i'm a little concerned

I'm glad you will get some help! JUST be aware of the downsides of this drug OK? IF you feel at all more depressed or thoughts of suicide you have to get medical help immediately! Also you CANNOT drink alcohol or take other drugs - like MJ on these OK? Good luck and health hon! I hope you can get off these soon!

im sorry to say this but honestly ur scaring me by saying about these down sides and perhaps suicidal thoughts. the phychiatrist said that side effects occur in very small amounts of people and he said the fact that these drugs are linked to suicidal thinking is total bullsh**. to be honest with you, i totally believed him, this man was the coolest guy and very trustworthy. my dad also convinced me that this WILL help and that he doubts i'll have any bad side effects. i trust him too. the only thing im worried about is actually getting these side effects. the ones im most concerned about are:
lack of interest in friends
increased anxiety
decrease in sex drive
suicidal thoughts

what are the chances do u think a 16 year old taking only 25mg are for getting these side effects.

this whole thing really sucks because i feel like i can't even enjoy being a teenager. now that im on this pill i cant ever smoke again or drink with friends at a party somewhere. i mean those are the things that the typical teenager does and those are things that make teenage years such awesome memories. they say u only live once, so live it up right! but now i cant, i cant even enjoy being a teenager cuz i'm way to fed up with this depression bullsh**. why does this have to happen to me? it really pisses me off, i want to be a kid that does go to parties occassionally, obviously not every night, and have a few beers with friends and get high every great once in a while, but now, no more, i have to just be that kid that sits in a corner at a party cuz his medication wont let him have a fun time

You know what hon, these are ALL just POSSIBLE side effects, ALL I am saying is just to be aware of them and watch out! These ARE very rare, but because they have been in the news - just like walkers with babies - as long as you are aware of even .0001% chance of something happening then that's more information than they gave a few years ago. If you live in the STates, you will be bombarded with all of those drug commericals and EVERYONE of them says the possible side affects right!?

So think of this positively, you have been diagnosed with clinical depression and he has given you something for you to feel normal right? So take it and just be your normal self! When you were younger before drinking or smoking up, you just were yourself and believe me hon not EVERY teenager does drugs or drinks! In fact more and more don't due to the really bad drugs out there right now. AND also since you will be feeling better with the pills, you wont need to "suplement" yourself with anything else.

Also NO ONE has to know about anything to do with your taking pills! IF someone gives you a drink, just say "Hey no I'm trying to get healthy, thanks anyway" OR bring your own drinks like those .5% beers, IF these guys are your friends there wont be any pushing you to do anything. Your life isn't over honey!!! XD Honest!

From the age of 14 till I was put on anti anxiety medication I drank - I used to be an alcoholic when I was 14 - 17!! It WAS hell! So now I don't drink at all, you know why? I feel fine, I don't need another stimulant! And you WILL too. Your main goal through this entire journey was to feel "normal" right? Well feeling a sense of normalty will come soon enough. As soon as these pills kick in, your worries about "what if its this....? etc" will be gone! And you will feel better and be able to go out with your friends and be healthy. You've come all this way honey, don't start looking at the bad again. You have found someone that is willing to give you a prescription, that's the 1st step, 2nd is taking it, 3rd is getting on with your life. All I want is for you to JUST be aware of the slim chances of side effects thats all. But since it's already in the conversation then I know everyone is aware of it! So just enjoy the summer kiddo!

thank you very much for your insight. its just that i wont be able to have the mindset that im normal anymore. this is because when i was "normal" if someone were to offer me a drink, or a joint, i'd be able to take it, consume it, and that would be it, there were no worries, no concerns, it was fine, nothing bad happened. now i just cant have that "normal" mindset because i'm goin to constantly be worrying about what i can and cant do while on this pill. it really sucks. i dont want to be like this, i dont want to have medicine to make me feel normal. i want to be normal with nothing, the way i always have been, but i just cant. WHY ME! this sucks. but what if i were to drink or smoke while on this pill, what would be the worst that would happen? someone said zoloft only affects alcohol in one way, it just makes the alcohol more powerful. it causes u to get drunk with less i guess. but anyways, is there a difference between taking zoloft for depression, anxiety, or ocd, or does that all pretty much fit under the same criteria? is there different side effects for different reasons for taking?

