Widespread Side Effects Of SSRI

[haidut]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 122429.htm


"...Over half of people aged 18 to 25 in the study reported suicidal feelings and in the total sample there were large percentages of people suffering from 'sexual difficulties' (62%) and 'feeling emotionally numb' (60%). Percentages for other effects included: 'feeling not like myself' (52%), 'reduction in positive feelings' (42%), 'caring less about others' (39%) and 'withdrawal effects' (55%). However, 82% reported that the drugs had helped alleviate their depression.

Professor Read concluded: "While the biological side-effects of antidepressants, such as weight gain and nausea, are well documented, psychological and interpersonal issues have been largely ignored or denied. They appear to be alarmingly common."

"Effects such as feeling emotionally numb and caring less about other people are of major concern. Our study also found that people are not being told about this when prescribed the drugs.

"Our finding that over a third of respondents reported suicidality 'as a result of taking the antidepressants' suggests that earlier studies may have underestimated the problem."

 

[lindsay]

I'm curious if there are any studies (or experiences) as to the long term effects of SSRI's? I was on a drug in college (for IBS issues) that was taken off the market a couple years after I started using it. The doctors and pharmaceutical reps definitely allowed me to have it (via samples and prescriptions) for too long and shortly after it was taken off the market, I developed gallbladder disease (one of the known side effects - well, at least doctors knew about it, not me).

That was almost 8 years ago and even now looking back, I feel like my hormonal balance was shifted in a wrong direction because of that drug and now I am in a position where it's harder to return to balance, due to subsequent health issues. Is this common with SSRI users? Are we all doomed or can balance be restored? I keep wondering if I need to resort to some sort of anti-serotonin drug, but I feel like taking thyroid, progesterone and some other supplements should be enough, no?

Thanks!

 

[haidut]

I'm curious if there are any studies (or experiences) as to the long term effects of SSRI's? I was on a drug in college (for IBS issues) that was taken off the market a couple years after I started using it. The doctors and pharmaceutical reps definitely allowed me to have it (via samples and prescriptions) for too long and shortly after it was taken off the market, I developed gallbladder disease (one of the known side effects - well, at least doctors knew about it, not me).

That was almost 8 years ago and even now looking back, I feel like my hormonal balance was shifted in a wrong direction because of that drug and now I am in a position where it's harder to return to balance, due to subsequent health issues. Is this common with SSRI users? Are we all doomed or can balance be restored? I keep wondering if I need to resort to some sort of anti-serotonin drug, but I feel like taking thyroid, progesterone and some other supplements should be enough, no?

Thanks!

I have never taken any SSRIs so I can't talk about long term effects. But I think Ray recommended taking pregnenolone to restore the balance after being on SSRI for too long. He did not say for how long pregnenolone needs to be taken so I am assuming it's long term until you feel better. Pregnenolone and its metabolites (other than progesterone) are also neurosteroids, so it would be better to take it in addition to progesterone to ensure you have the complete spectrum of neurosteroids. Progesterone alone only gives you so much.
Maybe somebody with long term SSRI experience will comment and give some more insight on recovery.

 

[Mephisto]

I'm curious if there are any studies (or experiences) as to the long term effects of SSRI's? I was on a drug in college (for IBS issues) that was taken off the market a couple years after I started using it. The doctors and pharmaceutical reps definitely allowed me to have it (via samples and prescriptions) for too long and shortly after it was taken off the market, I developed gallbladder disease (one of the known side effects - well, at least doctors knew about it, not me).

That was almost 8 years ago and even now looking back, I feel like my hormonal balance was shifted in a wrong direction because of that drug and now I am in a position where it's harder to return to balance, due to subsequent health issues. Is this common with SSRI users? Are we all doomed or can balance be restored? I keep wondering if I need to resort to some sort of anti-serotonin drug, but I feel like taking thyroid, progesterone and some other supplements should be enough, no?

Thanks!

