Going off SSRI's

ive been on some sort of those pills for the past 20+ years for anxiety/panic/ptsd. I finally got sick of feeling like a zombie and decided to get off them. Its taken 3 different attempts to ween myself off them. Im finally down to 37mg of effexor twice a day. Now that ive found my Pennywise bud i feel like i can finally get off that last little bit. Those pills really helped me at first then after a couple years they would just quit working. Then they would either up my dose or switch meds. Then those would quit and they would do the whole process again. It just got old. The side effects of getting off this crap is horrible! I compare it to what a heroin addict would go through. I would sweat, shake, twitch, get dizzy, headaches, upset stomach ect which would lead to more panic attacks.

selfmedicator462 said:

ive been on some sort of those pills for the past 20+ years for anxiety/panic/ptsd. I finally got sick of feeling like a zombie and decided to get off them. Its taken 3 different attempts to ween myself off them. Im finally down to 37mg of effexor twice a day. Now that ive found my Pennywise bud i feel like i can finally get off that last little bit. Those pills really helped me at first then after a couple years they would just quit working. Then they would either up my dose or switch meds. Then those would quit and they would do the whole process again. It just got old. The side effects of getting off this crap is horrible! I compare it to what a heroin addict would go through. I would sweat, shake, twitch, get dizzy, headaches, upset stomach ect which would lead to more panic attacks.

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Woah, same! It's actually BLOWING MY MIND that so many people I have talked to on here have had all these fucking side effects, but the Dr says nothing. Sure, you get a stupid-long list of all the "possible" side effects. But it's crazy shit, like 1/100000 change your eye ball will pop out or something.
Why can't they show percentages? LIke 96% of the people that take this drug have reported feeling terrible, most of the time.

Assholes.

my VA psychologist told me to quit effexor cold turkey!!! after 20 years of taking this type of shit...........COLD TURKEY!!! Idiots.

SSRI's are incredibly bad for you. It takes a long time to fully recover from their use. I have some experience. They do not help with depression, they do make your life worse in a number of noticeable ways unless you have certain very select conditions they are off label used for (anxiety specifically it can be helpful for some people but I don't think it's worth the side effects).

They are dangerous to go off of cold turkey. Talk to your doctor about reducing the dose and do not let him convince to try some other dangerous as hell pill that won't work. I mean that too, they are very dangerous. You run greater risk of some of the most severe side effects (psychosis as mentioned below especially) if you go cold turkey.

Studies indicate they have 0 efficacy for depression (and one of the side effects is psychosis in which you can kill yourself and/or others, so worth it eh? Not experienced by all, but experienced by enough... see like every mass shooting that's recently happened and notice a disturbing %, as in close to 100 percent, taking these drugs but anyway) UNLESS you have very very severe depression and only then do they have mild efficacy. MMJ the right strain definitely works for depression. Find yourself some nice sativas to sample.

C99 is amazing. CBD varieties show great promise too as well as offering higher functionality.

Modern medicine does some things well, psychiatry/psychology is not one of them.

were you extremely depressed like suicidal? Or did you have bouts of depression, you need to find the underlining course of which your depression came from.
Some people have issues in their brains that make them depressed no matter what they do to try

Most people get depressed here and there but with CBT, and use of positive energy and putting yourself in a better position can indeed get out of it
so if you wanan give some background I can help give you some herbal remedies as well as some positive things to do investing in time, so that you may work yourself OUT of your depression naturally, and continue on in life, as we all know life sometimes can bring us down and we all suffer through hardships but its how we manage ourselves and our thinking in order to us out of our troubled areas and seeking new light.

Ive said this before and I'll say it again marijuana is an amazing plant and does wonderful things, but there are other aspects and areas we also need to work to create a better body mind and soul and with that marijuana is only 1 PART of the equations and there are many other equations we need to do as well

sunni said:

were you extremely depressed like suicidal? Or did you have bouts of depression, you need to find the underlining course of which your depression came from.
Some people have issues in their brains that make them depressed no matter what they do to try

Most people get depressed here and there but with CBT, and use of positive energy and putting yourself in a better position can indeed get out of it
so if you wanan give some background I can help give you some herbal remedies as well as some positive things to do investing in time, so that you may work yourself OUT of your depression naturally, and continue on in life, as we all know life sometimes can bring us down and we all suffer through hardships but its how we manage ourselves and our thinking in order to us out of our troubled areas and seeking new light.

