What is Jow Forums's experience with Anti Depressant medication?
Obviously reading online there are extreme views on both ends of the spectrum. I don't want medical advice, I just want to hear your guys personal experiences with them or dealing with a loved one who takes them.
80% of people who take antidepressants get over their depression.
A small percentage, usually late teen to young adult males, will have a "rebound" reaction where they become much more depressed and need to discontinue. I firmly believe that most of the extreme negative views you see about modern antidepressants (especially SSRIs) comes from these people. And scientologists, for obvious reasons.
Antidepressants saved my life.
I am a male in my early 20s though, so its a sketchy prospect.
In saying that I am not depressed per say, more Agoraphobia symptoms which have basically created a shut in situation. SSRIs are being pushed at me though.
Again, it's a small percentage of those folks. It's something to be aware of and, if you have a problem, to discontinue over.
Either way, talk to the doc about it. "I've heard things"; "How will I know they're working?" "When will I follow up and adjust my dose or change drugs?" "What's the treatment plan after this visit?" "Am I depressed though? Do I have agoraphobia?"
They have horrible withdrawals if you ever stop using them.
They're harmful.
They are not actually fixing any neurological disease.
There is no such thing as a test to tell whether someone has a "chemical imbalance" in their brain. There is no legitimate science behind this, or psychiatry in general. These drugs are not proven to fix any "chemical imbalance".
The vast majority of people with anti-psychiatry views have nothing to do with Scientology.
Scientology is an extremely small group of people.
Nope, I don't fit that category The year or 2 I was on them I had horrific brain fog and did nothing to change what actually was causing my depression and due to the drowsiness from the drugs I could no longer participate in the few things in life that actually gave me even the slightest bit of happiness.
Those drugs permanently took those years away from me and gave me a permanent slight brain fog that I still have today more then 2 years later.
You can call me a crazy retarded conspiracy theorist or a lair, but the reality is anti depressants are absolute fucking bullshit and I've seen it firsthand. They are designed to make the medical industry money and turn people into zombies, not to help people.
So user, work out whats causing your depression and works towards fixing it and improving your life, drugs will only waste years of your life.
>They have horrible withdrawals if you ever stop using them.
False. A small percentage of people get "sparks" or get rebound depression.
>They're harmful.
Provably false.
>They are not actually fixing any neurological disease.
Like virtually every other drug, and like therapy itself, the purpose of antidepressants is to enable you to heal yourself. One of the big things they do is enable you to break free of the feedback loops of depression you experience when, in fact, you are depressed. They enable you to react less negatively to social stimuli, and to build up a track record of positive experiences in life. You learn to cope with depressed mood.
You are full of shit and have no understanding of how depression or your own brain works.
>I've seen it firsthand. They are designed to make the medical industry money and turn people into zombies, not to help people.
This person is what we call a paranoid delusional and a hypochondriac. Do not believe his ranting and raving. He will make you as crazy as he is if you listen to him.
Keep in mind we have a dedicated anti-medication poster on this board. He's insane and loves to call anyone with a positive experience "big pharma".
Oh god we have AT LEAST two. And then all the people who repeat it as gospel truth.
>False. A small percentage of people get "sparks" or get rebound depression.
SSRI withdrawals are well documented. A quick google search will prove you wrong.
The vast majority of people who take SSRIs will suffer severe withdrawals if they stopped.
If you don't feel effected by withdrawals, YOU are the weird one.
>Provably false.
You think these mind-altering drugs aren't harmful? You already have brain damage obviously.
Psychiatry is a complete psuedoscience.
There is no physical tests possible. The diagnostic process is highly arbitrary and subjective. These fake psychiatric labels are voted into existence,they are not legitimate medical conditions which are discovered.
Psychiatry is a quackery. 100 years from now it will be recognized as a pseudoscience.
You can accuse people who think this of being "paranoid delusional" all you want. You are trying to discredit them and stigmatize through psychiatric labels.
