# SSRI experiences



## Harken Banks (Jun 12, 2012)

For me, equaminity, some detachment.


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## Harken Banks (Jun 12, 2012)

Not unpleasant.


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## ItsGonnabeAlright (Nov 19, 2012)

I've tried lexapro, prozac, elavil, and I forget what else. It took a while for me to feel better, and yes sometimes in the beginning there was an increase in the unpleasant symptoms I was experiencing prior to taking the meds. I would say I prefer lexapro to prozac. After a while the prozac made me feel a little crazy, each time I took it. I was on it 2x, each time for several months. But with the lexapro, there were sexual side effects. The elavil caused weight gain really quick, and lots of it. I would recommend that everyone try different ones to see which ones work best for them. And also, some made me extra tired.


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## cantdecide (Apr 9, 2012)

Horrible, just horrible.

At first they really helped. I was much more calm, had an "I don't give a [email protected]" attitude. But my body didn't adjust well. Didn't matter if I upped the dosage or lowered. A list I found had 17 side effects for what I was taking. I had 24 !!! My doctor was stumped and didn't believe it was the medication. I decided I wanted off of it and he told me how to ween myself from them. Instead I went cold turkey and in 3-4 days, all the side effects were gone.

Never again !!


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## Harken Banks (Jun 12, 2012)

I hate, to the extent that I can summon any emotion, the idea of medication. Even more the reasons why. Still something had to change. I didn't think it was me. But I was most maleable.


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## dogman (Jul 24, 2012)

Mood and disposition got better but sexual side effects will keep me from ever getting on SSRIs ever again.
Elavil (tricyclic antidepressant) helped me sleep big time but celexa (SSRI) caused sexual side effects you don't want after a few months of use.


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## OhhShiney (Apr 8, 2011)

I tried celexa. I gained weight, lost libido, and ended up with assorted sexual issues. It took me a long time to get some semblance of sexual performance back, still not up to where I was before.

On the other hand, the depression stopped, anxiety went away, I felt wonderful, and had enough mental clarity to evaluate my life, see my ex as who she was, and got the courage to divorce her and move on. And even the toned down libido give me a head clear enough to see what was important (getting sex occasionally from a verbally abusive spouse is NOT important in the big picture). 

Without the celexa, I would likely have certainly died either from anxiety-induced stroke/heart attack or some other lifestyle based thing that would have amounted to suicide given the active apathy I had towards my personal health and well being.

The sexual side effects might have been avoided had I tried other SSRIs -- probably my doctor didn't try hard enough. I was focusing on my crappy marriage and ended up on on a very high dose. I do NOT regret the SSRI -- though my sex life three years after Celexa is not back to where it was. It COULD be related to my age; however I NEVER ONCE had sexual performance issues before SSRI. 

All these things have to undergo a "cost benefit" analysis -- is the cure worth the potential side effects? Are you taking an acceptable risk? That's something only you can decide. I was NOT warned explicitly about the odds or magnitude of sexual side effects. It sounded to me at the time that walking around without a raging hard-on all the time just might be a way to help get me past thinking with my other head. I was becoming desperate and was concerned for my long-term health, so the SSRI might have been an acceptable risk. I missed all the TV warnings about SSRI because I TIVO'd past all advertising for 10 years and missed the side effect warning in the advertising. Had I known I might not have jumped in and I might still be in a miserable marriage and may even have died.


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## Harken Banks (Jun 12, 2012)

Lexapro. No highs, no lows, no libido. Lobotomized or neutered. Life is good.


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## SomedayDig (Jul 17, 2012)

Paxil...kind of like taking valium. I just didn't care. That was nice, I'm sure for Regret cuz I wasn't hounding her with a thousand questions, but it wasn't cool cuz logically I knew I should have some kind of feeling. Also...and this was the worst for me...delayed ejaculation - in other words I couldn't f'ng orgasm. Yeah. Not cool during hyper bonding!!

3 weeks later tried EffexorXR. F'ng SAME thing happened.

2 weeks after that my IC said I should ask my doc about Welbutrin cuz it doesn't have the sexual side effects. He was right. I got on Welbutrin and had a pretty intense FIRST orgasm in a MONTH!! To boot, I can feel again. For me, it takes just enough of the edge off that I don't obsess. But it doesn't make me look at a firing squad and say "bring it on".


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## Harken Banks (Jun 12, 2012)

I talked to my therapist about the medication for the first time yesterday. It was the first time I had seen her since I started with it. She had not been an advocate of medication, but was even keel and supportive of my decision. I am grateful for the quietude. Rest and repose. Back to life later.


edit: I guess that would have been 2 days ago. Time flies when you're on a plane.


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## SomedayDig (Jul 17, 2012)

Totally understood, HB. Although I didn't continue with the Paxil/Effexor, I am glad my brain got some down time for about a month.


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

Now Effexor XR. Seems uneven some days better than others. Very short metabolic half life. Combined with Lithium and Adderall.

(Effexor is not an SSRI)


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## Harken Banks (Jun 12, 2012)

Anyone else a little bit miffed?


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## Gabriel (May 10, 2011)

For about 3 months I took SAM-E, which is a natural mood improvement supplement of sorts.

It took about 3-4 weeks to feel anything, and then it worked phenomenally. I was relaxed, focused, happier. But after about 10 weeks I got sharp, horrible pains in my stomach from it, and had to eventually stop. Many people don't have this issue with it though, and enjoy the effects. 

No side effects to the libido.


