Does medication help with dealing with breakups?

[h0pelessr0mantic]

Has anyone taken medication to deal with post-breakup stress? my doctor is recommending zoloft or ativan. Has anyone had any experience with this?

[metrogirl]

I took Ativan for a while to help with anxiety. Worked well for me.

[Crazyaboutdogs]

I don't believe in taking medication to deal with a breakup. You deal with a breakup by processing the emotions, not blunting them. To me, taking medication to deal with a breakup is like drowning yourself in alcohol or illicit drugs...it really doesn't help the mess in your head...just blunts the emotions for a while. Unless you really have clinical depression, not temporary depression due to an unhappy life event, I would stay off the pills..those come with their own side effects.

[lostnva]

I just posted about this...read my story under I feel like I could just die...in getting back together. I have been taking lexapro and xanax....the xanax helps so much with the anxiety and panick attacks. The lexapro makes me feel like I have no feelings at all. I have been on it for 3.5 weeks. I am starting to feel nothing....not sad, not happy, like I dont care about anything. Im not sure if this is a good thing or not!

[livefree]

I don't believe in taking medication to deal with a breakup. You deal with a breakup by processing the emotions, not blunting them. To me, taking medication to deal with a breakup is like drowning yourself in alcohol or illicit drugs...it really doesn't help the mess in your head...just blunts the emotions for a while. Unless you really have clinical depression, not temporary depression due to an unhappy life event, I would stay off the pills..those come with their own side effects.

 

I second that, 110%!

[lostnva]

Crazyaboutdogs,

 

I agree with you and have always been very against anti-depressants. However, I really felt like I needed something for the anxiety not the depression....because it is temp. It has helped....but like I said Im not sure f this is good or bad.....Im going to talk to my Dr....I dont want to numb my feelings only to have to deal with them later.....I am really wondering if I should be taken this stuff!

[SchecterGuy]

Well I have conflicting issues and I do not know what to do. For one I do not want to hide my emotions while I am going through this tough time. At the same time I am finding it difficult to get through my daily life because of the anxiety. I almost think I mayhave to get on something. But that would be absolutely last resort.

 

I mentioned before that a lot of the things I do now are essentially the same thing as antidepressants do. Like when I go to temple I feel good while I am there and a few hours later. After that I feel like crap again. It is almost the same affect sans side effects.

[pilot]

Go see a doctor and take their advice. ENA is great for getting opinions about life events and everyone here is communicating what they think is best. But they do not know you or your circumstances.

 

Sometimes an individual may not be able to turn off the obsesive thoughts as easily as others. Medication can help those people function at a higher level while they go through the emotions of a breakup. Not taking the medication when recommeded by a doctor may actually keep you stuck longer in the despair and self doubt that can occur after a relationship ends.

 

Not everyone is the same and you need to do what is best for you.

 

Medicaton does not change the circumstances but they can help you get through some low periods if you cant get out of that place by yourself.

[karvala]

I think it depends on the individual. Certainly ADs should not be used to counter ordinary and expected levels of grief after a breakup. However, I think it is the case that for some people who are predisposed towards depressive illness, events such as a breakup can trigger an episode, and that episode may need treating. As such, though, I would suggest that in all cases at least a month should go by before treatment begins, to allow the initial natural grief to be expressed and to be able to assess the extent of the problem.

[lostnva]

Well put PILOT! I agree....its not for everyone, but I do feel it has helped me. They can do blood test to test the chemicals in your brain to see if your levels are normal. Ask your doctor. I am not going to just stop taking mine because that could be dangerous....but Im thinking when I go back in a month I will be ready to wean off!

[Hopelives]

To me, it seems ADs can help with sleep - thereforee, help one recover and cope with the emotions of the breakup.

 

For me, I was fine with the break-up (relatively "fine" that is) and coping well... it is the seeing him on the dating website 4 days after HE wrote me without prompt, that has me sickened and thinking maybe I need something to help ease this time, help me sleep at night, and not be shaky during the day.

[lostandhurt]

I never was a pill guy, but I did follow some good advice from some that had been through what I was trying to get through and now take something to help even out the highs and lows. Your doctor or therapist can help decide what is best for you. Start on the lowest dose and see how it goes. Most take a few weeks to take affect so don't expect anything right away. It isn't a magic pill, you still need to work on healing for yourself. There is no easy way to do that. Good luck

 

lost

[isilv3r]

I don't think it's such a great idea. You lose track of your mind and you forget how to feel about anything, including yourself. Your body can become dependent on these and if that's case, how would you ever be able to genuinely move on with someone else? The best thing to do is surround yourself with friends/family that love you.. If you need to see a therapist, book some apointments. Talking about it and getting it out is a medication of it's own. Unfortunately, they never made a cure for a heart broken and there will never be one. Time heals, your mind/heart strengthens.

 

Or you could just go buy the Our Lady Peace cd...seriously, it got me through the biggest heart break ever ...and it's doing it again right now. Go to youtube and listen to the song "Not enough - Our lady Peace". Perhaps it will make you cry but it's good therapy.

[Crazyaboutdogs]

Anti-depressants are over-prescribed ... people are swallowing them for any little thing...just go to a doctor, ask for anti-depressants and voila, there you go. Yes, it is important to talk to a doctor...but a doctor sees many many many patients...they don't have time to sit with you and really know what is going on. Gone are the days where you follow the doctor blindly...people have to take charge of their own health and well-being..reading up on things, making sure they know the ins and outs of what is going on. So before following blindly with anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication read up on the side effects, both short term and long-term.

[SchecterGuy]

How long does a psychologist have to assess you before suggesting medication or how many psychiatrist visits before they start prescribing usually. I am on visit number two and no mention of drugs yet. I am hoping the psychologist does not see me as a lost cause and go straight to pills. Although for this level of anxiety I think I may need them.

