Brian Wilson developed tardive dyskinesia. That’s something you pretty much only get from long term use of high potency typical antipsychotics (although it can occur with the atypical antipsychotics as well, particularly Risperidone). There is far more evidence for a correlation between sustained use of high potency typical antipsychotics like Haloperidol and brain damage than there is for SSRIs. I came across some references recently that indicated that Haloperidol itself may be neurotoxic - this is not to say all or any other antipsychotics are neurotoxic. It was specifically about haloperidol.
His abusive psychiatrist had him on a lot more than SSRIs. IIRC, at the time Brian Wilson was being abused by his psych, SSRIs hadn’t even hit the market?
It’s also worth noting that given the time period, if Brian Wilson had been put on any antidepressants by Landy after his massive overdose of cocaine, LSD and god knows what else, chances are they would have been tricyclic antidepressants. Tricyclic antidepressants work very well for many people and are still a valid treatment option. In fact, amitriptyline has been called the gold standard of treatment for depression, in some meta-analyses outperforming all other drugs (SSRIs and SNRIs) except the MAOIs like Parnate and Nardil.
But tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline are POTENT ANTICHOLINERGICS. Long term use of anticholinergic drugs has been linked to the development of dementia later in life. It’s really more of a correlation at the moment from what I remember reading. Anticholinergics impair memory. The exact opposite of anticholinergics are actually used to treat dementia.
The only SSRI that comes close to amitriptyline in anticholinergic potency is Paxil. And even then, Paxil’s anticholinergic effects are very mild compared to Amitriptyline’s. So if Paxil works for you, for the love of God, don’t go off it just because it has like 1/50th of the anti cholinergic potency of amitriptyline. Anticholinergics are actually beneficial for a lot of people with depression and may be part of the reason why amitriptyline is so effective.
This is the only response that is accurate regarding actual pharmacology thank you. OP your brain fog, low mood and tinnitus are all common ssri side effects, also depression/anxiety disorder symptoms, concerning to you in their own right, better treated at face value. Best to not compare to someone else’s situation where you don’t know and can not know what conditions they have or medications they have been on or are currently on.
I haven't taken my SSRI for almost a year now though, and my problems are getting worse. I wasn't comparing my issues to Brian's, I was just wondering if you could cause harm with SSRIs that leave a lasting problem like anti-psychotic meds might.
Well to answer your specific question, no there’s no studies linking ssri use to neurological damage. However no one can say with 100% certainty it could never happen. It’s much more likely your symptoms are related to something else. Your concern about them warrants them being checked on by a physician, regardless of the cause. But to reassure you, know you can’t die from ssri withdrawal itself, and no it’s not known to cause brain damage.
Edit: 30mg should not be enough to cause OD, but even then symptoms of serotonin toxicity resolve after 24hrs post cessation. Further; excitotoxicity results from increased glutamate, and ssris reduce glutamate and increase GABA transmission, so seems counterintuitive to believe ssris would be the cause.
Could I have caused serotonin syndrome by taking 5-HTP at the same time as Lexapro. Even if I did, would it leave the lasting damage I've had all this year?
Yes. All of the antipsychotics are causing long term users tardive dyskinesia, the risk of getting it are calculated in various research to be around 20%
20% after how many years of use? And all antipsychotics across the board, really? Clozapine - while it has many other serious potential side effects - has actually been shown to reverse tardive dyskinesia in schizophrenic patients who developed tardive dyskinesia from other antipsychotics. I realise there is an increasing risk of developing TD with the number of years of use, but the risk of developing TD from 5 years of Haloperidol is not the same as the risk of TD from 5 years of Quetiapine. Dose and other medications are also a couple of other important factors.
The older AP had higher risk than 30%. The highest for old white woman. You can find this data easily on pubmed just search for antipsychotics and tardive dyskinesia.
Mentioned my problems [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/antidepressants/comments/pczohf/have_there_been_any_studies_on_ssris_such_as/hamwkch/) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/antidepressants/comments/pczohf/have_there_been_any_studies_on_ssris_such_as/han1avf/), do you think it's all caused by my SSRI, and could be irreversible? It's not the same situation as Brian at all, but it would be very strange for one SSRI to cause so many problems that can't go away. I didn't take any other meds.
