Benzos Would anyone recommend SSRI's?

[Mycophile]

Lol these debates. It's only the ones who have been fed the nonsense are the ones believing it's truly a big problem they can't fight without pills. They can't bear to accept that maybe, just maybe they were fed lies and ideologies that had them happily do nothing about their "disorder" other than take a few pills.

Depression hurts, a bunch of other things rather than pills will help .

Learn what a natural high is imo.

That's just ONE psychiatrist's opinion out of MILLIONS.

There's no reason to assume he's correct.

For some reason this forum is full of people who love to believe in these kinds of conspiracy theories with "big pharma" and assume that just because a lot of big pharmaceutical companies have done horrible shit that they should throw the baby out with the bathwater and assume that popular antidepressants can NEVER help ANYONE.

But I don't care who says serotonin imbalance is a lie.

I don't even care if it is a lie.

When people are helped by a medication they know it and that's all there is to it.

Also, what is a "natural high" going to do for people who are having bizarre cognitive interferences with their daily lives??

I can tell that you've never experienced some of the things that SSRIs can help with.

No amount of natural highs is going to help with certain things people experience unless they are capable themselves of doing a lot more than producing a "high" because treating anxiety and/or depression and getting high are not always at all related.

I'm not saying that some of them can't be used to treat anxiety and depression, but most of them also have their own unique dangers as well.

 

[when I dream]

i find it funny that people here bitch about ssri's and side effects but have no problem jamming a spike in their arm not knowing what their heroin, coke, meth whatever is cut with or how pure the dope is....... just odd to me???? ive watched the manufacturing of meth, i know whats in it. i can guarantee any ssri is a hell of a lot safer to ingest than meth is....wtf???

QFT

When someone creates a thread about how best to shoot dope (or whatever insanely dangerous substance) they get thoughtful, experienced and cautious responses. But when someone posts asking about others' experiences with SSRIs they have to deal with people that have never even tried them claiming that they are a worthless scam with nothing but side effects. Rediculous.

Also, someone mentioned up top that when you want to get off SSRIs that you have to deal with withdrawal effects and that simply is not true, at least not for many people including me and every other person I know that has ever quit them. I went from 80mg of Prozac a day to zero and never got a lick of withdrawal effects.

 

[PotatoMan]

You create your reality.

If you have been successfully convinced that you need them and you have a disorder then this will be real & true to you.

Those of us who have been convinced otherwise will believe that to be real & true.

That's just my view tho. The mind manifests and creates it's reality.

I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression but I didn't let it defeat me. I still struggle to this day but I realized in life we create our own happiness and I do not expect a pill do do that for me or to make me feel "normal"

 

[when I dream]

You create your reality.

If you have been successfully convinced that you need them and you have a disorder then this will be real & true to you.

Those of us who have been convinced otherwise will believe that to be real & true.

That's just my view tho. The mind manifests and creates it's reality.

I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression but I didn't let it defeat me. I still struggle to this day but I realized in life we create our own happiness and I do not expect a pill do do that for me or to make me feel "normal"

So why exactly aren't you going around other threads and saying this same thing about all the other much more dangerous drugs that people talk about using on this site? Did SSRIs steal your woman or something?

 

[PotatoMan]

Bro. Im not making the connection here with classical street drugs and SSRIs. Can you just clear up what you mean?

No need to get cheeky. This is a humble discussion. If you wanna see a heated discussion on this topic I can show you one I was heavily involved in. But that last post I made there is my conclusion as to why some people "need" it and some don't.

 

[when I dream]

Bro. Im not making the connection here with classical street drugs and SSRIs. Can you just clear up what you mean?

No need to get cheeky. This is a humble discussion. If you wanna see a heated discussion on this topic I can show you one I was heavily involved in. But that last post I made there is my conclusion as to why some people "need" it and some don't.

First of all, I never said I needed SSRIs and no one really needs SSRIs but they can and do help many people.

Second, what I mean is that it is rediculous to shit talk relatively benign SSRIs and claim that people have been tricked into thinking that they need them when there are much more dangerous drugs that people use on this site that they "need." When someone makes a thread or post asking about people's experiences with, just for example, clonazolam they don't get the lecture from you about how there are other ways of making themselves feel good.

Do you really not realize how stupid it is to make this big of a deal over SSRI use when there are hundreds of way more dangerous drugs that you could say the same thing about?

 

[PotatoMan]

I'll leave it here. Fed up of arguing these topics. It's like arguing religion or politics.

Keep taking whatever you wish once they're helping you

If someone made a thread saying "Would anyone recommend Heroin?" I can assure you they'd get similar responses.

