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Experiences with antidepressants/anti-anxiety meds/SSRIs

3K views 30 replies 20 participants last post by  islandlight 
#1 ·
Hi guys, I recently started a prescription of Lexapro for social anxiety and mild depression. I don't have a ton of people to talk about this sort of thing IRL, so I was hoping maybe some of you would be willing to recount your experiences with it or any other SSRIs.

Right now I'm on day 9 and have been completely low energy, low motivation and out of sorts. At work, I just want to go home sick to sleep away the day. Hoping that this improves as time goes by.

Any thoughts welcome.
 
#2 ·
SSRIs are meant to mess big time with your adrenal gland functions, as well as the drug's main purpose of inhibiting seretonin re-uptake, hence the name. Someone posted a really good link a while back but I've forgotten it - it was something like "anti-depressant facts" as the name of the website. I'll give my experience, but only because I noticed you mentioned the low energy in particular. Not to scare you, but for me that hasn't been a short-term thing.

I've been on Sertraline (Zoloft) for just over a year now. On one hand, it's been a good regulator of the bigger dives of depression I'm prone to. I can function, in a sense. However, on the other hand I just don't feel any real joy or motivation. I am constantly lethargic, irritable (although a lot of that is due to bad internal OCD) and feel like I am moving through most days in a kind of mental funk. As in, my cognitive processes are foggy and my attention is minimal at best.

It just makes me feel incredibly frustrated and I get this nagging feeling my IQ's taken a knock. For me that's a big deal.
 
#22 ·
I took sertraline for 2 years as well. My experience with it was pretty much great. I took up to 75mg and felt great, had motivation and the self-esteem that I didn't have for so many years. When I took 100mg it was kinda like you described, I was mentally and emotionally numb, so I talked with my therapist and decided to lower it again to 75mg. I finally quit it in Christmas, and almost every positive effect it had on me has stayed. That's because during the time I was taking it I learnt how to deal with the problems that I had, because it gave me the better mood to see things from a different -better- perspective. I mostly had social anxiety and existential depression. The first I pretty much have dealt with, I'm not completely over it, but I have developed the skills to overcome the anxiety when it appears. Existential depression isn't something that can be easily overcome, and while I'm not depressed anymore I certainly have the tendencies to spiral down, but, again I have the necessary skills to influence myself to look things more positively and avoid unnecessary thoughts that caused me depression.
While on drugs I also managed to find something to study that I like and I'm good at, which really helps with self esteem and general fulfillment. Of course, when on the drug it takes little effort to have a good mood and feel ambitious and generally well, that's why it's necessary to have therapy with it, to learn to keep the good things after you quit the drug.
@evilarchitect
SSRIs usually take around 15 days to start working, and until then it's very likely you will experience some of the side-effects that appear. This is also true for when you lower or raise the dosage even if it's the smallest possible. It takes time and patience. I had terrible dizziness during those 15 days, some times I couldn't even walk or even move my eyes without feeling extremely dizzy, but I was determined to bear with that and it really paid off.
 
#3 ·
I tried one of the most common SSRI's for two months a few years back, and the side effects of those pills was that I got more and more lethargic and tired each day during the time of taking them. In the end, I was sleeping all day every day, and only got up to eat. I was too tired from the meds to even watch TV. I hated those meds but stuck with them for those weeks because I thought my body might get used to those side effects and the tiredness would fade, but it never did. It was like being stuck in a heavily sedated night mare. Getting off them was like gaining back my life.

Never again for me.
But some of my friends benefited from them, so I'd never make a sweeping statement about those medications.
 
#4 ·
Someone close to me has been on Venlafaxine for 4 years. She's told me more than once that it's saved her life.

SSRI's take 4-6 weeks to kick in properly. If you are still having side effects by then ask your doctor and change to a different one. There's a wide selection to choose from.

The pills are supposed to stabilize your symptoms. Then you can get therapy.
 
#5 ·
I've been on Effexor (Venlafaxine) since February.

I've seen something of an improvement in my condition I suppose (although you can argue that some of it might be circumstantial). Two major side effects for me are drowsiness/somnolence (I feel almost narcoleptic sometimes), and sexual side effects (don't have to go into much detail, you can probably imagine).
 
