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Insomnia, headaches, excessive sweating and diarrhea.

These are some of the side effects I’ve been experiencing since starting medication for my anxiety and depression. 🙃

The insomnia is what has lead me to writing a blog post at 4am. 

My thoughts tend to be deep and reflective when I’m wide awake at this time of morning. At the forefront of my mind is the question: “Is the medication working?” I can’t say I’ve seen a huge difference, but to be honest I don’t really know what to expect. This is all new to me...

Going on medication was a last resort. I’ve been seeing a psychologist and trying my hardest to just “get through to the other side”. I felt like I had tried everything else and things were still not getting better. I was apprehensive, I was scared. I asked a few people I knew who were on medication and they helped me to see the benefits and encouraged me to make that decision.

It’s not like I suddenly feel full of sunshine and rainbows, but I do think things are slowly starting to change within my mind...

Before I started to take the medication I was really in a slump. I was very low. I just had no motivation and nothing excited me anymore. Every day felt the same as the one before. I would wake up, do all the things that needed to be done and just “get through the day”.

 I didn’t want that to be my life anymore! If you haven’t experienced depression before, you might think “just snap out of it!”... If only it were that easy! I needed help. I physically couldn’t do it by myself and I really was trying my hardest.

It’s been about 3 weeks and I’m finally starting to look forward to things again. I’m making plans to do things for myself. I’m laughing more. Enjoying playing with Oscar more. Things don’t feel quite as heavy. 

Upon further reflection I would say yes the medication is working. After Easter I’ll meet with my doctor again to discuss where we go from here...

I was so scared to start medication...scared that once I started I may never stop...scared that it would change who I was...

 I think we fear things we don’t know much about. There still seems to be a lot of shame and stigma when it comes to taking medication for your mental health. I mean I don’t know many people who openly talk about it...But from what I have heard from others, it can truly be a life saver! Why should someone be ashamed for taking something to improve the quality of their life? 

I don’t think that medication on it’s own is the answer to all mental health issues. I think that seeing a psychologist and receiving some kind of therapy is an important part of the process... but sometimes we do need that extra help...sometimes despite all our efforts, the chemicals in our brains are just not quite right and need some intervention.

Yes the side effects can be unpleasant, and perhaps we will need to adjust or switch my medication until we find the right balance... but in simple terms, my spark for life is back and to me that is definitely worth it. 




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