SSRIs

[Civet]

Since I've been having such a rough time the past several months my therapist has brought up the subject of medication again. I've been thinking about it off and on myself. Typically I'm mostly dealing with anxiety with a bit of depression mixed in, but lately I've been pretty solidly depressed with waves of more severe anxiety in response to mild stressors. I'm still "functional" to a point (I get out of bed, shower, etc), though I'm having a lot of trouble working and socializing looks like it's going to start slipping (entertaining thoughts of self-isolation, trying to fight these). She said I don't absolutely need meds but it might be a good idea to make things a bit easier for me. She is suggesting short term use, just 6 months, and mentioned SSRIs. She told me I can go to my GP to get them if I so choose and if the GP wants to know her opinion to get them to contact her so they can discuss it.

I think I may have asked this before, but has anyone here been on any type of SSRI? If so, I have some questions I hope you don't mind answering..

1. What were you taking?
2. What were you taking it for?
3. How long were you on the drug?
4. Did you have any side effects?
5. How effective was it?
6. Was it difficult to get off of it? (If you have done so)

[goddessoflubbock]

I've taken both Paxil and Lexapro.

I was prescribed Paxil after a very bad experience at work with a mgr who constantly berated me and actually took me into an office and tore me down, making me believe ppl I thought were friendly and liked me were talking to him behind my back about what a worthless piece of trash I was.

I was dx'd with GAD, and took the Paxil for about 6 months. By that time this mgr had been moved and then had a psychotic break...

The Paxil made me feel nothing. In the beginning that was good bc it made me stop crying. But as time went on I couldn't stand not feeling like I could feel anything. No joy, no pain, nothing. So I got off of it, and that was fairly easy.

Lexapro was for my "jail incident". Wow, still hard to write this... Anyway NY gp put me on Lexapro bc I was clearly depressed and anxious at a minimum. I also met my good friend Xanax at this time.

Lexapro kept me off the bottom, without preventing me from feeling good and bad.

Lexapro was a bear for me to get off of. I don't know if it was bc of the situation (which still clearly upsets me more than 5 years later!) or bc of the med itself. I took it maybe a year with the last 6 months of me trying to get off of it.

That said, I still take Xanax occasionally and never felt dependent on it.

I hope you find something that works for you

[renaeden]

First one I took was Lovan/Prozac (fluoxetine) and that was actually to stop me from getting locked onto things and obsessing about stuff at work. It didn't really do anything and I had no side effects. I can't remember how long I took it for because I had a hospitalisation where I know I was taking that but I think they switched it to something else and I really can't think what!

Next SSRI I took was Lexapro (escitalopram) and that was fairly ok but I did have a lot of depressive relapses while on it but that could be due to circumstances at the time. It is very difficult to come off if there is no other antidepressant taking its place (switching meds). "Brain zaps" are a well known experience when coming off Lexapro. It is like getting a cold shiver inside your head. Plus there is dizziness. I remember just moving my eyes would give me a dizzy spell. Eventually for me, Lexapro just "ran out". If I forgot to take it in the morning I would experience withdrawals by the early afternoon. And I was getting depressed again so I got switched to something else. The only side effect I noticed with Lexapro was really sweaty hands. I was on it for three years I think.

Those are the only SSRIs I have taken. I thought there were more heh. But I have taken SNRIs (Effexor and Cymbalta), an NaSSA (Avanza) and now an NRI (Edronax) which is not available in the US but has probably been the best antidepressant for me so far.

[David]

My experience with SSRIs includes being among the first to have Prozac prescribed. I read that people were having dramatic improvements in their depressive symptoms with it but that was not my experience. I got off it and eventually that depressive episode lifted. Later, with another depression, I tried various SSRIs alone and in combination and was not impressed with the result. I got off the stuff some years back and would never go back to using them again.

