> tried to see if I had gotten past the point of needing it by tapering off
A small point, but the "discontinuation effects" for these meds can be severe, and they can make people think they still need to take the meds. This keeps people taking meds for very long amounts of time.
Some people are okay with the side effects, and they've made an informed choice about the risks of taking these meds long term.
The Guardian newspaper has been running a couple of stories about long term use. I think they're a little bit alarmist, but the personal experiences are useful.
> All stimulants are addictive and you will have physical side effects from discontinuing use.
I love those side effects though. It is so nice to stop taking them and feel cozy and rest for a few days. The best description I have for it is that it feels like when you get home from a hard days work and are tired and go sit down in your sofa and just relax. Just that the feeling lasts for days! Awesome, right?
I hate being on the meds and I never take them when I don't work, but I have to take them to do any kind of work requiring focus like for example filling out a form.
I was tired (literally) of the side effects, and I simply felt that I didn't need it anymore. I'm a different person than I was when I started, and I know how to manage my anxiety and depression a lot better now.
> I assume the effects of the drug don't last after discontinuing use so your anxieties will theoretically return?
Yeah, in theory, my anxiety could get much worse sometime in the next few months. I've dealt with that before when I discontinued a different SSRI. If it happens though, I'll be much more prepared this time.
To clarify, it’s important antidepressants are not stopped suddenly, but rather gradually reduced over a few weeks. Stopping suddenly can lead to withdrawal symptoms [0]
>The anti-psychotics made me feel nothing. I don't know how I can explain this to someone who hasn't been there, but it's like your emotions just cease to exist. In theory, they worked, but a complete lack of emotions and creativity simply wasn't worth it
The thing that's always scared me away from meds is the worry that I'll have a similar experience, but knowing that withdrawal (particularly for SSRIs) can last for months and lead to symptoms that look like depression itself.
I think this varies highly from person to person. As someone who takes one to two days off a week, when possible, I must say I get some pretty brutal withdrawal side-effects.
None of the side-effects are really dangerous or life-threatening by any means, but they are still somewhat disabling. I've been taking my medication for about 8 years now, and I am starting to feel like the medication:
1. Has drastically diminished it positive returns
2. Is starting to take more away from me than it's giving back
Not sure, what other option I'll move to, but I do not have many of them left since I have tried almost all the various stimulant formulations multiple times minus Desoxyn.
>My father's psychiatrist even did a reset protocol, where she cut all medication for a few days and started over with new meds
That can be quite brutal when it comes to some drugs like venlafaxine. The withdrawal symptoms from that are awful. Some psychiatrist don't seem to think that the meds they prescribe can have withdrawal symptoms when you stop.
> Since starting: I'm less angry. I'm less annoyed. I have the ability to listen to my spouse talk to me. I'm not jittery or jumpy any more.
THIS! Absolutely this.
Bit crazy that these are also the symptoms of someone on withdrawal from amphetamines and other stimulants†, huh?
But wait a sec... we had these before going anywhere near medication?
Could it possibly be we've been living a life of dopamine withdrawal?
† I was going to say "amphetamine addiction" but stopped myself... a significant number of these poor folk are self-medicating to escape the constant agony of their inner turmoil. They just couldn't get what they needed under the supervision of modern medicine, and micro-dose their intake so it delivers the beneficial effects and minimises the side-effect.
> I know if I go off my meds I go to a bad place pretty quickly.
Sincere question: how would you know if this bad place was withdrawal from meds or the reappearance of your pre-existing "bad place"? (Pre meaning before you began taking prescribed psychotropics.)
You say that with such authority, but in my personal experience they can absolutely cause dependency. I've had long-lasting withdrawal effects from certain SSRIs that were both physically and mentally painful.
> Some antidepressants can have terrible withdrawal symptoms too - I went through the worst couple of weeks of my life after tapering off dosulpine, and I know someone else who had it rough after tapering off a tricyclic.
Apples and oranges. Not all withdrawals are equally bad.
Savvy healthcare providers will switch you to Fluoxetine, which has an extremely long half-life, and then taper the Fluoxetine.
Phenibut's withdrawal symptoms are on another level entirely, especially when people take abuse-level dosages to feel temporary euphoria: https://www.reddit.com/r/quittingphenibut/
> For the month or so that it worked, it was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last more than maybe six weeks.
Sort of similar. I found every wrong road I took (supplements, diets, physical) helped - for 2 weeks and then never again. Stims turned out to be my right road.
> Part of the reason seems to be that people have such variable reactions.
I was prescribed Lexapro a few months ago, and while I don't have any plans to go off of it in the immediate future, I did have an encounter with unexpectedly discontinuing it a couple of months ago. I was planning on getting my prescription filled on a Friday, but forgot. I realized this at 12:30pm on Saturday, after the pharmacy had closed. I went without Lexapro for three days: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (it was a holiday). During that time I lost a significant portion of my hearing of all things; things sounded muffled, as if I had pressure built up in my ears and needed to pop them, but I could easily pop them and it didn't improve. I was also very irritable and had "brain fog", but that wasn't unexpected and was manageable.
Tuesday my pharmacist said that he'd never heard of anyone complaining about hearing issues discontinuing Lexapro and to let him know if it didn't clear up. About three hours after taking it again, I noticed I was able to hear better, and by the next morning I was back to normal.
> I think they only work if you got anxiety or something
Probably something to that. I didn't feel much at the prescribed dose. Being curious and foolish, I took 3x. Did feel that. Socially effusive. Good sleep. There was a physical aspect. A warm glow, muscles that felt relaxed rather than stiff. Like waking up in warm sun after a particularly good night's sleep.
People without anxiety, who aren't literally and metaphorically tense, probably get far less of that. But that's what it does for a really anxious person like me, especially with a bit too much. So of course I did it again the next day.
You quickly come to long for, or believe that you're just better off, in that state all the time. But there is tolerance. It stops working like that at the same dose after a few days in my experience. So, take more. I was in big trouble within a month. That's the psychological addiction in my experience, the strong desire or preference for being in that state, emotionally.
I couldn't stop. No physical consequences but intolerable withdrawal mostly of rebound anxiety and insomnia. I eventually got off them with a very long taper. ~5 months with the dose adjusted weekly. No significant physical withdrawal. At the right dose of a long-lasting benzodiazepine, I felt like before I had started taking them, more or less. I did have to learn to deal with the psychological need to be more disinhibited than normal. If I could do that, and not escalate doses, getting off would be possible. It was, and I haven't taken any since the last dose of the taper. I think about that state and sometimes I do long for aspects of it, but they're not really cravings anymore. Only get those for nicotine.
Exactly. I'm currently slowly going off antidepressants.
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