Issues with SSRIs?

[[bl...]]

4 hours ago, [[D...] said:

Hi @[bl...] i think you're right. I have over 20 years of experience taking an SSRI which i had to cold turkey cause i started to have horrible paradoxical reaction to it and my body just wouldn't accept it anymore.

It definitely has a very similar withdrawal like benzos in many ways so i will tell you what is different; first of all benzo WD is infinite times worse, nothing can compare benzo acute WD symptoms, SSRI's WD is more sneaky and progresive, it comes gradually and slowing growing overtime, it might be bearable at the beguining and becomes more and more severe and around 6 months it becomes hell.

The worst symptoms as you guessed are irritability cause of the serotonin disregulation and the mood goes crazy, you can get really aggressive and agry all the time. This can make the anxiety rise overtheroof and can also cause insomnia and depresion, i used to cry with every song, movie, or if anyone was clapping for any reason.

It's not her, it's the drug or the lack of it, is not permanent, be patient and think is all cause of the WD.

You're totally right.

SSRI's need to be withdrawal as slow as benzos, she needs a year or so of a slow taper to make it safe and avoid a protracted WD afterwards. Check this article, it has all the answers you need about SSRI's WD.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2045125320980573

AD don't heal anything, they won't improve at all, AD will only numb their feelings and will hurt their brain so much. I took it for over 20 years and after i quit it my problem of anxiety was there and even worse than the original issue. I eventually solved my anxiety and disorder with CBT, no drugs and it was fixed for good.

Check this thread and don't put you kids in psych drugs.

It is proven by scientists like Dr. Mark Horowitz that chemical imbalance in the brain is a hoax.

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/depression-probably-not-caused-by-chemical-imbalan

https://markhorowitz.org/blog/

I hope this helps, reach out if you need more info or have any doubts i have studied this topic for a long time as a victim of this problem.

I don’t know how to quote little pieces of your reply to me, but I just wanted to confirm that “withdrawal” could also be “tolerance” because she seems to have steadily gotten worse over the course of taking them. So is it possible that they either 1. Stopped working, or 2. Are having negative effects now that they have been in her system for 4 years? I don’t which would be the more true statement in this case. We went to her doctor to ask for a med change last week, so they prescribed a different anti depressant. I thought maybe she would be better off trying a new medication first (before tapering) to see if it’s actually the medication versus something else. If she gets better, then I would assume it was the medication causing these symptoms.

[Guest [Do...]]

52 minutes ago, [[C...] said:

I'm not happy with it. It is a poor solution. I don't wish to see you stop engaging at BB.

But it seems you are most likely to defend someone who has been so rude and has insulted me because he has felt offended (and by then way, offended for an answer that wasn't even for him) than someone who is trying to help someone with data, academic sources and arguments than indeed have been proven.

I am sorry, i don't have any problems with you or any other member here but i just don't feel free and supported in BB.

I will stop answering to any posts and keep my opinion to myself and anyone who wants it can write me PM.

[[An...]]

5 hours ago, [[b...] said:

Many people here are very Anti  anti-depressant given the fight we have with benzos and the distrust in the medical system and pharma system
so I will give you another opinion on the other side. 

I disagree with fear based statements that lead people to not taking medication and doing more harm to themselves. There is a massive stigma towards Anti depressant medication which can really impact people negatively 
Im not going to touch on the medications for a 12 and 8 year old because that isnt my place.
 

the "you should just be strong enough naturally without it" comments destroy people with MH issues. 

First and foremost Ad are a drug that your brain has a dependency on, it is a daily med, you skip those meds you will likely experience some withdrawal effects , this is indeed a dip in the mood ,  irritability etc. 

IMHO they are not like benzos.  they dont have tolerance issues, they cant stop working but that doesnt seem to be the case here. you dont get a tolerance to xMG of Sertaline, (zoloft)  that being said getting on or off can be pretty terrible depending on the med and how fast you taper.

You cannot just stop taking ADs for a few days, you must taper off of them slowly or you experience withdrawals, you can also experience like benzos Protracted withdrawals. 

in addition to that if you arent proactively in therapy etc with them and you just push the issue aside the depressions symptoms can go away but they arent being reframed with help. 
Meds + Therapy is a powerful combo 

If the intent is to get off it should be done slowly tapered down not just cold turkey zoloft tends to be one of the easier ones to get off of. 

I REALLY disagree with blanket statements and anecdotal evidence that push people into thinking AD are bad. The scare tactics are one of the main reasons so many people struggle with taking them vs not, 

I went down a pretty bad path a while going thinking if i just worked a little hard at therapy, or took a little asha, i would cure myself of my panic disorder.

I genuinely almost lost my life due to the scare tactics and pushy people who think  ADs are bad and do more harm and destroy your brain. I listened to those people far too much and i almost genuinely took my life over it.
I have an 8 year old child, who almost didnt have a mother because she could not "will herself" out of her panic disorder because she "wasnt trying hard enough" " wasnt using lavendar" "wasnt doing the right exercise or eating"

Ive never seen anyone experience that with heart meds, or blood pressure meds, only mental health medications. 

thats my two cents on it



 

 

Excellent, thoughtfully written post.👍

[[An...]]