#25 ·
My experience with Effexor was quite similar. I then was switched over to Bupropion (Wellbutrin) which was much better for me, much less invasive and didn't cause me to want to sleep all the time. Later, I discontinued antidepressants altogether and feel much more "centered" and quite a bit more energetic.
 
#6 ·
I liked zoloft while I was on it.. I was on it for a year or two. I feel like it took the edge off of my anxiety in college when things got busy and hectic and anxiety crept up. I'm not sure if it was placebo or not, but my family all have mood disorders and/or OCD which have been helped by antidepressants. My father is not the same man off his meds... I can assure you of that. I figure, I got some of the same genes and perhaps since meds seem to help my father and uncles so significantly, perhaps they would help me too.

But these days I can't tolerate meds so.. its all med-free for me. I strive for natural living now.


(Oh yeah, I forgot to mention.. I didn't ever have classic migraines with auras [the kind that make me go partly blind beforehand and feel like someone is stabbing my brain with a sword] until I was on zoloft. They went away after I stopped, so I'm mostly certain they were the initial trigger.. though a recent resurgence has allowed me to pinpoint a second trigger not related to a med)
 
#8 ·
thanks for the feedback all. i'm all about natural living too so it was tough to make the call to go on meds. figure it can't hurt. i'm 2 weeks in now. started on 5mg, upped to 10mg and after two days of that and being practically narcoleptic (as someone mentioned) decided to stick with the half dose. seems to be leveling out somewhat, but still dealing with some weird side effects (waking in the middle of the night with racing thoughts, for one, ugh).
 
#10 ·
So the only reason why I would ever consider going on antidepressants is because I'm too tired to do anything. And they would make me...too tired to do anything again?

Just kidding. I would never go on antidepressants. My former best friend went on Prozac and went from your typical bipolar 4w3 ENFP (ie. messed up but still a good person and fun to hang out with), to a complete psychotic crazy bitch. She told me on multiple occasions, in complete seriousness, how she wanted to castrate her ex-boyfriend (who SHE broke up with, over Facebook) but how she was going to wait to do it until after she graduated because she didn't want to get expelled from our high school. She became completely obsessed with kittens, inserting them into every conversation to the point where it became unbearable to hang out with her. She actually had hallucinations about "kittens tunneling through her shower curtain," among other things, until they lowered her dosage. She became completely self-centered, too. If you weren't talking about something she was interested in, she would change the topic until we were all talking about kittens or something she was interested in. And then she would try to one-up you in conversation, constantly.

Oh and then she wondered why all my friends ditched her for me after we had our final friendship-ending conflict. I hadn't even told my friends to choose between me or her, but they all decided they couldn't put up with her selfish craziness anymore and even started recounting to me all the stuff she had done to them that pissed them off. Hilariously, she then claimed that WE were all insane and that "obviously she wasn't crazy enough for us". Yes, I'm sure that 7 different people, many of which have had no experience with mental illness, are all insane, rather than just her. From what I know about her life since then she has posted naked pictures of herself on 4chan and had to take a break from school because even with medication she was too insane to deal with school.

Moral of the story: don't ever go on Prozac. She is far from the only person this has happened to, either. Just look up Alyssa Bustamante.
 
#11 ·
Meh.

The benzos are rough but very effective. You just cannot stop taking them, or you may have a seizure and die. They are known to be as, if not more, addictive than heroin.

SSRIs seem to affect everyone so differently that it's almost not worth asking, however.


My idea with all of these drugs is as such: We don't really understand brain chemistry, and psychiatry is nowhere near an exact empirical science. I suggest taking them when all else is going to fail.

Basically you have to agree to destroy part of your cognition and emotionality to save the greater majority of it.
 
#13 ·
In my experience, they suck donkey balls, and should only be given as a last resort to the most messed up fools who can't bother to help theirselves.

Personally, my drugs are sex, caffeine, good food, exercise, and fresh air.

I don't mess with antidepressants. They seem far more dangerous than my drugs of choice.
 
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#14 ·
Some people experience dangerous side effects, but some "messed up fools", as you call them, are still alive thanks to those medications... If you don't have any personal experience with mental health problems, then good for you, but please don't be preachy and abstain from stupid/derogatory statements like the above. I'm sure that most intelligent people try to live a healthy life style and many other things before trying antidepressants.
 
