Taking anti-depressant, is this truly "sober"?
 

I've been in ecovery for 100 days, doing good, working the steps,...I'm still taking Zoloft, at 150mg a day for depression/anxiety.

I'm having a philisophical debate within myself. Can I truly be a sober person and rely on and take anti-depressants. Seems my mind is still "on" something.

I'm looking for opinions, my opinion, I need to gradually stop taking the Zoloft as I progress through recovery.

K

I've lived sober with and without anti-depressants and I find I am a more productive and useful person while using anti-depressants. I want to be a more productive and useful person in life.

Dunno if this will help you but...

The main reason I quit drinking was I got tired of being unhappy and I wanted to see what role alcohol consumption played in that condition.

After quitting I realized that alcohol was a problem but it wasn't the only problem. I had been resistant to taking anti-depressants based on some weird assumption that I needed to "work through this on my own" but ultimately I decided that it's better to be happy- and doing whatever necessary to stay off intoxicants- so I buckled and took my doctor's recommendation to start taking Paxil.

It's helped, I think. There are some strange effects and I hope to stop taking it eventually. But for now I'm in a better place and will continue taking them until I'm ready to move on.

The idea is to address one issue at a time and not cloud the picture with questions of whether I'm doing this properly, purely, or whatever.

Would you have the same doubts about your sobriety if you had to take a pill for high blood pressure? or epilepsy? Depression is an illness which can be most often be treated with medication and/or therapy and as long as you are taking the medication as prescribed it should have no bearing on your sobriety. I fought taking anti-depressants for years just because then my psychiatrist finally convinced me and I took them for many years, however, I was still drinking and the more I drank the less effective the anti-depressants. Within a year or 2 of recovering from alcohol issues I was able to wean myself off the anti-depressant but it took time.

OPINION: IF you're taking it because you have a legitimate imbalance that's completely different than taking it as a crutch.

OPINION #2: Mark my word...... we'll look back on this period in time one day and shake our heads at all the ppl taking "anti-depressants" just like we look back and shake our heads now at all the alcoholic folks who were "treated" with lobotomies, electro-shock therapy and/or with the Belladonna Cure or with (my personal favorite) the LSD Alcoholic Treatment.

Why do you say that? Have you been on them before?

Everyone occasionally needs a crutch. I gave up my anti-depressants after four months of sobriety but that was me.

I still struggle with occasional bouts of depression or gloominess but the swings are no where near as severe or as long as when I was drinking.

I do not count my sober time while I was on antidepressants as invalid. No way.

Anti-depressants are to treat a real medical condition. There are varying degrees of depression just as with any other mental illness or medical condition. Some depression only requires short term anti-depressants to treat, some don't need medication to treat at all, and some depression is harder to treat and requires long term medications.

Anti-depressants are not a medication that makes a person high or run from life. They many times make life bearable, and for those who's depression is not completely chemical related, provide a temporary relief long enough for them to gain the tools needed for long term depression recovery.

I fight with the chemical form of depression and have for years. Without anti-depressants I would not only have been unable to maintain any sobriety but would also be dead from suicide. I have no doubts about that. Anti-depressants give me the opportunity to have somewhat of a "normal" life. They to me are no different than any of the other mental health medications I take to treat my other mental health conditions such as PTSD, Bipolar, etc... I also believe that therapy is also a very important part of treating any mental health disease especially for those that do not need long term medication therapy for their depression since therapy can provide those tools to live without the medications.

I hope what I have written makes some sort of sense. Take care and remember only you and your physician can really know what is best for you. Each person is different and require slightly different approaches to depression.

Yes.

Take the medication as prescribed by your Doctor and stop over analyzing the situation (and don't drink).

What meds I take and why is between my doctors and me.

I take them exactly as prescribed and no...they have no bearing
on my recovery from alcoholism.

If I was abuseing them..I would change my sobriety date.
:yup:

Absolutely you are sober with anti-depressants. There are meds which are addictive, like Benzodiazepines. You, like me, have two diseases, alcohol and depression. Both are treated separately. I wouldn't be alive with out AA and anti-depressants.

Congratulations on 100 days!!

If you seek a doctor's opinion, get one. Alcohol is a depressant. Chronic alcoholism can lead to chronic depression. Once I was sober for 3 months I asked myself the same question, and went to the psychiatrist who prescribe them. Under his care we watched my symptoms and my behaviors and I was able to stop taking them. I am chem-free today--of everything. That doesn't mean I don't have grey days, but that's life.

Ask your doctor--the real one...

I do not think that anti-depressants taken for valid medical reasons under the care of a competant physician should in any way compromise your sobriety.

Yes, you are sober...

It shouldn't matter what I think about you taking a properly prescribed medication taken as directed... that's between you and your physician...

Don't worry -- Zoloft (and all SSRIs) are not addictive and can't be abused. Taking the wrong dosage usually makes it less effective and certainly can't get you "high." Of course you are sober. Congrats.

I find that generally people who are critical of taking anti-depressants do not suffer from genuine, medically-treatable depression or anxiety. If you are honest with your doctor and he is supervising your treatment, I would guess that things will only get better with the combination of sobriety and proper meds. Good luck!

GG

My counsellor told me that he see's so many men in their early forties who suffer heart attacks because of high-pressure careers. The stress catches up to them. It IS a chemical imbalance. I was suffering severe anxiety attacks. It could have killed me.

AA, other alcoholics = 40 months sober

Anti-depressants, counsellor, doctor = 16 months no anxiety attacks

Alcoholics have no business assessing my mental health. Unless they are doctors of course. lol

i think its just being honest with yourself. you know in your heart if your messing up or not. I take a sleeping pill (prescribed) ii usually only take half of the prescribed amount. sometimes even less.

Of course you are.......anti-depressants have helped my sobriety.....not hindered it.......I suffer from anxiety. Anti-depressants have made me life so much better by depleting the anxiety which is one of the reasons I drank. Chronic anxiety is a medical condition and I take anti-depressants to treat it. Alcoholism is a medical condition and I don't drink to treat it.

I have bi-polar disease as well as anxiety/depression and the meds I take have made a world of difference. I've never even thought to question my sobriety while on them.