5 hours ago, [[b...] said:

Oh I forgot to mention one thing to consider is TMS therapy, if you guys have insurance coverage for it 

I tried TMS. Unfortunately, it did not help me. For those who have been helped by TMS, it is a safe much better alternative (IMO) than drug therapy. Like many things, you have to try it to see if it helps you or not. I am not anti-drug. I do encourage ppl who are considering medical management with drugs to do your research and make a careful risk versus benefit analysis before you decide. I have encountered ppl in other forums on the internet who have been on a benzo like valium for over 40 years and they are content on staying on it the rest of their lives. They say it still works well and what I find remarkable is that many of these ppl are on small doses (5 mgs per day or less for valium) and they have never had to increase the dose for it to remain effective.

I also had a co-worker who was on 20 mgs of valium for over 2 solid years. He one day decided he did not need it anymore and told me at work he had decided to come off it. I warned him of the dangers of coming off too fast. He pretty much ignored my warning and he stepped down in weekly 5 mg increments. In a little less than one month, he was completely off and told me he experienced little to no withdrawal. I could not believe it when he told me this, considering all the hell I have been through from benzo tolerance w/d issues. LOL.

Have a great weekend everyone.

[[br...]]

1 hour ago, [[A...] said:

I tried TMS. Unfortunately, it did not help me. For those who have been helped by TMS, it is a safe much better alternative (IMO) than drug therapy. Like many things, you have to try it to see if it helps you or not. I am not anti-drug. I do encourage ppl who are considering medical management with drugs to do your research and make a careful risk versus benefit analysis before you decide. I have encountered ppl in other forums on the internet who have been on a benzo like valium for over 40 years and they are content on staying on it the rest of their lives. They say it still works well and what I find remarkable is that many of these ppl are on small doses (5 mgs per day or less for valium) and they have never had to increase the dose for it to remain effective.

I also had a co-worker who was on 20 mgs of valium for over 2 solid years. He one day decided he did not need it anymore and told me at work he had decided to come off it. I warned him of the dangers of coming off too fast. He pretty much ignored my warning and he stepped down in weekly 5 mg increments. In a little less than one month, he was completely off and told me he experienced little to no withdrawal. I could not believe it when he told me this, considering all the hell I have been through from benzo tolerance w/d issues. LOL.

Have a great weekend everyone.

wild about the valium yeah i think ive heard of people similar in those situations.  

My mom actually takes xanax the same amount for like idk 60 some damn years now and has never had a tolerance issue, wild. Obviously i dont recommend that at all,

 

Edited September 6 by [br...]

[[bl...]]

7 hours ago, [[b...] said:

Oh I forgot to mention one thing to consider is TMS therapy, if you guys have insurance coverage for it 

I just did a quick google search of TMS, because I have never heard of it before. I’m going to do some more digging, but I thought I would ask you if you know if it was commonly covered, or if this is more of a unique treatment for people who have money to spend? Thank you for suggesting it though because it seems very interesting to me.

[[br...]]

27 minutes ago, [[b...] said:

I just did a quick google search of TMS, because I have never heard of it before. I’m going to do some more digging, but I thought I would ask you if you know if it was commonly covered, or if this is more of a unique treatment for people who have money to spend? Thank you for suggesting it though because it seems very interesting to me.

I work in healthcare but not specific to mental health insurance just depends on what you have 

a lot of places require psych approval process some don’t 

 

for example tricare west will give 36 sessions entirely without any trouble or hassle 

 

really going to depend on your insurance plan you can look this up with who you have on their patient website usually

snd not sure what your plan is like but you may have a copay or co insurance if you haven’t met your deductible 

[[An...]]

I think TMS is more for depression, not anxiety. I was told by the shrink I was seeing at the time that it was effective for both. That was my main motivation for trying it. I have always considered myself anxious, not depressed. I did not have any side effects from the treatments except a slight headache sometimes after a session but nothing really bad. It simply had no positive impact on my anxiety and panic that I could discern plus I was having benzo tolerance w/d issues. I was desperate during this time, crossed my fingers, and hoped that it would work for me.

I think TMS is binary. It will either work for you or it will not help you at all. Good luck if you decide to try it and please report back if you do.

[[Le...]]

There are lots of reasons to be concerned about antidepressant use especially the long term use and use on developing minds. I really recommend caution making any changes when a person was desperate enough to consider drugs. They likely do need something but drugs are just a simple short term solution usually because we don’t understand or can’t make ourselves do the hard long term solution.

 

There are other options and they mostly are about changing your life and lifestyle to something that suits the person better. Todays world is hard on many and some people just cannot live as many do. 

I for example need lots of activity, quiet and nature like I grew up with. I could never adjust to a busy modern life and little or none of that. 

 

I didnt read every post in this thread so sorry if this is no longer relevant.