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Withdrawal from Antidepressants

madinamerica.com

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Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#41

Post by butterfinger »

harshreality wrote: post #32
vomitcuddle wrote: post #12

As someone who had to abruptly come off venlafaxine due to side effects, I can tell you that it was complete hell. I experienced vomiting, the weirdest, most horrible nightmares every night, sleep paralysis with hallucinations and a recurring feeling of "electic shocks" inside my head. This lasted about a month. I think it borders on inhumane not to mention possible withdrawal symptoms before prescribing this awful "…

I'm curious... you, and all other commenters who mentioned electric shocks... which I'd previously heard of as "brain zaps"... What difference would it make if the doctor had told you of that side effect before you started the drug? Imagine you have no idea of what brain zaps felt like. Would you have avoided the drug based on such a vague description? Can you describe the sensation? It's not painful, right? The sens…

To me, it felt like the moment after some limb went numb and you start to feel it again, just for the whole body. And I had some visual effects like everything being brighter for a moment. It's not painful per se but very disorienting and irritating and it happens several times per hour.

I probably would not have avoided the drugs based on the description, because it doesn't sound as bad as it feels, but I would never quit a SSRI without tapering off again.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#42

Post by KirinDave »

dannylandau wrote: post #38
KirinDave wrote: post #36

I had this terrible experience before I was publicly out about my gender that sent me into a very suicidal train of thought. I had a moment clarity to get myself to a doctor (my partner was pregnant at the time, or I probably won't be here writing this now). The doctor gave me citalopram (brand name is Celexa, I think?) I had to stop taking it. I'll list the side effects I had, but not before I point out: It saved my…

Did the side effects from Celexa correspond to those found on this health search engine Healthbee

I listed them and my doctor said they were actually in the most common side effects. I have not pursued information beyond that.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#43

Post by KermitCole »

tcj_phx wrote: post #24
thanatropism wrote: post #16

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. The problems pointed out in this article -- which are in some degree real even if heavily editorialized -- must be understood in light of a wider context which includes: 0) The very poor standards of validity and replicability in most fields of experimental psych-whatever. The Popperian method ain't what it used to be. 1) The Viennese Waltz of bad incentives throughout the psychiatry research pi…

> "Mad in America" is obviously not willing to make a fuss of things like bipolar where people will take their lithium for decades and bear the side-effects [...] The creation and promotion of "Bipolar" as a DSM disorder is covered in Anatomy of an Epidemic , Robert Whitaker's followup to Mad in America . > [...] because the alternative is to go actually mad-crazy. The whole point of Whitaker's Mad in America foundat…

Actually, speaking as an editor on "Mad in America,"I'd say that we would be interested in making a fuss about the long-term effects of lithium. We would welcome that and any other stories from the commenters posting here.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#44

Post by nylonstrung »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #17
aaron-lebo wrote: post #5

Not sure if this supports the article or is just a warning, but going off of anti-depressants can be fatal. If depression relapses anti-depressants that once worked can prove ineffective. (edit: wrongly said SSRIs and not anti-depressants) David Foster Wallace: Wallace died by suicide on September 12, 2008, at age 46. Wallace's father reported in an interview that his son had suffered from depression for more than 20…

Phenelzine is actually a MAOI, which is a different class of drug. My understanding is that Wallace had hard to treat depression and was on this more dangerous class of drug as SSRI's didn't work well on him. He also died with Clonazepam and Temazepam in his system. Wallace also received electric shock therapy, which suggests his depression was much more serious than most cases. I think his case is very much an edge…

He actually wrote about his experiences with MAOIs in an early short story in a college journal. This was in the early 80s, well before Prozac and SSRIs made it to market.

https://quomodocumque.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/wallace-am...

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#45

Post by radd9er »

DanBC wrote: post #30
ds18 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mind me asking what your dosage was and if you went cold turkey or tapered off at all?

I'm not the person you replied to, but I was on 350 mg (which is a reasonably high dose). I was on venlafaxine regular release, not the extended release. If I missed a dose I got full on discontinuation effects. When I tapered off it wasn't great, but it wasn't awful. Some people do report problems even with a very gentle long taper down.

