Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
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Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#2Skipping a night of sleep is a better way to combat depression.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-sleep-depriva... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7362414
Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#3Skipping a night of sleep is a better way to combat depression. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-sleep-depriva... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7362414
I don't know if you read that but '... the mood boost usually lasts only until the patient falls asleep.' and 'As an ongoing treatment, sleep deprivation is impractical'
Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#4Skipping a night of sleep is a better way to combat depression. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-sleep-depriva... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7362414
Since there's a possibility people will try this, the linked article states that the benefits usually only last until the patient falls asleep. This isn't a practical treatment strategy right now, although it is interesting scientifically. If you have depression I'd urge you to take the advice of a medical professional rather than attempting to self-treat.
Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#5SSRI drugs (sold as 'anti-depressants') have always been known to cause suicide ideation... While they do seem to help some people, it is now known that this is because of the drugs' effects on the neurosteroids [1], NOT because of 'increased serotonin'. Anti-serotonin drugs (LSD, various MAOIs, etc) are much more effective anti-depressants.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroactive_steroid#Role_in_an...
There are some good articles in the Boston Globe's archives about Prozac, circa 2000. "Prozac, Revisited", etc [2]. Robert Whitaker [3] worked for the Boston Globe, before he wrote Mad in America and Anatomy of an Epidemic.
[2] http://www.narpa.org/prozac.revisited.htm (the boston globe's official archives site is not so easy to use, but I've previously verified that these stories exist)
[3] https://www.madinamerica.com/robert-whitaker-new/
The first patient in this BBC article could also have been diagnosed as 'exhausted':
> She had begun taking [SSRIs] while caring for her seriously ill mother and studying for her final exams at Cambridge University, but suffered severe side-effects after her GP prescribed a stronger dose of tablet. (emphasis added)
I think 'exhaustion' is a frequent cause behind the symptoms labeled "depression".
In May of this year, I watched Lexapro (an SSRI) destroy all the progress I'd made with my girlfriend... She'd asked for this drug a month after she'd escaped from her court-ordered tranquilization, because she thought it had helped her years ago. Really it just helped her relapse on cocaine then. This time it caused rapid heartbeat, and much anxiety. Her last benzodiazepine turned her into an anxious wreck... The psychiatrists got hold of her again, and they're making sure that she will never recover.
About a week ago I went through videos on my phone... and found one of my girlfriend about a week before she was taken to the hospital. The video proves, beyond any doubt, that she is not "persistently" disabled, that the symptoms that originally put her in the hospital were entirely due to quitting her addictions cold-turkey, and not due to 'defective genes' or other pseudo-scientific rationalization for forcing her to use palliative drugs.
Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#6Some thoughts from someone who's been prescribed anti depressants in adolescence but never took them because I believed the doctor misdiagnosed:
* Do these drugs genuinely help or is it just a strong placebo response?
* If the anecdotal evidence increases the odds from 1 in 100 to 1 in 4, would this be considered normal in medicine?
Of course the symptoms could be attributed to the wrong thing here but they sound pretty horrific. My initial reaction was that in the future we'll look back at these drugs as barbaric, similar to how we view lobotomies today.
Edit: formatting
Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#7Many meds have extreme side-effects in part of the population. Often we call those 'allergies', but those are just the tip of the iceberg. There's nothing new here, just a reminder that a specific medication may not work for you or may work but still make things worse by causing side-effects.
Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#8Skipping a night of sleep is a better way to combat depression. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-sleep-depriva... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7362414
Since there's a possibility people will try this, the linked article states that the benefits usually only last until the patient falls asleep. This isn't a practical treatment strategy right now, although it is interesting scientifically. If you have depression I'd urge you to take the advice of a medical professional rather than attempting to self-treat.
According to the original article taking the advice of a medical professional could be much more dangerous. Missing a night of sleep seems to horrify some people but it's quite safe. Just don't operate heavy machinery. But thanks for the safety lesson.
Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Since there's a possibility people will try this, the linked article states that the benefits usually only last until the patient falls asleep. This isn't a practical treatment strategy right now, although it is interesting scientifically. If you have depression I'd urge you to take the advice of a medical professional rather than attempting to self-treat.
According to the original article taking the advice of a medical professional could be much more dangerous. Missing a night of sleep seems to horrify some people but it's quite safe. Just don't operate heavy machinery. But thanks for the safety lesson.
So, uh, I'm ignoring the medication debate, but:
> Missing a night of sleep seems to horrify some people but it's quite safe. Just don't operate heavy machinery.
Most of us drive to work most of the time. Yes, most of us operate heavy machinery every day, often in busy areas.
People worry all the time about guns and planes and other potentially dangerous things; people don't worry nearly enough about transportation accidents. If you didn't sleep, call a cab (or a rideshare, or a friend) - don't risk the lives of everyone around you.
Re: Extreme side-effects of antidepressants
#10Some thoughts from someone who's been prescribed anti depressants in adolescence but never took them because I believed the doctor misdiagnosed: * Do these drugs genuinely help or is it just a strong placebo response? * If the anecdotal evidence increases the odds from 1 in 100 to 1 in 4, would this be considered normal in medicine? Of course the symptoms could be attributed to the wrong thing here but they sound pre…
I take only a very small dose of paroxetine and if I don't take it for a few days, my girlfriend notices (long before withdrawal symptoms occur). Without it I'm more impatient, stubborn and less capable of self-reflection. When I take it I'm just a more pleasant person and with that my entire life becomes more pleasant, because many interactions with other people are more constructive and productive.
It is my firm conviction that a lot of people would benefit from small adjustments to their brain chemistry. I'm lucky to have found something that works for me.