Weaning Off SSRI - Above All Reduce Stress?

youngsinatra

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Hello everyone,

I took an anti-depressant (sertralin / SSRI) for nearly a year now for my depression and anxiety. I slowly tapered off, from 75mg to 50mg to 25mg to now 0mg.
My biggest complain with that medication was fatigue, lack of motivation, dissociation from my feelings and thoughts, lack of focus and delayed orgasms and loss of sexual pleasure.
It really dissolved my anxiety issues, but made me live life without much awareness at all.

I did a deep-dive into the actual research of serotonin and it's physiological roles and stumbled onto the bioenergetic view of serotonin.
I connected all my symptoms with the SSRI usage and decided to start tapering off. I felt more alive and more conscious but also more vulnerable to stress after each reduction in my medication. At certain stressful times I couldn't bear life with just 25mg and needed 50mg again.

Right now I am feeling well without any medication, but I also feel like I handle stress very well at the moment, because of my effort to practice good stress reduction.

What helps me a lot
- regulating blood sugar (eating regularly, balanced carb:protein ratio)
- eating enough calories (for me around 4200 calories/d)
- adequate magnesium intake (total intake is around 1000mg per day, supplemental only 200mg)
- niacinamide (3 x 500mg with the same amount of TMG)
- prioritizing sleep (bluelight blocking, caffeine cut-off around 2pm, unwinding the mind, total darkness)
- vitamin A,D,E,K2 (5k IU, 5k IU, 200 IU, 400mcg)
- beef liver (10g daily)
- lean ground beef (400-600g daily for zinc, selenium, protein, B-vitamins, creatine)
- a lot of whole eggs (6-8 large eggs daily for choline primarly)
- white potatoes and basmati rice as the main carb source (potassium, magnesium and glucose)
- 4-6 oz of OJ or pomegranate juice with each meal (to keep up liver glycogen)

+ (Bonus: microdosing 5mcg of LSD every 4 days)

I would love to hear your experiences with SSRI withdrawal and what helped you the most.
 

Perry Staltic

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So glad to see you off that ***t and doing well with your life. There's no way to calculate how much harm those demonic potions have done and are doing to society and people.
 

Razvan

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Try
Hello everyone,

I took an anti-depressant (sertralin / SSRI) for nearly a year now for my depression and anxiety. I slowly tapered off, from 75mg to 50mg to 25mg to now 0mg.
My biggest complain with that medication was fatigue, lack of motivation, dissociation from my feelings and thoughts, lack of focus and delayed orgasms and loss of sexual pleasure.
It really dissolved my anxiety issues, but made me live life without much awareness at all.

I did a deep-dive into the actual research of serotonin and it's physiological roles and stumbled onto the bioenergetic view of serotonin.
I connected all my symptoms with the SSRI usage and decided to start tapering off. I felt more alive and more conscious but also more vulnerable to stress after each reduction in my medication. At certain stressful times I couldn't bear life with just 25mg and needed 50mg again.

Right now I am feeling well without any medication, but I also feel like I handle stress very well at the moment, because of my effort to practice good stress reduction.

What helps me a lot
- regulating blood sugar (eating regularly, balanced carb:protein ratio)
- eating enough calories (for me around 4200 calories/d)
- adequate magnesium intake (total intake is around 1000mg per day, supplemental only 200mg)
- niacinamide (3 x 500mg with the same amount of TMG)
- prioritizing sleep (bluelight blocking, caffeine cut-off around 2pm, unwinding the mind, total darkness)
- vitamin A,D,E,K2 (5k IU, 5k IU, 200 IU, 400mcg)
- beef liver (10g daily)
- lean ground beef (400-600g daily for zinc, selenium, protein, B-vitamins, creatine)
- a lot of whole eggs (6-8 large eggs daily for choline primarly)
- white potatoes and basmati rice as the main carb source (potassium, magnesium and glucose)
- 4-6 oz of OJ or pomegranate juice with each meal (to keep up liver glycogen)

+ (Bonus: microdosing 5mcg of LSD every 4 days)

I would love to hear your experiences with SSRI withdrawal and what helped you the most.
Try methylene blue and nicotine tobacco with your niacinamide. I would sincerly cut some eggs off, choline is overrated and can cause depressive behavior in my opinion. Try to get as much calcium as possible and keep beef liver once a week not daily ,you are eating too much phosphate.Also i wouldn't recommend a vitamin a supplement and personally I would stop it, instead i will focus on upping k2 mk4 intake to 3-5 mg.
 
OP
youngsinatra

youngsinatra

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Try methylene blue and nicotine tobacco with your niacinamide. I would sincerly cut some eggs off, choline is overrated and can cause depressive behavior in my opinion. Try to get as much calcium as possible and keep beef liver once a week not daily ,you are eating too much phosphate.Also i wouldn't recommend a vitamin a supplement and personally I would stop it, instead i will focus on upping k2 mk4 intake to 3-5 mg.