In retrospect, the most help to me came from cognitive therapy skills I picked up when hospitalized for depression years ago. Once I learned that my thinking was a symptom of a disease and not a true and negative picture of me, depression seemed to lose its power over me. Lately, I have begun a vigorous exercise regimen and can tell you that I have never felt better.

Yesterday I read a post by a man who wanted to avoid taking SSRIs if he could. He had earlier, very bad side effects, didn't find he got much help with his depression from that encounter with SSRIs and did not want to go back to them. I've been doing some research into antidepressants and wanted to share with him the results of my study but the space available on that website was too restrictive. So I wrote an open letter to him on my blog called "Open Letter to an Uncooperative Patient" and posted it on my blog. I recommend it to you, too. You can find it at: http://davidnixon.posterous.com/open-le ... ve-patient . I hope you'll have time to give it a read.

Good luck.

[adhocisadirtyword]

Thanks for posting that information, David, and welcome to Gestalt. I think you've provided a lot to think about and discuss.

[Aspen]

Hi David and welcome to Gestalt. Your blog is very interesting. I'm sorry to read that you have struggled with colitis and glad that Low Dose Naltrexone seems to be helping both that and your depression.

[Civet]

Thanks for your responses, everyone.

Renaeden and Goddess, overall are you glad that you decided to use SSRIs as part of your treatment? Do you feel it was worth the difficulties?

David, thanks for providing an alternative perspective. I'll admit I don't know a huge amount about the neurology behind depression so I don't feel I could sufficiently argue for or against your theories. I'm curious to see what Sophist has to say on the matter.

At the moment I am leaning toward giving medication a try, however, as I've struggled with depression and anxiety at varying degrees for the entirety of my adult/adolescent life and have gotten into some states of non-functionality. I've never been willing to try meds before, mostly because when I needed the help the most I was not clear-headed enough to see that they might be a help. I'm a bit afraid of getting into that sort of state again. The older I get the more is at stake and I feel like I'm constantly grasping at things and then big bad depression or sneaking little anxiety step in and take them away. I guess I'm leaning toward trying an SSRI because I've not given this a chance before and am curious to see what sort of improvements I may be able to make if I find the right type of drug. Even when I'm functioning at my best I still struggle a lot compared to the average person.

[Sophist]

Hi, David. I've had a minor interest in LDN for a couple years, although admittedly don't know a huge amount about it.

[ruth]

I have occasional bouts of depression, but they are usually triggered by an unpleasant experience or an insecurity. My biggest problem is anxiety. I don't like taking medication at all, aside from the occasional aspirin and 0.25 xanax if I feel the anxiety is more than I feel able to shrug off.

Recently, and completely by accident, I started to take Biosil and Bone Strength whole food Cal/Mag with D3 & K2 complex. My daughter got me these because I told her my hair was thinning and breaking. She told me that she noticed an amazing improvement in her hair, skin and nails after about 6 months.

After the second day of taking these two supplements I noticed that I had no anxiety, not even a tinge of it, and also, that I could easily fall asleep. I thought it was my imagination, but this went on with the same good results for two weeks. I did feel sleepy a lot, and didn't quite like that feeling in the middle of the day, but to not have that awful chronic anxiety was wonderful. They say that anxiety and depression are two sides of the same coin. I believe that. When I don't have the anxiety weighing me down, I have a better outlook and optimism and I'm not depressed. I went away for a few weeks to the mountains and forgot to bring the Biosil and Cal/Mag. I noticed that after a few days my old anxiety was returning. When I got home I started taking the two again, and once more, the anxiety left me. I'd say it's worth a try to anyone who would prefer to stay away from pharmaceuticals.

I have also started taking pro-biotics for gut health. I've heard that there is a link between depression or moodiness and gut distress.

I feel like I just made a commercial.

[renaeden]

ruth, that is good about your anxiety lessening.