I was on SSRIs 2 years ago and it completely threw me out of whatever homeostasis I had. Before that I was relaitvely "healthy" despite my depression, after the meds it seems like everything is just falling appart with my health, and no changes to diet/supplements seem to be able to push me back up to that balanced level, and my cells and hormones are now stuck at a low level, eventually stopping responding to thyroid progesterone tianeptine etc... so well, similar situation, but I'll be no help. Maybe someone else will have some input!

 

[answersfound]

i was on a couple different ssris over the course of 2 years. i took prozac for about 6 months, then went off, then took lexapro, then went off. i smoked a lot of marijuana before the prozac, and continued to while on prozac. i think the marijuana made me extremely depressed so that is why i ended up on prozac. on top of this, i was beginning college and it was a tough transition for me. marijauan allowed me to connect with people and helped me make friends. i do remember that i loved smoking and then a couple weeks into the prozac something tweaked and marijuana was never the same for me since that episode. actually, my brain was never the same. i have since found school more challenging. i was the "smart kid" in high school classes, especially in math, but now i am just at an average level. its like i lost my ability for higher level, abstract thinking. i am not sure if this will return with improvement in metabolism, but i can only hope. so i cant actually say for sure that it was the prozac, the marijuana or the combination of both. however, since the age of 18/19, when i started this, something is certainly different.

i would go on to take lexapro for a short period of time, but that didn't last because i found lots of negative research on ssris.

so fast forward a couple years i came down with mono and got sick, found ray peat and have been trying to get to my highschool self ever since. i have made baby steps in the right direction in terms of improving metabolic rate. i assume that if i can correct any hormone imbalances and nutritional deficiencies, i can make a full recovery and have the energy and vitality i did prior to mono. for what its worth i have been taking cyproheptadine on a pretty regular basis and have not noticed any difference in mood or health since i started using it 1.5 years ago. it just makes me tired, and maybe improved digestive issues, but thats rly it. i just take it because it gets such glowing reviews around here so i assume it must be doing something good for me. so any elevated serotonin levels have certainly been adressed by now, yet i don't really notice a difference in my depression. i assume it has to do w/ hormones or dopamine or something, so i am starting to experiment with aspirin, pregnenolone, and progest e.

 

[pboy]

I don't know how much I can help guys, theres not much info on exactly how SSRI's work or what they do, and theres no way im going to take them to figure it out. What I do know is that they contain heavy metals and/or pollutants, fluoride I think and potentially other stuff. Quickest way to get those out is the glutathione pathway, you need protein copper vit C and some other stuff, im not 100% sure. I don't think the body ever detoxes much unless it has an abundance of energy, so that's probably the first thing to focus on...of course without hurting your digestion

and btw, marijuana is definitely not the cause of your troubles, if anything it was helping you not be as harmed by the prozac as much

 

[Blossom]

I've been taking high dose pregnenolone and various anti-serotonin meds and feel they are helpful for my overall functioning. Pregnenolone may be beneficial for me because I'm mid forties as well. It's been 6.5 years since I discontinued SSRI meds and I seem to be continually improving.

 

[extremecheddar]

Taking an ssri was the biggest regret of my life.

 

[gretchen]

Taking an ssri was the biggest regret of my life.

It's definitely up there, for me, with taking Accutane and the bcp. How different things might have been....

 

[Blossom]

I think the over abundant prescription of SSRI's is one of the biggest medical atrocities of our time. It takes a strong and determined person to overcome this form of mistreatment. It's both sad and telling that those of us who have taken these drugs regret it and still feel the healing and recovery process is ongoing years later. We are the lucky ones though because we have been able to quit the meds and have found a way to repair the damage. I sometimes wonder about the effects on society at large when so many people's emotions are blunted. SSRI meds really are the perfect way to keep the populace in line and easy to control. Forget living your dreams or having the gumption to go out and make a difference in the world you are taking one of these drugs. They seem to take away the capability to fully feel not just sadness but joy as well. In a sense they rob us of a big part of our humanity. This is all just my personal experience and opinion of course.