They aren't meant to completely fix your depression, they just help you get to the point were you can manage it. As in up your energy, help make things a little nore pleasurable than having no pleasure at all. Those 'little' things
They don't all work on the first go, you have to try multiple ones and see which one works.
I'm on my sixth one for reference.
>Psychiatry is a complete psuedoscience.
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Yeah, this is the tough part for most people. You've gotta actually do the work, go through the pharmacopeia, document how you feel, what's happening, and above all, report the fuck in.
Eighty percent of people who take antidepressants get over their depression. Who do you believe? Them, or some conspiracy theorist on a bolivian bullshitting forum?
Purely my personal experience.
I got stressed out, told everyone I wanted to kill myself, didn't sleep for four days and went into psychosis.
I was involuntary committed and put on meds. They didn't help. But I got to chill the fuck out (sleep) while they trapped me in a fucking facility. That did help, sleep.
I got out and my life completely went out of my control. I took Risperidone and, didn't matter, still couldn't sleep. Still went through psychosis. I moved in with parents again. Back in my hometown with no desire to be there. They told me I was a Schizophrenic. I was still taking the pills. Everyone treated me like a disabled child and I couldn't make any of my own decisions. (I used to live alone and worked 80 hours a week, in a different city.)
Eventually I got regular sleep. But I told the police I was suicidal and got recommited. Then I moved in with another relative and new city and got more, and different, pills. I had another week where I couldn't sleep and was put on Benadryl.
Finally I return to work. I got a routine again. Told my docs I fucking hate the pills and they couldn't stop me from not talking them. Was on Risperidone/Linthium/Abilify.
Moved back to the city I started in. I'm doing alright. It's sleepless tonight but three years, no psychosis since. I manage my sleep as best that I can, try to look forward to the world, have a therapist, try to make friends, I don't work so much anymore. Anyway, currently no pills or drugs or alcohol.
Hey OP I can only tell you how it has worked for me. Despite weight lifting and bike riding to get fresh air and exercise, I was still losing the fight to depression. I'd either eat too much, not eat at all, find no joy in life, hated myself, hated others, you get the idea. Waking up every morning to vomit before work because it felt like my heart was going to fail out on me. Flop sweats and blurred vision. Finally I went to the doctors to get my blood and heart checked out. Passed with a clean bill of health. So then my doctor recommended going on antidepressants and anti anxiety meds. I hated the idea and figured I was just stressed and needed a break so I turned it down the first time. I took a long vacation to decompress, lots of video games, drawing, reading, sunlight and ate better all that and I did feel better! So that is good, but at night before bed it would all come apart again and I would reel in terror and sadness. I said fuck it and agreed to try the doctor's cocktail. I felt nothing for the first 3 months and figured I was right and it's all bullshit. Doc recommended I took some notes weekly on how I was feeling so he could go over it with me. Damned if by the third month I wasn't sleeping like a baby, waking up not throwing up and work seemed like no big drama. Things have been so much more bearable. I'd use the word balanced as in nothing feels overwhelming anymore. I do feel sluggish and worry that if I go off them I'll revert back to the bad days but I've been on them for about 3 years now and my life has improved.
>schizo meds
Completely different from antidepressants. Glad to hear you got better though, user. Sometimes you can get off the meds and get better.
I can't get fully hard anymore after 6 months on Zoloft. Being an adult male who is 25 this has had pretty big negative affects on my life, most notably lower self esteem and anxiety for the future of my sexual life. I've been off of it for 5 months and it hasn't improved at all. I also don't feel the same as I used to, and I actually feel less intelligent. Yay.
You probably feel less intelligent because you went off. You're probably impotent because you're depressed. Actually work with your fucking shrink, report symptoms, report what's going wrong, report whether you're getting better or worse.
You have to actually take charge of your healing rather than popping a pill and thinking it'll magically fix itself. This is where most people go wrong. They don't actually help themselves when they're on the meds and then never improve.
