Anti-Depressant Withdrawal Syndromes

[Scales]

A lot of anti-depressants have very nasty withdrawal syndromes which I've found out firsthand and wanted to make it known to anyone who has yet to quit or is considering taking them (which at this point in my experience.. damn, good luck >.<). Mainly these links are about Paxil but there are others. I'm not sure if withdrawal syndrome its confined to SSRI's or not, or to what extent and differences.

ABC PRIMETIME LIVE - PAXIL ADDICTION STORY

http://www.quitpaxil.org/

I've been off paxil for six days so far without tapering since I'd like to get it over with as fast as possible (from taking 20 mg daily for months). I made this choice because I was at a point with paxil where it was only hindering me.

As far as my withdrawal, I've been going through the dizzying, almost constant brain shocks, when they were at their worst I ended up on the floor a couple times which was around day 4 when the half-life had completely worn. Emotionally for the most part it's like I'm scattered but I can have intense combinations of anger/sadness, and vivid dreams.

It's disturbing that these companies are excusing responsibility for profit but nothing new...

Hope this info helps someone.

[Oh_My_Goth]

Those drugs suck you soul.....

That's why it is so tough to get off of them without flipping out from a clear mind.....

[freydis]

They wanted to put me on Paxil for IBS...... i told em where to stick it. TWO days on Celexa was bad enough.

[aequorea]

agh!

why why why would you stop paxil cold turkey???

you said you wanted to get off it as fast as possible, but that's like jumping off the roof instead of taking the stairs! and YES, i do know, because once upon a time I took paxil, and forgot to fill my rx in time. i was unable to drive because the vertigo was too bad. a friend drove me to work, but that was no good, because i almost immediately collapsed in the break room... etc etc etc, just as you described.

sometimes patience is a good and healthy thing!

i agree with you on paxil in general though... my year on paxil included constant weight gain and disturbing lucid dreams as well as strange numbness in various body parts. and oh wait, the best part -

no orgasms for THREE MONTHS.

sexual dysfunction.

i was about ready to shoot someone.

[Michiko_Dreads]

Me persoanlly I cant take depression medication no matter how bad I get, how I cant eat, or how much I cant sleep or how bad I want to kill myself I just cant. There are too many side effects with medication I cant fuck with it Im sorry I rather be medication free and ready to kill myself and my whole family than quitting meds and becoming only half functional.

I dont even understand why people take the fucking meds and they know all this bullshit is going to happen their body.

[phee]

My depression meds work...

I think that if I were to decide quit cold turkey, not tell my doctor about it, and then complain about the side effects.... Just shoot me in the head, because at that point you would be speeding up natural selection for the human race, because if I were to do something that stupid, you would be doing humanity a favor in keeping me from breeding any further.

If and when I do stop taking the depression meds, it will be under supervision with a "plan" to ween off of them.

And one reaction that I do have to a statement above... I am well in touch with my "soul" in fact the time I felt the most out of touch was before I started getting help, I felt "souless" while I was in my depression. So certain drugs suck certain peoples souls out (I have seen that too) but the statement is a bit over generalized, much like if I were to say "All people who smoke marijuana are worthless and destroying society"...

[Destroit]

Aside from the withdrawal symptoms, I'm 100% against putting horrible poison in your body (i.e. anti-depressant drugs). They don't fix the problem they just treat it...people need to work through their OWN depression. It can happen, your mind can do anything, you just have to make it. So I don't feel bad for people who are on these drugs and get side effects, they're doing it to themselves for no good reason. It's another way for pharmeceutical companies to separate you from your wallet, and the govt just loves a piece of the pie too.

I will say that yes, there are some people who DO need some sort of meds because their heads are really that off...but MANY people who are prescribed these drugs are only being prescribed them because therapists just love lining their wallets. That to me is wrong.

[aequorea]

personally, i take meds because it gives me the breathing room to learn new and better coping skills. i take meds because after years of constant mental/emotional pain and longing to die, i am...

happy.

i am content and surrounded by my friends and family. i live on my own and have a good job and i just bought a house. for a long time i had a hard time believing that these things were possible. i still have bad days, but nothing like what i used to deal with.

i held out against medication for a long time. i fought against taking it. i understand that many people see meds in a negative light, because i used to feel the same way. however, i am now grateful for everything that has helped me progress from the lost, paranoid, jittering, desperate, pain-filled creature i was to the person i am today. this includes my loving, supportive family, the therapists i have worked with, the authors whose work i have read, the inspirational people i have met, and the medication that facilitated this process.

[freydis]

My depression meds work...

I think that if I were to decide quit cold turkey, not tell my doctor about it, and then complain about the side effects.... Just shoot me in the head, because at that point you would be speeding up natural selection for the human race, because if I were to do something that stupid, you would be doing humanity a favor in keeping me from breeding any further.