Civet, I think the Lexapro was the better med. I have been pretty lucky when it comes to antidepressants in that I hardly ever get side effects. If you do start one, it is best to start at a low dose and give that a chance to have an effect before going to a higher dose. Also, if you start feeling worse mentally when you start taking it, it is best to see your doctor as soon as you can. People should always be closely monitored when starting a new antidepressant imo.

[goddessoflubbock]

Civet - I'm glad I took them both times. I think the Lexapro worked better in terms of preventing the deep low without stopping me from feeling good.

[Sophist]

I was on Paxil for some time, and I did find that it blunted my good feelings, while prevented me from the lows. That's good if you're darn near suicidal, not so good if you're not that badly off. Then it just tends to make life duller.

[show] Spoiler: TMI Alert:

Not to mention I found, erm, orgasm quite difficult to achieve on Paxil.

[Civet]

Ruth- Interesting, thanks for sharing that. I wonder if you had some kind of deficiency that was causing anxiety symptoms to surface/worsen? Have you heard of anyone else taking that supplement and finding it helped anxiety?

I definitely have worse problems with depression when anxious and vice-versa. I get so anxious at points that I'll spiral into depression simply because I've exhausted myself with the long-term tension and worry. Weirdly I almost welcome that initial feeling because I can actually relax for a bit, but unfortunately it inevitably gets worse and it's no longer pleasant at all.

I have IBS and am lactose intolerant so I also have bowel issues. I've been on meds for the IBS for years and they seem to keep most symptoms at a manageable level. I tried probiotics once and they made me really really ill. I do have yogurt drinks every day now though, because I've been on long term antibiotics as well.

Goddess and Sophist- Thanks for the feedback, it seems like you both are saying Paxil blunts emotions in both directions, so I will bear that in mind when I see my doctor. Last time I spoke to them about medication they gave me a sample of Citalopram, though in the end I decided not to try it (it's expired now). So they may prescribe that to me again, though possibly not since my symptoms are a bit different now and I'm also on other different medications so we have to be aware of possible interactions.

As for my mental state, it's been very up and down. At times I feel perfectly fine and at other times I'm getting a bit scared about how low I'm starting to sink, and my anxiety will also flare up to levels where I can't really do much of anything. I have an appointment with my GP on Monday to discuss things, it seems at this point like it's probably a good idea for me to try something.

[Sophist]

Not that IBS is particularly well understood; however, your habitual antibiotic intake is a likely culprit for, if not causing the IBS, then at least exacerbating it considerably. The microflora in the intestines are very important for good GI function and while probiotics may help some, it won't be replacing all the microflora you need nor necessarily in the right amounts. There's a surprising array of bacteria in the gut and scientists have only ever been able to isolate and culture (and therefore reproduce for products such as yogurts) approximately 10%.

[Civet]

I've had IBS for a lot longer than I have been on antibiotics, so I know it didn't cause it. It is possible it's exacerbating it though the only significant change I've noticed in recent years is an increased problem digesting lactose. I wouldn't be surprised if that were connected to the antibiotic use, though I can say with certainty that the IBS itself couldn't have been initiated by the antibiotics. I don't really want to be on them but they have been the only thing that helps with rosacea (and I have occular rosacea as well, which is pretty troublesome) and also keeping acne under control since I had a bad flare up in response to a topical medication. My immunologist also thinks I'm better off taking them due to chronic infections. I'm on a lot of meds for a lot of different health issues, though I've been trying to taper off some of them slowly. Doxycycline would be next in line to test to try to taper off of, if I find the latest topical the dermatologist gave me helps me. I decided that for now I'm not in an emotional state to be able to deal with potential initial worsening of my skin again, which these types of topicals are known for. So it'll have to hold off for awhile until I get my head a bit clearer, unfortunately. It would make sense, also, for me to wait through the winter and "flu season." I feel like doxy is probably less helpful in preventing infections than it used to be for me since I've been on it for so long, but I'd rather experiment at a time of year when I'm less likely to get serious infections just in case.