Is it true?

[Tom90]

Ok so i always wondered why many people would complain about their psychiatrist precribing meds alot. But after research i found out why. Many people say that after being on a med you start to feel like your not yourself. You feel numb. What shocked me is that this is off antidepressants like prozac or cymbalta. Im just really confused. Like is it true if you miss a dose, you will freakout? What are the cons and pros of medication? Because now i am a bit too frightened to use any medications, i dont want to get addicted and numb with feelings. I dont get how a serotonin booster can make you numb or addicted and i dont get why you have to go thrpugh withdrawl or why they give antidepressants for anxiety.

[Inshallah]

Serotonin makes you care less, which is imo always a plus. Caring (too much) is no fun. They definitely don't make dumb unless of course you didn't have too much spare in that department to begin with

The only cons for me are sexual dysfunction and increased sweating. The sexual dysfunction being the sole reason why I'm not on them.

[blakeyz]

Numb sounds good to me
I dunno why sexual issues is that big of a deal TBO
Depression alone not get in the way of even wanting sex for you guys ?
I cbf doing anything, sex included

[Inshallah]

I agree that me not being on them solely for the sexual dysfunction is a bit stupid blakeyz because they help me so much. I even need the less motivation/laziness (if you can call it that) because without, I'm always on the go either mentally or physically, and can't even sit still in cinemas etc.

For me it seems, depression reduces libido/wanting to do it, but the AD's make it impossible to do so.

I do get an increased libido from SSRI's but can't use it.

[upndownboi]

yes they definetly make you care a lot less. which can be a good thing in the midst of deep depression but bad if you have issues you need to work through too.

[Inshallah]

That's the problem, these issues are almost never really there. Our depressive minds created them. I firmly believe there is only a problem if you let it be a problem. I can think of a woman I knew, who was paralyzed during an accident, now she's driving through the village all day in her wheelchair, all happy as can be still.

Taking your personal story upndownboi: when I read it on here, I didn't see a problem with you or your life at all. But of course, if you believe there are problems, then there will be.

[upndownboi]

Originally Posted by Inshallah

Taking your personal story upndownboi: when I read it on here, I didn't see a problem with you or your life at all. But of course, if you believe there are problems, then there will be.

thanks, but I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Some people can have beliefs learnt in childhood which cause them great distress and hugely affect functioning, even if they aren't currently suffering with 'depression'. Its just whether they're aware of them or not, and whether they have the courage to confront something which can't be solved with a pill.

I have some old trainers if you would like to walk a day in my shoes?

[Inshallah]

I agree that people should look into more than just pills because for many, there is some serious flawed thinking going on as well. The thinking may get better with AD's but a lot of times, it stays just the same, only masked more.

I'm personally looking into psychosurgery right now for the depression, these pills are not my long term cup of tea. My goal is to become a depression-free ****ing machine ( ) and psychosurgery might be the only true final solution for that purpose.

[kehcorpz]

I felt numb prior to taking drugs and now that I'm taking them I feel normal. Before i just felt like images were hitting my retinas and sending signals via optical nerve to my brain but my brain just saw it and didn't make anything of it and discarded it. Now I can feel again! As Inshallah said they do make you care less. It's not a bad thing though as mentioned. I think it just more puts you in "The moment". You are more focused on the present and not worrying about the future. A lot of anxious people worry too much about the future and try to pre-plan everything, this is a big plus for me.

[Inshallah]

Yep. Unfortunately, many even worry about the past

[wxolue]

It all depends on the person. First off note that you don't become "addicted" to antidepressants (SSRIs). SSRIs boost the serotonin in your brain, but it also boosts serotonin in other parts of your body, giving you side effects (most notably sexual side effects). Your body adapts to this increased serotonin by sending less of its own serotonin to parts of your body. If you stop an antidepressant, now it takes your body a little bit of time to start sending more serotonin throughout your body. This transition period is called a discontinuation effect. It's not addiction, because you don't feel an urge to take the SSRI.

The discontinuation effects for me were literally nonexistent. I felt no side effects after stopping Prozac. Same for Celexa and Wellbutrin. Never had any trouble missing a dose either. If you're worried about missing a dose or stopping your SSRI, I suggest you try Prozac. Prozac has a long half life (meaning it takes your body a long time to break down Prozac). I think it's like 2 days or something. This essentially means that any discontinuation effects you might feel from an SSRI will be less on Prozac, and that missing 1 dose on Prozac won't be a big deal.

Regarding the "zombie" feeling, again, it depends on the person. I have never felt like a "zombie" on any antidepressant. For me the effects are VERY subtle, but essentially they make it so my lows aren't as low as they would normally be. My negative emotions are blunted, which is only ever a good thing for me.

My experience with antidepressants has been very mild. Had very few, if any side effects (the side effects I did have were very mild and tolerable), no trouble stopping or missing a dose, and never felt like a zombie. Give em a try.

[reef88]

Originally Posted by wxolue

It all depends on the person. First off note that you don't become "addicted" to antidepressants (SSRIs). SSRIs boost the serotonin in your brain, but it also boosts serotonin in other parts of your body, giving you side effects (most notably sexual side effects). Your body adapts to this increased serotonin by sending less of its own serotonin to parts of your body. If you stop an antidepressant, now it takes your body a little bit of time to start sending more serotonin throughout your body. This transition period is called a discontinuation effect. It's not addiction, because you don't feel an urge to take the SSRI.