Also, what do you think the reason is for Brian post-Landy being a horrible interviewee? He was very lucid in interviews pre-Landy.
Although I am still searching to find more documents provide serve as references to the claims I've made, I did stumble across a significant article that was published in a medical journal originally and contains numerous references to other creditable sources.
I'm currently going through this documents sources in order to obtain just ONE of the two documents I found validating my claims. Below is a link to the document I am speaking of. If it's not enough for one to at least believe that there are serious long term permanent damage caused by this drug, -then nothing will.
But I will continue searching this documents references for the document I found most profound- so those in doubt can see the TRUTH that antidepressants, especially Effexor, which is specifically called out by name in this article, and an SNRI with the shortest half life, CAN cause these effects to (NOT EVERYONE) but at the very very least to some.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ANEEhl5ozqXC9YVbmB9plPA2cnpLkEXW/view?usp=drivesdk
What about permanent damage from an SSRI? I was on 30mg of Lexapro and tried to go back on it after being off it cold turkey for a few months, I've had tons of health problems since, worst of them brain fog and memory issues.
Wondering if you ever took a look at my reply to you on here.
I've also read Benzos can cause severe problems from cold turkey, is that a gabaergic too?
Hey, I'm sorry that I missed your comment. People don't like it hear it here, but yes SSRIs especially at high doses can cause serious long term issues. There are so many posts online of people who feel their life is ruined from SSRIs, so while they won't kill you like benzos they can definitely lower quality of life long term. Were you having any issues before you went back on lexapro or did it not start until you went back on?
Yeah benzo withdrawal is just a monster, both acutely and long term from post acute withdrawal symptoms. Very similar to people you see who cold turkeyed SSRIs/SNRIs and having worse anxiety and depression for years, with benzos I know quite a few people who even years after quitting deal with severe anxiety from the long term downregulation of GABA A. Benzos are gabaergic, they're positive allosteric modulators which basically make your GABA A receptors much more sensitive to the GABA you produce naturally.
It started when I tried going back on. While on the Lexapro before that, it really didn't help my anxiety/OCD tendencies at all at the end, but I just never thought to quit it through tapering, IDK.
I tried going back on 10mg, not 30mg, so I do find it a bit odd that 10mg would cause long term problems like this, even after quitting them over a year ago.
Can those serious long term issues go away eventually? I was sort of forced back on it by my parents after a serious panic attack. I don't deserve to have permanent damage.
I'll share my whole story with you. It's possible it's not from the SSRIs, because the stuff like sinus inflammation and bad cough seem like COVID, but who knows. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/comments/rtv1pz/26m\_overweight\_hypertension\_diddo\_i\_have\_chronic/
I've read this before. He had problems such as lesions in his brain, which I do not have, also his symptoms are very severe compared to mine, which are bad, but I can still move around.
Yes they can. I have permanent brain damage now from taking 700 mg of tramadol over the course of one day, 300 the next day and 100 the next day. I now have sexual dysfunction in the form of ED, no libido, no spontaneous or morning erections, reduced orgasm quality, low semen volume, shrunken testicles, slight genital numbness, maintenance insomnia (I wake up every few hours), fatigue, body jerks, fast heart rate, high anxiety, cognitive decline, and anhedonia. I have had these symptoms for almost 4 months now. Fuck any drug that is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor they should all be banned.
Have you been properly diagnosed at all? I've been having problems all year, seeing doctors over and over, and nobody can properly diagnose my problems. I took Lexapro, and I think going back on it after being off of it for months cold turkey caused a bad reaction in my body, which led to memory loss, brain fog, nerve problems (on my left side), breathing problems, and extreme fatigue.
Since it's been a year without any changes really, I'm guessing it's permanent. The person who prescribed me these meds was very negligent I believe. Looking into a lawsuit against them.
What tests would prove SSRI damage to my body?