 

[when I dream]

Well considering SSRIs are non-addictive, non-expensive and not killing people every single day you would think that they should NOT get the same response as someone asking about heroin. But apparently keeping people from using SSRIs is just as important as keeping people from using dope.

 

[Erikmen]

Whatever man..you don't seem to need an advice. What a silly argumentation.

 

[《Plasticity》]

For the time I was on Sertraline I saw zero improvement in my anxiety, my sex drive took a hit, I felt jittery, blank, and it worsened my insomnia which was related to my anxiety in the first place. Manic episodes and a near psychotic break is what forced my girlfriend off her SSRI's (she was on zoloft first before switching to effexor). She had an absolute nightmare of a time getting off, it hurt to see her in that much pain. She developed near suicidal depression, brain zaps, apathy, and the array of symptoms when quitting SSRI's. I had to watch my now fiance suffer for close to a year when she got off all because of the problems caused by the medication that was supposed to treat her anxiety. If you're looking to argue with me because your experience has been different, don't. My personal experiences as well as the anecdote I've read has already made up my mind.

There are success stories but also many horror stories, to discount or even argue against them because that hasn't been your experience would be silly. SSRI's help some, destroy others... it's up to you if you wanna take that risk but i'd strongly reccommend you read actual studies (not funded by the manufacturers) before making any decisions. A lot of these SSRI's have proven to be either minimally effective or flat out ineffective (compared to placebo at least) for certain types of anxiety, in which case that risk for minor benefit becomes less and less appetizing. I can't be pissed to do the digging for you but here's just a few examples...

NSFW:

Prozac no better than placebo for Social Anxiety.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12006895

Paxil barely any more effective than placebo for GAD and panic disorder.
https://www.anxiety.org/how-effective-are-antidepressants-treating-anxiety

Our group of researchers at Wayne State University and the Harvard Medical School analyzed all clinical trials examining the benefit of the SSRI paroxetine compared to placebos in the treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) or panic disorder...... We found that during these relatively short trials of 8 to 12 weeks, the average improvement for individuals given paroxetine was 11.1 points, and 8.8 points for individuals given placebo. That is, the drug provided an average benefit over placebo of only 2.3 points on a 56-point scale, and the improvement for individuals given placebo matched 79 percent of the improvement for individuals given the drug.

SSRI's for depression
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/Mobile/article.aspx?articleid=185157

Conclusions: The magnitude of benefit of antidepressant medication compared with placebo increases with severity of depression symptoms and may be minimal or nonexistent

Also, someone mentioned up top that when you want to get off SSRIs that you have to deal with withdrawal effects and that simply is not true, at least not for many people including me and every other person I know that has ever quit them. I went from 80mg of Prozac a day to zero and never got a lick of withdrawal effects.

Do a fucking google search... Is arguing the only reason you even come to bluelight? It's hard to even take you serious anymore.

 

[when I dream]

I never said that SSRIs cannot cause side effects. All I was saying is that it's kind of strange that people who have never even tried the drugs find it necessary to go beyond saying there can be side effects and saying that they are scams and that anyone who uses them has been duped into believing that they need it. I don't see what is unreasonable about that but whatever.

 

[MikeRWK]

Some people will write off anything that doesn't get them high, and we're on a drug forum.SSRI's work but one doesn't work for everyone and it seems with any mental health problem it's really trial and error to find something that works, it's not as cut-and-dry as pain relief (That can be the same case of trial and error in some cases too).Then there's the fact some work for a little while then stop or fix one aspect and don't address another or make something else worse.I went from Paxil(Fluoxetine)-Effexor(Venlafaxine)-Zoloft(sertraline) and while Zoloft is working and isn't making me depressed like Effexor was I'm not holding my breath on this being the last medication I have to try.

Also don't think the pills are going to turn you into Mr.Macho with all the confidence and gusto you perceive 'normal' people to have (Maybe you don't perceive this but I feel its common with anxiety).They should eliminate the unnecessary nervousness, feelings of inferiority (Everyone feels inferior sometimes but when you you feel inferior to EVERYONE well thats not normal.).You will still have to put yourself out there and into uncomfortable situations (baby steps) but you will notice improvements and if you don't well its on to the next medication.

When I first went to the doctor I was expecting to walk out with benzos like you and am glad I didn't because I wouldn't have had the self control to take them as prescribed and I don't think you would either by the sounds of it.It's been 3-4 years I think since I started this journey (2 years spent on Effexor and too long with the depression in my opinion but it kept me from going to the doc) and I notice improvements like being able to speak up for myself, tell people how I feel and every things not a Fight or Flight scenario anymore.Yesterday I gave a cop shit for driving on my soft lawn (I didn't fly off the handle just asked if he noticed the tires I had blocking the driveway because the ground is soft, he said he didn't so I explained they were there because the lawn is soft and to keep people from driving on it, he apologized.But this is Canada so you might get shot in the USA )

I still have insomnia and just go with it, usually staying up until 3-4am and waking at 3-4pm and it doesn't change no matter how early I wake up.I was prescribed 1mg clonazepam every 3rd night but it didn't do anything so I ate them all in like 3-4 days and when I ran out that day I was pissed and disgusted with the world.You don't wanna be like that, you don't want a benzo addiction.