Thanks for the advice man. I am from Germany and I don't know where I can get my hands on some methylene blue.
I actually consumed nicotine every day (like a pack of cigarettes) for the last year after my depression kicked in. Now that I am off my SSRI, I don't have the craving for it anymore (not that addictive drive) probably because my stress hormones are coming down. I get stress reactions from it, cold hands and feet and mental stress.

I consume around 2200mg of calcium every day, so I don't worry that much at my intake of phosphate. (around 2500mg)
Beef liver keeps me energetically going and is a true miracle food for me personally.

I use K2 MK-7, because it's the easiest to get in Germany. K2 MK-4 is actually harder to get and more expensive here.
 
OP
youngsinatra

youngsinatra

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So glad to see you off that ***t and doing well with your life. There's no way to calculate how much harm those demonic potions have done and are doing to society and people.
SSRIs totally destroyed my ex-girlfriend. She has 2-3 new diagnosis of psychiatric illness since then.
 

Razvan

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I have methylene blue at every fa
Thanks for the advice man. I am from Germany and I don't know where I can get my hands on some methylene blue.
I actually consumed nicotine every day (like a pack of cigarettes) for the last year after my depression kicked in. Now that I am off my SSRI, I don't have the craving for it anymore (not that addictive drive) probably because my stress hormones are coming down. I get stress reactions from it, cold hands and feet and mental stress.

I consume around 2200mg of calcium every day, so I don't worry that much at my intake of phosphate. (around 2500mg)
Beef liver keeps me energetically going and is a true miracle food for me personally.

I use K2 MK-7, because it's the easiest to get in Germany. K2 MK-4 is actually harder to get and more expensive here.
I have here methylene blue at every pharmacy. Your calcium to phosphate ratio is on point especially taking niacinamide will lower excess phosphate as it will utilize it for ATP. I bought a product from life extension in germany called super k it has k1 and k2 as mk4 1mg each so very high dosage, i think you should find it. I would suggest creatine(creapure) with orange juice and i will give a shot to Tribulus terrestris high quality in high dosage as I'm doing an experiment with it and I'm finding having very good results especially with low dose pregnenolone and dhea.
 

Ben.

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You know this i guess so it may sound like a stupid comment, in this case just ignore it but from what i've understood is that antidepressants are only "more" effective when the depression is realy severe. Low or Medium levels of depressive states can be dealt with nature, sunlight, sports just as effective (atleast thats what the last psychiatrist i talked to told me)

I guess it depends on what the actual cause for the baseline mental state is. I mean you've went to a psychiatrist for the drugs right? So you had therapy sessions right? so trauma etc. has been discussed?

If the psychological/emotional route has been dealt with all i could think of would be a biological cause like gut dysbiosis or environmental stuff.

My mom has the same issues as youve described with needing 50mg every once in a while (since i pushed her to reduce it slowly, she seems to get withdrawal symptoms at times). Nasty stuff ... not ment for long term at all, it hurts seeing her like that and being dependend on that ***t.
She has issues with her gut too (prolly due to poor diet, drinking 3 coffees on an empty stomache every morning and smoking like a chimney).
 

LucyL

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I can't comment re weaning off SSRI, but I was glad to see sleep on your priority list. I would just add when prioritizing sleep, regular sleep is super important. That means at least 8 hours at the same time every day. One late night on a weekend will take a full week to recover, so if late weekends are a regular practice, you'll never achieve the full destressing effects of sleep. (Speaking from experience here ).
 

Perry Staltic

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I guess it depends on what the actual cause for the baseline mental state is. I mean you've went to a psychiatrist for the drugs right? So you had therapy sessions right? so trauma etc. has been discussed?

In the US (which I know OP isn't) that's not even necessary. Any MD can prescribe SSRIs. One did it to my dad.
 
OP
youngsinatra

youngsinatra

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You know this i guess so it may sound like a stupid comment, in this case just ignore it but from what i've understood is that antidepressants are only "more" effective when the depression is realy severe. Low or Medium levels of depressive states can be dealt with nature, sunlight, sports just as effective (atleast thats what the last psychiatrist i talked to told me)

I guess it depends on what the actual cause for the baseline mental state is. I mean you've went to a psychiatrist for the drugs right? So you had therapy sessions right? so trauma etc. has been discussed?

If the psychological/emotional route has been dealt with all i could think of would be a biological cause like gut dysbiosis or environmental stuff.

My mom has the same issues as youve described with needing 50mg every once in a while (since i pushed her to reduce it slowly, she seems to get withdrawal symptoms at times). Nasty stuff ... not ment for long term at all, it hurts seeing her like that and being dependend on that ***t.
She has issues with her gut too (prolly due to poor diet, drinking 3 coffees on an empty stomache every morning and smoking like a chimney).
The diagnosis I got from my psychiatrist was severe clinical depression and general anxiety disorder.
I was in a psychiatry hospital for 12 week in the spring of 2020 because I was unable to do anything because of my crippling anxiety.

I had a very stressful life back then, did keto, fasting, training, eating way too little for „longevity“.
Also had problems with extreme highs and extreme lows (stress rollercoaster). On one hand very strict with health things, on the other hand very aggressively partying with ecstasy, speed, alcohol and smoking, partying all night.
 