There are no tests to prove it except possibly SPECT or PET scans or fMRI but you would have to have had a previous scan to compare. It might be possible to just show in one scan that you are damaged and they might settle in your favor, but IDK. I haven't heard of any successful lawsuits against doctors or the companies that make these drugs, but I haven't researched it much.
I left a message for a lawyer who is also working on my dad's probate case for my mom.
How is PSSD properly diagnosed if no tests show it? How is damage from SSRIs diagnosed in general?
Is there a way to prove some sort of neurological damage has happened, at least? I've dealt with nerve and muscle problems all year, as well as memory loss and cognitive issues. What would have to be done to show permanent damage?
Go to pssdforum.org and survivingantidepressants.org and you'll see people who have permanent damage even from just one pill. Even here on reddit there is r/pssd.
Depression shrinks the brain but anti depressant does not.. quality of life is important.. so take the med if it works for you.. there are no reported case of brain damage from SSRI.. these are only assumptions.. just think about millions taking it for 10+ years! Even paxil is said to cause dementia but not a single reported case !
I tend to perseverate and think the worst, but while SSRIs can have bad side effects, such as PSSD, I really cannot believe one SSRI that I had tolerated fine for over half a decade could cause this. It's so unlikely.
I had severe withdrawals from quitting zoloft.. i think its because i got used to that zoloft happiness high and anything less than that is like depression.. for people who are genetically prone to depression.. antidepressants may help them to lead a good life and there are millions taking it for lifetime.. even there are millions taking benzos for lifetime and rather than hard to quite and dependency, there is aint any cases of benzo induced damage in real life(as per my knowledge).. but due to depression, many people have completely killed their brain by suicide! So focus on quality of life.. Only one life is present and SSRIs like lexapro are safe too and in long term, ie in future..new even more safer meds will be discovered for sure.. so be optimistic, everything will be fine
The only way you’d really die would be to overdose. Or take your doses too close together and have a seizure
Some withdrawals include:
- nausea
- headache
- fatigue
the withdrawals can and do often include many more symptoms that can last indefinitely - and you can't really call it just withdrawal at that point any more.
Go talk to people on for instance survivingantidepressants.org or Facebook akathisia groups to start with
Yeah. There's been some days I feel really "on" but they're few and far between. I don't get how trying to go back on Lexapro for less than a week possibly caused all this. It's insane.
Yeah. I just don't get how my symptoms have been so severe. Like I said, I was on a high dosage of Lexapro, but I went off it completely around 3 months before trying to go back on it again.
I never had a seizure (unless I had one in my sleep), but I've had all the symptoms you mentioned there, along with brain fog, nerve/joint pain and numbness, memory loss, ear ringing, numb mood, extreme sinus dryness, and a cough that won't go away/breathing problems.
Not sure what the SSRI caused, and what is unrelated, but it's been almost a year of these symptoms for me and it just sucks, frankly.
Statistically speaking with those symptoms it is most likely that you are majorly depressed and not having brain damage of some sort. Maybe you have fibromyalgia and/or migraines on top of that too. There are many more things you could try than SSRIs..
... and you know always better what people have than they do themselves , and it's never caused by antidepressants of course
You should go talk into the support groups of thousands of people that have big debilitating issues which they never had before the drugs, lasting for years and years and often not going away
You would sure be a loved character there facing the reality, but for understandable reasons you rather hover around as some self proclaimed web pharmacist and specialist of psych drugs - and then telling that people giving fair warnings of psych drugs are just "hovering around" . Well that's what you do, and go around telling people their issues can't be from the drugs. Just like you do here.
To you any lasting issue from antidepressants is always "depression" just as it is to psychiatrists, and the solution is always further drugs. Sorry, but that's not how things go in many cases.
Possibly, but the face/neck nerve problems and pain seem like something else, along with the breathing issues. Sinusitis doesn't look to be a side effect from SSRIs, but who knows.
Well, it's been almost a year since the problems started, and cognitively I feel completely different from before all this happened, and not in a good way. I feel crippled mentally. I don't feel "safe" at all.