 

[mandisweetness32]

I like my subutex 4mg twice a day & I have been 'labeled " with severe depression/situational depression and surprisingly enough, my subs keep me stable but I also take klonopins as well because of another "label" which happens to be social anxiety disorder and panic disorder... I call it a label knowing full and well it's a mental illnesses to which many of us suffer from and duh that's why I self-medicated for so many years*

 

[wecanmakeit]

OP, I'd warn away from trying to snag that benzo script, as most everyone else has said. I can very much relate with you as about 6 mo ago I walked into my GP and then Psychs office with similar expectations, and ended up walking away with scripts for sertraline (50mg) and vyvanse (40mg) without even a formal diagnosis for adhd! and i was being treated for depression/anxiety. Some docs man, smh.

Anyway, I felt I needed something to pull me out of the hypomanic and depressive states I've been having, it became too unbearable. My first week on zoloft I felt I was really sensitive to the pill. I literally felt too good on it for wk1, maybe I was just so excited that I wasn't feeling sadness, or that the med worked so quickly. Probably placebo/side effect as their true properties don't show for a week or two. I ended up taking the zoloft for 5 weeks, then i started to feel dull/low libido and it did zilch for my anxiety. It was great in that it helped me not let certain triggers make me sad, but once I realized that, I could just meditatively think through these issues from now on, knowing what it feels like to not have that constant life-sucking feeling of depression every day.

So I'd recommend the meds if you feel it is a last resort, or maybe just need a boost to help you breakthrough, otherwise id suggest exploring alternatives, whether it involves healthy lifestyle/therapy/support systems or herbal medications (my bias). Just remember the longer you're on them the harder it will be to get off, my buddy's gf had terrible rebound depression each time as she switched through SSRI's and tried to get off.

Best of Luck to you

 

[Ainslinn]

I have been on SSRI meds for about 15 years. Currently on Lexapro and it has worked fantastically for me. Also have Xanax I can take if needed, which I rarely do. I guess the only downside is if you decide to come off them. It is aweful for a bit, even if you taper like you are supposed to. Personally it has been a lifesaver for me.

 

[mandisweetness32]

It's fine that that's your opinion, and also I NEVER said parents should put their kids on them as that is a decision everyone should make for themselves.

However, SSRIs can't simply all just be a "scam" if they help as many people as they do like me.

Maybe some other people are "walking around without emotions" but that isn't the case for me even despite the fact that they aren't doing as much for me as Klonopin once did but they are giving me fewer side effects.

Also, many of the people I've seen around here who are so against SSRIs and benzos will tout experimental RCs as godsends when no one even has any solid proof of what kind of dangers they pose.

At least we KNOW what the possible side effects of SSRIs CAN sometimes be but a lot of these drugs people recommend instead are so little understood that they could pose bigger threats.

Also dude, that bolded part was pretty annoying and insulting to be honest.

Yes I will keep "popping that Lexapro" since so far it is preventing me from having paranoid thoughts that were making me think I'd have to become agoraphobic and also helping prevent me from feeling like I'm going to be depressed the rest of my life.

If you'd experienced that shit and then found that Lexapro was helping you'd keep "popping it" too.

Mychophile keep poppin your Prozac, cuz if it works best for your situation then screw that asshole... I'm glad it keeps you from having those thoughts or depression, just keep doin what ur doin sweetie n f the rest, they're not in ur shoes....just Pleasseee keep me posted on how you're doing!

 

[pinpoint]

^ There really is no need to call someone with an opposing point of view an 'asshole'...

 

[crunchyplanets]

Also, someone mentioned up top that when you want to get off SSRIs that you have to deal with withdrawal effects and that simply is not true, at least not for many people including me and every other person I know that has ever quit them. I went from 80mg of Prozac a day to zero and never got a lick of withdrawal effects.

My friend quit Paxil cold turkey and ended up passing out. She got severely light headed and dizzy, passed out, cracked her head off a chair and ended up in the ER.

 

[keeping]

i'm on 100mgs of sertraline a day and its the best ssri i've had, and i've had sooo many

 

[Project Will]

I was put on Lexapro 20mg about 7 months ago. First antidepressant I've ever been on and It seems to work extremely well for me.