#17 ·
Well I count at least a couple of assumptions that are certainly incorrect with your post, and even a touch of hypocrisy, so no, I will continue to speak my mind regarding the subject, and no, I seriously doubt most people exhaust all other avenues before trying medications.

Doctors hand them out like candy to ignorant fools.
 
#19 ·
Yes doctors do hand them out like candy, it's irresponsible and worrying. The rest of your answer here and previously is just as foolhardy.

SSRIs affect individuals differently, for some it's a worse option, for others they work. SSRIs do not need to be a last resort, they work or they don't, what they need to be is a responsibly managed option.

2 weeks on SSRIs and I had the clarity of mind to deal with life that I had struggled to find for the previous 12 months, if I had tried them sooner the only difference would have been 12 months less of major depression. I did not try them sooner because of answers like you've given here talking about how anti-depressants should be a last resort, that they'll make everything worse, that they are only for the weak of mind or to quote you "a last resort to the most messed up fools who can't bother to help theirselves" and you should find a way to sort things out naturally. Answers that serve to shame people who should be looking beyond ‘get some exercise, eat healthy and man the fuck up’. You can speak to your experience, that is all, to blanket SSRIs as bad simply shows your narrow experience.
 
#24 ·
I've been on Wellbutrin for depression for almost 2 years. The only change I noticed was a reduction in depressive symptoms.

I used to take Seroquel for anxiety but due to unforeseeable circumstances I was forced to switch over to Clonazepam. They both work very well. Seroquel left me feeling groggy most of the time but I'd take groggy over paranoid any day of the week.

I also used to take Zoloft but I had to stop taking it when I stopped my Seroquel I had to stop taking the Zoloft - they're both serotonergic which was the factor that forced me to switch to an NDRI and a Benzodiazapine. Neither of the meds were the culprit, the doctors found a benign hormone secreting tumor on my pituitary gland which can grow/become more active in the presence of serotonergic drugs.

I used to take Prozac and all I got from it was a hole in my wallet where money used to be. I got nothing from it.

I take Methylphenidate to help me study (although I have found that it's brought me out of my rut in many ways functionally - I read more, study more, I don't watch as much TV, etc etc) but only for the next 4 months. My doctor plans to switch me to a more long term medication when my schedule slows down. It's unfortunate because I would prefer to remain on it but it's not up to me.
 
#27 ·
Could use some advice for SSRIs. I went to see my doctor who suggested I wait longer, but I have a bad feeling the side effect won't go away. In short, I've been using Sertraline for depression and social anxiety, but I've getting sexual problems from the very first day I've been taking it, and it hasn't improved in the past couple of months. The pros is that it doesn't cause weight gain, and I don't experience any other side effects from taking it. But I can't tolerate this for months and i'm afraid of the effect being permanent. I really want to switch. I know I can't just stop taking it because the withdrawal sounds very unpleasant.

I asked my doctor about Wellbutrin, because I think this class of anti depressants would be way more suited for me (it works with dopamine and another hormone instead of serotonin, usually lose weight, rarely causes sexual dysfunction, improves sex drive) but it's not even legal in my country!

I thought about trying Mirtazapine, because I also get insomnia and the sexual side effect is much less common. My doctor also suggested it. However weight gain and voracious appetite is really common apparently, and I don't want to gain weight :(

Has anyone had these issues with SSRIs? Are there any that didn't have this side effect? Apparently serotonin inhibits sexual arousal, so I guess this drug is just working too well.
 
#28 ·
For me taking lexapro has made it harder for me to feel empathy. I think that the antidepressant that worked best for me, for depression was wellbutrin. Also wellbutrin seems to have the least sexual side effects of all the antidepressants.
 
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#31 ·
About 25 years ago I took the SSRI Fluoxetine (Prozac) for a year.

I had been miserable in my particular life situation for years and had sought various kinds of help. Finally after about 10 years I was able to see a psychiatrist, which I thought would enable me get to the real source of my problems. No, this psychiatrist prescribed Prozac and saw me once a month, mostly just to monitor the drug effects.

The Prozac made me feel a bit "speedy" at first, but this went away. I gained weight and lost interest in sex. Prozac did make me feel slightly more alert and cheerful, but my lifestyle and coping mechanisms didn't change. So after a year I decided it was pointless and stopped taking it.

My misery went away a couple of years after that--when I left the life situation that didn't suit me.


 
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