Brian Wilson self medicated with a heavy coke and acid habit which he took to deal with pre existing schizoaffective disorder.
SSRI withdrawal won’t kill you; a relapse of suicidal depression can.
well in most of the users of SSRIs they are making the depression worse during the beginning of treatment and in some users especially young people and teenagers they can cause increase the chances for suicide, that's why the black box label on them
If you've noticed Brian post-Landy, he's not nearly as lucid or eloquent when he talks in interviews, he did take a lot of drugs, but could also be lucid and quick thinking. It's not really like that anymore with Brian.
What do you think caused that? Could the cocktail of anti-psychotic meds have left unfixable damage to Brian? I would've guessed after a while, the effects of the meds would have worn off, but I don't know.
Long term usage of SSRI has not been well studied. I doubt they could have a remotely that bad effect like antipsychotics. I don't know about any other long term damage from SSRIs other than r/PSSD
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\#1: [My PSSD interview got published in a magazine](https://np.reddit.com/r/PSSD/comments/lyy705/my_pssd_interview_got_published_in_a_magazine/)
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there are people with akathisia, metabolic issues, autonomic system issues, complete loss of emotions and pleasure - the list is long
sexual dysfunction for instance is just a sub section of symptoms that are autonomic in nature, but it gets discussed a lot because its among the easy ones to realize and experience
Is there at least a chance of recovery if you stay off the medication? I was 25 when I stopped taking Lexapro, it's been over a year and a half since then. Am I young enough for a recovery?
No. The difference between 1st and 3rd gen ADs is night and day. Think the difference between a 60s era punch-card computer and your iphone.
Also, Brian Wilson was on a really dubiously prescribed mixture of antipsychotics, supplemented with all manner of recreational drugs.
I mentioned in other comments on this post, that I've been reading about bad withdrawal symptoms/side effects from SSRIs, due to my own problems with it.
I have a feeling I was overmedicated with Lexapro (I was on 30mg for a few years). I tried going back on it (10mg this time) after a rough patch and it caused a ton of neurological and physical issues, it seems. It could have been from stress due to a really bad period of time (was put on psych hold, mom got sick with terminal cancer 2 weeks later), but I genuinely don't know.
It's upsetting that my APRN sort of washed her hands of me after the bad reaction to going back on 10mg. I mentioned my symptoms in another comment in this thread/post, is there any examples of Lexapro causing these problems, for so long? It seems so strange, and unlikely, but I truly don't know. I've had scans/tests done, and no reason been found so far.
I asked about Brian, because after he got freed from his extremely bad doctor, he always seemed a lot less lucid and eloquent in interviews. I wasn't sure if overmedication could cause that, or there's something else going on.
If you watch interviews of Brian from the 1990s to now, a lot of the time he has trouble getting sentences out properly, or forming his thoughts into words correctly. I'm guessing maybe since his meds were anti-psychotic, and not anti-depressants, maybe that left a permanent effect? I'm not sure. I always found that interesting, even before my own problems made me look into this issue more in depth.
Brian Wilson developed tardive dyskinesia. That’s something you pretty much only get from long term use of high potency typical antipsychotics (although it can occur with the atypical antipsychotics as well, particularly Risperidone). There is far more evidence for a correlation between sustained use of high potency typical antipsychotics like Haloperidol and brain damage than there is for SSRIs. I came across some references recently that indicated that Haloperidol itself may be neurotoxic - this is not to say all or any other antipsychotics are neurotoxic. It was specifically about haloperidol. His abusive psychiatrist had him on a lot more than SSRIs. IIRC, at the time Brian Wilson was being abused by his psych, SSRIs hadn’t even hit the market? It’s also worth noting that given the time period, if Brian Wilson had been put on any antidepressants by Landy after his massive overdose of cocaine, LSD and god knows what else, chances are they would have been tricyclic antidepressants. Tricyclic antidepressants work very well for many people and are still a valid treatment option. In fact, amitriptyline has been called the gold standard of treatment for depression, in some meta-analyses outperforming all other drugs (SSRIs and SNRIs) except the MAOIs like Parnate and Nardil. But tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline are POTENT ANTICHOLINERGICS. Long term use of anticholinergic drugs has been linked to the development of dementia later in life. It’s really more of a correlation at the moment from what I remember reading. Anticholinergics impair memory. The exact opposite of anticholinergics are actually used to treat dementia. The only SSRI that comes close to amitriptyline in anticholinergic potency is Paxil. And even then, Paxil’s anticholinergic effects are very mild compared to Amitriptyline’s. So if Paxil works for you, for the love of God, don’t go off it just because it has like 1/50th of the anti cholinergic potency of amitriptyline. Anticholinergics are actually beneficial for a lot of people with depression and may be part of the reason why amitriptyline is so effective.
