2 and 2 together and started researching benzo's and I stumbled on benzobuddies site which also has groups for antidepressants. Anyway , they gave me the strength to get off of them . I suffered the withdrawals for 2 years ,the first year was hell! Brain zaps ,tingling throughout, barley slepted just completely hell not feeling like I was there. Just awful!! Slowly after the first year all thise symptoms started slowly fading and I was starting to feel myself again. My self from before I got on them. While I was in tolerance withdrawal and didn't know it, I literally was suicidal everyday. I just wanted out. The minute I went off them that feeling of wanting to kill myself was gone. I realized then that it was those that made my brain feel like that. Awful and the doctors still push this crap.....Making myself get off them and struggling for so long was the strongest thing I have ever done in my lifetime. I go back to that time whenever I feel like this crap going on in my country, world that I can't do it anymore. I remember how I forced myself to be strong during that time.
Omigosh yes! I forgot about the brain zaps!! I remember just wanting the feeling (ALL of it!) to end. Glad you made it through, fren!
We are truly survivers!
The zaps, yes that is the word I should have used, in telling people about the "weird sensations in your brain" you get when trying to get off the new generation anti-depressants as well. It is like an electric sensation, very very icky.
Have you been exercising regularly? I do recommend a hard workout + infrared sauna session and it really does wonders for mental health.
May God bless you.
I don't know anything about pills.
Focus on gratitude if possible. Good mindset to stay in.
Exercise helps. Low impact exercise like Taiji if you are out not comfortable with heavy exertion.
Too much TV is very detrimental. Also avoid too much sugar and/or booze.
Lifetime experience with psych meds. Diagnosed as a kid with bipolar (I'm oldish so back then it was called "manic-depression")
Lexapro is fairly harmless compared to the more modern drugs. IF you are solely depressed and there is no chance of bipolar, you will be fine. Just a word of warning: if you take ANY anti-depressant long term, you cannot suddenly stop taking it. You will go through withdrawal the same as a drug addict (minor seizures, temperature drops, etc. VERY unpleasant!) So if you take it long term, you need to taper from it. Also, watch your blood pressure while on any drug.
Have you tried natural remedies yet? If not, try those first. St Johns Wort, Valerian, Melatonin, etc. You may be suffering from situational depression and not chemical depression. If it's situational, go with herbal treatments.
Same for anxiety, it may be situational versus organic. What's the difference? Organic happens out of the blue with no obvious triggers. Again, try herbal remedies first. Much easier on the body!
Red meat, lack of vit B is most of depression. Those meds are chemical lobotomy they are all chlorine and Fluoride designed to wreck the pituitary gland.
I don’t trust pill based vit D at all. If we avoid gmo and glyphosate then CYP 450 will break down CYP24<vit D otherwise, your sick. Eggs and fish. Tips hat.
There is a real cure for anxiety and depression. Turn your life over to Jesus Christ and He will IMMEDIATELY relieve you of ALL anxiety and depression. It is easy to do. Just let go and let God!
My fiancé is dealing with depression and has been for over 20 yrs but with our togetherness it's become less. Unfortunately he still continues his meds, he's taken it for about 4 yrs and insists he still needs it. I don't think so, I try to keep him talking, busy, etc. I dealt with us personally after my husbands deah 2.5 yrs ago .... I tried to resist it but it sneaks in and takes over. I must agree with the others that you need to get out, even if it's a walk in the neighborhood. When the weather doesn't agree with you, turn on the music, relaxing or Jazz is very soothing and a candle (neutral scents). These things help reset your psychy, only allow good memories, the ones that make you smile. You hold the controls, don't allow hateful/negative thoughts which will only bring you back to the dark mood. Add God to your day, pray to him 🙏when you first wake up (and possibly before sleep). He will change your day.
Yeah I'll give you shit for suggesting LSD for anyone, since not all minds can cope with what is seen during such. Some good, some bad, some so awful it stays with you for life like bad programming. I know of which I speak.
How can you possibly trust anything from Big Pharma after what you know?
CBD oil would be best.
Or THC… I know THC helped me through some rough times lol
Yeah but depressed people usually reject THC on the grounds that they fear it make make them more depressed (lol). It works so well.
It does cause anxiety/panic attacks in some people. We wish we'd just get high and happy, and instead, we freak out. Dammit.