My wife has been on venlafaxine for years, and has been tappering off it for the past year. She has had horrible withdrawl symptoms from missing a single dose, like you describe. Each time the doses town (tapering), she has a rough few weeks.

How long were you on it? Do you have any advice? Thanks.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#46

Post by radd9er »

butterfinger wrote: post #27
vomitcuddle wrote: post #12

As someone who had to abruptly come off venlafaxine due to side effects, I can tell you that it was complete hell. I experienced vomiting, the weirdest, most horrible nightmares every night, sleep paralysis with hallucinations and a recurring feeling of "electic shocks" inside my head. This lasted about a month. I think it borders on inhumane not to mention possible withdrawal symptoms before prescribing this awful "…

Venlafaxine seems to be one of the worst SNRIs/SSRIs wrt discontinuation syndrome. Except for the nausea, I had the same experiences when quitting cold turkey. The most problematic symptom for me were the "electric shocks" when moving my eyes or head to fast. For me, getting off venlafaxine was way harder than quitting tilidine, tramadol or the z-drugs.

To both parent commenters, my wife has been on venlafaxine for years, and has been tapering off it for the past year. She has had horrible withdrawl symptoms from missing a single dose, like you describe. Each time the doses town (tapering), she has a rough few weeks.

How long were you on it? Do you have any advice? Thanks.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#48

Post by Pete_D »

harshreality wrote: post #32
vomitcuddle wrote: post #12

As someone who had to abruptly come off venlafaxine due to side effects, I can tell you that it was complete hell. I experienced vomiting, the weirdest, most horrible nightmares every night, sleep paralysis with hallucinations and a recurring feeling of "electic shocks" inside my head. This lasted about a month. I think it borders on inhumane not to mention possible withdrawal symptoms before prescribing this awful "…

I'm curious... you, and all other commenters who mentioned electric shocks... which I'd previously heard of as "brain zaps"... What difference would it make if the doctor had told you of that side effect before you started the drug? Imagine you have no idea of what brain zaps felt like. Would you have avoided the drug based on such a vague description? Can you describe the sensation? It's not painful, right? The sens…

I'd heard of brain zaps before quitting Zoloft cold turkey[0], but the actual experience wasn't what I expected from the term "brain zaps". Kind of like a dizzy spell that lasts 0.1 seconds, with a sort of buzzing sensation, like someone had turned on a step-down transformer in my skull. I've never experienced anything else like it to compare it to.

[0] in hindsight, not tapering gradually is a really bad idea

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#49

Post by butterfinger »

radd9er wrote: post #46
butterfinger wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Venlafaxine seems to be one of the worst SNRIs/SSRIs wrt discontinuation syndrome. Except for the nausea, I had the same experiences when quitting cold turkey. The most problematic symptom for me were the "electric shocks" when moving my eyes or head to fast. For me, getting off venlafaxine was way harder than quitting tilidine, tramadol or the z-drugs.

To both parent commenters, my wife has been on venlafaxine for years, and has been tapering off it for the past year. She has had horrible withdrawl symptoms from missing a single dose, like you describe. Each time the doses town (tapering), she has a rough few weeks. How long were you on it? Do you have any advice? Thanks.

That sounds pretty harsh. Did your wife talk to her doctor about the withdrawal symptoms?

When I quit, I've taken it for about two years. I was able to prevent the brain zaps by making a concious effort to not move my head or eyes too fast. The other symptoms persisted for some weeks-months.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#50

Post by maxxxxx »

69mlgsniperdad wrote: post #21

I have been on paxil(paroxetine) three separate times. Each was between six months and one year in duration. The first time, I was on a 10mg daily dose. I had quite a few issues when starting the medication the first time; however after a few weeks, I felt great. When I initially discontinued, I had the worst side effects I have ever experienced. Electric shocks in my neck and back of head, depression, mood swings, a…

My girlfriend has this with Zoloft. The doctors are telling her how to withdraw and if it doesn't work they just don't believe it. It seems they are trained to believe their textbooks to the point of ignoring things right in front of them.
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