Ive said this before and I'll say it again marijuana is an amazing plant and does wonderful things, but there are other aspects and areas we also need to work to create a better body mind and soul and with that marijuana is only 1 PART of the equations and there are many other equations we need to do as well

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I am not sure if this was directed at myself, but I'd be interested in hearing herbal remedies for mood, anxiety, depression. Very interested!

Yessica... said:

I am not sure if this was directed at myself, but I'd be interested in hearing herbal remedies for mood, anxiety, depression. Very interested!

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yes it was directed to you or the specific questions rather
any herbal remedy is specific to each person given their medical history and medications.
one might not work for 5 as they are all different.
its like regular medicine really

SSRI's and SNRI's are neurotoxic garbage. There is absolutely no research that proves these things are effective. I wish I could get the years I was on them back. How they are allowed to market them as 'anti-depressants' is beyond me. Yes the prevent the re-uptake of serotonin(and some ne) but that doesn't automatically make you happy!

The other things that gets me is people are prescribed these things without even being tested for deficiencies. If your prescribed something wouldn't it be nice to first test that you do indeed even need the medication or a lack of available serotonin is causing your symptoms? No doctors ever test these things, and you should be getting tested the entire time your on the medication to make sure a dangerous level of serotonin isn't accumulating.

Diet and exercise are the two most powerful and under utilized anti-depessants.

Every study that has ever been done shows that diet and exercise are more effective then any anti-depressant medication, do doctors ever force their patients to exercise? No they throw chemicals in their face and say here, take this...

Your making the right call, IMO. It was hard for me to get off them, but I felt better then ever when I did.

Squidbilly said:

SSRI's and SNRI's are neurotoxic garbage. There is absolutely no research that proves these things are effective. I wish I could get the years I was on them back. How they are allowed to market them as 'anti-depressants' is beyond me. Yes the prevent the re-uptake of serotonin(and some ne) but that doesn't automatically make you happy!

The other things that gets me is people are prescribed these things without even being tested for deficiencies. If your prescribed something wouldn't it be nice to first test that you do indeed even need the medication or a lack of available serotonin is causing your symptoms? No doctors ever test these things, and you should be getting tested the entire time your on the medication to make sure a dangerous level of serotonin isn't accumulating.

Diet and exercise are the two most powerful and under utilized anti-depessants.

Every study that has ever been done shows that diet and exercise are more effective then any anti-depressant medication, do doctors ever force their patients to exercise? No they throw chemicals in their face and say here, take this...

Your making the right call, IMO. It was hard for me to get off them, but I felt better then ever when I did.

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I have been weening off for weeks! Yesterday was my last little tiny peice of Celexa (like 1/10th of a pill). I have not thrown up in 3 days!!!!

I feel so much better right now! MMJ, all the way!!!!

I know, for myself, when I eat right and exercise - I ALWAYS feel the best.

Unfortunately, during my most depressive bed-ridden times, I cannot force myself to excercise. But - I am starting anew this time!!!

Once I get my energy back, and my heart rate starts to go back to normal (and blood pressure) - I am FULL on back on the exercise and eating right train!!!!

I even asked @sunni for a little guidance! She knows all about all that stuff!!!

sunni said:

were you extremely depressed like suicidal? Or did you have bouts of depression, you need to find the underlining course of which your depression came from.
Some people have issues in their brains that make them depressed no matter what they do to try

Most people get depressed here and there but with CBT, and use of positive energy and putting yourself in a better position can indeed get out of it
so if you wanan give some background I can help give you some herbal remedies as well as some positive things to do investing in time, so that you may work yourself OUT of your depression naturally, and continue on in life, as we all know life sometimes can bring us down and we all suffer through hardships but its how we manage ourselves and our thinking in order to us out of our troubled areas and seeking new light.