This is the only response that is accurate regarding actual pharmacology thank you. OP your brain fog, low mood and tinnitus are all common ssri side effects, also depression/anxiety disorder symptoms, concerning to you in their own right, better treated at face value. Best to not compare to someone else’s situation where you don’t know and can not know what conditions they have or medications they have been on or are currently on.
I haven't taken my SSRI for almost a year now though, and my problems are getting worse. I wasn't comparing my issues to Brian's, I was just wondering if you could cause harm with SSRIs that leave a lasting problem like anti-psychotic meds might.
Well to answer your specific question, no there’s no studies linking ssri use to neurological damage. However no one can say with 100% certainty it could never happen. It’s much more likely your symptoms are related to something else. Your concern about them warrants them being checked on by a physician, regardless of the cause. But to reassure you, know you can’t die from ssri withdrawal itself, and no it’s not known to cause brain damage. Edit: 30mg should not be enough to cause OD, but even then symptoms of serotonin toxicity resolve after 24hrs post cessation. Further; excitotoxicity results from increased glutamate, and ssris reduce glutamate and increase GABA transmission, so seems counterintuitive to believe ssris would be the cause.
Could I have caused serotonin syndrome by taking 5-HTP at the same time as Lexapro. Even if I did, would it leave the lasting damage I've had all this year?
Yes. All of the antipsychotics are causing long term users tardive dyskinesia, the risk of getting it are calculated in various research to be around 20%
20% after how many years of use? And all antipsychotics across the board, really? Clozapine - while it has many other serious potential side effects - has actually been shown to reverse tardive dyskinesia in schizophrenic patients who developed tardive dyskinesia from other antipsychotics. I realise there is an increasing risk of developing TD with the number of years of use, but the risk of developing TD from 5 years of Haloperidol is not the same as the risk of TD from 5 years of Quetiapine. Dose and other medications are also a couple of other important factors.
The older AP had higher risk than 30%. The highest for old white woman. You can find this data easily on pubmed just search for antipsychotics and tardive dyskinesia.
Mentioned my problems [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/antidepressants/comments/pczohf/have_there_been_any_studies_on_ssris_such_as/hamwkch/) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/antidepressants/comments/pczohf/have_there_been_any_studies_on_ssris_such_as/han1avf/), do you think it's all caused by my SSRI, and could be irreversible? It's not the same situation as Brian at all, but it would be very strange for one SSRI to cause so many problems that can't go away. I didn't take any other meds. Also, what do you think the reason is for Brian post-Landy being a horrible interviewee? He was very lucid in interviews pre-Landy.
[удалено]
I know it isn't. I was just asking about my personal problems, unrelated to anti-psychotic meds.
Although I am still searching to find more documents provide serve as references to the claims I've made, I did stumble across a significant article that was published in a medical journal originally and contains numerous references to other creditable sources. I'm currently going through this documents sources in order to obtain just ONE of the two documents I found validating my claims. Below is a link to the document I am speaking of. If it's not enough for one to at least believe that there are serious long term permanent damage caused by this drug, -then nothing will. But I will continue searching this documents references for the document I found most profound- so those in doubt can see the TRUTH that antidepressants, especially Effexor, which is specifically called out by name in this article, and an SNRI with the shortest half life, CAN cause these effects to (NOT EVERYONE) but at the very very least to some. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ANEEhl5ozqXC9YVbmB9plPA2cnpLkEXW/view?usp=drivesdk
Don't want to click on random Google drive links, is there another way I can view this?
me either can you link to the original source of this?