Hi: I sent a reply last night but something went wrong with my internet service. I will try and remember what I was going to say!!!

A beer here and there is no biggy! BUT for you to get pissed is an absolute NO GO!!! Just use common sense thats all! It's like if you were on a diet, then you would give yourself the odd occaision to eat a SMALL chocolate bar! You wouldn't eat an entire chocolate cake right? Same thing, just incorporate the pills into your life, be aware of them and don't do anything daft!!!! I will NEVER tell you what to do about your MJ use!!!! Because that is a counter effector. So that is your call totally. And remember this ISN'T forever. You just have to use your head and you don't need to tell your friends that you are on these pills. IF they want you to get pissed, tell them you're on anitbiotics or something like that. You want to be well or "normal" again right? So it IS going to take some work from your end too.

I was an alcoholic for years, and used to go out with my girlfriends and drink away. BUT as soon as I was put on the anti anxiety pills, there was NO way I could drink. My liver was like "What the hell are you doing!!!!!!?" So you WILL find out really quickly if you go overboard. I know you are only 16 and don't like to be restrained, but think of it as though you were the designated driver EVERY time, would you chance yours and your friends lives by getting pissed and still be the driver? same concept hon. IF you have 1 or 2 over the night, no biggy!

So just use common sense and understand that right now you need some hel to feel normal. and you will!

ok thanks when u said no drinking i thought u meant absolutely none at all. i wouldnt have more than 5 beers on any night even if i was totally normal, just cuz i'd feel like such c**p the next day. but anyways, the doc said i could one of VERY few people in which marijuana has a depressive effect. but its hard to believe that cuz i've smoke at least 30 times before this thing ever started and each time was fairly spaced out. but anyways, im just worried that im taking this medicine for the wrong reason, like what if this depression is all in my head and im just "thinking" that im depressed. i mean even though it dosent seem like that, thats still a possibility. but also, the reason for these meds is to reuptake serotonin, i mean what if i dont even have low serotonin. because member i said, this depression is not at all constant, it comes and goes. so in a moment where depression is not present, dosent that mean my serotonin is normal? im just scared that taking these will give me too much serotonin, im deathly afraid of getting serotonin syndrome cuz i know that could be fatal. the other thing i was wondering was that if for SOME possible reason the marijuana i smoked created a blockage in serotonin production, how will this medicine break that blockage?

There is no such thing as MJ creating a seratonin blockage!! You are low in seratonin transmitters or they are normal. THE ONLY way to get Seratonin Illness is by taking too many seratonin based drugs. MJ isn't seratonin, you seem to really want to smoke dope! Did you tell the psychiatrist that you drink 5 beers at a time and smoke MJ on a regular basis? When you smoke MJ once in awhile - of course your high. BUT if you smoke all the time, it's just as depressive as alcohol abuse! It interferes with the natural transmitters in your brain. Like we have stated before, you are on the hypochondriac side right? So that will hopefully subside with this pill, You stated many times before that you want to feel normal and nothing you do can make you feel normal when you're down. SO your psychiatrist has seen fit to give you a medication to help you with that process. I have tried to tell you the difference between just having normal ups and downs OR that it is REALLY taking over your life! You CAN NOT keep drinking upto 5 drinks at a time. Like I said it is fine for the OCCAISIONAL beer or TWO but not 5 on a regular basis OK?

How long did the psychiatrist meet with you? And did you tell him what you have just said to me and over the last several weeks - that you think it might be just in your head? I hope he continues to still see you so you can get to the route of why you are SO worried and have such anxiety. If you think about it, you probably do need this drug, you go from one thought to another, so take the drug and after a couple of weeks see how you feel. IF you are still overly worried about different things, then you will probably need some more counselling. I hope he just hasn't given you some pills and you're on your merry own!!! You reached out for help and are now receiving one kind of it, so give it a try and wouldn't that be great if it works TOTALLY for you? I went on different meds, and have found the right one for me. Even though they are all relatively the same. I keep thinking about what the Dr said about MJ not really bein a depressent! How did he feel about you drinking and doing drugs? I find it weird that he wouldn't mention the side effects of all of this, not just leaving it up to the label. Can you tell me how long you met with him, IF you are going to see him again, and what he said about your alcohol and MJ use?

