Question:
Can you expand on what type of diet reduces your depression? Also what
type of supplements you find work the best? I excersize and find that
it helps a lot. Any excersize in particular that helps more then
others?
Answer:
I've decided to start this journal as an unbiased log of my experience
on Zoloft. I'm a 29 year old male who has been experiencing chronic
depression and social anxiety for the last 11 years. My doctor
prescribed 25 mg of Zoloft for the first week, then 50mg after that.
On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the worst, I would rate my overall
level of depression at an 8. I would say my overall anxiety rating is
a 7. Day 1-
I was nervous at my doctor's office today. As anyone with depression
knows seeking help is not an easy thing to do. My doctor was open and
receptive and congratulated me on seeking treatment. After doing a
questionnaire and discussing the options, we decided to give Zoloft a
try. I've done a lot of research of the side effects and will document
exactly how Zoloft affects me in this journal. I have a feeling of
relief that I finally decided to seek treatment. I will assign a score
for my depression and anxiety levels throughout this journal. The side
effect that scares me the most is anorgasmia, the inability to have
orgasms. I like orgasms. I had no trouble getting to sleep tonight.
Today's Depression Level: 6 Anxiety: 8
Day 2-
Have a mild headache today and a slight metallic taste in my mouth, I
guess that's the dry mouth side effect. Everything else seems about
the same. I am still fairly depressed and anxious. I had no problem
climaxing tonight. No problems sleeping. Depression: 8 Anxiety: 8
Day 3-
Feeling tired and nauseas today and the headache also continues. A
shot of Pepto and two ibuprofen seemed to do the trick. The dry mouth
continues and I'm also experiencing a weird pulsing in my left eyelid.
I spent some more time online reading about side effects. Nothing
really scares me, well, except for the male breast development. What
the hell is that? Maybe if I had breasts I wouldn't be so depressed.
Is that how this drug works? I laid in bed worrying about stuff
tonight and didn't get to sleep until about midnight. (this is fairly
normal for me.) Depression:6 Anxiety:7
Day 4 –
Felt like crap today, tired and irritable. I went for a drive during
lunch and started feeling severely depressed. I usually have these
episodes a few times a month. It's weird but my headache seemed to
intensify when I started having these feelings. I tried to imagine it
was the Zoloft fighting back my depression. The freaky eye pulse seems
to be in high gear today. Depression: 10 Anxiety: 4.
Day 5-
Felt good in the morning. Usually mornings are very hard for me.
Anyone who has gone through depression knows what I'm talking about.
You wake up dreading the day ahead. I didn't feel that way today. Had
a pretty good day at work. Headache was rather severe and the eye
pulse is still happening. Depression: 4 Anxiety: 3
Day 6-
Feel the same today. Headache and eye pulse continue. It took me a
little longer then usual to ejaculate tonight. I had a little trouble
falling asleep. Depression: 5 Anxiety: 3
Day 7-
Moved to 50mg one day early. Felt tired, dizzy, and irritable all day.
Depression: 6 Anxiety: 5
Day 8-
The eye pulse is starting to freak me out a little. Why the hell does
it do that? I can't find it documented as a specific side effect to
Zoloft. It's weird. The headache continues and I've been a little
sweaty recently as well. I would still classify all of these side
effects as manageable. Sex seemed to take a little longer then usual
tonight but I didn't hear any complaints. Still no breasts. Damn.
Depression: 7 Anxiety: 3
Day 9-
At work today my boss was being his usual self complaining
about how something wasn't working properly. Usually I would start
feeling down when hearing this, like maybe this was my fault or
something. Instead I caught myself thinking "Man, what a loser he is.
Why doesn't he just get over it." I think depressed people take the
weight of the world of their shoulders like everything is their fault.
It was liberating to realize that this problem wasn't mine. Maybe I'm
feeling a little better. The side effects seemed mild today.
Depression: 3 Anxiety: 3.