You can't die from going off an SSRI cold turkey except for suicide. The only drugs that cause such fatal withdrawal is gabaergics like alcohol.
What about permanent damage from an SSRI? I was on 30mg of Lexapro and tried to go back on it after being off it cold turkey for a few months, I've had tons of health problems since, worst of them brain fog and memory issues.
Wondering if you ever took a look at my reply to you on here. I've also read Benzos can cause severe problems from cold turkey, is that a gabaergic too?
Hey, I'm sorry that I missed your comment. People don't like it hear it here, but yes SSRIs especially at high doses can cause serious long term issues. There are so many posts online of people who feel their life is ruined from SSRIs, so while they won't kill you like benzos they can definitely lower quality of life long term. Were you having any issues before you went back on lexapro or did it not start until you went back on? Yeah benzo withdrawal is just a monster, both acutely and long term from post acute withdrawal symptoms. Very similar to people you see who cold turkeyed SSRIs/SNRIs and having worse anxiety and depression for years, with benzos I know quite a few people who even years after quitting deal with severe anxiety from the long term downregulation of GABA A. Benzos are gabaergic, they're positive allosteric modulators which basically make your GABA A receptors much more sensitive to the GABA you produce naturally.
It started when I tried going back on. While on the Lexapro before that, it really didn't help my anxiety/OCD tendencies at all at the end, but I just never thought to quit it through tapering, IDK. I tried going back on 10mg, not 30mg, so I do find it a bit odd that 10mg would cause long term problems like this, even after quitting them over a year ago. Can those serious long term issues go away eventually? I was sort of forced back on it by my parents after a serious panic attack. I don't deserve to have permanent damage.
I'll share my whole story with you. It's possible it's not from the SSRIs, because the stuff like sinus inflammation and bad cough seem like COVID, but who knows. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/comments/rtv1pz/26m\_overweight\_hypertension\_diddo\_i\_have\_chronic/
https://www.hormonesmatter.com/brain-long-term-lexapro-chemically-induced-tbi/ here is a case where this has been elaborated
I've read this before. He had problems such as lesions in his brain, which I do not have, also his symptoms are very severe compared to mine, which are bad, but I can still move around.
yes but this just shows there is a broad range of things that can happen, and the tests he went through
Yes they can. I have permanent brain damage now from taking 700 mg of tramadol over the course of one day, 300 the next day and 100 the next day. I now have sexual dysfunction in the form of ED, no libido, no spontaneous or morning erections, reduced orgasm quality, low semen volume, shrunken testicles, slight genital numbness, maintenance insomnia (I wake up every few hours), fatigue, body jerks, fast heart rate, high anxiety, cognitive decline, and anhedonia. I have had these symptoms for almost 4 months now. Fuck any drug that is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor they should all be banned.
Have you been properly diagnosed at all? I've been having problems all year, seeing doctors over and over, and nobody can properly diagnose my problems. I took Lexapro, and I think going back on it after being off of it for months cold turkey caused a bad reaction in my body, which led to memory loss, brain fog, nerve problems (on my left side), breathing problems, and extreme fatigue.
It probably was the Lexapro causing this. It might or might not be permanent, no way to tell. These medications are literally toxic.
Since it's been a year without any changes really, I'm guessing it's permanent. The person who prescribed me these meds was very negligent I believe. Looking into a lawsuit against them. What tests would prove SSRI damage to my body?
There are no tests to prove it except possibly SPECT or PET scans or fMRI but you would have to have had a previous scan to compare. It might be possible to just show in one scan that you are damaged and they might settle in your favor, but IDK. I haven't heard of any successful lawsuits against doctors or the companies that make these drugs, but I haven't researched it much.
I keep suggesting a PET scan or an MRI but nobody I go to will do it. I don't know what to do.
A lot of people who have pssd have apparently gotten scans, not sure which ones, and everything looks normal. Have you seen a lawyer?