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## CleanJerkSnatch (Jul 18, 2012)

Best depression killer is testosterone, an aid to that is saw palmetto. A natural stress fighter is vitamin c. Take some zma before you go to bed.



Google.com


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## sharkeey (Apr 27, 2012)

2asdf2 said:


> There are reports of permanent side effects from SSRI sudden discontinuance.


That has not been proven.

What is generally considered to be true by the medical profession is that there are side effects of SSRIs that may be permanent simply by using the drug in the first place.

No one's all that sure what these things can do to the human body over time.

Consider that when you fill the Rx at the pharmacy.


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## Harken Banks (Jun 12, 2012)

sharkeey said:


> That has not been proven.
> 
> What is generally considered to be true by the medical profession is that there are side effects of SSRIs that may be permanent simply by using the drug in the first place.
> 
> ...


Great.


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## DavidWYoung (Feb 3, 2012)

Of course, being the crazy one here, I did not get the e-mail on the SSRI meeting so I started running, one mile, then three miles, then five, the ten, twenty (ONCE, GOD THAT HURT!) the I settled on Half Marathons and that is were I am at now. I think life is hard enough with knives from your ex sticking out of your back to add drugs to the mix would be alot for this 55 year old. Just My 2 Cents David


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## DavidWYoung (Feb 3, 2012)

But I do drink like a fish.


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## cantdecide (Apr 9, 2012)

2asdf2 said:


> There are reports of permanent side effects from SSRI sudden discontinuance.
> 
> Just in case, I'd stick with gradually and slowly.


I was going to stop taking it until I felt the need to take some. I figured there'd be some side effect to going cold turkey and I'd take a little when I felt them and ween myself off. There never was so I just never took anymore. Besides, I couldn't deal with the side effects anymore. Couldn't sleep, no appetite, no orgasm, lack of feeling (physically), horrible pains in my stomach, headaches, badly swollen throat which made it painful to swallow (causing even less of an appetite), etc. Any side effects from stopping cold turkey would've been minimal compared to all of the above. My doctor was shocked that I went cold turkey without any problems.


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## maincourse99 (Aug 15, 2012)

I went on Clonozapam (not an SSRI) for my anxiety/panic attacks and Trazodone so I can sleep through the night. Both of these worked great, won't be on them too much longer since I'm detaching more every day from stbxw. 

I haven't had any side effects at all.

A comment on alcohol. I won't lie, I've had short stretches early on after dday and before the meds where I over did it, but now, 2 or 3 days a week of a couple really good beers (I'm a craft beer afficionado) I find is a great relaxer/escape. Especially enjoy getting out to my favorite low-key bar. Great bartender, nice people to hang out with and talk to. For me, getting out, socializing and being in a different environment than my living room has been very therapeutic.

Sorry if I went a bit off topic.


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

My H was on Effexor for 3 years and was weaned off in December 2011......his dr. did not put the correlation together when DH went to him in summer of 2010 saying he was experiencing ED. Gave him viagra did not work of course because viagra only works if you have the desire to have sex....


Want to know how bad and powerful SSRI's are...one year this month he stopped taking them....so has had no Effexor in a year..to date still no libido at all and still has 100% ED.

Any doctor that does not warn men of these effects is negligent....in my opinion. Do a search of SSRI's and realize why they are called marriage killers....basically H has "post SSRI sexual dysfunction"...could even be indefinite from what we have read.....


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## highwood (Jan 12, 2012)

I was reading in a pharmocology book about Effexor and it said that the moment someone starts experiencing sexual side effects at that point the patient should start to become weaned off...alas H's dr.s neglect...instead of weaning him off in 2010..he kept upping the dosage because he did not put two and two together...


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## cantdecide (Apr 9, 2012)

Confused2much said:


> Zoloft is great if you want to lose a lot of weight and never pee again.


Forgot about never peeing again. That WAS a big problem.


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

Effexor and Paxil have the worst discontinuation syndromes. I stopped taking Effexor once and wound up in the emergency ward. And I had a long experience with these drugs and had experienced withdrawal before. It's like a cluster headache, a migraine, a minor stroke and opiate withdrawal all at once.


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## Hermione (Dec 13, 2012)

There's a fantastic article about the efficacy of antidepressants in Newsweek. It's a report on the culmination of a large number of studies. It's good for thought and understanding what they can do, and their limitations.

My personal experience on antis was that I felt like I was underwater. And I discontinued them shortly after. 

Why Antidepressants Are No Better Than Placebos - Newsweek and The Daily Beast
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DevastatedDad (Oct 2, 2012)

I am so done with these damned pills.... I fvcking hate them.

I couldn't stand the side effects of Zoloft so I told my doc. He said "let's try Welbutrin, it doesn't have the side effects"

So stopped taking Zoloft, and started Wellbutrin.

5 days in and I am a zombie. As the Zoloft was wearing off, I started getting depressed and pissed again. Last night it culminated in me avoiding CM all night, and sleeping in my son's room. All I thought about all night was separating from her after the holidays are over. I can't stand her right now and I want off these GD pills but I guess have to go back on the Zoloft or something so I can do what SHE wants me to do and work it out.

This is killing me. I refuse to take these pills forever but off them I am disgusted and angry to no end with CM and on them, I am sort of lethargic and unable to have sex.

I took off, flew and landed a plane for the first time in my life 4 days ago and I should have been downright giddy. It was fun and I liked it but I am missing out on feeling elated about anything.

I have never been more p!ssed about anything in my life. This whole situation is total bullsh!t


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