The discontinuation effects for me were literally nonexistent. I felt no side effects after stopping Prozac. Same for Celexa and Wellbutrin. Never had any trouble missing a dose either. If you're worried about missing a dose or stopping your SSRI, I suggest you try Prozac. Prozac has a long half life (meaning it takes your body a long time to break down Prozac). I think it's like 2 days or something. This essentially means that any discontinuation effects you might feel from an SSRI will be less on Prozac, and that missing 1 dose on Prozac won't be a big deal.

Regarding the "zombie" feeling, again, it depends on the person. I have never felt like a "zombie" on any antidepressant. For me the effects are VERY subtle, but essentially they make it so my lows aren't as low as they would normally be. My negative emotions are blunted, which is only ever a good thing for me.

My experience with antidepressants has been very mild. Had very few, if any side effects (the side effects I did have were very mild and tolerable), no trouble stopping or missing a dose, and never felt like a zombie. Give em a try.

It's physical addiction, cravings don't matter, if you don't get cravings all it means is you're not psychologically addicted. Since your body has gotten used to the Antidepressant, it releases less Serotonin by itself to compensate for the over-activity of Serotonin thanks to the SSRI. This is why you taper off and come off feeling normal.

It took me 2 weeks to taper off 100mg of Zoloft. And I didn't feel any type of withdrawal.

[Tom90]

Wow thanks i actually might give it a try because i do often feel depressed here and there but mostly for the social anxiety.

[UltraShy]

Originally Posted by zach90

i don't get...why they give antidepressants for anxiety.

Because anti-anxiety drugs (aka tranquilizers) all have some potential for dependency/abuse/addiction.

Handing out (almost) entirely useless SSRI that lack any potential to be misused is vastly more important to the anti-drug warriors than is efficacy.

If an MD were put in charge of chopping down a huge tree he'd go at it with a butter knife. Not going to work, but totally safe. Wouldn't want to use something that will do the job -- like a chainsaw -- as that involves serious risk.

Seems MDs don't consider decades of hell on earth due to ineffective treatment to qualify as a "risk." Or at least not a risk they should seek to avoid even at the cost of "dangerous" drugs. I can only wonder how many suicides have occurred due to not using "dangerous" drugs that would have made one feel good enough that they didn't end up "safely" dead.

[Inshallah]

Don't listen to Ultrashy, he is immune to any drug on earth. SSRI's work great, period.

[Nick9075]

Originally Posted by UltraShy

Because anti-anxiety drugs (aka tranquilizers) all have some potential for dependency/abuse/addiction.

Handing out (almost) entirely useless SSRI that lack any potential to be misused is vastly more important to the anti-drug warriors than is efficacy.

If an MD were put in charge of chopping down a huge tree he'd go at it with a butter knife. Not going to work, but totally safe. Wouldn't want to use something that will do the job -- like a chainsaw -- as that involves serious risk.

Seems MDs don't consider decades of hell on earth due to ineffective treatment to qualify as a "risk." Or at least not a risk they should seek to avoid even at the cost of "dangerous" drugs. I can only wonder how many suicides have occurred due to not using "dangerous" drugs that would have made one feel good enough that they didn't end up "safely" dead.

I agree.. My doc won't prescribe an anti anxiety med like Klonopin but instead keeps increasing the dose of Prozac (going to 80MG a day) and Gabapentin (to 1800MG a day). The only medication that feels calming is Adderall which may last a few hours.. Prozac seemed helpful when I started it last year at only 20MG a day but now seems useless.

[wxolue]

Originally Posted by reef88

It's physical addiction, cravings don't matter, if you don't get cravings all it means is you're not psychologically addicted. Since your body has gotten used to the Antidepressant, it releases less Serotonin by itself to compensate for the over-activity of Serotonin thanks to the SSRI. This is why you taper off and come off feeling normal.

It took me 2 weeks to taper off 100mg of Zoloft. And I didn't feel any type of withdrawal.

There's no such thing as physical addiction. The term you're looking for is called physiological dependence. Seems like I'm playing game of semantics, but it's an important game. Here's why:

Discontinuation effects are not classified as withdrawal as you noted. At a medical symposium, it was decided that what seemed to be withdrawal effects would be referred to by the medical community as discontinuation syndrome. Why?

-Eli and Company, which funded the symposium, knows that withdrawal is colloquially paired with drug addiction. Not something you want your product associated with.
-Doctors know that if people come to associate SSRIs with withdrawal symptoms, they might also believe they are addicting. The latter false conclusion might deter people suffering from mental illness from seeking what might otherwise turn out to be a highly successful treatment.

Also, the way dependence works in SSRIs and most illegal addictive drugs is quite different. SSRIs essentially solve a serotonin deficit in someone's brain, but inadvertently create a surplus elsewhere. The body naturally reacts to this surplus by sending less of its own serotonin 'elsewhere' until those levels return to normal. Now you have a normal level in the brain and everywhere else. Drugs like heroin and cocaine, unlike SSRIs are used specifically to achieve a surplus similar to the one I described earlier, and are not used to rectify a preexisting deficit. This means that once the body adjusts to the new levels of neurotransmitters produced by heroin and cocaine, the user must raise his/her dose until tolerance sets in again, etc. Heroin and cocaine aren't used to fix a deficit, but to create an unnatural surplus that the body will try to correct.

[blakeyz]

I try to have empathy for these people but when you want to stop then just stop...
Cross taper to Prozac and wean off if it's that hard
Or do what I do and cold turkey and be back to normal in about 5 days.
Still have side effects after 14 days ??? Then it's all in your head. :P

[wxolue]

Or do what I do and go cold turkey and have no discontinuation effects. It's not a surefire thing.

[Secretaz]

I haven't got numb, but I've become very immature and reckless after starting to eat meds.