When you say ‘it causes’. Do you mean to say simply that some people have panic attacks while high? I don’t think you should use the word ‘cause’ so loosely here. The panic attack is released by the weed, not caused. The panic attack was already in there, being held back. The weed helped the person lower their defences / find the mental strength to let the panic attack out. Weed is so helpful in general because you can face and release your pains more easily with it.
Yes I’ve heard the mainstream view.
Lol, yes, I have nothing bad to say about that!
CBD all the way. very calming
THC too, if you dont mind getting stoned
Take Turmeric - loads of it. It’s dubbed the natural Prozac. No Pharma. Just my opinion.
For myself I found when I started taking NAC to help with my lungs, a wonderful side effect was a calming effect. My anxiety has almost completely disappeared. Read up about NAC and consider trying it.
Diet, exercise, sleep and talking to other people. Joining clubs where you meet weekly also helps with a hobby you enjoy.
Social anxiety or any other anxiety is difficult because it isn't just one factor that can trigger this but many things happening in ones life.
Depression is harder to fight against because it can cascade into a negative emotional feedback loop.
The best way forward is to write down goals you want to accomplish for the day. For some people they don't need to write it down while for others it helps a lot.
Anti depressants should only, only be prescribed for those with severe cases. And even then as someone else has pointed out they DO alter brain chemistry.
When I was young I remember a family where one of their sons had a severe case. Anti depressants were ONLY prescribed to patients that had a severely imbalanced brain chemistry back then.
At this point I'd stay away from any medication (at least the ones they don't try to suppress), unless absolutely necessary, as in life or death situation.
Do you exercise with any frequency? it really helps with your overall mood (I'm a testament to that), plus you get healthier naturally, and support it with a good nutrition, real food instead of industrialized garbage, it's cheaper and better (but of course then you gotta cook, worth it though)
I really like burpees, this channel is mainly about burpees and has a bunch of neat routines you can follow, I know it's mainly geared towards us dudes, and I imagine you're a lady based on your user name, but you can easily tweak the burpees by not doing the pushup part for instance
I think bodybuilders minus the pushup would be a great exercise for ladies, and good thing about these is you can do them anywhere, no equipment required.
Anyway, I hope you start feeling better soon, stand strong and hang in there.
Antidepressants should be outlawed?!?!? Please don’t ever say that! I tried every OTC remedy, vitamin, food, exercise, you name it. None of that worked for me. If I hadn’t gone on antidepressants I don’t think I’d be here anymore. And yes I tried prayer and Bible reading. When your prayers become “ Please God kill me” it might be time to take the meds.
I still suspect my thyroid was at fault. But since my blood work was playing peekaboo I couldn’t get a diagnosis. I also got diagnosed with a pituitary tumor. Might have gotten it from both ends there. I suspect a bout of hyperthyroidism did permanent damage to my brain that required psych meds to fix. I only wish I hadn’t been so stubborn and had taken them sooner.
Stay away from that bs. I personally have seen a dramatic change in quality of life since I started being more active! The answers often are easier than you think!
First my son kicked SAD with Jesus and Bible reading as well as joining a church with lifegroups. We followed suit in 2019.
I never had anxiety until nursing school. Half my classmates were on Zoloft the other half on Xanax. I found L Theanine would take the edge off and works on exact same receptors as Xanax.
It's not an easy walk but the others saying to take your anxiety and depression to the Lord are correct. He is the only one with the power to heal you. Theanine can help in the meantime.
I suggest trying out 5htp to ween off the narcotics.
Was "diagnosed with Manic Depression" ever since I was a child. Lexapro seemed to be the only one not making me feel like I was looking through a tunnel.... That said, I've completely gotten off of it through meditation. Been off of it for a few years now. Once you realize the power of meditation and positive thought, you can really master your mind and not let it "go there" anymore.
I don't think it's a good idea to swallow drugs.
I've been prone to anxiety and depression since my teens (in my 60's now). Instead of drugs, I've been super focused on my nutrition (following an excellent plan) and when I am feeling an anxiety attack coming on I pay attention to my physical conditioning and make sure to get in a good workout.
No it doesn't eliminate the anxiety 100% but I am far better able to cope and function. Beats compulsive eating or other stress behaviors.
