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Mental Health What felt like antidepressant relief was just me dumbed down and ruining my life, wtf

adhdanon

Greenlighter
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Jun 14, 2016
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Diagnosed ADHD-C for years, I had massive anxiety in law school on the short acting adderall instead of just trying other ways to treat anxiety or the longer acting med, I asked my doc for Lexapro 10 mg instead. What felt like life-saving relief and ultimately made me look healthier (weight gain) in certain aspects, destroyed me mentally and dumbed me down.


I was taken advantage of by my ex-gf who was few years younger and abusing some sort of drug under my nose while I didn't realize. My PCP sent me to see a psych who isn't convinced of Bipolar 2 but suspects it may be co-morbid with my ADHD or I just should have never taken the antidepressant and she was did a nice job playing me dumbed down. Similar SSRI experiences? My family is lashing out at me and they don't realize if I was accepted with my ADHD in the first place, this wouldn't have happened...
 
I'm of the opinion that SSRIs are only meant to do just that-- dumb an individual down. Do they "help" some people's depression? Sure, by making them not feel a thing at all. The scariest part about it is the individual taking them isn't even aware of it at the time. It is only truly observed by others, or when you discontinue use, which is what you're experiencing now.

I am passionately opposed to SSRIs and similar depression medications. To me there is sinister intent behind their creation and doctors throw them around egregiously and irresponsibly.
 
Agree, SSRIs are awful. When I was a drunk I was happy for the "don't give a shit" they gave me because it allowed me to keep drinking through my misery and not care that I was killing myself. Bipolar II seems to be actively caused by these drugs, I certainly had no bipolar tendencies before taking SSRIs. I have taken SSRIs fairly long term and feel that they have been a curse really, they crush your emotional intelligence while leaving you highly dependent on the "fix". And I have found SSRIs harder (by a mile) to quit than a 15 year drinking problem.

Funny you mention abusive GF because to my mind that's what SSRIs are like - an abusive partner that will cow you into compliance and beat the living shit out of you if you try to leave.
 
The first SSRI I was on was sertraline and it made me go through a really rough patch. I struggled with my emotions as it made me feel more anxious and depressed, and as a result of my frustration I had many emotional outbursts and moodswings changing peoples perceptions of me from a nice kind girl to a girl who is emotionally unstable. I was training to be an amateur hopefully professional athlete one day too and I got kicked of my gym for arguing with a coach (completely out of character for me ). For me personally Sertraline made me feel the heat, and it took me to a new low, the side effects were shit to deal with (insomnia, bad stomach and diarrhoea, headaches constantly, suicide idealation) and didn't do what it was meant to. However now I'm on Citalopram 40mg and its working so much better I feel rather optimistic !

One thing I will say is I'm not too sure what the situation with your family is, but with my family at first when I admitted I had mental health issues I broke down crying to them and they both hugged me and told me they understood and to come to them if I needed them. It kinda became apparent that they didn't understand and thought it was something I could pull myself through, they even tried saying my meds didn't work and I should stop taking them (regardless of the withdrawals I'd get). However, as time went on they began to adapt, I told them I wasn't taking a pill for a easy way out or to feel cloud high but atleast make me feel like I was at a baseline where I could still get through the day without it being emotionally draining me to the point where I was scared to open my eyes or dream even as I'd have nightmares. But I opened up about my drug use to my parents, and they say I was going through a tough time and my family have now changed into a more supportive stance, like they're finally getting it. Sometimes its your parents first time dealing with a particular situation and they're learning to be better parents too :). Hope this helped !
 
I do not think ssri's are either the godsend they are marketed as nor the evil plot they are demonized as. I just think they are over-prescribed. I have a very good friend who has been on a life saving (addressed a life threatening eating disorder/depression), quality of life improving (mitigates her OCD) cocktail of zoloft and wellbutrin for many years. As she says, "For me they worked when nothing else did." I have admittedly known more people for whom they not only did not help but harmed. That sounds like your experience as well.

My advice for anyone considering taking a psychoactive drug to address psychological distress is to first or, at the very least, concurrently try all the non-drug strategies and therapies now available (DBT, CBT, mindfulness, biofeedback). These work if you are able to internalize the behaviors and habits they teach.
 
I've been on ssris and I've known a lot of other people who've been in them.

The predominant result that I've seen from them is, nothing. Haven't seen many people have particularly bad side effects but I also haven't seen it result in much lasting improvement in their depression.

I've seen much better results from SNRIs. Sometimes I think they should be the first line treatment instead.

I've seen SSRIs help, but usually only for a short period of time without lasting improvement.

I certainly don't believe this whole "they're poison peddled by big pharma" horseshit. And I must admit I take a very dim view to that line of thinking. But neither do I think of them as particularly helpful either. I'm sure there are many who've been helped by them, but in the cases of severe major depression I've seen and experienced, I haven't seen them so much good.

I haven't seen that much from SNRIs either. But I've seen them be more effective more often at least.
My mother especially, she had severe depression for years, they tried everything, all the antidepressants available at the time, ects, everything. Then the first SNRIs showed up and it's probably not an exaggeration to say they saved her life.

I didn't have quite the same dramatic improvement with them. But they did help. Helped keep the lows of depression from being SO low. I've seen similar results in others. So yeah, I wonder if perhaps they should be the first line treatment.

Cause I've seen so many people have little to no benefit from SSRIs and then refuse to even try other meds as a result. Just writing off antidepressants all together just cause one class didn't work. Frustrating but understandable. Depression screws with your head like that. Makes everything seem so futile.
 
I would get home from work every night and cry and think about killing myself. Then I got on a SSRI and it was gone within weeks. Then I started hanging out with friends and enjoying life again.
 
There's only one SSRI, Prozac, that works well for me, and it's atypical in that it stimulates NE and DA release in the prefrontal cortex. (Plus there is a mild mood stabilizer mechanism.)

ADs have gotten a bad reputation (in part) because they're overprescribed. Nobody really disagrees that 1 in 10 Americans is too much. People with severe depression respond to them much more predictably than people who are on the milder end of the spectrum. Similarly, if you give an AP to someone who probably doesn't need one, their head might be fucked or they might feel nothing. In the right cases, that AP can be mana from heaven.
 
They helped to cure my depression. I got upset when I saw how well they worked because it meant I should have taken them years ago.
 
There's only one SSRI, Prozac, that works well for me, and it's atypical in that it stimulates NE and DA release in the prefrontal cortex. (Plus there is a mild mood stabilizer mechanism.)

ADs have gotten a bad reputation (in part) because they're overprescribed. Nobody really disagrees that 1 in 10 Americans is too much. People with severe depression respond to them much more predictably than people who are on the milder end of the spectrum. Similarly, if you give an AP to someone who probably doesn't need one, their head might be fucked or they might feel nothing. In the right cases, that AP can be mana from heaven.

I have to agree here Ive taken all of them and Prozac being the only one that doesnt produce the zombie effect. Cymbalta seemed good too but the thought of liver damage every time I popped one wasn?t good for my anxiety.
 
They helped to cure my depression. I got upset when I saw how well they worked because it meant I should have taken them years ago.


What don't mean by cure? How bad was your depression and how long did you have to take said antidepressant. Also how did you ween and what was your expierience if you did ween as far as withdrawal symptoms.
 
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