Do SSRI's actually help you?

[whatson zo]

I have been to my family physician on numerous occasions for my anxiety problems. I have panic attacks in my sleep, sleep paralysis about once a month (so scares the hell out of me). He also thinks that anxiety is my reason for high blood pressure after he ran a bunch of tests, it was 144/90 and no im not a fatass and I'm only 20 yrs old. At first I was given some paxil which about drove me insane after the fourth day. I was getting electric shocks in my head, severe panic attacks, light headdedness, and my muscles were twitching uncontrollably. I thought I was going to die lol. After I told him of my unbearable symptoms i was scared to try an ssri again so he switched me to buspar which in my opinion is about as useful as a sugar pill. After that I eventually said screw it and lost all hope because I was wasting all this money on Dr visits and useless scripts. So my question to y'all is do ssri's help you, and if so which ones? If not then how can I solve my problem? I'm debating on making another visit because I've been getting them a few times a day for months now.

 

[Lady Codone]

In a way, yes. I have lethargic depression + anxiety. I'm too sensitive/emotional and have a hard time regulating my moods. Anxiety attacks happen at least once a week. SSRIs are like a wet blanket on my fiery emotions. They don't make me artificially elated or euphoric, but it's harder to get angry/sad/anxious while on them.

Some people find that SSRIs dampen their emotions too much, but for me it's a nice break from being overemotional. My experience means little because everyone responds so differently to these meds.

 

[MzHighandMighty]

Celexa works really well for me. From time to time I take a break from taking it ( not advised) and I can tell a huge difference in my outlook on things. My husband can tell a difference in how I treat him lol.
I wouldn't give up. It can be frustrating but keep trying until you find the one that works for you.

 

[whatson zo]

I mainly suffer from anxiety more than depression especially social anxiety. Sometimes the anxiety eventually makes me depressed but not suicidal. He seems to be a paxil and Zoloft fan because that was what he suggested next before I told him I was too sketched out about another ssri and was put on those buspar sugar pills. I heard pixel was something else trying to get off of so maybe its good they didn't work out.

 

[PotatoMan]

That's entirely based on you. Some people it works wonders. Some people it makes their lives worse. Either way you're committing to dependence on a drug. You have to ask yourself is feeling what you are hoping to feel on these pills more worth it than the side effects and the period of time in which you decide you would like to come off?

 

[Dresden]

No, SSRIs do not help unless you are seeking near inability to ejaculate, flat affect (emotional state), suicidal/homicidal ideation, and no relief (actually, slightly a *negative* response when compared with placebo) with respect to depression. The people for whom SSRIs work just think they do. Remember, the placebo effect is all in your head, though it is also real.

You'd be better off with respect to depression drinking real coffee and smoking cannabis often.

 

[Mysterie]

@^ speak for yourself

for many people with depression like myself, smoking weed regularly magnifies anxiety and depression

there are many better alternatives to SSRI's, tianeptine is the cheapest and most available.

 

[CfZrx]

oh shit, maybe its my extreme edible use lately causing this profound depression?

 

[whatson zo]

Cannabis makes me more anxious than I already am. Its not for me at all. I'll stick to alcohol and not have panic attacks

 

[F1n1shed]

Yes SSRI's actually work well for many people. You just have to take the side effects in the beginning and deal with it ( they take a few weeks to start working ).
Sometimes i feel like it isn't doing anything because the feeling is soo subtle, but if i skip my dose for 2 days i start to notice hopelessness. That definitely says something...

Also weed is an excellent way to make anxiety and depression 10 fold worse.

 

[《Plasticity》]

Yes SSRI's actually work well for many people. You just have to take the side effects in the beginning and deal with it ( they take a few weeks to start working ).
Sometimes i feel like it isn't doing anything because the feeling is soo subtle, but if i skip my dose for 2 days i start to notice hopelessness. That definitely says something...

Also weed is an excellent way to make anxiety and depression 10 fold worse.

Sure does, it says that you shouldn't stop taking SSRI's abruptly. I've now seen three regular SSRI users make this statement in the past week. This is from downregulation, you would have to be safely tapered off your SSRI's with a clean time of weeks to months before you would be in a place of baseline so that you could accurately judge your natural anxiety and depression levels. It would be akin to me dropping my daily opioids for a few days and convincing myself my natural pain levels from an old back injury are still horrendous due to the pain sensitivity of withdrawal.