Praying doesn't hurt either. We will all die one day. Let's make sure we feel right with God.
Brain chemistry changes slowly. Just expect slow changes. Also helps with anxiety. Would not imagine anything permanent.
Try church. An understanding of things and healthy friends can be uplifting. Better outlook on life and why things are as they are.
Try something natural first. Weed works for many, but I prefer Kava and Kratom
Personally I have found that a desire to feel better and smoothies are helping tremendously. I make my own special smoothie but it gives me so much energy, I wish I'd started drinking them 20 years ago.
I recommend twice daily journaling of fears and resentments followed by 20min meditation:
https://youtu.be/Gs0Xq79UWdk
My spouse suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder, or depression in the shortest light periods during the winter. He focuses on excercising every day (treadmill for him, but you can choose whatever you prefer) and reading in the morning under the light of a SAD light. I hope it helps you!
I'm sorry to hear OP and so many of you have struggled with depression and anxiety, I empathize with your struggles. I've had my own bouts in the past, especially after coming back from Afghanistan the last time. It took me years to finally come back around and finally quit taking the poison the VA was feeding me. First off, don't give up. Chalk this up as nothing more than "you are going through a "dark valley" period in your life." Tell yourself you're going to get through it. Remind yourself daily that for every dark valley we pass through, there will be another bright peak we will eventually cross. Personal growth and understanding is derived from passing through these rough periods in our lives. They are temporary. Once I started studying and identifying what was causing me to feel anxious and depressed, I was able to start making some changes. I had to start by letting go of things, routines and people in my life which were unhealthy for me. This included career paths, family members, "friends" who were holding me back from my true potential. Realizing thoughts are the precursor to emotions was a big step too. Study what you think and then how it makes you feel. Self talk is a very powerful tool and can be used productively for positive benefits, or it can undermine everything we have going on in our lives. Medications are a temporary solution to the real underlying issues. They strip your body of vitamins and minerals as these are required to process the drug and flush it from your body. If you aren't putting these back regularly, it compounds the problem.. Depression and anxiety have a more hands on approach for healing. Figure out what has you feeling depressed and anxious. Tackle the problem by fixing those things that keep you distressed first. Some might say therapy helps, but after tons of therapy, I came to the conclusion all of the answers were within me the entire time. Set aside some time each day to just goof off. Do something you enjoy, or something you've always wanted to try. Vent your frustrations, worries, concerns as they arise, don't bottle your emotions. We all tend to compartmentalize our lives mentally, shoving down the negative emotions and thoughts, while trying to focus on optimistic thoughts and feelings. This is the wrong. Give yourself permission to experience both the positive and the negative aspects of your experience. When you are feeling low, it's okay. Be kind to yourself and accept it. We all have low points. Remember to keep going, don't give up, don't dwell on it. I took Rhodiola Rosea extract which seemed to help. There are other natural remedies as well and I suggest doing some research. Eventually what helped me most was Psilocybin and fixing the problems I had in my life. I'm not suggesting this as a go to solution, but it worked for me. Aside from Arthritis I'm living pain free and I know you can get there too. It takes some time, being honest with yourself and never giving up. I still have low days at times, but that is okay. I've learned to accept it and move on towards things that make me happy. I know you have it in you to do so as well.
Bro, seriously, don’t take that stupid symptom masking shit. It’s as big a con as the vaccine. You can smoke cannabis and do mediation and conscious movement practice and you’ll heal whatever problems you want. Stop taking that big pharma shit literally today or you’ll descend deeper into hell until you decide to turn around.
Stay away from all psych drugs. I have always been talkative, social, high-energy...they made me a zombie. My most recent anxiety med pushed me into racing suicidal thoughts, and that isn’t me at ALL. Healthy coping mechanisms that get to the root of WHY you feel/act certain ways are the way to go. I’m myself but so much more aware of how to “manage my brain”, and that’s better than any drug can do.
Take vitamins & supplements. Start with Dr Zelenko's Protocol (high dose D), will cover two birds with one stone. Add a good multi. Then get outside, walk, run, bike, hike, whatever, and SUNSHINE will trigger natural hormones and endorphins. Big problem with depression is that you don't "FEEL" up to exercise, but force yourself to get outside and do it!!! Hugs and good luck, we are all pulling for you. And remember ... WWG1WGA