Medication Confusion

I went back to my doctor (regular physician) for a follow-up on my meds on Thurs. I had been on the Celexa for about a month but I was still having some annoying side effects: hot flashes, headaches, and some occasional insomnia (which I never had before). We talked about a number of different meds I could switch to, to see if maybe there would be less side effects for me. I am beginning to feel like there are always trade-offs. There are always side effects. It's just a matter of which ones you feel like dealing with. I seem to be pretty sensitive to the side effects, I guess.

Anyway, he suggested I try switching to Prozac, which I haven't tried before. But I'm a little bit worried because I have read that a common side effect with it is anxiety and nervousness, which I DEFINITELY DON'T NEED MORE OF. And the Celexa seems to be helping my anxiety. So, is it worth risking a change again? I don't know. I filled the prescription for it (yay for $4 prescriptions!) but I had 5 more Celexa pills so I decided to finish it off before I start the Prozac.

He also prescribed trazedone, which is a tricyclic antidepressant, to help me sleep better. I guess at low doses, it is helpful for that. But I think my insomnia was mostly related to the Celexa. So, if I switch to Prozac, I may not need it at all. So I didn't fill that prescription at all. I am always a little wary of adding more medications to counteract side effects of another medication because it seems like then you are just adding more potential side effects and it could just go on and on and on.

But while I'm on the subject, I may as well tell my medication history. I saw a psychologist in 2003 (I think?) and she recommended Zoloft. But, as she couldn't prescribe meds, I went to my regular physician, who thought that Paxil would be better (I think it was a bit of a pharmaceutical push). So I started Paxil and stayed on it for almost 2 years. Got off during my pregnancy (my 4th, by the way). And then decided to get back on something postpartum. I really didn't like the side effects with the Paxil, especially getting on and off of it (weird dizziness, constipation, and feeling really weird, in general). So I wanted to try something different. I was also worried about the meds and breastfeeding (that's another issue I'll talk about some other time). Anyway - first I tried Zoloft. And broke out in a terrible rash. So I stopped it. Then a psychiatrist prescribed Prozac. But with the much longer half-life that Prozac has, it actually accumulates more in the breastmilk and I felt like maybe something else would be better. So then my midwives prescribed Celexa, which I filled, but never took. My baby had a heart defect and I really really didn't want to stop breastfeeding and I just didn't feel it was the right decision at the time to start meds, afterall. It was a really hard decision.

And here I am. My baby is now 2. And I finally decided it really was time to get back on some medication. The last 2 years have been pretty rough in a lot of ways. And I feel like medication might need to be a long-term treatment option for me. We'll see, I guess.
Looks like I have 1 more day of Celexa and then I may switch to the Prozac. Ho-hum. It's always such a difficult decision. What to do, what to do.

Celexa Day 9

Today was the first day taking the full dose of 20 mg. I didn't notice much difference than the side effects I was already having.
And can being more hungry than usual and having to pee a lot be related side effects? It's not on the (long long) lists of potential side effects I've seen, but you never know.
My husband says I seem to be dealing with things better than I have been recently. But I can't always tell because my episodes sort of come and go. It would be nice I guess. I think it has helped my anxiety. I don't have as much of the butterflies/nervousness I had so much of before for no good reason. And life doesn't feel as hopeless as it had been. It's hard to know what to attribute to the placebo effect and what the medicine is actually doing.
And I can't help but wonder, what do normal people feel? How exactly is it supposed to feel to not have depression or anxiety issues? Because it's normal to feel a little of it sometimes, right? So how do I know when I'm feeling normal?

Starting Celexa

I started taking Celexa (generic) 3 days ago.
So far I've been getting headaches, feeling a little shaky, getting some hot flashes, and some insomnia. The last 2 nights it's taken me at least an hour or so to get to sleep. The first night my 2 yr. old woke at 5 am and it took an hour and a half to fall back asleep.
I'm taking 10 mg. for 8 days and then will up to 20 mg.
I've decided to give this med 2 wks to see if the side effects calm down.