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Bad Effects of SSRIs - Personal Experience

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river_of_no_return

I got tardive dystonia from taking Zoloft....which can manifest itself in many ways. In my case, I got bruxism....grinding of the teeth during the day. I went to many doctors, a neuro-psychiatrist, chiropractor, had my deviated septum repaired, and to many dentists only to find the new disclaimer is on the manufacturer's new warnings.

I never had it before the age of 48.

So, if you are considering taking ssri's, know you may also get tardive dystonia which can manifest itself in different ways.

I have spent thousands of dollars of my insurance company's money only till I found out it was a new warning.

I recommend yoga and therapy, but watch out for the drugs. They only made things worse for me. I had no clue. The doctor talked me into taking them, saying "If you were a diabetic, you would take insulin, wouldn't you?"

That seems to be what the drug salesmen tell the doctors to say to patients.

I was talked into taking drugs.....I tried them all.

Nothing worked for me personally.

And from my research, they only work on 10% of the population and should only be taken for approximately a 3 month period along with therapy.

Yet, they are handed out like candy to anyone who goes to a doctor.

Just beware.
 
Irresponsible Doctors

I agree completely with what you are saying, anti psychotics should only be given to people who are clinically depressed ie those who have stopped functioning completely.Doctors in my experience are way to quick to put people on such powerful drugs on the basis of a ten minute chat with their patient.All they do is make you feel happy even though you can be continuing to behave self destructively . I would appeal to anyone thinking of taking anti ds for the first time to think long and hard before making such a critical life decision:think: Assess your own behaviour first, take a step back analyse your life and try to figure out what it is thats actually bothering you then make positive life decisions on the back of it. In my own case I was all to easily ready to try to please others and to fit in, dont do it , it is weak be the captain of your own destiny . Also to compare the complexities of someones brain chemistry, nervous system, emotions and thinking to that of having diabetes is an insult to anyones intelligence:stupid:. I n the words of one of my favourite bands " TAKE THE LONG ROAD AND WALK IT" . PEACE and BEST WISHES
 
I was on Depakote, Paxil and Risperidal. I went from 165 pounds to 235 pounds. No longer jogging 1 mile, but was, before I quit the poisons, walking maybe 100 meters in severe pain. And the doctors told me "nah, you just gotta eat less and work out more often." And they blamed my frequent painful urination on being diabetic.
Eat less and work out more often, eh? I dare them bastards to explain this-
1. after I quit those poisons, I went from 235 to 205 in 5 weeks. Before I did time in jail this last summer I was at 182. Right now I am fighting like crazy to stay under the 200 mark.
2. As soon as those poisons wore off, I went from walking 100 meters in pain to walking one mile painlessly. Within 2 months I was walking just shy of 4 miles round trip in 1 1/2 hours with no pain. Exhausted, out of breath, but I felt great.
3. A couple years later I went to a doctor, he viewed the reports the other doctors did, and he was bewildered- "why was you on these medications? Even the reports don't mention any of the symptoms you need to qualify for those?" A couple years later I met a sales rep for the company that does two of those (Ely Lily, IIRC) and in discussing this he was concerned as well. Why did they have me on those when that particular mixture had gotten the drug manufactures sued because it causes permanant liver damage. And he said the primary symptoms of the liver damage is frequent and painful urination along with extreme dehydration while the body will retain water, all causing sever pain in the joints.

Now doctors and my probation officer are telling me there is a strong chance I need medication. My probation officer has no medical experience. And he's telling me I need meds. I have scared all the doctors though. Each time they start talking medications, I tell them "sure, I'll take whatever drugs you want. But if it turns out you're wrong, I'm gonna beat the living pulp out of your ass. Any permanant damage, and (deleted)...."

Coincidentally, I did see a psychiatrist a couple years back, and we discussed this in depth. He sees no benefit the meds will have. His recommendation? CBT. And this is a guy that makes money off of prescribing meds. And he's the only one I havn't threatened.


My probation officer has told me it doesn't matter if the meds are good or bad for me, if he wants me to take them, I will. Because if I don't he will revoke my probation and I get four years in prison.


God I can't wait until I win my appeal....
 
I was on Depakote, Paxil and Risperidal.

I was on that combination back in 1998. I gained a 100lbs. One of the side effect of depakote is hair lose. I was on Paxil from Jan. 1997-Aug. 2000. Paxil was a nightmare to withdraw from. Even doing it slowly. For a week and a half, I had static in my ear, sensitivity to light and sound. After I got over the worse of the withdraw, I saw on 20/20 about people having hard time getting off medications. I was on Depakote from March 1998-Sept. 1999. After I got off those medication I lost weight. I could finally walk more then a block without my ankles turning, which was painful. Medications can slow down the metabolism. No way will I ever go on medication that cause me to gain weight.

Doctors/psychiatrist does not tell you about withdrawels, side effects, etc. How can they diagnose or make judgment on a person in 10 min? You can't know fully what is going on in ten minutes. "Oh your moods seem elivated today, you should go on a mood stabilizor".