Appreciate the level headed reply. I am in the same boat. I genuinely live a healthy lifestyle for a sustained period of time but still have incredibly large anxiety issues that affect diet, sleep and general mood. I am in a cycle of self sabotage just because of the amount of stress and anxiety in my life, even though I have very little to worry about (I am OK financially and have my own independence).
The thing is I am not really depressed, but I know I can't live as a shut in forever to avoid not being depressed.
>You probably feel less intelligent because you went off.
This doesn't make any sense.
>You're probably impotent because you're depressed.
I was depressed before going on the medication and I had no trouble getting multiple rock hard erections a day. Now I'm lucky if I can get one 80% hard one a day.
>Actually work with your fucking shrink, report symptoms, report what's going wrong, report whether you're getting better or worse.
I was a part of an intense program where I spent 5 hours a day talking to shrinks in solo and group settings 5 days a week for 5 weeks.
>You have to actually take charge of your healing rather than popping a pill and thinking it'll magically fix itself. This is where most people go wrong. They don't actually help themselves when they're on the meds and then never improve.
Then why did my therapists office let me finish the program despite saying I wasn't all better and not set me up with further therapy, just 'good luck!' and an indefinite prescription for 2 antidepressants, an adhd med, the former to be gotten off of apparently when I decided I was better, and yes my insurance still covered more sessions 1 on 1 with a therapist. My office is ThedaCare and there were about a dozen tharpists and a psychiatrist all on my case, so its not some hole in the wall place either.
The system failed me, and I'm too scared to go back in fear they'll leave me worse off than I started once again. So I'm taking my (shittier than before) chances without now, and its not looking bright.
Then ask your doctor about a low dose solution for at least the anxiety. Try removing one piece of this bad math equation and see how it affects the rest of you. My real advice is have patience and track your shit. When you get real down low, or high, when you eat, generally what you ate, did you workout, did you sleep. Track this shit and you'll start to see patterns. Figuring out how to break those patterns is the game. The meds are to give you a handicap advantage while you learn to play.
I've taken various SSRI brands for the last 4 years. No amount and no version made me feel better, only a bit more tired than usual.
Waste of effort to get, time to track and money to spend.
Exercise instead. Lift. Bike. Go for a walk. Listen to music while at it. Drink water regularily, daily. Don't depend on others, on drugs, on alcohol, not even on sugar and sweets.
Oof, I forgot to add that I quit taking mine about two weeks ago and never felt better, immediately at that. Zero withdrawals after a year of 40mg Citalopram that did nothing to me.
>This doesn't make any sense.
Yes, but it's the truth. Fact of the matter is antidepressants improve the cognitive abilities of the depressed.
>I was a part of an intense program where I spent 5 hours a day talking to shrinks in solo and group settings 5 days a week for 5 weeks.
Then there's something much worse wrong with you than merely being depressed and you should probably be on a LOT of other shit.
>The system failed me, and I'm too scared to go back in fear they'll leave me worse off than I started once again. So I'm taking my (shittier than before) chances without now, and its not looking bright.
You have to go back and fucking try again, pussy. Did you even get your meds adjusted in this "program"? Or did they just do a bunch of talk therapy while prescribing a standard dose of some drug? Talk therapy doesn't substantially increase the efficacy of antidepressants, you know. For the overwhelming majority of patients they work on their own, with time and patient effort.
>never felt better, immediately at that
Oh look, someone who DIRECTLY contradicts the horror stories bandied about by the anti-pharma troll above: No withdrawal effects.
Sucks that your drugs didn't work. Did you at least try SNRIs or (god help us) TCAs?
>When you get real down low, or high, when you eat, generally what you ate, did you workout, did you sleep. Track this shit and you'll start to see patterns.
This is HUGE and cannot be overstated. You literally need to treat your life like a science project sometimes. In fact, on some of the much older antidepressants (the real horror stories: MAOIs), you NEEDED to carefully track and watch what you ate or you could fucking die.
Eat a cheese omelette, for instance? Boom, dead. MAOIs were fucking scary. I am so glad I was born after that era.
I don't even remember what I was put on before the SSRIs. I only remember the latest pretty much.