 

[Blossom]

 

[mujuro]

I'm curious if there are any studies (or experiences) as to the long term effects of SSRI's? I was on a drug in college (for IBS issues) that was taken off the market a couple years after I started using it. The doctors and pharmaceutical reps definitely allowed me to have it (via samples and prescriptions) for too long and shortly after it was taken off the market, I developed gallbladder disease (one of the known side effects - well, at least doctors knew about it, not me).

That was almost 8 years ago and even now looking back, I feel like my hormonal balance was shifted in a wrong direction because of that drug and now I am in a position where it's harder to return to balance, due to subsequent health issues. Is this common with SSRI users? Are we all doomed or can balance be restored? I keep wondering if I need to resort to some sort of anti-serotonin drug, but I feel like taking thyroid, progesterone and some other supplements should be enough, no?

Thanks!

I found myself searching for answers regarding this a few years back. I came across an article about 19-nortestosterone (I was into bodybuilding for a while) and its role in the central nervous system. It is a progestin and as such interacts with the GABA-A receptor as a positive allosteric modulator, but it also interacts with the serotonergic system. Anyway, the author mentions other potential candidates like beta blockers and from memory I believe also psychedelics.

The author says:

... up regulation of 5ht1 sites in hippocampus are related to reduced short-term memory retention. Interestingly, nandrolone can and should be used in cases where treatment of SSRIs have negatively rewired serotonin receptors in the hippocampus and prefrontal area. Many users have reported blunted emotions and reduced memory capacity after SSRI treatment. The subjective data puts SSRIs and other antidepressants clearly into bad perspective. Another interesting point is that the same reduction of or rewiring effect on SSRI activity could be achieved with either propranolol or pindolol treatment because they antagonise serotonin 5ht1a and 5ht1b receptors.​

http://www.mindandmuscle.net/articl...the-central-nervous-system-by-andreas-martin/

 

[Stevie]

An old thread but I just wanted to add my experience. 16 years on ssri's, paroxetine. Although they worked perfectly well I wanted to stop them when I heard about the damage they cause. It took a year to gradually reduce the dose but this didn't prevent withdrawal symptoms. One of the 'sensations' of withdrawal was like that feeling you get when you tense your jaw and hear or experience an 'under water' senation. If you made yourself do that ten times in ten seconds that's the sensation I experienced, probably every 5 minutes during the worst days. I've been off paroxetine now for a year and I still get this sensation two or three times a week.
I've been talking Tianeptine for a week and this sensation has returned, plus some giddiness so I stopped. It also happens with niacinamide.
I think my brain is damaged:-/

 

[DaveFoster]

It took a year to gradually reduce the dose but this didn't prevent withdrawal symptoms. One of the 'sensations' of withdrawal was like that feeling you get when you tense your jaw and hear or experience an 'under water' senation.

Wow, that sounds God-awful! Do you still have these symptoms? I'm taking mirtazapine at present, and it has SSRI activity, but it helps IBS, sleep, and the demands of college.

 

[Stevie]

No, they lessened as time wore on. And I only got them at night oddly. I'm back on ssri's, paroxetine, because of 'demands of life' but so far not had any such symptoms.

 

[Jem Oz]

I don't know if anyone can give definitive advice on this: my brother had a bad mental health experience and ended up being proscribed Lexapro 10mg. He's been on it for 3.5 weeks, so not long at all. He doesn't want to continue (smart man). He cut back from 10 mg to 5 mg and on the 3rd day of this he started having what sound like classic withdrawal symptoms - headache, nausea, increased anxiety.

My question is this: given that he's only been on that horrid drug for less than a month, should be persist through a rapid quitting process, or, given how powerful that drug is and the fact that the body can get used to it pretty quickly, should he stick with the standard advice: a long, slow, gentle as possible taper?

He told me today that he went back up to 7.5 mg and it lessened his symptoms.

Any advice much appreciated.