What can I expect from an anti-depressant med?

[probablyanxious]

I am seriously considering asking my shrink for an anti-depressant medication, and have been for some time. I would like to know what can I expect from one? Whether that ends up being an ssri, tricyclic, snri, etc.

Like is it a very subtle thing where I don’t notice it? Or will it have a much more dramatic effect and noticeably lift the heavy toll of depression? For a person who is severely depressed in general.

 

[streaM Freak]

I am seriously considering asking my shrink for an anti-depressant medication, and have been for some time. I would like to know what can I expect from one? Whether that ends up being an ssri, tricyclic, snri, etc.

Like is it a very subtle thing where I don’t notice it? Or will it have a much more dramatic effect and noticeably lift the heavy toll of depression? For a person who is severely depressed in general.

It could help yeah your doctor would know best because the slight differences between them would be best analyze by someone who knows your personality and medical history. For example if you naturally have anxiety too there are some that are more sedating than others, just as a general example - so the doctor would know better than anyone on Bluelight.

So just generally, the SSRI will be focused on serotonin which is, of the two primary "feel good" chemicals, is different than dopamine in that it's more calming. The other two, tricycle and snri, seem to be more complex and hit on other receptors too for if you like can't get out of bed or something, so for anxiety I'd think that an SSRI would be what the doc suggests but again, only someone who knows you personally would know for sure

What to expect, it's not so much giving you something new as it is getting you back to baseline. If you have a serotonin deficiency then that recovery to baseline will be even more pronounced relative to where you are now. But if you're expecting to be able to do backflips off the counter, prob not, no matter which one you're on