SSRI's have been shown to be equally as, or only slightly more effective than placebo for anxiety in double blind studies. That's not to say a placebo isn't better than nothing, but feeling more depressed after stopping regular use does not make a case for them working either. Of course you're feeling terribly depressed and anxious, you've just abruptly quit taking a medication who's withdrawal symptoms comprise of anxiety and depression .

 

[Mycophile]

Sure does, it says that you shouldn't stop taking SSRI's abruptly. I've now seen three regular SSRI users make this statement in the past week. This is from downregulation, you would have to be safely tapered off your SSRI's with a clean time of weeks to months before you would be in a place of baseline so that you could accurately judge your natural anxiety and depression levels. It would be akin to me dropping my daily opioids for a few days and convincing myself my natural pain levels from an old back injury are still horrendous due to the pain sensitivity of withdrawal.

SSRI's have been shown to be equally as, or only slightly more effective than placebo for anxiety in double blind studies. That's not to say a placebo isn't better than nothing, but feeling more depressed after stopping regular use does not make a case for them working either. Of course you're feeling terribly depressed and anxious, you've just abruptly quit taking a medication who's withdrawal symptoms comprise of anxiety and depression .

Despite this being the case, I'm sure you know that they actually do really help people.

Lexapro has helped me BIG time.

I was extremely depressed a couple months ago and had a lot more anxiety and now that I'm on a good dose I feel much better and it's NOT placebo.

They don't work for everyone, but for some people they do.

 

[Mycophile]

No, SSRIs do not help unless you are seeking near inability to ejaculate, flat affect (emotional state), suicidal/homicidal ideation, and no relief (actually, slightly a *negative* response when compared with placebo) with respect to depression. The people for whom SSRIs work just think they do. Remember, the placebo effect is all in your head, though it is also real.

You'd be better off with respect to depression drinking real coffee and smoking cannabis often.

This is a really stupid thing to say with the 100% certainty you say it.

SSRIS ABSOULTLEY do help some people and it isn't always just placebo and they also don't always cause the side effects you are claiming.

They helped me tremendously and never gave me the side effects you mention.

Also, weed is bad for my depression and anxiety, actually the worst thing I can do for it, and excessive caffeine is also bad for my anxiety.

It's one thing to say that for many people it is only placebo but to say it's true FOR ALL PEOPLE ALWAYS is just flat out false.

If they were that ineffective they would have died out by now.

 

[Epiper888]

SSRI do help some people but not all. I had the option of taking an SSRI or gabapentin for social anxiety. I choose gabapentin and I'm very happy with it. If an SSRI isn't working try something else they do not work for everyone.

Also if your getting panic attack in your sleep your doctor should definay perscribe a benzo as needed.

 

[《Plasticity》]

Despite this being the case, I'm sure you know that they actually do really help people.

Lexapro has helped me BIG time.

I was extremely depressed a couple months ago and had a lot more anxiety and now that I'm on a good dose I feel much better and it's NOT placebo.

They don't work for everyone, but for some people they do.

So do sugar pills, that's my point. I never said the results of placebo aren't just as real those of medications that have been proven to be very effective. What dresden said isn't stupid at all, it's what has been gathered from studies that weren't funded by pharmaceutical companies. I even quoted about 4 or 5 in the last SSRI thread I posted in. I'll back off though, hate to be the debbie downer of the thread.

 

[wezface]

SSRIs and SNRIs have helped me, but I've had to wade through a whole bunch of trial and error to find ones that actually help. It can unfortunately take some time and frustration until you find the right one. Hang in there, though, as it can definitely be worth it

 

[wezface]

So do sugar pills, that's my point. I never said the results of placebo aren't just as real those of medications that have been proven to be very effective. What dresden said isn't stupid at all, it's what has been gathered from studies that weren't funded by pharmaceutical companies. I even quoted about 4 or 5 in the last SSRI thread I posted in. I'll back off though, hate to be the debbie downer of the thread.

