Is anyone on this forum taking anti depressents or has done in the past?
Is anyone on this forum taking anti depressents or has done in the past?
i have in the past, a few different ones. although really i could only say i was taking one kind of antideps for any time worthy of mention, as the others i accepted as prescriptions from my doctor as i had problems with social sec believing i actually had problems if i didn't take meds, and then as i had the prescrips and meds, in moments of despair my judgement wasn't too good and i took them. for about a week each, in different periods. needless to say, they were inefficient - most kinds you need to take for at least a month, usually more, before they take effect. the exception was olanzapine that works faster. but as they made me very drowsy i stopped taking them. i have a very low barrier for tolerating "side"-effects.
you ask for some reason i nparticular? are you taking anti-depressants or thinking about doing it?
Depression is due to a problem with a brain chemical called serotonin being reabsorbed instead of going forward to be used where it is needed and some anti depressants like Prozac/fluoxetine remedy that problem by preventing it from being reabsorbed so that it can go forward where it is needed
Therefore taking fluoxetine is comparable to,for example,a diabetic taking medication to mange their illness.
I took it for 4 years and it dramatically transformed my life/mood/funtioning for the good
I am currently taking a rest from it.
Why do you ask?
oldsilverhead
I don't want to depress anyone further, but thought I'd mention that Prozac is fluorinated:
http://www.rense.com/general63/flou.htm
The drug itself or tablets containing? Medicines such as prozac are made by scores of different companies around the world under license using different carriers. If you're refering to the other 99% of the medcine other than the active ingredient, you can't generalise.
"Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock
It's also heavily tested on animals.cvC
Peace, love, and happiness.
I don't know the answer to your question and thankyou for pointing that out, Mr Flibble.
mm, all meds are tested on animals. but i don't think taking meds is supporting testing on animals, as it's a question of legal requirements. so there's no way of 'pressurising' companies to stop testing. i think it is better to be well and fight for a change for animals in society, than be ill in stubborness and not be able to do anything... :/.
Synthroid lost their FDA approval for awhile because of the lack of animal testing. It's just wrong.
I am on Paxil (a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, or SSRI) for pain management. I have rheumatoid arthritis which causes chronic pain. The SSRI helps manage that pain. Pain can cause depression, and depression can cause pain, so the SSRI helps me manage both.
After I had my daughter, I had postpartum depression. The Dr. put me on Prozac and it totally messed me up. Not all anti-depressants work the same, and not every person will have the same experience.
There is no shame in taking an anti-depressant, and most people are able to go off them after the symptoms have cleared.
there are threads about depression here: www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110 and here: www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1340
and the taking of prescription medicines has been discussed at length many times including this thread: www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3181
do you have a particular reason for asking? that way we might be able to address your question from an angle more relevant to you.
'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'
I'm not an expert and don't pretend to be, but Prozac is also unequvocably referred to as fluorinated at the link below, where it indicates that fluoride is present in it as "'4-fluorophenyl' compound, part of the 'active' ingredient":
http://bruha.com/pfpc/html/prozac.html
ALL prescribed drugs are tested on animals.Tigerlily
I am a seasoned animal rights activist and am often involved in anti vivisection campaigns but I am unwilling to compromise my health by denying myself prescribed drugs when my health depends on my taking them,ironic I know,because unless I am healthy I am unable to campaign.
Even the spokesperson for the anti vivisection organisation The Dr Hadwen Trust which funds research into non animal testing said he sadly has to take prescribed drugs.
ALL Prozac and the same drug made by other companies is called fluoxetine.
oldsilverhead
thnks for your advice and knowledge everyone i wanted to breifly mention as im going through a depressive stage at the moment and hoped i wasnt alone with the taking of anti depressents.
I do feel guilty as there are some ingredients that look animal based, but as some of you think it necessary to take them for the wellness of yourself... to be here in a good frame of mind for animals makes me feel less wicked. Ive taken prozac but currently on citalopram.
Citalopram in pill form contains lactose, but you can get it in liquid form which is vegan - the pharmacy may have to order it in specially for you though, and you have to ask your doctor to write you a prescription for it in that form.
Unless you have an unhelpful doctor, they should be happy to look at medicines free from animal ingredients in any case, not just anti-depressants - there are so many drug companies out there (and people with allergies!) the chances are you're more likely than not to find animal-ingredient free drugs if you ask for them.
seanymph: sorry to hear you're depressed. is the medication helping you? i was taking sertraline, but didn't really have any benefits of it. i was terrible with remembering to take it though, and would sometimes forget to take it for days. that gave me lots of 'zaps' in my brain. very weird experience.
i hope your meds have or will improve your mood, and that you get better soon =).
Fluoxetine syrup contains no animal derived ingredients either.
oldsilverhead
I have bipolar disorder for which I've been hospitalized many times, and am on the antidepressant Effexor in addition to lithium and Abilify. I consider my meds to be below my vegan radar, if this makes any sense.
"There were no public health laws in Ankh-Morpork. It would be like installing smoke detectors in hell." (Pratchett)
As KarmaGirl said, all antidepressants are different and people react differently to them. I spent about 8 years on a variety of psych meds and have taken nearly every antidepressant on the market. None of them relieved my symptoms for longer than 3 months and the side effects (excessive sleep, loss of sexual desire & response, major weight gain) were intolerable.
I know lots of people whose lives were saved or significantly improved by taking psych meds. But I know even more people who started on one antidepressant and are now taking literally fistfuls of various pills. They are still unable to function normally. (For me, normal means being able to hold down a job or stay in school and relate to people and other stressors in manners that don't involve screaming, throwing things, threatening others, and harming themselves.)
Good luck to you.
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