Hi there

Last Monday I went to my doctors as I'd been feeling "off" and to cut a long story short I was put on antidepressants. I don't particularly feel depressed and I'm not suicidal or anything but a lot has happened recently and I've found things difficult to the point that it was starting to affect me in different ways. Anyway, I decided to take a few days off work to try and give myself a break and I returned on the Monday of this week. When I got to work quite early in the morning, I was absolutely fine and nobody else was in the office at that point. As more and more people came in, I have never experienced anything like it before but I just wanted to burst into tears. Without bringing any attention to myself, I went to the toilets and tried to calm down but I found myself breathing heavily and I had a tingly feeling all over my body (like just before you get pins and needles). I then found it so hard to return to the office as I just couldn't bear the thought of it.

The same thing happened later so I spoke to my manager and decided I needed to go to the doctors, which I did later that day. He said it was a panic attack which I suspected and gave me some diazepam (2mg). I haven't been sleeping very well lately and when I do get to sleep, I'll often wake up during the night. I've been given a 2 week absence note by my doctor.

Well thats a very brief background but I want to ask, is it normal that I feel so exhausted? As I say, I don't sleep at night very well but I do get some sleep, yet, I feel absolutely shattered on some days. Other days, I feel fine and it doesn't bother me but, like today for instance, I find it so hard to even lift my head off my pillow! I have been for a walk this morning and I am so tired. I exercise, I make sure I eat well and always have my 5 fruit and veg a day (most of the time, I eat in excess of this) and I don't smoke or drink. I feel physically tired when I've hardly lifted a finger. My doctor said this was all related to the depression/anxiety disorder and hence the diazepam to help with the sleep but I don't feel that’s really working. I'm due to go back to the doctor next Thursday as he wants to know how I'm getting on but just wondered if anybody else had ever experienced similar things?

I did think it could be the diazepam that was making me tired as it says it can cause that but its only 2mg which is so weak. Is it just that I need to give myself time to relax or can I do something to help?

Thanks

This post has been edited by skitchen: Sep 19 2009, 09:30 AM

Hi skitchen

One of the problems with depression is lack of energy and this should start to diminish as the anti-depressants start to be effective. Also you will feel
emotional as well, again a depressive symptom and again this would get better in time. Depression does leave you feeling out of sorts, upsets your feelings and sleep pattern etc.

So give it a little time for the effects of your medication to work.

Best Wishes

Jim Bow

Hi, the first week on anti-depressants can involve mood swings and anxiety. Depending on you + the specific drug, it'll probably take several more weeks for your mood to become more stablized, maybe sooner. I woudn't judge the absolute dosage of diazepam to assess how tired it can make you. Some people can take very little and be affected a lot. I'm assuming that the insomnia started when you began the antidepressant, otherwise you'd have brought it up to him long ago. This is a common effect, moreso with some drugs than others. The tiredness is probably a symptom of depression - does it always come along with mental fatigue? Assuming this doctor is a general practitioner, he's probably ruled out other possibilities like sleep apnea etc. If it is depression, I think you'll find over the next few weeks the tiredness will wane, hopefully.

What drug/dosage are you taking? Take a browse of the specific drug parts of the forum here to get common experiences.