Dee_dee

..are taking anti depressants since you emigrated?

I was just scrolling through and was shocked to read someone in OZ is having to take Anti Dees to get through her days, she's so desperate to go back home but can't...awww now that is heartbreaking.

It got me wondering if it's something that's happening to more people!

SarahInTX

I've taken anti-depressants since around 1995. Not to deal with homesickness, though.

It really helped me a lot, just to deal with normal life. It doesn't *numb* you (as some people I talked to thought); and it doesn't make you "high." For me, it just made me better able to cope. It made a tremendous and positive difference to my life.

Dee_dee

Oh sarah, thanx for sharing. I know there's lots of reasons for people to be taking anti depressants on a regular/long term basis, but I was just so saddened to realise how a dream can turn into the kind of nightmare that needs medication. Just very sad

SarahInTX

I do agree. If being in another country is the reason for starting on antidepressants, then it's probably wise to think about moving back. At the same time, change of any kind can be hard to handle, and perhaps short-term medication can get someone over the hump.

I did the same thing with quitting smoking last year (almost a year smoke free!). I knew I wasn't mentally in the right place to quit on my own, so I took Chantix, and it worked like a charm.

Sarah

Dee_dee

Oh well done you on the smoking front, but please tell me what is chantix?

I have tried everything and just can't stay without for any length of time.

SarahInTX

Chantix is fairly new, and it's not for everyone! It provides dopamine to the brain, thus satisfying the cravings of cigarette smoking (I know that's a bit of a simplistic explanation!). It is known as Champix in the UK.

You start off at a low dose and gradually build up. The first week or two weeks, you just keep smoking as usual, and you set a quit date. If you fail to quit on the quit date, no worries, just set another one . . . You register online with the drug company and they have exercises and stuff for you to do to help you get mentally prepared for quitting.

Like I said, it worked really well for me, but I know other people who had bad reactions to it. I actually have had a couple of smokes in the last year, but I haven't completely relapsed.

See www.chantix.com for some information.

But,

"In November 2007, the FDA announced it had received post-marketing reports that patients using Chantix for smoking cessation had experienced several serious symptoms, including suicidal ideation and occasional suicidal behavior, erratic behavior, and drowsiness. On February 1, 2008 the FDA issued an Alert to further clarify its findings, noting that "it appears increasingly likely that there is an association between Chantix and serious neuropsychiatric symptoms." It is unknown whether the psychiatric symptoms are related to the drug or to nicotine withdrawal symptoms, although not all patients had stopped smoking. FDA is aware of the highly-publicized case of Carter Albrecht who was shot to death by his neighbour after, in the apparent state of delirium, hitting his girlfriend and trying to force the entry in the neighbor's house. Although in this case the delirium appeared to be caused by taking varenicline with a high dose of alcohol, FDA asked Pfizer for additional cases that might be similar. The FDA also recommended that health care professionals and patients watch for behavioral and mood changes."

I'm sure there are plenty of other web sites that will give you pros and cons.

BTW, I had smoked for about 30 years, with a 6-year break from about 1997-2003, when I started up again.

Dee_dee

Oh I will definitely look into this more, you sound excatly the same as me, I too stopped for 5 years, but sadly ...actually the worst thing I ever did,..started again, and now it seems to get harder & harder to stop and I've tried everything affordable.

One of the biggest incentives in the UK to stop of course (apart from health reasons) is the price of Cigarettes, I think around 6 quid a packet or 50 odd a carton currently. Here in Spain I don't have that incentive as a whole carton of 200 costs the equivelant of 15 quid.

JoolsB

I now have to take anti-anxiety meds in order that I can go out without having panic attacks & collapsing in a sobbing heap in public. If I miss them I'm a mess. Also prescribed something called Paxil but read about the hideous side effects and don't dare take it! I had Prozac before which screwed me up for a year after coming off. I've always been a nervous type but this move has made me even barmier! (got to have a laugh hey)

Trouble is it's a vicious circle as I would like to work to keep myself occupied but cant go to interviews or on public transport in my current state aargh!

Big hugs to everyone else in the same boat!

quoll

No, have fortunately managed to keep off the antidepressants - came very close once though! For me, getting myself out of the toxic cesspit that was my workplace has wrought miracles and even though the homesickness is underlying everything it isnt stopping me from leading a reasonable life. Last year though when I got back from a wonderful month in UK on the Saturday and was faced with going back to work on the Monday, I couldnt stop crying once DH asked me how I was feeling. I went to the doctor who took one look at me blubbering in her office and promptly gave me 6 weeks off work and I had "retired" (read "quit in disgust") after the first week of sick leave. I now exercise more (but not enough) and that has helped but I never never never want to go back to the utter despair of those crying days ever again. I was offered a job while having coffee with an ex colleague and now have a 15 hour a week job (yeah, right!!!) doing something that I quite enjoy for an organization which is treating me well.

If it were just the being in the wrong place that made me feel as bereft as that, I wouldnt be bothering with antidepressants, I would be on a plane home and divorcing the husband of 35 years. Fortunately it hasnt come to that and my sympathies to anyone for whom it is that bad!

TraceyW

I started taking Cipramil after a year of being here. I took them for two years just to keep me level and able to cope with every day life.

It was a combination of events that lead to me to doctors, the main one being my darling OH who just didn't know how to help me. I remember having to write down a list of the things I felt before I went to the quacks because I knew I wouldn't be able to tell her for crying so much

It is the only time in my life I can honestly understand fully why desperate people end their own lives. The only thing that prevented me from seriously contemplating it was the thought of leaving my kids.

Thankfully, through the happy tablets, a lot of talking and soul searching, I am now fully back to working order and very focused, determined and maybe even a little more selfish. The need to put me first in order to be able to be a good mum and wife is very strong indeed.

Oh, and I gave up smoking too. I just read Alan Carr's book "The Easy Way" it's all in the mind, trust me

SarahInTX

I've heard about this book and other people who have quit smoking after reading it -- or even before they got to the end! I haven't read it myself.

JoolsB

I gave up smoking cold turkey 4 1/2 years ago on New Years Day. My method was overkill in that I smoked so many cigarettes on New Years Eve (about 60 urgh) that I couldn't even look at a fag the next day or for days after. Seemed to do the trick. Husband gave up too at the same time-I don't think it's possible to give up if another person in the household is still fagging away

Bijilo123

No pills for me I'm glad to say.

rabsody

Jools I wish you lived in Qld, I think we would really get along!

JoolsB

Yes I think you may be right! BTW did you post a message in support of Fern Britton on Daily Mail website the other day?