Rewind back to July and I was on holiday. I’d known for a while that’s my sertraline tablets weren’t benefitting me in the way they were when I first started using them and I knew I needed to change the tablets. At this point, my mental health was deteriorating and I found myself slipping into old habits which were awful and something I never wish to happen again. I had accepted my tablet’s weren't working so I went back to the doctors and told her how low I felt again and how I felt the tablets were doing a lot more harm than good.
After having been asked many questions, I eventually walked out with a depression helpline leaflet in one hand, and a prescription for 14 days worth of new antidepressants in the other - fluoxetine. I had been started off on 20mg a day of fluoxetine for 2 weeks to see how they went and then I would go back for a review. If you’re not aware, fluoxetine is also known as Prozac. It’s most commonly used to treat depression but also obsessive compulsive disorder and bulimia. I stopped taking my sertraline for 3 days and then started on the fluoxetine. Within days, I noticed the effects of the new tablets kicking in. I was so lucky in the fact that I had absolutely no side effects with fluoxetine, unlike sertraline which I seemed to have, what felt like, every single side effect possible. I could feel the tablets working and I felt 110% better than what I felt whilst taking sertraline. When I started taking sertraline, I read many people had lost their emotions and become very ‘flat’ whilst taking them, something I didn’t feel at first but eventually after around 6 mon5s, I began feeling the same as everyone else had said.
I’ve now been taking fluoxetine for almost 2 months and I’ve never felt better. I’ve had hardly any bad and suicidal thoughts, and haven’t felt half as anxious and nervous as I used to feel on a daily basis. I now get up everyday and don’t spend the whole day in the house, worried and scared to go out. My relationships have become a lot better and my confidence has grown, especially at work, as I now feel a lot better about myself and my health.
If you feel something is not right, always do your best to fix it. Changing my tablets has done wonder so for me, my mental health and my confidence. My happiness has improved greatly too. Don’t settle for an average life, make sure it’s the best for you. Be selfish sometimes.
Daisy x