OP
youngsinatra

youngsinatra

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I can't comment re weaning off SSRI, but I was glad to see sleep on your priority list. I would just add when prioritizing sleep, regular sleep is super important. That means at least 8 hours at the same time every day. One late night on a weekend will take a full week to recover, so if late weekends are a regular practice, you'll never achieve the full destressing effects of sleep. (Speaking from experience here ).

I really recommend the book „Why We Sleep“ by Matthew Walker and the interviews with him to everyone who wants to learn about the importance of sleep.

I try to get at least 7.5h of sleep, preferably 9h each night.
 

bk_

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The diagnosis I got from my psychiatrist was severe clinical depression and general anxiety disorder.
I was in a psychiatry hospital for 12 week in the spring of 2020 because I was unable to do anything because of my crippling anxiety.

I had a very stressful life back then, did keto, fasting, training, eating way too little for „longevity“.
Also had problems with extreme highs and extreme lows (stress rollercoaster). On one hand very strict with health things, on the other hand very aggressively partying with ecstasy, speed, alcohol and smoking, partying all night.
In my opinion this is indicative of high serotonin/low dopamine. High serotonin causes a kind of stubborn narrow mindedness and perseverance towards certain goals, often to the point that it is harmful and no longer rewarding such as dieting/fasting/training (thanks @Hans).

I believe the low dopamine causes the need to seek out novelty since novelty increases dopamine and in a deficiency the instinctive need for dopamine is more present. This can manifest as addictive desires for activities such as partying, drugs, alcohol, video games, pornography, etc.
 
OP
youngsinatra

youngsinatra

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In my opinion this is indicative of high serotonin/low dopamine. High serotonin causes a kind of stubborn narrow mindedness and perseverance towards certain goals, often to the point that it is harmful and no longer rewarding such as dieting/fasting/training (thanks @Hans).

I believe the low dopamine causes the need to seek out novelty since novelty increases dopamine and in a deficiency the instinctive need for dopamine is more present. This can manifest as addictive desires for activities such as partying, drugs, alcohol, video games, pornography, etc.

I think this is true.
High serotonin and low dopamine - I was very into routines and habituation. I didn‘t like when somebody would hinder me doing my routine, whether in training or diet, everything has to be under control.

Also deep into porn and ***t. Nowadays I don‘t really crave those high dopamine things that much, probably because my dopamine system is not as deficient anymore.
 

Salome

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I am currently weaning off Lexapro. I have been on these meds since I was 8 years old. It makes me sad that I"ve lived the majority of my life on them. Do you have to work out a lot to be able to eat that much food? I have also been doing keto/fasting/extreme dieting because I want to be extremely skinny, but I find I am depressed until I finally feed myself. I have swung into a few carbohydrate (grains/berry) binges because of this. I am still searching for a sustainable healthy weight loss diet while getting off SSRI's and trying to lose weight, all at the same time. I started eating raw carrots today and I instantly felt happier. Gonna see what happens
 
OP
youngsinatra

youngsinatra

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I am currently weaning off Lexapro. I have been on these meds since I was 8 years old. It makes me sad that I"ve lived the majority of my life on them. Do you have to work out a lot to be able to eat that much food? I have also been doing keto/fasting/extreme dieting because I want to be extremely skinny, but I find I am depressed until I finally feed myself. I have swung into a few carbohydrate (grains/berry) binges because of this. I am still searching for a sustainable healthy weight loss diet while getting off SSRI's and trying to lose weight, all at the same time. I started eating raw carrots today and I instantly felt happier. Gonna see what happens
I start to feel irritable and depressed when I consume less than 3500 calories a day. I do workout around 2-3x per week at the moment - short sessions, bodybuilding style.
I maintain a lean physique by keeping total fat intake between 15-20% of calories, carbs around 60-65% and the rest from protein.
Once I add additional fats/oils/fattier meats I gain fat / lose leanness and also tend to feel more fatigued after meals. (probably worsened insulin sensitvity)

I really need a lot of calories and a meal every 3-4h or so to keep the machinery running.
 

Ben.

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I want to be extremely skinny


.... why ... why do you want to be that skinny?

are we talking about "holocaust/starving/anorexic skinny"?

Working out/doing sports and being physicaly active allows most individuals to eat more without gaining weight. I personally can eat easily 2 meals more when im working out.

But doing extreme diets often to become skinny only results in one thing, the destruction of your health. And if you are unlucky due to genetics, gut microbiome etc. ... you might not even loose weight the way you want to or find yourself in yoyo situations or in hibernation mode.
And im also pretty confident in saying that extreme diets will take a toll on your mental health in the long term aswell, making the whole "coming off antidepressants" even harder.

I want to be extremely skinny, but I find I am depressed until I finally feed myself.

Because your body needs food ... and so does your brain and with it all the chemicals needed to make you feel good/normal/healthy. Listen to your body's responses.




On the other hand ... i am no doctor or chemist ... maybe going cold turkey on the med while starving yourself may result in the processes needed to achieve your goals? I don't feel good about this hypothesis tho ...
 

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