Misc Is the damage caused by SSRIs underestimated?

[SomethingWitty123]

I've been on different SSRIs since I was around 13: firstly fluoxetine, then citalopram and currently sertraline. I've noticed that if I miss a dose one day, I have similar feelings to withdrawals from other drugs. Generally feeling completely out of it, brain zaps, feeling like a zombie, stuff like that. Now I'm reading that a lot of the studies done on SSRIs is done by the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture them and scientists don't even know how they work. I feel like possibly in a couple of years, it will be like what happened with benzos; at first, they'd give them out like candy, then halted their use when they realised their negative effects. Plus, apparently sertraline has a pretty nasty side effect of increasing aggression/suicidality which is linked to a lot of the problems I've been experiencing lately (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-hidden-harm-of-antidepressants/). And now there are studies showing that drugs that were originally seen as harmful are now showing promise for treating depression/anxiety! Psychedelics and ketamine in particular.

I guess the thing is that drugs are drugs. They all have positives and negatives and SSRIs probably shouldn't be considered 'not a drug'.

 

[customs]

Short reply here: I think that with subtlety, it rewires you a bit - defers certain thoughts/regular pathways to alternate pathways causing them to press on different receptors.

I'd say drinking alcohol/taking anything else in EXTREME dosage whilst on SSRI's would broaden/massively speed up this process.

*I am not a doctor, but use an SSRI every day which is not an Anti-Depressant*

 

[Mycophile]

Short reply here: I think that with subtlety, it rewires you a bit - defers certain thoughts/regular pathways to alternate pathways causing them to press on different receptors.

I'd say drinking alcohol/taking anything else in EXTREME dosage whilst on SSRI's would broaden/massively speed up this process.

*I am not a doctor, but use an SSRI every day which is not an Anti-Depressant*

Speed what up exactly and in what way??

I've been on SSRIs since age 14 and drink heavily on them all the time and use certain other substances and have never noticed any side effects.

I think the dangers of drinking on SSRIs are GREATLY overestimated personally.

Maybe not drinking on benzos or other CNS depressants, but on SSRIs I've never noticed problems.

I'm sure that SSRIs have dangers as all drugs do, but i'm not worried about it personally.

But OP: your saying you get withdrawals when you miss ONE SINGLE DOSE of your SSRI seems very odd to me.

I've only been on 2: Prozac before and Lexapro now, and I've missed a few days in a row of each without noticing anything.

I am pretty sure it takes a couple weeks for SSRIs to get in or out of your system and that you really SHOULDN'T notice a difference from missing a single day because so much of the drug should be built up in your system.

 

[R4FKEN]

1) I've been taking 2x150 mg Efexor-Exel every evening for about 6 years. During this period, I drank, used drugs and became a heavy coke addict without Efexor-Exel having negative effects. Besides the fact that MDMA or other serotonergic stuff doesn't work for me.
2) When I miss 1 evening dose, the next day is hell, mentally. When I miss 2 days, I go nearly insane. Barely able to stand up and completely mentally unstable. Dangerous stuff.

My point being: it's normal to have withdrawals from missing 1 dose of SSRI's. Take your missing dose ASAP. Missing 2 doses makes everything much, much worse.

 

[JBrandon]

I had acute WD effects if I missed a single day of Citalopram. I was insanely sensitive to it. Barely was able to sleep for the first two weeks on it at 20mg.

Discontinuation syndrome was fucking debilitating as well.

Everyone's mind varies. I know people who can stop and start with no issues. I had every side effect in the book and had to do an extended taper.

 

[SKR]

I worry about it for sure having been on sertraline for almost two years and after a quick taper from 200mgs down to nothing over 3 weeks I had to stop for 3 days prior to the switch to Effexor 75mgs (SNRI)....I was fine. I did expect issues cos when I've missed sertraline doses my head feels like a balloon full of water flopping around on my neck, weird feeling.

I think I'm close to going without an AD but honestly I'm going to need it if I am to make it through Lyrica and opioid WD should that time come.