[dragon lady]

I was reaching the 3 month point after my last breakup when my psychologist recommended I see a doctor for my depression and anxiety. I was so bad that I could not function on a day to day basis. This was in part because of the break up and in part moving away from home and going to a new school etc. Now I take Celexa and Klonopin and life is good! I feel great. No more panic attacks or crying spells. I'm happy even if it is a drug-induced happiness.

[karvala]

They can do blood test to test the chemicals in your brain to see if your levels are normal. Ask your doctor.

 

No they can't, unfortunately. It would be terrific if it were possible, but the blood-brain barrier prevents any such thing. A blood test for serotonin, for example, will give a good reading of serotonin in its role as a hormone in the body (and useful for measuring against its role in heart disease, for example), but this has little correlation to its level in the brain. Unfortunately, not all GPs seem to understand this, and I've come accross a number of cases of these blood tests being misused in this way, in one case with a rather serious side effect, that we only prevented becoming worse when the patient happened to mention it to us while taking part in a research study.

 

Blood tests for a certain type of secondary messenger protein possibly trapped in red blood cells in some types of depression have been recently proposed (last few months), but there's not much clinical evidence in support of them so far, and certainly they won't give any indication of neurotransmitter levels during and shortly after action potentials, which is what current ADs target.

[karvala]

How long does a psychologist have to assess you before suggesting medication or how many psychiatrist visits before they start prescribing usually. I am on visit number two and no mention of drugs yet. I am hoping the psychologist does not see me as a lost cause and go straight to pills. Although for this level of anxiety I think I may need them.

 

That varies enormously between situations and doctors. I know many people who've gone to a psychiatrist once for the first time, and been put on medication straight away. Others have gone many times (to the same psychiatrist) and never been put on meds. It really depends what the problem is, and what type of solution you also are interested in. For anxiety, anti-anxiety medication is a good short-term fix, but unlike ADs, which can induce longer-term structural changes in the brain to help permamently overcome clinical depression without always needing the medications, anti-anxiety medications (primarily benzodiazpines) have no such effect and are addictive and so not ideal for long-term use), so in that case counselling in addition to medication is especially beneficial. You need to get the source of the anxiety, which will typically be a psychological cause.

[civilservant]

If you look at the threads ive posted on my profile youll see I wrote a little about this very thing last week. If I could be so humble as to direct you there, my feelings on this are made plain.

[lostnva]

Interesting ... I am a third year Nursing Student and was only posting what I have been taught. What you said makes alot of sense...thanks for the reply, I would love to do more research on this issue, and may use it for a research paper I have to do this coming semester. Thanks again....really has me thinking!

[h0pelessr0mantic]

Well my boyfriend and i haven't broken up yet, but it really seems like we are headed for a breakup pretty soon, and i had a talk about it with my doctor because I felt really trapped in the relationship (he's cheated, calls me names, overcontrolling etc etc) but can't let him go because I am still so attatched to him and do truly love him. Everytime i try to break up with him i feel so terrible that all i want to do is ball up and cry and run back to him...which i do. I also have problems with anxiety and am actually currently on ativan (its a very low dose , like 0.5mg and i only take it when i get really bad panic attacks, so about 10 times a year or so). My doctor recommended that because the relationship is so damaging on me emotionally and because whenever i do find the strength to say enough, that i just go back to him because i am so depressed, that i should maybe try some medication to help deal with my pain. I have truly tried to be apart from him on my own, and everytime have failed. It was recommended that i should try either ativan (increased dosage) or zoloft. My doctor said that in the long run the damage from staying in my relationship will most likely outweigh any damage done by the medication. I am considering the increase in ativan, since it seems to help me. But i am scared of zoloft because some of my frineds tried it and said it made them feel like zombies, but then others said it was the best thing. Has anyone had any experience with zoloft?

[Ana8475]

I'm currently taking Ativan for anxiety issues.. I only take it when I feel really panicky though.. maybe 1-2 times/ month.. and only 1 mg... but I did take cymbalta after I broke up with one of my boyfriends because I was so upset and hurt... one day I decided I didn't need it anymore and stopped.. and that was that... I'm not really sure if it helped or not- it might have been my imagination.. I'm sure it takes a while to work though.. maybe 6 months.. which in that time, the majority of the shock of the breakup has worn off..

[deang]

If you can't process the emotions in a normal healthy manner then by god take medications...just hoping things go away is why you see people on here for years. Get meds to help you and therapy to correct your thought process. I see so many people on here suffering...so they can "feel the emotions" jeezus do you like pain? People who think medications numb you or cause you to be unemtional need to learn, read and research. They give you a bump and allow you to deal with your emotions more effectively. It's not like alcohol or illicit drugs these are designed to enhance mood. Feeling like you can't function for months is not processing...that's being sick...if you broke a bone you wouldn't lie around waiting for it to heal..you'd do something about it...same thing with any other illness.

[SchecterGuy]

I think I will stick to a lot of therapy before I go down that route.

[Zach42o1]

If you can't process the emotions in a normal healthy manner then by god take medications...just hoping things go away is why you see people on here for years. Get meds to help you and therapy to correct your thought process. I see so many people on here suffering...so they can "feel the emotions" jeezus do you like pain? People who think medications numb you or cause you to be unemtional need to learn, read and research. They give you a bump and allow you to deal with your emotions more effectively. It's not like alcohol or illicit drugs these are designed to enhance mood. Feeling like you can't function for months is not processing...that's being sick...if you broke a bone you wouldn't lie around waiting for it to heal..you'd do something about it...same thing with any other illness.[/QUO

 

 

Well put