Ive said this before and I'll say it again marijuana is an amazing plant and does wonderful things, but there are other aspects and areas we also need to work to create a better body mind and soul and with that marijuana is only 1 PART of the equations and there are many other equations we need to do as well

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I have been - more than suicidal. I never fully tried. But if I had things around like sleeping pills, or a gun - I would not be here.

I can't even count the number of times I have seriously thought about suicide. Too many to count.

It's mind-bottling really. Because when I'm not like that - I am SO HAPPY!

I also have my first appt with a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist at the end of July. Stoked to actually delve into my brain!!!

Yessica... said:

I have been weening off for weeks! Yesterday was my last little tiny peice of Celexa (like 1/10th of a pill). I have not thrown up in 3 days!!!!

I feel so much better right now! MMJ, all the way!!!!

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I think someone else already touched on this, but make sure you actually do the work to avoid feeling blue in the future. Make sure you take time to do stuff that makes you happy, and ALWAYS stay positive-how you think directly relates to how you feel. And the biggest help for me was exercise/getting more active- that's what really helped me break out of a really bad funk years ago EXERCISE! Hiking and riding my bike mostly Just remember your brain has been ass raped by an ssri so it might take some time to really really really feel better. Don't give up. Food really plays a huge role in our moods, but I have a hard time eating really welll, so opt for the exercise.

Yessica... said:

I know, for myself, when I eat right and exercise - I ALWAYS feel the best.

Unfortunately, during my most depressive bed-ridden times, I cannot force myself to excercise. But - I am starting anew this time!!!

Once I get my energy back, and my heart rate starts to go back to normal (and blood pressure) - I am FULL on back on the exercise and eating right train!!!!

I even asked @sunni for a little guidance! She knows all about all that stuff!!!

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There is the problem^ It's hard to get up and actually do it when your feeling so blue-been there!

wow ssris suck doctors should just prescribe oxycodone for everything

Squidbilly said:

I think someone else already touched on this, but make sure you actually do the work to avoid feeling blue in the future. Make sure you take time to do stuff that makes you happy, and ALWAYS stay positive-how you think directly relates to how you feel. And the biggest help for me was exercise/getting more active- that's what really helped me break out of a really bad funk years ago EXERCISE! Hiking and riding my bike mostly Just remember your brain has been ass raped by an ssri so it might take some time to really really really feel better. Don't give up. Food really plays a huge role in our moods, but I have a hard time eating really welll, so opt for the exercise.

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COULD NOT agree more!

I'm off them! 2 weeks no Celexa, and it has been just over that since I stopped being violently ill every morning.

I go for walks, and yesterday SWIMMING. I can't exercise yet. I lost about...fuck I don't even know 10 or 15 lbs during this whole thing. I'm little already, and I "got over" theanorexic looks YEARS ago.

I need to gain back some weight before I have the energy to work out the way I like to (jogging, zumba, gym, punch dancing, tree-climbing, swinging on swings)

But yeah, I'm stoked. New Head Dr. appt at the end of the month, and he is MMJ friendly. I am going to get better!

FUCKING FINALLY!!!!

Whew!

This thread is exactly why i chucked my pills straight in the bin all those years ago and told the doctor no thanks

I cold turkeyd off like 10 psych meds all at once and just started smoking the dank actively and other than a few fights with random passersby I did okay

IRON-EYES said:

I cold turkeyd off like 10 psych meds all at once and just started smoking the dank actively and other than a few fights with random passersby I did okay

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My Celexa is STILL making me sick - 2 weeks after I am done. It's NUTS! I think it'll take a month to get out of my system completely. Can't funkin wait!!!

Well I guess maybe that was a total lie because I was On just about every street drug in the world at the time went through about 10 years of homelessness in said sequence because this medical system in America tries to evaluate behavior of teenagers for treatment and drugging as opposed for nurturing and counseling scary I was 14 when I ran away thank God you're facing all of this when you have grown-up enough in your life that you can truly address it yourself as a free adult

I ended up in federal prison in Texas as in my opinion a direct result of all the psychological crap was done to me as child