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what do they make you feel like, does it do nothing!?!?!??! is it not worth going to the doctor and explaining him my life story for these things and them not working!?!?!
do SSRI's really work!?!?!?! what do they do!!?!?!?!
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115 Posts
Well Mr. Ruinmylife, I have been on several SSRI's. They include Paxil, Lexapro, Zoloft, and Celexa.
For Paxil through Zoloft I drank heavily and it rendered the pills ineffective. I went to the max dose on each pill. I got boner loss, diarrhea, appetite gain on the pills. When you drink heavily on SSRI's you feel real bad the next day cause it messes with the neurotransmitters.
I recently started Celexa and I don't drink nearly as much as I used to and I think it does work. I was on 20mg for 6 weeks and got tolerant at aboot 7 weeks. Then I upped the dose to 40mg and it seems to be working.
When it works, you may notice that friends/family seem to think you are less anxious. I find it hard to feel but I must admit that I have done some pretty amazing things in the last several weeks.
I have many disorders in addition to SA such as Panic Dis, Agoraphobia, OCPD, and one other that I cant remember.
I have been able to do things such as make phone calls and talk to some people whilst on the SSRI Celexa.
For Paxil through Zoloft I drank heavily and it rendered the pills ineffective. I went to the max dose on each pill. I got boner loss, diarrhea, appetite gain on the pills. When you drink heavily on SSRI's you feel real bad the next day cause it messes with the neurotransmitters.
I recently started Celexa and I don't drink nearly as much as I used to and I think it does work. I was on 20mg for 6 weeks and got tolerant at aboot 7 weeks. Then I upped the dose to 40mg and it seems to be working.
When it works, you may notice that friends/family seem to think you are less anxious. I find it hard to feel but I must admit that I have done some pretty amazing things in the last several weeks.
I have many disorders in addition to SA such as Panic Dis, Agoraphobia, OCPD, and one other that I cant remember.
I have been able to do things such as make phone calls and talk to some people whilst on the SSRI Celexa.
From my experience, antidepressants are much more effective for depression than for anxiety. But even for depression, they have their limitations. If you are in a moderate to severe depression, chances are than an SSRI will provide some relief... emphasis on some. They make life more tolerable, but they won't necessarily make you happy (unless you happen to be on the bipolar spectrum). They also take a while to work, which is another downside.
SSRI's are probably not the best choice for "low-grade" depression. I put that in quotes because it is obviously subjective. You can't reasonably quantify the "amount" of depression someone has.
SSRI's lessen painful emotional responses, but they don't actually change your personality or turn you into a "zombie". They can sometimes dampen positive emotions as, but if you are depressed, then you probably don't have many positive emotions to begin with, so it's not really a problem. If your main problem is social anxiety and not depression, I wouldn't necessarily recommend an antidepressant. That's just my opinion though from personal experience. May not apply to everyone.
SSRI's are probably not the best choice for "low-grade" depression. I put that in quotes because it is obviously subjective. You can't reasonably quantify the "amount" of depression someone has.
SSRI's lessen painful emotional responses, but they don't actually change your personality or turn you into a "zombie". They can sometimes dampen positive emotions as, but if you are depressed, then you probably don't have many positive emotions to begin with, so it's not really a problem. If your main problem is social anxiety and not depression, I wouldn't necessarily recommend an antidepressant. That's just my opinion though from personal experience. May not apply to everyone.
Hahaa.
This is unfortunately the case with most unselective serotonin drugs, whether it be MAOIs, SSRIs, or even serotonin precursors. However, it might be possible to negate these side-effects by adding mirtazapine. The jury's still out on that one.
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Yeah they never made my anxiety less.
They did make me consider hurting myself.
They did make me consider hurting myself.
I have been on Celexa for about 8 months. It has helped me some. I still get anxious but am more relaxed around people. I still get really nervous around people I don't know but this is something I think only alcohol or a benzo or therapy could fix. You can read my review on Celexa in the reviews section. At first on Celexa, I noticed a decreased sex drive and it took much longer to ejaculate. After a few months this is gone. My sex drive is back really high where it used to be.
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163 Posts
I have only been on Lexapro for 3 weeks but I can tell it's been a positive medicine for me to take. It's good to know that some of the effects might not be in full swing either as they say wait 4 full weeks before you decide to quit using it(if it doesn't help or whatever). Taking 10mg for 1 week i started to feel a bit calmder(after the initial week of some side effects that were annoying but bearable), and around week 2 I started to actually realize the Lexapro was helping.
Overall, my sleeping has gotten better(and I sleep throughout the night), I am more relaxed than usual overall(but not so tired I want to sleep, which is good), I have been a little more outgoing, and even more comfortable going out and doing things.
With all that said, it's not like I am mr social by any means. I am just saying it has sort of knocked down my GAD scale from like what was a 7/10 before to now a 5/10 or something.....my general anxiety is less, which is good because that's how I am 24 hours a day.....so being more relaxed/content is a great thing, even if it's not full relief. I haven't had a major down episode either, but it's only been 3 weeks, haha.
All in all, I would say to give Lexapro(or an SSRI) a try. I put it off for years, trying hard to not try one again; I even made my way onto Lamictal before trying Lexapro, but finally biting the bullet I took lexapro and am glad i decided to do so. good luclk.