An odd thing is how no pills seem to do anything to me. I'm also highly resistant to alcohol despite only drinking once every two months or so, and then I can dump multiple large shots of burnwine or whiskey just for the taste. I get a little spinny at worst, usually followed by hyper-focus on tunnel vision (I actually perform exceptionally in certain videogames when drunk), and I have not once gotten hungover or needed to throw up from it.
>An odd thing is how no pills seem to do anything to me. I'm also highly resistant to alcohol despite only drinking once every two months or so, and then I can dump multiple large shots of burnwine or whiskey just for the taste. I get a little spinny at worst, usually followed by hyper-focus on tunnel vision (I actually perform exceptionally in certain videogames when drunk), and I have not once gotten hungover or needed to throw up from it.
Hm. Maybe you've got some crazy liver enzymes. Do you ever have weird shit happen to you after eating grapefruit? They say that can cause orally-taken drugs to have multiple times the effect they normally do.
That or butt-chug your liquor. That bypasses the liver iirc.
Grapefruit huh. I should look that up. No idea as of now.
The only thing that would go up my butt voluntarily would be the strap-on of a cute gal.
Actually her fingers and tongue would be fine too. But that's gotta be a real cute lady with ladyparts.
I wrote this whole long post about my experiences with depression, but then decided you don't need to hear my whole journey. The short version is this: Antidepressants have always been a mixed bag for me, but I'm glad I'm taking them. I've tried a few brands and none of them are a perfect fit, with side effects ranging from headache to erectile dysfunction, but I know I wouldn't be alive without the meds, so I'll gladly keep trying until I find what works for me. My advice is to do whatever it takes for YOU to get better. I've had some assholes tell me how having to take meds means I'm weak or something, but personally, I'd much rather be weak and enjoy being alive, than be a glorious alpha male hanging from a noose.
>The meds are to give you a handicap advantage while you learn to play.
Perfect analogy, good job. Medication can't cure depression, but it can help you help yourself. I know I don't want to be on meds forever, but I also know I need them at the moment.
On the subject of antidepressants working and all the things we don't know about depression, there's this speech by Andrew Solomon I often think about, where he says something along the lines of
>If you have cancer and you tell me standing on your head for 20 minutes every day makes you feel better, I'm glad you feel that way but you still have cancer and will probably die from it. If you have depression and tell me standing on your head makes you feel better, you're effectively cured, because depression is all about how you feel.
I think that's the best you can hope for with antidepressants: If it works, it works, and if it doesn't work, try something else.
One last advice: Read "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus. It's great.
Venlafaxine and mirtazapine helped me loads and it aint no placebo cause I was on sertraline before that and that did little. Im no longer suffering from a psychosomatic pain in my stomach due to venla.
Only side effect is that Im more thirsty which is actually beneficial because I drank too little like most people my age.
AD are just overprescribed and depression and GAD are overdiagnosed so you have a lot of people taking the meds that dont need them. If youre really severely depressed they can make a world of difference as it did with me.
That's amazing. Please donate blood to some lab so they can synthesize a super serum and give us all Wolverine powers.
When I went off my meds (SSRIs) a couple years back, I had a bit over a week of what felt like the worst flu of my life, with waves of hot and cold, and the world spinning whenever I tried to stand up. Would not recommend.
I've taken the following
>Gabapentin (Neurontin)
>Welbutrin (Zyban)
>Zoloft
>Xanax
Gabapentin was given to me as an anxiety suppressant and sleep aid. Works great, but I've been taking it for ten years, so it's impossible for me to wean off. I would have a stroke if I tried.
Welbutrin was given as an antidepressant. It made me so angry that I have literal destructive tantrums. Got off of it asap.
Zoloft was prescribed shortly after Welbutrin. Turned me into a zombie. Barely ate anything, dick didn't work, suffered brain 'zaps' after weaning down.
I can't remember anything while taking Xanax. It was prescribed as a 'pop this if shit gets serious' pill, and I only took one while boarding a plane. From what I've been told the withdrawals are absolutely terrible.