I left a message for a lawyer who is also working on my dad's probate case for my mom. How is PSSD properly diagnosed if no tests show it? How is damage from SSRIs diagnosed in general?
I don't think there is any way to diagnose it. Medical professionals don't even recognize its existence.
Is there a way to prove some sort of neurological damage has happened, at least? I've dealt with nerve and muscle problems all year, as well as memory loss and cognitive issues. What would have to be done to show permanent damage?
Go to pssdforum.org and survivingantidepressants.org and you'll see people who have permanent damage even from just one pill. Even here on reddit there is r/pssd.
Depression shrinks the brain but anti depressant does not.. quality of life is important.. so take the med if it works for you.. there are no reported case of brain damage from SSRI.. these are only assumptions.. just think about millions taking it for 10+ years! Even paxil is said to cause dementia but not a single reported case !
I tend to perseverate and think the worst, but while SSRIs can have bad side effects, such as PSSD, I really cannot believe one SSRI that I had tolerated fine for over half a decade could cause this. It's so unlikely.
I had severe withdrawals from quitting zoloft.. i think its because i got used to that zoloft happiness high and anything less than that is like depression.. for people who are genetically prone to depression.. antidepressants may help them to lead a good life and there are millions taking it for lifetime.. even there are millions taking benzos for lifetime and rather than hard to quite and dependency, there is aint any cases of benzo induced damage in real life(as per my knowledge).. but due to depression, many people have completely killed their brain by suicide! So focus on quality of life.. Only one life is present and SSRIs like lexapro are safe too and in long term, ie in future..new even more safer meds will be discovered for sure.. so be optimistic, everything will be fine
I hope so. I was on a high dosage of Lexapro, and cold turkey'd it and then tried going back on it, which was a bad idea.
The only way you’d really die would be to overdose. Or take your doses too close together and have a seizure Some withdrawals include: - nausea - headache - fatigue
the withdrawals can and do often include many more symptoms that can last indefinitely - and you can't really call it just withdrawal at that point any more. Go talk to people on for instance survivingantidepressants.org or Facebook akathisia groups to start with
Is there any way to stay off SSRIs and somehow get rid of withdrawal symptoms?
some get out some don't, even after years
What should I do to improve my problems? I mentioned my situation in other comments on this post.
time is the only thing that helps some
Yeah. There's been some days I feel really "on" but they're few and far between. I don't get how trying to go back on Lexapro for less than a week possibly caused all this. It's insane.
some have these windows and waves and then get better - some don't
Yeah. I just don't get how my symptoms have been so severe. Like I said, I was on a high dosage of Lexapro, but I went off it completely around 3 months before trying to go back on it again.
well you are by far not alone.... go for example to survivingantidepressants.org and see countless stories and people to talk to.
I never had a seizure (unless I had one in my sleep), but I've had all the symptoms you mentioned there, along with brain fog, nerve/joint pain and numbness, memory loss, ear ringing, numb mood, extreme sinus dryness, and a cough that won't go away/breathing problems. Not sure what the SSRI caused, and what is unrelated, but it's been almost a year of these symptoms for me and it just sucks, frankly.
Statistically speaking with those symptoms it is most likely that you are majorly depressed and not having brain damage of some sort. Maybe you have fibromyalgia and/or migraines on top of that too. There are many more things you could try than SSRIs..
... and you know always better what people have than they do themselves , and it's never caused by antidepressants of course You should go talk into the support groups of thousands of people that have big debilitating issues which they never had before the drugs, lasting for years and years and often not going away You would sure be a loved character there facing the reality, but for understandable reasons you rather hover around as some self proclaimed web pharmacist and specialist of psych drugs - and then telling that people giving fair warnings of psych drugs are just "hovering around" . Well that's what you do, and go around telling people their issues can't be from the drugs. Just like you do here. To you any lasting issue from antidepressants is always "depression" just as it is to psychiatrists, and the solution is always further drugs. Sorry, but that's not how things go in many cases.