Overall, my sleeping has gotten better(and I sleep throughout the night), I am more relaxed than usual overall(but not so tired I want to sleep, which is good), I have been a little more outgoing, and even more comfortable going out and doing things.
With all that said, it's not like I am mr social by any means. I am just saying it has sort of knocked down my GAD scale from like what was a 7/10 before to now a 5/10 or something.....my general anxiety is less, which is good because that's how I am 24 hours a day.....so being more relaxed/content is a great thing, even if it's not full relief. I haven't had a major down episode either, but it's only been 3 weeks, haha.
All in all, I would say to give Lexapro(or an SSRI) a try. I put it off for years, trying hard to not try one again; I even made my way onto Lamictal before trying Lexapro, but finally biting the bullet I took lexapro and am glad i decided to do so. good luclk.
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520 Posts
Just one thing I'll add. When I took SSRI's the next day after drinking I felt freakin great. Hangover free, positive thoughts remained, everything. Much much better than how I feel drinking when not taking SSRI's. Not only that when taking SSRI's I don't get tired from drinking. Where many people drink a lot and get tired, I was able to keep on goin like a rockstar. And also the whole buzzed experience was much much better.
So to the poster, everyone is diff just keep in that mind.
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38,431 Posts
My experience is that SSRIs are worse than useless. Useless would be a sugar pill, but SSRIs have side effects so they're a sugar pill with side effects thus worse than useless.
Even clinical trials done by drug makers who have very strong & obvious financial incentives to come up with the most positive results possible (and bury any study that produces bad results) can't come up with anything all that impressive. You'll typically see studies that show around 60-70% are helped by an SSRIs, but the control group taking a placebo reports improvement about 30-35% of the time!
It's not truly accurate to say SSRIs help 60-70% of patients. It's technically accurate, though misleading. It doesn't lie; it just leaves out the truth. You must subtract improvement in that control group to find out how many are actually helped by an SSRI and when you do that you find it's more like 1/3. Then there is still the question of how much does it help and what are the side effects. Doesn't really matter if a drug helps if you can't stand taking it as the side effects are worse than the problem you were trying to correct.
The fact that SAS and similar sites exist is I think a testament to the fact that SSRIs fail most of the time. If they almost universally worked we'd take them, solve our SA problem, and SAS would quickly become a ghost town. Most of the people on this Meds section have tried SSRIs and I doubt they'd still be here if that SSRI solved their SA issues.
Even clinical trials done by drug makers who have very strong & obvious financial incentives to come up with the most positive results possible (and bury any study that produces bad results) can't come up with anything all that impressive. You'll typically see studies that show around 60-70% are helped by an SSRIs, but the control group taking a placebo reports improvement about 30-35% of the time!
It's not truly accurate to say SSRIs help 60-70% of patients. It's technically accurate, though misleading. It doesn't lie; it just leaves out the truth. You must subtract improvement in that control group to find out how many are actually helped by an SSRI and when you do that you find it's more like 1/3. Then there is still the question of how much does it help and what are the side effects. Doesn't really matter if a drug helps if you can't stand taking it as the side effects are worse than the problem you were trying to correct.
The fact that SAS and similar sites exist is I think a testament to the fact that SSRIs fail most of the time. If they almost universally worked we'd take them, solve our SA problem, and SAS would quickly become a ghost town. Most of the people on this Meds section have tried SSRIs and I doubt they'd still be here if that SSRI solved their SA issues.
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520 Posts
To the poster, to help us understand you better you could tell us what symptoms you are experiencing exactly and how you are looking to improve yourself. There are many knowledgable guys here to give recommendations of certain meds based on what you say that way if you do go to a doc you have a general idea about how to target the conversation.
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2,403 Posts
UltraShy has tried most of the modern ADs and drugs to treat anxiety/depression and only a very high dosage of Xanax (10mg/day) takes the edge off his SA. With a MAOI he would probably have a 50:50 chance to significantly improve his condition, but he made the decision to not take that chance.
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I finally made that decision the other day bro. My parnate is on the way I'll be starting late next week. Was hoping it wouldn't come to that at least for now, but for me at this point in time hell there is only one way to go and that's up so it's worth any chance.
I'm actually excited
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Ask. Don't even waste your time making an appointment with a doctor unless you know up front if s/he is willing to prescribe an MAOI is such treatment is indicated (like if you're tried lots of other meds and failed them all). If you want an MAOI there is no point in going to a doc that isn't willing to prescribe them to anybody.
To get an MAOI you will almost certainly need a psychiatrist. I'd guess about 99% of GPs have never prescribed an MAOI in their entire career. Even psychiatrists don't tend to use Nardil & Parnate often. There are only an estimated 80,000 Nardil users in the entire world, so it's not at all common.
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1,338 Posts
boner loss? fuuuckk that then, whats the point of takin it, sure it might help you pick up a chick then you cant do jack!
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38,431 Posts
I'd have to question the part about TCAs being so effective for anxiety. This is an anxiety forum, specifically SA, yet I can't think of anyone here who's taking a TCA for SA. Actually, I can't think of anybody who's reported success using a TCA for their SA.
Is there anybody reading this who is using a TCA successfully on their SA or personally know of anybody who is or can give us any link to a study of TCAs being used to treat SA?
I guess your statement is technically accurate since OCD is an anxiety disorder and Anafranil is used to treat it and that's a TCA, but when it comes to SA it's a different story.
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