# Just receiving treatment now....



## Harper (Apr 1, 2014)

> Yesterday, I was started on 5 mg of Escitalopram.

"*Escitalopram is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).* It works by restoring the balance of serotonin, a natural substance in the brain, which helps to improve certain mood problems."

This is going to be my first time receiving any treatment in the form of medication to deal with my major symptoms of DP/DR - anxiety and depression. From what I was told, in the early stages of DP/DR, I had received two pills from a separate doctor than my own (as I was around 15-16, my doctor felt I was very young so she sent me to a child specialist). I believed one of the pills she had describe me was an ADHD medication, therefore I did not even fill the prescription, as I was given ADHD pills in the past and I knew from gut instinct that was not the cause. This was in early 2013, as I had gotten DP/DR around late November of 2012 shortly after the passing of my grandfather.

I gave up on trying to convince my doctor at the time that I needed medication - as mental health wasn't talked about much 5 years ago my doctor didn't see I needed medication but just talk therapy. I tried talking to someone for about two weeks, but it just ended up I was crying the entire time and she was blabbing about other things. After this I said "screw the doctors they just don't understand", as I'm sure most of you have had the same experience. That is when I spent most of my time here on dpselfhelp and just talked about how I felt here.

Flash forward to 2016, and I've handled having DP/DR a lot better than I did around that time. After talking so often with others here, I realized a lot about my symptoms and I focused a lot on changing my lifestyle. Working out and proper eating, etc. But even after this, I still found that my anxiety was really bad, I just stopped noticing as much because my DR would just tune out my feelings. I payed close attention to how I was reacting to each different scenario, and finally said to myself "I need to try medication one more time".

*"I need to try medication one more time". *

> Yesterday, I was started on 5 mg of Escitalopram. I'm to take 5 mg once daily, for one week. Then I will see my doctor next Friday to see how I am managing and up my dosage. This is to introduce it into my system gradually, as I am still young as well. I've taken 10 mg already, 5 yesterday and 5 today. I feel fine, just a little more foggy than usual.

Now that I am 18 and mental health is as well more talked about today in 2016, is why my doctor has taken no time to start me on Escitalopram. As I live in Canada, medications are given out very very seldom to minors. I plan to keep updated in this post on how I manage with taking this SSRI. I thought that my story was a little different read to the usual, as I have had DP/DR going on 5 years and am new to taking a medication now. I would love to hear feedback and similar experiences.

Terry


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2016)

ur fine and its not your fault. I said i would not say anything on the boards but w/e Keep trying. I am sorry your are suffering. As a long term sufferer of dp, all I can say is just live your life as best possible. Cause dont' expect the mental health community to help.Sorry.


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## forestx5 (Aug 29, 2008)

I learned my lesson about mental health professionals very early in the game. I know my symptoms and learned to research all treatment options before consulting a psychiatrist. BTW, I currently take 40mg of escitalopram per day. I have taken numerous SSRIs in the past and my opinion is that escitalopram is the cleanest SSRI with the fewest side effects. good luck with it.


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## Harper (Apr 1, 2014)

forestx5 said:


> I learned my lesson about mental health professionals very early in the game. I know my symptoms and learned to research all treatment options before consulting a psychiatrist. BTW, I currently take 40mg of escitalopram per day. I have taken numerous SSRIs in the past and my opinion is that escitalopram is the cleanest SSRI with the fewest side effects. good luck with it.


I'm glad to hear that. Yeah,my doctor sounded pretty confident on this one when she was explaining it to me. They are taking it really slow like I said, getting me on it. Thanks for your feedback


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## Harper (Apr 1, 2014)

Update: I've been pretty nauseous and dizzy the past 24 hours. Woke up feeling very nauseous. Possibly could be I'm not eating enough with these pills. But I'm going to keep taking them.


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## hennessy (Apr 2, 2008)

You have to be really patient with SSRI type drugs.


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## jenndp (Nov 9, 2015)

Good luck Harper - where in Canada are you? I'm in Canada also


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## Alan (Jan 26, 2015)

You won't receive a reply, unfortunately Terry/Harper is banned. I'm locking this thread.


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