Just wondering if anyone has been prescribed Escitalopram 10mg for anxiety and later stopped using it to find the anxiety has stopped? I will of course seek medical advise when I think I should stop, I find the medication is working wonders and seem to only get stressed the week before my period.
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You might actually have been misdiagnosed it could actually be something along the lines of PMDD.
Which can be treated with B6 and the pill with psych meds only being the last resort. If you have noticed this it is worth speaking to your doctor. There could be more effective less addictive options.
The depression anxiety with PMDD can be different for different individuals but for myself and my daughter its an incredible overflowing rage and a desire to use random heads within range as bowling balls....
When PMDD is severe it can seem the symptoms are full time but at their absolute worst just the week before the period.
When my then 12 yo first started showing symptoms I wanted to be absolutely sure of what it was before we started treating because I have pmdd and their father has depression. While they can look the same they are very different disorders requiring different treatments.
Anyway the first stage or level of treatment for PMDD is ONLY available over the counter not by prescription.
I had terrible trouble trying to get her in to see a paediatrician or specialist to diagnose properly and the GP just wanted to throw her on antidepressants. Which have shocking withdrawals and are terribly addictive which I wanted to leave as last resort (because all other treatments arent addictive)
So I went to the pharmacy and got her a bottle of Vitamin B6. Started her on that. With that in her system the pattern of her depression was far more evident. It didnt alleviate all symptoms not by a long shot (hers is alot more severe than mine) but it did make very clear that the most acute depression was just before her period (she was literally becoming suicidal) anyway once I saw this I knew it wasn't 'depression' it was clearly PMDD. So took her to a GP who specialises as an OBGYN. He prescribed the pill and its worked the only time there I any problem is if she misses a couple. So next week we are going back for her to get the implanon to make sure there is minimal disruption to her education.
She had gone from top of her class to failing inside of 6 months.
She is back up at top of the class again.