How to Find the Right Anxiety or Depression Medicine for You

Finding the right medicine to treat your anxiety or depression can be a frustrating and draining experience. There is still so little known about mental illness that medicating the illness properly can feel like more of a guessing game than a medical science.

I want to share one of my experiences with antidepressants and what I learned along the way so you don’t have to go through what I went through. It can be a tough process to find the right medicine for you, but the more you know about what to expect, the easier it will be.

When I first started taking antidepressants at age 18, I had a surprisingly seamless experience. My sister was already on Zoloft, a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor or SSRI, with few negative side effects so my doctor assumed the same would work for me. And it did, for a while.

In college, I developed an anxiety disorder along with my depression and felt that the Zoloft wasn’t working as well as it had at first. I spoke to my psychiatrist at the time about switching to a new medicine.

First, she switched me to another SSRI called Celexa. I noticed after a few weeks that my anxiety and depression were worse than before. I let my psychiatrist know that Celexa wasn’t working for me.

Next, she tried a Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor or SNRI called Cymbalta. Unlike SSRIs that only affect the serotonin in your brain, SNRIs affect both serotonin levels and norepinephrine levels. (You can learn more about the differences between SSRIs and SNRIs here.) Again, the medicine wasn’t working and was negatively affecting my sleep, so I asked to get off of it. I assumed my psychiatrist would know the best way to transition me from Cymbalta to the next medication. Unfortunately, that was a bad assumption.

The psychiatrist took me off Cymbalta within two weeks, which I realize now was far too fast. After the first week, I spiraled into a deep depression. I didn’t want to get out of bed or eat. I felt that I would never find a medicine that would fix me. I questioned if I should even bother trying or just give up. I sent the psychiatrist an email about my concerns and the terrible side effects I felt, including some suicidal thoughts.

Though I was 20 years old, the psychiatrist called my mother instead of me and requested that she bring me into the office the next day. Without explaining the context of my email, the psychiatrist told my mother that I was suicidal and needed to attend group therapy sessions immediately. My mother was understandably worried. She does not have depression or anxiety so the mention of suicide was terrifying, and she wanted to help anyway she could. Feeling helpless and misunderstood, I agreed to go to the sessions.

Within the first 20 minutes, I realized that I did not belong in the group therapy session. As people told heartbreaking stories of their mental illness and its effect on their lives, I shrank down in my seat. My thoughts and problems were nothing compared to the people sitting around me, and I felt incredibly guilty for intruding on their safe space.

I did not return to therapy after the first session. I instead took a more active role in finding the right medicine for me. I researched other psychiatrists online and switched to one who actually listened to my story. I spoke with the new psychiatrist about my family history with antidepressants and why I wanted to switch off Zoloft in the first place. After a couple months of frequent, honest communication and mood tracking, I started Prozac, an SSRI similar to Zoloft. I am still on Prozac today.

I share this story not to scare you away from getting help, but to encourage you to take a more active role in your mental health. Below are some things that helped me find the right treatment for my mental illness. I hope you will try them as you begin to seek treatment for yourself.

• Find a psychiatrist and therapist you trust.
  Zocdoc is an incredibly helpful tool in finding a good psychiatrist, therapist, or any other type of doctor. You can find someone close to your house who accepts your insurance, treats your specific condition, and is rated highly by others. I recommend reading the reviews to find someone who will take the time to listen to you and work with you in your treatment.
• Communicate with your psychiatrist and therapist.
  Be open and honest with your doctors. Answer their questions and provide details about how you feel, how you are sleeping, how you are eating, when you exercise, your family history of mental illness, and anything else they ask. The more your psychiatrist knows about you, the easier it will be for them to prescribe the right medicine the first time.
• Research medicines before taking them.
  If your doctor prescribes you a medicine, learn more about it before you put it into your body. Read the papers that come with the medicine and don’t be afraid to ask your pharmacist questions. Some helpful questions I’ve asked include:
  • When is the best time of day to take this medicine?
  • Is it best to take it on a full or empty stomach?
  • Can I drink alcohol on this medicine?
  • Will this medicine interact with any of the other medicines I take?
  • What should I do if I forget to take a dose?
  • Are there any worrisome side effects I should look out for? When should I call my doctor if I experience these side effects?

Another helpful tool is Drugs.com. You can learn more about medicines, any potential side effects to look out for, how the medicine interacts with other medicines and alcohol, and more. If you do your research and feel uncomfortable taking your medicine, let your doctor know immediately so you can come up with a different treatment option.

• Track your mood.
  When starting a new medicine, it can be really helpful to track your mood and side effects. Take a couple minutes in the morning, at lunch, and before bed to assess your state of mind. Take note of any changes in sleep habits, appetite, motivation, energy levels, and sex drive. Bring those notes with you to your next psychiatrist appointment, and let your doctor know if anything you’ve experienced is a problem. It’s a lot easier for your psychiatrist to help you find the right treatment when they know what you experience on a day-to-day basis.
• Create a support system.
  It’s so important to have people who will support you as you search for the right treatment. If I had communicated better with my mother before switching medicines, I probably wouldn’t have ended up in a group therapy class where I didn’t belong. Let one or two loved ones know that you are starting a new medicine so they can watch out for troubling side effects and let you know if they notice you acting differently. Your support system can also help you stand up for yourself with doctors if needed.

Finding the right medicine to treat your depression or anxiety, or any other mental illness, can sometimes seem impossible, but it’s not. Even if it takes trying ten medicines (or more) over the course of a year (or longer), you can find something that works for you.

Not everyone takes medicine for their mental illness, but many do, and there is no shame in that. It took a while, but I’ve found a medicine that helps with most of my depression and anxiety symptoms without too many side effects.

Try my tips above and do your own research online to help you find the right medicine for you. The process might not be easy, but it will be worth it if it helps you live a full and meaningful life.