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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

SSRI withdrawal question?

PieceByPiece

PieceByPiece

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 1, 2015
Messages
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I've been on an SSRI Fluoxetine (Prozac) since 2010. 40mg daily. If I've missed a couple days (2-3 days) of doses I start to get withdrawal of get severe headaches, nausea, Ect... However, since I've been abusing drugs (codeine, DHC, first-gen antihistamines, Tramadol, gabapentin, diazepam, morphine, ect).... I can go weeks, months.... Without a single dose of Prozac and not get a single withdrawal symptom. Are the other drugs stopping the withdrawal from Prozac or just masking it?
 
The other drugs arent really masking your WD symptoms, your just satisfying your craving/addiction with other drugs. Prozac cant really compare to codeine or morphine. Its like feeding the beast with an all you can eat buffet
 
IMO its just masking it sorta like me drinking a beer when i dont wanna take a benzo does the same exact thing
try not taking anything and also dont take any prozac

if you are starting and stopping the prozac all random that might be it also, as prozac i found IME needed the most time to do anything
anywhere from a month or 2 before i felt anything therapeutic

prozac needs time to build up its not a benzo for example where you get instant relief
 
I'll chime in. I've been off and on SSRI's and similar antidepressants for the past decade and the intensity of the withdrawal syndrome has ranged from not very (Escitalopram, Lexapro) to more so (Fluoxetine, Prozac). It can be a very shitty thing to go through, which is why titration is always the preferred option, but, things happen.

Even at their worst though, I never personally interpreted the withdrawal to be in the same league as say, alcohol or Opioids, two substances I have a lot of experience with. It's my reckoning that a solid dose of a given Opioid or Gabapentinoid (Pregabalin, Gabapentin etc.) would be enough to amelliorate a lot of the negative symptoms of the withdrawal.

So, in my opinion, I'd say that the symptoms of withdrawal are being masked as opposed to being combatted by the other drugs. I don't base this on anything other than my own opinion and experience though.
 
Most of those drugs are probably just distracting you from the withdrawal.

Stopping an SSRI isn't usually dangerous from a physical standpoint.

I got the "brain zaps" for months after I stopped taking escitalopram for years, but that's likely due to the serotonin changes. Annoying was about the worst it got, though it was definitely not pleasurable. Even if I had alcohol, the zaps still came. Same with having a benzo. I still got the zaps and mood changes. You're probably just distracting yourself with the other chemicals, and not really staving off the actual w/d from it.

If anything, I wouldn't go getting yourself hooked on diazepam, or morphine, in a quest to improve things. Diazepam withdrawal can be life threatening if you become physically addicted, and while opiate withdrawal isn't usually deadly it doesn't sound like fun (never been addicted to opiates, and don't plan on it), but I wouldn't go using something else thinking it's improving the situation.

SSRI withdrawal sucks, but compared to the rest of the things in your list it's a walk in the park when it comes to dangerous or brutal withdrawal.

Don't trade up, is my point.
 
The other thing i thought of was the fact that Tramadol has SNRI properties as well, so that drug in particular may be actually decreasing the withdrawal, not just masking it.
 
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