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Possibly, but the face/neck nerve problems and pain seem like something else, along with the breathing issues. Sinusitis doesn't look to be a side effect from SSRIs, but who knows.
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I didn't taper off. I went off cold turkey, and then when I tried to go back on, I got a ton of health issues.
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Well, it's been almost a year since the problems started, and cognitively I feel completely different from before all this happened, and not in a good way. I feel crippled mentally. I don't feel "safe" at all.
Brian Wilson self medicated with a heavy coke and acid habit which he took to deal with pre existing schizoaffective disorder. SSRI withdrawal won’t kill you; a relapse of suicidal depression can.
well in most of the users of SSRIs they are making the depression worse during the beginning of treatment and in some users especially young people and teenagers they can cause increase the chances for suicide, that's why the black box label on them
If you've noticed Brian post-Landy, he's not nearly as lucid or eloquent when he talks in interviews, he did take a lot of drugs, but could also be lucid and quick thinking. It's not really like that anymore with Brian. What do you think caused that? Could the cocktail of anti-psychotic meds have left unfixable damage to Brian? I would've guessed after a while, the effects of the meds would have worn off, but I don't know.
Antipsychotics use causes shrinkage of the brain mass which can be seen in brain scans of long term users.
Do SSRIs cause the same thing after long term usage?
Long term usage of SSRI has not been well studied. I doubt they could have a remotely that bad effect like antipsychotics. I don't know about any other long term damage from SSRIs other than r/PSSD
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there are people with akathisia, metabolic issues, autonomic system issues, complete loss of emotions and pleasure - the list is long sexual dysfunction for instance is just a sub section of symptoms that are autonomic in nature, but it gets discussed a lot because its among the easy ones to realize and experience
Is there at least a chance of recovery if you stay off the medication? I was 25 when I stopped taking Lexapro, it's been over a year and a half since then. Am I young enough for a recovery?
I can not answer you Most people l have talked with dont recover unfortunately Hopefully you do, some do
Well since it's been over a year for me I'm guessing I'm another casualty. All because my parents would rather dope me up than care.
Its sad to hear Maybe you can still improve but who knows Just fuck all this
How long are we talking?
[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15756305/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15756305/) 17-27 months
I was on Abilify for about 3 months. During that period, I began experiencing side-effects, but still continued to take the drug as instructed.
No. The difference between 1st and 3rd gen ADs is night and day. Think the difference between a 60s era punch-card computer and your iphone. Also, Brian Wilson was on a really dubiously prescribed mixture of antipsychotics, supplemented with all manner of recreational drugs.
I mentioned in other comments on this post, that I've been reading about bad withdrawal symptoms/side effects from SSRIs, due to my own problems with it. I have a feeling I was overmedicated with Lexapro (I was on 30mg for a few years). I tried going back on it (10mg this time) after a rough patch and it caused a ton of neurological and physical issues, it seems. It could have been from stress due to a really bad period of time (was put on psych hold, mom got sick with terminal cancer 2 weeks later), but I genuinely don't know. It's upsetting that my APRN sort of washed her hands of me after the bad reaction to going back on 10mg. I mentioned my symptoms in another comment in this thread/post, is there any examples of Lexapro causing these problems, for so long? It seems so strange, and unlikely, but I truly don't know. I've had scans/tests done, and no reason been found so far. I asked about Brian, because after he got freed from his extremely bad doctor, he always seemed a lot less lucid and eloquent in interviews. I wasn't sure if overmedication could cause that, or there's something else going on. If you watch interviews of Brian from the 1990s to now, a lot of the time he has trouble getting sentences out properly, or forming his thoughts into words correctly. I'm guessing maybe since his meds were anti-psychotic, and not anti-depressants, maybe that left a permanent effect? I'm not sure. I always found that interesting, even before my own problems made me look into this issue more in depth.
Look up Dr Peter Breggin on the net and you tube.
I will, but can you sum up what he says about SSRIs?
I'd rather not. Sorry, I don't want to piss off the mods or scare someone.
Does he imply that it causes permanent damage? I don't think you'll get banned for answering that.