i met with the psychiatrist for about 3 hours. i think u have a slight misunderstanding. i NEVER had an alcohol problem, heck, i've only been drunk like 3 times in my life, ive never had more than 3 beers in one night either. i wouldn't drink on a regular basis either, i've only drank the same amount of times ive been drunk. i never smoked on a regular basis either. i would get high about once every few months, which later turned into like once a week for about 8 weeks. its not that i REALLY want to smoke, its just i kinda would like to every now and then, seeing how much fun it was, but clearly not every day, im saying like once in a GREAT while, same with drinking. the doc did go over the side effects, and he said they are VERY uncommon. im not asking for permission to go and get high and drunk every night, not even close to that. what i'm saying is while i'm on these meds, and the occasion does come for some reason, would it be ok to get high, or get drunk. or will that one time then and there COMPLETElY mess up the function of this pill. when i talked to the doc about drugs and alcohol, i told him i smoked as much as i did, same with drinking, he said that was normal for a teenager. he told me i CLEARLY wasnt a stoner cuz he could spot one from a mile away. he just figured that i smoked and drank just because the fact that teens are curious and like to experiment with these kinds of things. what really upsets me is that i'm NOT ABLE to do these things, thats what makes me think i have problems. i would much rather not have problems and not do these things simply because i didnt want to. but the fact that i'm NOT ABLE to, thats what really bugs me.

AHA!!!! That's better!! I was like " Since when did he start drinking 5 beers at a time and smoking MJ constantly!" When you mentioned the 5 plus the 30 or so times of being high!! I actually looked liked this o.O So from what you just clarified, NO PROBLEM whatsoever! It sounds like that part of your life is NOT a problem!! Actually once the drugs kick in, you might find even drinking kind of like no big deal! Right now it is because of your age and lifestyle right? but not in the future. So NOW I can officially say "Just go and be a regular teenager honey!!!!!" You can still go out with your friends and continue doing what you NORMALLY do, sounds like you have it under control! So these pills should make you feel more grounded and "normal"! Sorry to keep alarming you hon! I don't mean to, I just want to get out there the problems with alcohol and drugs used WITH drugs thats all, so I thought OMG!! He's going to get in trouble. But now I know!

Its a normal feeling to "rebel" I went for an Xray yesterday and the technician said "Keep still!!" And it's so funny, becasue when someone tells you to do something you want to do the opposite!!! XD ALL I wanted to do was move!!!! Same if someone tells you to keep your eyes closed, you have all on to keep them closed. And now with someone telling you NO BOOZE OR DRUGS your like "Well I didn't do it that much before, BUT NOW I want it!!!" Weird how we react to authority - and We ALL do it!! So anyway, sorry for being negative, and just be a regular teenager OK?

Hey Whoopdog, you sound really frustrated in light of hearing that information so let me tell you about when I was a teen. I was a pretty cautious guy and I actually never really did smoke or drink during parties, but you know what? I would grab a can of Dr Pepper and join everyone in having a good time, laughing and playing video games and doing all kinds of fun stuff. At the end of the night, I could drive my friends home safely and it wouldn't be a big deal. They all understood and they were cool with the fact that I didn't drink. In fact, most people didn't notice because I didn't really call attention to it. So even though you're frustrated, you can party pretty well without ever having to drink or smoke and still have a good time. Does that help any?

that does help somewhat i will say that. its not that im worried about what friends will say to me, thats not the case at all. what im saying is back when i NEVER had any depression, smoking and drinking were things that i would do pretty rarely, and i liked them, they made me feel good, its nice to feel the effects of alcohol or marijuana in my body, but CLEARLY not all the time. if someone asked me if i'd rather be high my whole life or sober, i would obviously say sober. so im not a pot head at all. what im saying is that the fact that im now on this medicine, im just wondering if i could still carry on with things like that, or will that like ruin the function of this medicine. i like to be high every now and then, i mean its a lot of fun. same with being drunk, thats also fun. like i said before its good to SOMETIMES feel those effects, but obviously not everyday. nothing beats my sober life, in fact, i would consider drinking and smoking PART of my sober life, if that makes any sense. this depression is NOT part of my sober life. so the fact that ive been depressed really does ruin my sober life cuz i'm not able to do things i used to do.