If and when I do stop taking the depression meds, it will be under supervision with a "plan" to ween off of them.

And one reaction that I do have to a statement above... I am well in touch with my "soul" in fact the time I felt the most out of touch was before I started getting help, I felt "souless" while I was in my depression. So certain drugs suck certain peoples souls out (I have seen that too) but the statement is a bit over generalized, much like if I were to say "All people who smoke marijuana are worthless and destroying society"...

You're also on a completely different class of depression drugs, phee. This particular type..... is a little different. Yours, coming off them the side effects would be more about symptoms coming back..... these make your body dependant in a very scary way, and the side effects are more about withdrawal.

[freydis]

Aside from the withdrawal symptoms, I'm 100% against putting horrible poison in your body (i.e. anti-depressant drugs). They don't fix the problem they just treat it...people need to work through their OWN depression. It can happen, your mind can do anything, you just have to make it. So I don't feel bad for people who are on these drugs and get side effects, they're doing it to themselves for no good reason. It's another way for pharmeceutical companies to separate you from your wallet, and the govt just loves a piece of the pie too.

I will say that yes, there are some people who DO need some sort of meds because their heads are really that off...but MANY people who are prescribed these drugs are only being prescribed them because therapists just love lining their wallets. That to me is wrong.

That, or they're in the same boat as I am--- there ARE no proper meds made just for treatment of some conditions, like IBS (which now they think i likely dont have. DUH. Ive been SAYING that....), so they see that anti-depression meds do something with the condition, so they simply prescribe THEM. Hell..... when i first went in about my sleeping problems, they prescribed an anti depressant for THAT! I insisted on a regular sleeping med after a few weeks of zombie HELL, and now i have Lunesta. I cannot take these type of meds anymore......the side effects are awful.

[Homicidalheathen]

http://www.rxlist.com/drugs/alpha_a.htm

Inform yourself before taking ANYTHING

sometimes the side effects and withdrawl are worse than the illness....

[Homicidalheathen]

That, or they're in the same boat as I am--- there ARE no proper meds made just for treatment of some conditions, like IBS (which now they think i likely dont have. DUH. Ive been SAYING that....), so they see that anti-depression meds do something with the condition, so they simply prescribe THEM. Hell..... when i first went in about my sleeping problems, they prescribed an anti depressant for THAT! I insisted on a regular sleeping med after a few weeks of zombie HELL, and now i have Lunesta. I cannot take these type of meds anymore......the side effects are awful.

watch those anti inflamatories and anti spasmodics and pain meds girly they wreck your teeth and bones

[Rayne]

You're also on a completely different class of depression drugs, phee. This particular type..... is a little different. Yours, coming off them the side effects would be more about symptoms coming back..... these make your body dependant in a very scary way, and the side effects are more about withdrawal.

He is, but I'm on Paxil. Well, I was, for over a year.

I haven't had issues with it (just minour blah when they changed the doses around). I have recently (a little over two weeks ago completely) been weaned off of it by my doctor ... no big side effects. I never just quit taking them though, everytime I switched the doses, it was done gradually with my doctor's monitoring.

[TygerLili]

I will say that yes, there are some people who DO need some sort of meds because their heads are really that off...but MANY people who are prescribed these drugs are only being prescribed them because therapists just love lining their wallets. That to me is wrong.

It's not just therapists. I lot of general MDs are prescribing anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications. That's kind of like an orthodontist precsribing a heart medication. I would never even consider taking a medication for mental health that wasn't prescribed directly by a licensed psychiatrist.

Anyway, I agree, Cher. Doctors are way too quick to prescribe anti-depressants when other alternatives have not been exhausted, and thus create a dangerous drug dependency in a number of their patients.

And yes, not weaning yourself off anti-depressants is incredibly dangerous, which is why I'd be incredibly skeptical about ever starting them in the first place. I'm not going into the list of side effects you can get from these drugs, but google it. It's horrifying.

[Hellion]

I plan on having ETC done in the near future,alot safer with alot better results

[TitsMcGee]

I've been on meds since I was 12. It took a while to find what would work for me...but after 6 hospitalizations for trying to kill myself we finally found something (effexor) that worked for me. I had been off it for about two months when my best friend killed himself and I decided to go back on them. Like with any medication there are risks involved, and if it wasn't for the meds I probably wouldn't be here right now.

Now I can tell you that after 5 years of being on the effexor and dealing with another suicide in my family (brother in law) it was time to find something new. Even with weaning down under doctors supervision I felt like a crack addict going through withdrawals. I think the withdrawal symptoms all have to do with how long you've been on that medication...the longer you've been on it the more in your system the harder the withdrawal...

Did that make any sense? I'm not all with it right now.

[Scales]

agh!

why why why would you stop paxil cold turkey???