Best advice I have is to not take SSRI's at all.
Found the Andrew Solomon talk. If you can get over his weird way of speech, I think there's some great points in this.
I'm flattered. I'm also uncomfortable around needles and lazy though so nah. While my name's Not Important, as the rest of this putrid carcass of a world burns, I alone will stay alive with my goddamn Wolverine regeneration.
Ironically, people with "just" depression should be the group that should be skeptical about them. SSRIs are a godsend for many people with anxiety, OCD, intrusive thoughts, excessive blushing/flushing, overactive flight or fight systems, etc... it keeps their mind at ease and helps them to feel normal, with the positive effects outweighing the side effects and blunted emotions.
If your depression doesn't really go into "physical" territory, aside from maybe lethargy, then I would avoid them. They're recklessly perscribed when they're not necessary for many cases of depression. They're not happy pills in any sense of the word.
Oh look it's this guy again. "Don't take SSRIs because I took all these drugs and I'm fucked up," but only one of the drugs in his list is an SSRI.
>They're recklessly perscribed
I think it's unfair and misleading to say they're recklessly prescribed. I could agree that they're overprescribed but I don't think it descends into recklessness. This is particularly given how very effective antidepressants actually are compared to the very real damage that a needlessly long period of depression causes people.
I would, by the way, define reckless prescribing along these lines:
>A physician recklessly prescribes a medication when he consciously disregards a substantial and justifiable risk that the disease or disorder for which the drug is normally prescribed is not present. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the drug and the circumstances known to the physician, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a responsible physician of that region would observe in the physician's situation.
Question: Will I get my dick working again if I take SSRI meds? Is it just a short term thing while you start taking the medication that your willy stops working?
Male, 25yr old
I've struggled with depression (possibly still am) for about 5-6 years in and out, peaking 1,5yr ago when gf broke up with me. That event made me seek medications and professional help.
We started with uhm sulpiride (needed a moment to recall its name), slowly increasing the dosage, because I felt no positive effects. The heart burn was so severe that I couldn't function anymore, crying myself to sleep, over thinking stuff, suicidal etc, etc. I had to ask my psychiatrist for something stronger and she prescribed an anti-anxiety pill called cloranxen. To be fully honest I think its the only med that didn't feel like placebo. I could experience its effects almost immediately, might be, because of high dosage we started with. The heart burn was still there, but it became something else, instead of squeezing my heart, it was ticklish. Same happened with all my worries, there were still there, but somewhat further, like I knew I should care yet I did not. Sadly its highly addictive, I was allowed to use them only for 2 weeks, but hey thats when I needed them most. Going back to sulpiride I mentioned, 2 months into treatment my nipples started to hurt and some drops of fluid comming out. Guess what, it had some side effects, if i continued I'd produce milk as a guy, thanks doc, dropped immediately. Next is hmm... citaxin (citalopram), this one had no complications. They told me it will give me energy to "do stuff". Been taking it for next year along with some other "relaxing" pills, mostly, because it gave me a false feeling that I'm doing something with my life. A month ago I told my psychiatrist that depression isn't my issue anymore, but behavioral habits that I'll handle with therapist and with my own strength instead. Afterwards besides side effects of withdrawal like nausea, dizziness and very high blood pressure (up to 160/110) I felt nothing extraordinary, like i never dropped meds in the first place. Might write a bit more once I'm back home.
It's not even a common side effect, and it's not permanent. The few cases where people claim it's permanent, they had an underlying cause of ED that conveniently was triggered while they were on SSRIs.
The fact that people are on these drugs for a long time leads itself to a lot of false associations. I mean, with a lot of these guys, it's to the point that if they got hit by a car and broke their leg, they'd complain, "I *never* got hit by a car, and I certainly never broke a leg, before I started these accursed drugs!" And then the mental gymnastics start, "It must've interfered with my attentiveness!" or "It must have harmed my hearing! That's why I didn't hear the car coming!" or "It changed my appetite! I must've not been eating enough calcium!"
