this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
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Antidepressant Meds
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That’s withdrawal. Now you’ll always be on it. Kaching!
This fear has kept me depressed and anxious my whole entire life. 😀 But I'm pretty much at the end of my rope now, so hopefully I can force myself to see a doctor and get some of these addictive pills.
"Oh no, I'm addicted to being able to function!"
Remember that you should never feel guilty about using meds as they are intended to be used. Dependence ≠ addiction.
Guilt about that kept me from getting medicated for my own issues, but when I finally found what worked for me, I genuinely wept. "Is this what 'normal' people feel like? Able to function? Quiet thoughts? Not overwhelmed by pure, constant anxiety?"
Does it kinda suck to think that I may have to take it indefinitely? Yeah. Sure. But it's much better than being stuck in my own head and paralyzed by my own stupid brain.
Love yourself and do what's best for you, meds or not.
My diabetic friend is totally addicted to his insulin injections. We're thinking of staging an intervention.
Make sure you flush his stash first, and stand strong when he says he needs it to live.
One thing at a time. I hope you can find some peace. Know that you're not alone in this wild ride.
Yeah, I was pretty much at the stage of end it, or try SSRIs. That was 10 years ago, and you can see what happened!
You do you. I just kicked an 8yr addiction and feel better than ever, because I worked on myself and got my brain to make the happy chems. Being addicted is the worst nightmare I’ve ever been through. It starts with “omg this actually works, I can live again!” And ends with EVERYTHING on pause. I was not a human anymore, just a robot/slave to the drug and society. A perfect little worker. Happy to be free and be a real biological creature again. If I feel bad now, there’s a reason and I go change it, it was a whole lot of work to internalize that realisation.
But hey, everyone’s different, and using drugs might help you! It just didn’t for me. More power to you.
Man I wanted to say this after your first comment, but I'm confident to say it now: FUCK YOU
More power to you. Just a warning :)
Most studies show that SSRIs do work best in conjunction with therapy, like CBT, so you're not entirely wrong. But the comment "you do you" seems to dismiss that some people have very real biological differences that might make them a long term solution, even with effective lifestyle changes. So I'll edit based on my experience and understanding.
Yeah, thanks. I was too lazy and didn’t want to spend too much time. So thanks!
I was on Effexor max dose. And yea I feel the robot thing. But they eventually found out what was wrong with me and I've been depression free for a year which has been different...
Yeah I guess for me it was just a BAD idea to go on drugs. Might be different for other people. Just sharing my experience.
We all crave normalcy or something like that, I tried multiple pills in order to feel normal. Zoloft > Wellbutrin > Effexor. I stopped Effexor cold turkey which is apparently very dangerous but had zero effect on me. But I stopped because I had zero feelings, I just existed, it honestly scared me (in my mind because I didn't feel shit).
5 years later they realized I was XXY, and my body doesn't produce testosterone. Turns out hormones are important. Once I started Testosterone, the constant downward pressure I had endured for decades disappeared overnight. Now I have phantom depression, depression is my normal so I have a hard time dealing with the fact that I'm not depressed. But my body will try to make it feel like I'm depressed. It is weird and I don't have the words to describe it, I thought being depression free would mean happy but instead it's this weirdness...
That's not how neurology or mental illness work, but you do you I guess..
Just my personal experience. Everyone’s different. But for me, drugs were a bad idea, and I’m kinda mad that it was so easy to get on them.
Bad withdrawal from stepping the dose down slightly sounds unlikely.
But it's true though.
I tapered escitalopram down following my dr's instructions, in part 3 of my "no more meds" push a couple of years ago. Worst taper of the three, and one of the other two was lorazepam.
Had to stretch the taper schedule out to six months and take tiny steps down and still dealt with terrible brain zaps and intermittent panic attacks throughout the six months and for a month or so after.
I'm "better now" and much more present in my day to day life but without the meds there's no safety net so I work out often, practice mindful meditation and breathing exercises, and have a "moderate" drinking problem.
🤷♂️
Is cannabis legal where you live? It might be a good substitute for the "moderate" alcohol.
It's legal, I just don't react to it well. I've tried for several years. Different strains, different potencies. So, I moderate. It's not a perfect solution, but what is?
Depending on the drug, you can do it in a week, or a few years.
Yes, paxil took me 6 months in flue like symptoms with daily vomiting. Doctors and manuals say 2 weeks, users experience is very different.