Sorry to double post but I really want to draw attention to this. Not only do placebos sometimes actually help people (the power of thought is a powerful thing), but not all SSRIs work for all people. Each body and brain is different and that's why there are so many different (often subtly different) types of antidepressants out there. So even if a person in a study didn't benefit from the medication being studied, that is not to say that they would not benefit from a different medication used for the same purpose.

 

[Mycophile]

So do sugar pills, that's my point. I never said the results of placebo aren't just as real those of medications that have been proven to be very effective. What dresden said isn't stupid at all, it's what has been gathered from studies that weren't funded by pharmaceutical companies. I even quoted about 4 or 5 in the last SSRI thread I posted in. I'll back off though, hate to be the debbie downer of the thread.

I'm sorry man, I respect you and your opinions and you have vast knowledge on many drugs but the flat out assertion that NO ONE is EVER helped by SSRIs without it being placebo cannot only be false, it MUST be false.

There have certainly been people helped by them before when it wasn't placebo.

I'm not denying all the placebo cases, I'm just saying it isn't true 100 PERCENT of the time.

Also, I was taking Prozac and it wasn't working for me, then switched to Lexapro and it did, but not only did it NOT work at first but it didn't work on 10mgs or 20mgs, only when I got to 30mgs and it was 3 weeks after I started that dosage so if it was placebo why wouldn't I have been convinced by the Prozac placebo to believe it was working but WAS by the Lexapro and why wouldn't the lower mg dosages have worked for the Lexapro and why wouldn't they have worked earlier than the 3 week point??

I just want to be straight here dude....are you REALLY saying that NO ONE, not even 0.001% of people is or has EVER been legitimately helped by SSRIs without it being placebo or insisting that there is NO WAY I could be one of the people helped by Lexapro without it being placebo??

I don't think that can really be what you are saying...but it DID seem to be what the other guy was saying.

I was having social anxiety that was pretty extreme and didn't feel like getting out of bed for months, then after I'd been taking the right dosage of Lexapro long enough I started to feel better.

I don't believe it was placebo.

No matter how many placebo studies there are there is still NO way that NO ONE is ever helped by them and I believe myself to have been helped by them.

 

[Mycophile]

Sorry to double post but I really want to draw attention to this. Not only do placebos sometimes actually help people (the power of thought is a powerful thing), but not all SSRIs work for all people. Each body and brain is different and that's why there are so many different (often subtly different) types of antidepressants out there. So even if a person in a study didn't benefit from the medication being studied, that is not to say that they would not benefit from a different medication used for the same purpose.

Exactly.

Prozac and Lexapro are both SSRIs...why did the prozac not work for me but the Lexapro did if it was pure placebo and my brain just wanted to be convinced that any kind of pill I was given would do the trick?

Why did 10 or 20 mgs of Lexapro not do the trick?

Why not after 1 or 2 weeks but only 3?

Those are an awful lot of variables to be Pure placebo.

I'd think my brain would have decided to respond to the prozac if it was all placebo, or at least the first dosage of lexapro after 1 week than my brain unconsciously deciding to wait till 3 weeks on 30mgs of the 2nd SSRI I tried to convince me that what I was taking was helping lol...

I know placebo is real, I know lots of people have thought the drugs were doing something when it was just placebo, but it just isn't true that 100 PERCENT of the time it is placebo.

SOMETIMES SSRIs really do help without it being placebo is all I am saying.

 

[Mysterie]

i think lots of people diss ssri's because they are for the most part theyr pretty lousy drugs

takes 1 month to start working, take it for more than 3-6 months and you need to taper and may experience withdrawal syndrome (brain zaps etcc)

theres a list of side effects that is longer than i care to list

i dont doubt that some people find ssri's useful. i just think that its not something that is healthy to take forever, its not a solution, its a crutch which can help establish new habits/patterns/beliefs that are conducive to reduced depression/anxiety. its the person being proactive to help themselves that is beneficial rather than a supposed chemical imbalance that needs a drug to fix.

i dont think people think hard enough about what they are doing to their mind and body by taking an ssri for years every day.

i think theres better options out there (agomelatine/tianeptine, i also think there is potential with microdosing lsd/psilocybin/mescaline) but its incredibly difficult for drug companies to get novel antidepressants to market/covered by insurance.

but people can do whatever they want, i don't want to cause a reaction in someone to feel bad because they think they need ssri meds.