Actually, you might not believe me but once the effects of these pills kick in, you wont feel the need to be high! Because you are kindof!! JUST remember what I said before when I thought you were drinking 5 beers at a time or smoking dope quite a lot! IF you get pissed on the one time you will know what I'm talking about with the effects of these pills and alcohol. It WILL make you more pissed and even sicker! So It's your call! You know what can happen if you get drunk, you know what will happen if you get stoned out of your mind! So it's your call. You can do things in moderation or blow it! Your body WILL tell you when you've done too much! AND just know that mixing a large amount of liquor - and please remember on these pills it will take less drinks and puffs for you to get drunk and high - and these pills is BAD! No ANDS IFS or BUTS! Your call, just use common sense!

i feel like the memories of me getting high with my friends are what makes me want to smoke again, just because i remember nonstop laughing and having life conversations and learning how to appreciate life more while i was high. ever since my mood swings started, i haven't had a good laugh. its awful. but the main thing i wanna know is if smoking or drinking while on these pills could make the DEPRESSION itself worse. any other effect i'm not too concerned about, its the depression holding me back, i'm afraid if i get high that the depression will get worse. the depression is bad enough as it is. i'm just wondering if i smoked would it make it worse or would it just stay the same, i dont expect it to actually help it, i just dont want to make it worse. i also had another question, if i AM clinically depressed, why is my depression not constant, why does it come and go, why is it gone more than present. i feel like people who are clinically depressed are CONSTANTLY depressed and don't ever feel up. i

Hi hon: I just found an EXCELLENT link about what Clinical Depression is:

http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/lookforthesigns/clinicaldepression.shtml

I know it's hard to believe but dope and alcohol are DEPRESSENTS but when you do it occaisionally get drunk or high here and there then you ARE high. It's not that these MAKE you more depressed on these pills. It's that they are bad for your system, your liver and other organs. These drugs enhance the main chemical in alcohol and the THC in MJ! So because they ARE depressents, it accentuates it.

You know when you go to parties, and you have a couple of drinks or tokes with your friends EVERYONE is in a good mood at the beginning right? Then all of a sudden WHAM!!!! There's Jessica crying her eyes out about Paul not loving her, There's Brayden and Jack punching each other, because Brayden looked at Jacks girl and then there's others at the party crying and saying "I love you man!!!And then there's ALWAYS Jennifer throwing up in the can!!!! ;-) XD THAT'S the alcohol and THC! When people say nasty things to each other or start becoming violent There's ALWAYS one common denominator - alcohol or too much MJ!! IF alcohol and drugs were seratonin makers there would be NO Drunken fighting, NO drunken Domestic Abuse, NO drunken and disorderly RIGHT?

You know that show The 70's Show? well that was MY life when I was your age! YES I know I WAS a teenager not some sermony middleaged housewife! ;-) Well I LAUGH like you wouldn't believe at that show, because it shows them drinking and smoking and being funny! And I REMEMBER what that was like, unfortunately what they don't show is what would happen 2 hours later!! My friends that I still have from when I was 13 have all of these pictures of me PASSED out, or just after I threw up, or tears in my eyes because this guy I was in love with for the week didn't like me!!!! So it's the same as you too, you forget how you upchucked the day after a great night out and said to yourself and the big white telephone " I will NEVER do this again!!!" or "OMG what did I do!!! WHAT did I say to her......?" Right? By the way I WAS Donna!!!! XD

I am now feeling "normal" because of the one anti depressent pill I've been put on! I'm happy, I laugh, I feel like myself again. And I don't want to put my body through anything else. BUT that said I'm a lot older than you, and HAVE put my body through a LOT! So just take it easy that's all OK? Have the occaisional drink(s) but DON'T get blitzed, not so much about the increased depression, its about the affects on your body!!! Because I guarantee you hon, IF you think you have been sick after a hang over before it is NOTHING compared to a hangover while on these drugs. So just play it safe!

ok i understand what you're telling me. i was just wondering do u have any knowledge about zoloft, i know my moms on it and she says it works fine for her. i'm really mainly worried about the side effects. do u think it could affect how i feel when i'm not feeling down. or does it ONLY attack the downs. because i havent been consistently down, im worried its gonna affect its gonna affect my ups as well. and which pill are u on, and for what reason? also about the weed and alcohol, I'm not worried about the actual time i'm high or drunk, what i'm really worried about are the lasting effects. if i get drunk or high, is there a possibility that i could feel normal the day after and a few days later go way down again?