NEVER underestimate the ability of the human mind to blame an external factor for a mistake, or a routine problem of aging for that matter. I'm absolutely certain there are guys out there who blame their baldness on SSRIs. "I didn't start going bald until I was on these drugs for a year! And I stopped after three years and I'm still going bald! Curses!"
>Afterwards besides side effects of withdrawal like nausea, dizziness and very high blood pressure (up to 160/110) I felt nothing extraordinary, like i never dropped meds in the first place.
Good. Sounds like the drugs worked for you and you were able to successfully discontinue once your depression ended. Side effects and finding the right meds sucks, obviously, but glad you got better user.
the reason why this board and Jow Forums in general usually is so anti-ssri is because of the vocal minority. people which used ssris and it worked (like me) dont spend their time shitposting about how bad they are.
just try it, if you dont like it stop again. if you have a good psychiatrist you start with a tiny dosis anyways
>80% of people who take antidepressants get over their depression.
Yeah but so will 70% of the people who don't.
Fact is that antidepressants only work in some people, most don't need them.
Doctors prescribe them so they can at least help the few people for who they work, not because they work for everyone.
>Yeah but so will 70% of the people who don't.
I think the 80% figure I'm citing is of the people who haven't gotten over acute depression on their own (i.e., it hasn't gone away on its own).
Also I'm reasonably certain even the people who it would probably self-resolve in, they help resolve it faster and minimize lost time due to temporary disability.
Plus, let's be honest, none of the people on this board who are complaining about depression have been able to self-resolve and there's no reason to believe they'll self-resolve. Once something's chronic, it's extremely unlikely to resolve on its own.
Things I feel you should know is that sexual side effects in males are very common, that can mean reduced libido or impotence. I had some that simply made me not want to fuck that much anymore which was okay, Then I got a combo that completely castrated me for several months.
>I think the 80% figure I'm citing is of the people who haven't gotten over acute depression on their own
There is no way in telling if thats true, Antidepressant trials usually show that around 40% to 60% of the people on Antidepressants get over it, and 30%-40 on a Placebo do.
Basically that means that for at least 20% of all Depressed people Antidepressants offer a benefit over just taking a Placebo.
Thats enough to say that they work(for those people and possibly more). But its not even in the range of your 80% claim.
>very common
Just because it happened to you and a few other people you talk to on the internet doesn't make it "very common". It's actually quite uncommon.
psycnet.apa.org
>The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was measured using the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire. In the overall population, bupropion IR (22%) and SR (25%) and nefazodone (28%) were associated with the lowest risk for sexual dysfunction, whereas selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, mirtazapine, and venlafaxine XR were associated with higher rates (36-43%).
very uncommon... right
Also this doesnt even account for gender. Men have much more trouble:
psycnet.apa.org
>Men had a higher frequency of sexual dysfunction (62.4%) than women (56.9%),
>Population in Spain
You can't directly import those figures. The cultures are very different. Not even regular medical research can be reliably carried across societal boundaries; psych research is even harder to do that with.
Nearly 2/3 of that study is women.
Now you are just trolling.
I was taking antidepressant for about a year and a half starting when I was 20. They did help my depression and anxiety, but also made me feel weird. Like I could never get angry or have any sort of negative emotions. The happiness that you feel while on antidepressants is very limited and honestly I felt a greater quality happiness with my depression.
I eventually stopped taking them for no other reason than convenience. I had no withdrawal symptoms and I quit cold turkey. I would take them again if offered, but try not to be dependent on them forever.
Same here. antidepressants just make me feel less. Less good stuff and less bad stuff. Before them I wanted to kill myself because I felt bad, on them I wanted to kill myself because I felt nothing. I think they work for some people by making t hem generally feel less negative emotions, but my problem has always been the lack of positive emotions.