Suicidal idealization mainly which is completely GONE now that I'm off it. I'm pretty much through the withdrawal now, the dizzy shocks are all I'm getting and they're mild now. I have went of cigarettes cold turkey, and had past experience with DXM which is a dissociative at least even if not nastier in the right amount to the dizzying shocks, just nowhere as long so I have experience with this sort of thing unfortunately.

When I went on the drug my doctor told me that it was non-habit forming, very hard to O.D. on (why he said this I have no idea), and basically a grace from the heavens; I think he's a very good doctor, but overall it seems like he got most of his information from a company making or marketing paroxetine which isn't surprising with the press I've seen on it.

You're also on a completely different class of depression drugs, phee. This particular type..... is a little different. Yours, coming off them the side effects would be more about symptoms coming back..... these make your body dependant in a very scary way, and the side effects are more about withdrawal.

Yeah I agree. I see where Phee is coming from, but I'm not stating things I've already been through as I can see how redundant that would be. Instead of "going back to square 1," SSRI withdrawal is like going through a chain of days where there's a damn triangle. I posted this with my symptoms cause I thought it would help people or be helpful information for curbing people away from taking these since when I was on them, all the research I did apparently wasn't enough.

Did that make any sense? I'm not all with it right now.

I heard that stuff is very hard to get off for a lot of people. I wish ya luck.

[TitsMcGee]

I heard that stuff is very hard to get off for a lot of people. I wish ya luck.

After about two weeks I was fine..I'm on welbutrin now which works really good for me...although its making me not want to smoke and I don't like that side effect much

[freydis]

watch those anti inflamatories and anti spasmodics and pain meds girly they wreck your teeth and bones

They dont have me on any NSAIDS, and I moved past the anti-spasmodics a long time ago.... they wont give me pain meds (they think itll bind me up..... like that would be a problem?) All they have me on now is Elavil. :(

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

While my personal stand is that many ppl that are psychiatrically medicated are really just suffering from chemical imbalances that come from what they eat, and not anything else....I do understand that there are just as many cases where the meds are needed.....you just won't find me on them.

I was on trileptol and respritol (sp?) for a while...and they made me mentally lethargic.....I can't have that...I'm about 95-98 percent pure maniac....and honestly, while it is sometimes a rollercoaster ride...I love it...keeps me thinking faster on my feet in a conversation then most ppl....and I can get more done...or at least thats what it feels like.

two BIG things that cause chemical imbalances within ppl...and please, feel free to check what you have in the fridge and cupboard...is Carmel Coloring and BHT in the food. My brother is HIGHLY allergic to Carmel Coloring...to the point where he would become violently suicidal if he had a can of pepsi. Also..BHT is a perservative that is mostly used in the PACKAGING of food to keep it fresh, but sometimes is put into the food itself. Tends to cause depression and anxiety.

there is alot more out there....and I have helped out specific cases here and there....though I am no where near a liscensed professional....I jsut have expieriance with certian cases...and I let everyone know that what might work for one person may not work for you...but at least try it...because ALOT of ppl are scared about taking 2-3 pills every few hours...specially when those pills are to have an effect on your brain.

[phee]

Yes.... diet has A LOT to do with mental health....

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

Yes.... diet has A LOT to do with mental health....

indeed...and tons of ppl don't even realize that something as simple as a coke can control your next several hours of mental well-being...it takes some research...some personal expierimentation...all that kind of stuff....and time...lots of time.

[Rayne]

Yes.... diet has A LOT to do with mental health....

A good doctor sends you to an allergist and endrocrinologist before a mental health referral, especially in childhood and early teens.

Both my girls they did. Turned out one had a sensitivity to a preservative in milk based baby formula and ice cream. The oldest girl they didn't find any allergies (beyond outdoor sneezy things like me) or sensitivities, so they sent her on to mental health.

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

A good doctor sends you to an allergist and endrocrinologist before a mental health referral, especially in childhood and early teens.

Both my girls they did. Turned out one had a sensitivity to a preservative in milk based baby formula and ice cream. The oldest girl they didn't find any allergies (beyond outdoor sneezy things like me) or sensitivities, so they sent her on to mental health.

wow..congrats....cuz my brothers and I were just diagnosed and given pills....no-one even bothered to do any of that....

[Rayne]

wow..congrats....cuz my brothers and I were just diagnosed and given pills....no-one even bothered to do any of that....

It was standard procedure under TriCare (ex was in the military) ... I had to travel all the way from Selfridge to St. John's Hospital for DAYS .... but it was worth it.

My oldest son was diagnosed high functioning Autism the year before last. M-Care sent him to a Pediatric behavorial specialist, who sent him for several genetic and environmental blood testing (as well as me and his father), MRI's and CT's all before it was mentioned.

I think you have your good doctors and your bad doctors ... your good medical groups and your bad ... same as insurances.