Day 10-
OK. This is the third morning I've woke up not dreading the world. I
can definitely say that my mornings are better. Still felt kind of
down at work. I have to make a 30 second announcement next week in
front of 30 people. This is the social phobia side of my illness. I've
been obsessing about it for days now. It's a vicious cycle. I'm
nervous, then I'm nervous about whether people can tell that I'm
nervous. This makes them think "Why is he so nervous?", which makes me
more nervous. I guess the solution is not to be nervous in the first
place but it's almost impossible for me. I'm already thinking about
blowing of work on that day. This is classic avoidance behavior, I
know. Depression: 4 Anxiety: 9
Day 13-
I've felt less nauseas over the last few days. The headache and freaky
eye pulse continue. I'm still freaking out about my stupid 30 second
announcement that's coming up in a few days. I don't understand why I
can't get over this. I've given hour long presentations in front of 50
people before. I was nervous as hell but got through it and did a good
job. You'd think I'd get better at this type of stuff. I've had no
problems sleeping or reaching orgasm over the past 2 days. Depression:
5 Anxiety: 9
Day 14-
I blew off work today to stay home with my daughter. The truth is I
stayed home to avoid my announcement. I feel bummed that I can't
overcome this issue. I'd also like to see if the Zoloft has any
benefits in my panic situations but haven't had a good test yet. The
side effects seem to be disappearing. The freaky eye pulse has
vanished!! The only thing left is a low grade headache. I had a few
drinks last night. I'm not too afraid about drinking while taking
Zoloft. Depression: 8 Anxiety: 4
Day 15-
Ask and you shall receive. Today at work I was pulled into a board
meeting on the executive floor of our building. I was sitting at a
table with about 15 other people. The speaker asked us to go around
the room and introduce ourselves. Now anyone with social anxiety can
back me up, this is hell for someone like me. The normal wave of
terror and adrenaline came over me. Suddenly, like the dousing of a
fire it was gone. I definitely felt a chemical counteraction to my
panic. It was simply amazing. When they got to me I was still a
nervous but exponentially less then usual. For me there is a clear
difference between nerves and panic. I can only assume this is the
Zoloft doing its job. I had a little trouble going to sleep my mind
was racing. Sex went well! I won't go into details. Depression:3
Anxiety:2
Day 18-
Woke up kind of groggy today and just kind of sat around for a while.
The headache got really bad for a while and I took 800mg of Ibuprofen.
The past couple of days I've been feeling mildly depressed. I'm
looking forward to a trip I'm taking with a few friends tomorrow.
Depression: 6 Anxiety: 2.
Day 21-
The trip with my friends was fun. I got pretty shitfaced both nights.
I've been reading a lot about the effects of Zoloft and alcohol. First
of all the makers of Zoloft say you shouldn't drink while taking
Zoloft and for anyone reading this I would strongly suggest following
that guideline. I've been reading some posts from people saying their
alcohol tolerance gets much lower or higher while taking Zoloft. I can
honestly say that I didn't notice any difference. I've also read that
hangovers seem much worse while on Zoloft. I didn't experience that.
In fact hangovers for me usually trigger extreme depression in the
morning. That didn't happen this time. I did start feeling my usual
mild depression later in the day and perhaps it was a little stronger
then usual. I've read that alcohol can counteract the effects of
Zoloft. I'd have to say that I probably agree with this. It's weird.
Overall I guess I am feeling a little better because I noticed that I
was feeling a little more depressed after this binge drinking episode.
More like I use to feel all the time. I don't know. It's hard to judge
how well this stuff is working. I'm curious as to whether my wife
thinks I‘m acting any differently. I told her that I was taking Zoloft
the first day I started. She was receptive but hasn't spoken to me
about it since. My family is one of the biggest reasons I started
getting treatment. It's not fair for me to treat them like shit
because I'm depressed all the time. Depression: 6 Anxiety: 2
Day 24-
I've been feeling pretty good the last few days. One thing I wanted to
bring up was weight gain. Some people experience a weight loss or gain
while on Zoloft. My weight has stayed pretty much the same. I put on a
few pounds from the trip with my friends but I've already started to
take it off. I've been reading the internets again. There is so much
scare material about Zoloft and the long term effects it has. I read
something from some idiot saying it causes permanent brain damage and
will turn you into a vegetable. All I can say is depression causes
damage too, damage to your family, damage to your career, damage to
your body, damage to your soul. I'll gladly choose 5 years free of
depression over 30 in the black hole I use to call existence. I'm done
accepting depression as way of life. Even if Zoloft is not the answer
I will find other avenues. The hardest thing for me was asking for
help and now that I have, I wish I did it years ago. I guess I'm
feeling a little better because I would never have believed this a
month ago. Two nights ago I didn't fall asleep until 2 AM. I had some
caffeine late and I think this might have contributed to the problem.
I've still had no sexual side effects. In fact, I think I'm having
more sex then normal. The headache remains. Depression: 3 Anxiety: 2
Day 25-
I was in a good mood today. I think I've been engaging with people
more over the past week. I've been really talking and listening to
them instead of trying to find a way to end the conversation. I also
caught myself ...The day to day stuff was way too much to read, so I'm just reading the
basics. It's good. (Also, I don't take Zoloft.) I too get enough help from meds that they make a big difference. And I also
find that I'm no where near "normal"; a lot closer to disabled.
I take a smallish amount of Serzone to deal with the anxiety part of my
depression, in addition to other pills. Works well on it.
I saw your reply to the Xpost to ASD-med, and since I haven't seen a post
of yours on ASD-med in ages, I am just replying to say Hello, and how nice
it is to see you continue to do so well.
Sure do remember you. Been a long time. How are you doing?
My depression has just kept on keeping my thinking down. That's down as in
slow, not so much as unhappy. Actually, Happy hasn't been much a problem
for me. I am happily married to a joyful man.
It's the mental exhaustion the bites my butt. Sometimes I think depression
effects us the same way as tiredness does a 3 year old. You know how they
get tired, cranky, weepy, and you just can't get through to them? (I have a
2 year old grandbaby!)