I’ve just been through brain surgery on my temporal lobe. One month on I was disliking life and the people around me so they put me on anti despressants. We are now at the two month mark and shit has gone down hill further since taking these:
>Angrier
>Stress
>Stay awake for days
>Sleep for days
>Anxious
>Blurred vision
>Feel sick
>Don’t eat
>Losing weight
>Suicidal thoughts
Sometimes they work for people, sometimes they don’t. When I was a teenager they tried multiple brands on me and the same thing happened, this time it has again but worse. To me, you feel like you’re in an invisible cage but when the cage breaks, shit hits the fans.
cont.
If I had to sum up the story, I think what helped me the most was the change of enviroment. I changed uni, city, met new people, consulted therapist every week. Meds were only necessary to stop the heart burns initially. Everything past that was just blindly listening to doctor. It might have make me stronger at the time, but I could manage on my own, eh who knows. I realised "depression" is a part of me, I accepted it, embraced. Its okay to be sad from time to time and I've always been a melancholic type, thinking about life and living in my own little world. I realised medication won't change who I truly am, only dull my senses. As user said
I'd use them only when you are more than just depressed and feeling physical discomfort. Finding a reason of depression and working on solving the problem is the top priority instead of relying on pills.
Lastly if any of you have existential problems... heres my reason to live: to become the best person I can ever be, to get the most of the body that was given to me and feed my brain with as much knowledge as possible so I can share with those willing to listen, once I'm in my 80's. Everything else is details. Sounds funny from a depressed guy, doesnt it? It is that simple. Good luck anons, know that theres someone who cares about each of you.
Bump
On SSRI for a time. I was less depressed but wildly more risk taking, out of control reactions and rages. Realized it was not good for me and tried to stop cold turkey - horrible withdrawal symptoms. Changed to wean off program and fluoxetine. Eventually off but quit the psych and useless therapist. Still have depression episodes sometimes, but crazy like I was while on medications. what did ancestors do? They just stocked on. Coworker on SSRI started having "bug psychosis" and other issues that ended with heart issues and hospitalization. They left work and I hear that things are much better now. I am very leary of the medications now and blame the madness in the USA on the medications.
>Yes, but it's the truth. Fact of the matter is antidepressants improve the cognitive abilities of the depressed.
I didn't feel any smarter on it, nor did I make any better decisions or do any better in school, combined with not being happier, it had no effect on my intelligence.
>Then there's something much worse wrong with you than merely being depressed and you should probably be on a LOT of other shit.
???? My therapist recommended it for me to help me get better faster than seeing a therapist once every other week (the most she could see me)
>You have to go back and fucking try again, pussy. Did you even get your meds adjusted in this "program"? Or did they just do a bunch of talk therapy while prescribing a standard dose of some drug? Talk therapy doesn't substantially increase the efficacy of antidepressants, you know. For the overwhelming majority of patients they work on their own, with time and patient effort.
Yes they did adjust my meds, do you not know what a psychiatrist does? And six months is plenty of time for them to work. Regardless, my point stands that they made my life objectively worse, and I can't afford to get worse again.
Haha, fuck you and your shit 'advice'. A shit ton of (wrong) assumptions and harassing, combined with saying 'tough it out pussy' to a fucking DEPRESSED PERSON. You clearly aren't qualified to be giving advice, so please stop and get off this fucking forum.
I took zoloft back in 2013 because i got anxiety attacks and wanted some benefits that the doctor "claimed" it had. The phycician even told me that the side effects weren't even that bad.(Couldn't be further from the truth) It was the worst decision i have ever made/worst experience i ever had. Zoloft made eradicated my emotions, libido and terrible side effects (nausea,insomnia,tremors,nightsweats,coldsweats, lost of appetite.) Made me feel zombie like. The withdrawal was just as bad and i had to go to the ER. I still don't have my emotions and still have nausea problems ever since i got off of it. These SSRI's are purely toxic, its all a bunch of bullshit avoid like the plauge
Yup its all a bunch of bullshit, these people who give out these drugs either are ignorant or intentionally exploit people for money
They are fucking harmful speaking from personal experience
Hes not any of those things you claim him to be you dumbfuck. Stop trying to make him look crazy when hes actually speaking truth
I'll never take them again. I was on them for about a year. The side effects were insane. I couldn't sleep, like the first week I was on them I think I slept like 20 minutes a day. They had to prescribe me another pill to take to get to sleep. I couldn't hardly ever get a boner, and if i could I couldn't bust. I gained like 30 pounds I think, I don't even remember eating anything more. I also didn't really feel happy either, i mean, i didn't feel depressed, but I also didn't feel anything in general. It felt like somebody shot my brain up with novocaine, I just felt like a zombie basically. Looking back on that time, I think I did a ton of weird shit too, just the general stuff I was saying to people was pretty whacked out.
