Antidepressants are most commonly used to treat depression in people with major depression or depression caused by other illnesses (such as bipolar disorder). My experience began when I was about 19. I had been depressed for a long time and decided to see a psychiatrist. At first I was diagnosed with major depression but later on, another doctor realized I actually had bipolar disorder II.
The first antidepressant I was given was Paxil. It didn't help me at all. In fact, the only thing it did for me was it made me sleep about 18 hours a day. I felt completely apathetic. I wanted to sleep and I would wake up long enough to eat or go to the bathroom but that was about it. I was advised to stay on it for at least a couple of weeks to let it "get in my system". So I took that advice and waited a few weeks before giving up on it completely.
Then I was given Lexapro. I basically had the same problem with it but it also caused me to have some chest pain and I felt like my chest was really tight. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was able to breathe just fine, but I just felt like I wasn't getting enough air. I told my doctor about it and he said I was probably having an allergic reaction to it so he switched me to Wellbutrin.
Wellbutrin was great! I had no side effects at all and for the first time in my life I didn't feel like life itself was a huge burden. I felt normal for once. I was also able to concentrate better and it seemed to help me with the social anxiety I was also dealing with at the time.
I was on Wellbutrin for about a year with no problems until I lost my medical insurance. I was no longer able to afford my medication (and although there are programs that help people with that, no one bothered to tell me about that until about a year later.)
So I had to go without medication for a year. That was a terrible year for me. I stayed depressed, I gained weight, I had trouble keeping a job and I almost became homeless. Finally, I found out about a local clinic that treats people for free (based on income level, of course). After I started going there I was actually diagnosed with bipolar disorder and put on Lamictal and Wellbutrin. Lamictal isn't exactly an antidepressant so I won't mention too much about it (it's considered to be a "mood stabilizer").
So once again I started doing really well. I was doing even better this time because I had a proper diagnosis and was also on a mood stabilizer. But unfortunately, this only lasted about a year. But during that year I got a full-time job that I loved and went back to college and even made the Dean's List. But a year later I started to get severely depressed again. I talked to my doctor about it and they thought that the Wellbutrin was no longer working so they switched it to Cymbalta.
Cymbalta. That one word honestly describes one of the worst periods of my life. I had every side effect you can get from this drug (except for the ones that will flat out kill you or the ones that can only happen to men). I was constantly sleepy. I yawned constantly. Yes, yawned! Even when I actually wasn't tired I would yawn so hard that it hurt (and that is one of the weird side effects). I had orthostatic hypotension (which is a fancy way of saying your blood pressure drops when you sit or stand suddenly).
Needless to say, I couldn't take it for very long. So my doctor put me on Zyprexa. Zyprexa wasn't too bad but it made me sleep way too much so I couldn't take it either.
Finally, they put me back on the Wellbutrin and changed my mood stabilizer to Depakote. That worked great for about a year and once again I became depressed. So far that problem hasn't been resolved. As of right now I am not on any medication. I have decided that (for now at least) it is easier for me to live being depressed from time to time than to feel great for a year or so and literally have everything come crashing down around me. Of course, it is common knowledge that sometimes psychiatric medications just stop working. That is something that doctors are working on and I'm sure they'll eventually find the answers.
Do antidepressants work? Do they really help anyone? I believe they do. They have definitely helped me. But treating depression is kind of "trial and error". You have to have a good doctor, one that is willing to work with you and find the antidepressant that will work for you. They all affect people differently. For example, Paxil didn't help me at all but I know several people that it has helped. And even as horrible as Cymbalta was for me I can't deny the fact that I know people it has helped too. So yes, they do help. It's just a matter of finding the right one.
When I was on medication for my depression it took several attempts through trial and error to find the 'right' one. Some would turn me in a yawning zombie, others, a twitching meercat! You certainly have to give them time to get into your system and for the side effects to calm down. Not always, but sometimes the first couple of weeks can seem very surreal. Definitely a good thing for most people who are suffering though!
When I was on medication for my depression it took several attempts through trial and error to find the 'right' one. Some would turn me in a yawning zombie, others, a twitching meercat! You certainly have to give them time to get into your system and for the side effects to calm down. Not always, but sometimes the first couple of weeks can seem very surreal. Definitely a good thing for most people who are suffering though!