I kept complaining that I really hated these fucking pills, but they said I need to just give it time and get used to it, and they eventually put me on like 4 or 5 different ones to try to see if any of those worked better, it was all basically the same too.
The other thing to that I think a lot about now, is I have almost no memory of that year of my life. Like...even the stuff I remember seems like a dream, like I wasn't really there. I'll never take that shit again...I mean, depression was way better than what that shit put you through.
i was on them for 9 months after developing panic/anxiety just after my 30th birthday
usually im a resiliant type but this was something i could no longer handle on my own, felt like there was someone else in my head doing all this to me
after the 9 months i bounced back and although its been a slow recovery im 6 years better off
i didnt like the pills because they made life just neutral and beige but they did stop my symptoms
glad to be off them tbqh
The King approves of this thread. carry on.
You can prob find help here in this forum
pssdforum.com
people here report the same problems that you are describing
you all must acktnowledge the presence of the king of this board! its disrespectful not to
the king is also looking for a general, soldiers and a few slaves.
Thats interesting.. do you remember which SSRI you took? It has to do with genetics, some people carry a certain gene that makes them more sensitive to these type of drugs
I can relate to this so much
Here's a simple question for the pro-psychiatry folks: how does one scientifically distinguish between a person who is experiencing sadness due to circumstances or differences in personality from a person who supposedly has serotonin hypoactivity? The answer is that it is not with a lumbar puncture looking at a person's serotonin metabolites in their CSF, which is what one we expect if the serotonin hypothesis had any foundation in reality. Instead, psychiatrists just ask how sad you are and if you are sad enough they will claim that you have something neurologically wrong with you. That is not how real medicine works.
>guy claims antidepressants can have withdrawals
>solution is to call him a paranoid delusional
People like you are the exact reason Brave New World was written.
I take Wellbutrin daily.
It is simply impossible to tell how a person will react to them beforehand. it's just one of those things you have to try and see how they work for you. I personally love them, I feel a lot happier a lot more capable when I'm on it. Some people say it's bad for you, but honestly, I don't give a fuck. I'd rather live a short happy life than a long miserable one. But just because it works for me doesn't mean it will work for others, and I went thru 4 different anti-depressant's before I found the right one for me. A lot of people are scared of them, which I guess Is understandable, but I feel like a lot of people over-react about this stuff. I have a friend who takes Prozac off and on, because he is scared of taking it for some reason. It drives me insane because he doesn't realize how fucking insufferable he is when he isn't on it. I can tell.
Anyone have experience with Sertaline in particular?
I'm currently on it, it's helping with my anxiety but also making me kind of drowsy 24/7, so I'm probably going to check in with my doctor and try something else soon.
Fuck that medication. Made me feel foggy and when I tried to come off of it, I experienced real suicidal thoughts for the first time. I'm on lexapro now, cliche but it saved me and my sanity. It's much better.
>real medicine works
Are you fucking retarded.
You sound like you took a course in psychopharmacology and thats it.
Probably failed it with a question like this.
Been on mine for two years, people tell me I seem happier than usual. Head doctor prescribed ‘em to me after three sessions without many questions and never saw me again. He’d worked with a few family members extensively so he acted like he knew who I was already before I could talk about my issues. They made my dick act funny the first six days of taking ‘em, but that went away.
They’re not magic, I’m still down a lot but there’s ups to go with the downs now.