I had a fun....NOT, on an anti-psychotic medication that I shouldn't be put on the first place. Interestingly it was the number one on the list in my abnormal textbook. Fluphenazine HCl (Permitil, Prolixin), which is a high potency. I ended up in the emergency room for three hours getting cogentin. The ER doctor know immedently know what was wrong, Dystonic Drug Reaction. This scared me.
Dystonic drug reaction:
  • buccolingual: protruding or pulling sensation of tongue
  • torticollic: twisted neck, or facial muscle spasm
  • oculogyric: roving or deviated gaze
  • tortipelvic: abdominal rigidity and pain
  • opisthotonic: spasm of the entire body

I started out with my tongue swelling up had a hard time talking. Neck spasms. Things progressively got worst by the time I was in the ER (Feburary 27, 2002) waiting for the doctor, my tongue was felt like it was being pulled on and down hard on my bottom tooth. My whole entire body was spasming. I recieved medication (Cogentin) by IV every half an hour for three hours. Then I was allowed to go home. For three days I was not allowed to drive and had to take over the counter Benadryl to make sure I do not have a relapse.


I found Willbutrin to intensify everything. (Feb. 20, 2002-May 2006). I didn't realize that the medication intensifies everything until I got off of it.

Now I am only taking an anxiety medication as needed. I endured enough on medication. Caused more trauma then did good for me. I spent 10 years of my life overmedicated. Now I am doing the hard work that I need to do to move towards recovery, that I should have done 10 years ago if I had the proper help.
 
I have been on Paxil for 10 years now for underlying depression. I'd been struggling with the depression for the better part of 7-8 years, and finally had had enough and was ready to get treated. Paxil had worked well for my Mom, and in those early days we really weren't too worried about side-effects ;) so I went on it.

It has been very helpful for me. Emotionally speaking, it works. Since developing PTSD I've had to increase my dosage a bit. My baseline dose is 20 mg, but there are spurts when I need 25-30 mg. I self-assess and administer with the monitoring & blessing of my doctor.


THAT SAID............ it hasn't been a perfect ride!!!

(1) I have gained 60 lbs. in that time. I realize that Paxil is not the sole culprit in this, but I do feel that it has changed my metabolism at least in part, to make it easier to gain weight and harder to lose it. And naturally, since we are depressed and anxious, that makes it that much harder to commit to dieting and exercise.

I am also a carb junkie, I literally get a small "high" when I eat carbs, and carbs are also my weight-gain nemesis... my body is particularly sensitive to carbs and seems to pack 'em right on. :( The Paxil has not gotten rid of the addictive feelings nor the high. If anything, it has made the weight-gaining aspect worse -- it takes fewer carbs to really set my system off-kilter and eliminate any chance of burning off fat that day. :(

(2) I have lost easily 1/2 my hair. *sigh* This just tears me up. I can deal with a chunky figure a lot easier than I can deal with thin hair. I used to have gorgeous thick, wavy hair. About 5 years ago it started falling out, slowly, and it got to the point where you could easily see my scalp from all angles, no matter how I styled it.

My stylist, who's cut my hair since I was a kid :) was the one to bring up the change in my hair a few years ago, and ask about medications. I brushed it off, until about 6 months ago, when I finally got good & fed up!! So I did a whole bunch of research on SSRIs and hair loss.

It is believed by some that SSRIs may block the uptake of some necessary minerals. The most common references were to Selenium and Zinc, so I collected recommended base dosing from several internet sources (medical websites, not quack websites) and also verified the side-effects of Selenium and Zinc (to make sure I wasn't poisoning myself on accident). Everything came up A-OK (in my opinion, and based on what limited information I found), so I started on 50 mg Zinc and 200 mcg Selenium daily.

It took about 6 weeks and I saw new little hairs growing!!! *insert dancing smiley here* I was ECSTATIC. Since then the hair has continued to grow in, especially on the sides near my face, at the hairline. I don't have any new hairs on the crown of my head (where I need it most, *sigh*) but it is such a RELIEF to have more hair on my head. It makes me feel like I am not as broken, my hair is not broken :) it is not my fault, the meds were blocking mineral uptake.

The hair coming back in is very thin (skinny strands, not thick), but I am trying to remember that it took years & years for my hair to get to this point, so it is probably going to take several years to nurture it back. Nothing heals immediately, not to mention the time it takes for a hair to even grow. :)


Part of why I am posting this here is because there is not much information online about SSRIs and hair loss. And, the drug companies state that hair loss is a "very rare" side-effect, yet the information I found online seemed to reflect it may be grossly underreported (possibly because patients don't realize that their hair is falling out -- or that it's their meds causing it. My Mom, for instance, firmly believed her hair loss was caused by aging.). So by posting it here, I'm helping to get the word out to others, that hair loss CAN be caused by Paxil.

Incidentally, my Mom is still on Paxil, and her hair has thinned even worse than mine. :( Paxil is the only medication or source of intake we have in common. We live in different homes, totally different water sources (I am on treated village water, she's on an unfiltered well), etc.

:D Bailey
 
Do a google search on Paxil. You'll be amazed at how many class-action suits there are. Paxil is not there for treating mental issues.
 
And from my research, they only work on 10% of the population and should only be taken for approximately a 3 month period along with therapy.

Would you please quote your source as my doctors told me these were long term and for the rest of my life types meds? Saying that it only works on 10% of the population. Which? PTSD, BPD, Depression, Bi-polar... General? If you choose to give statements as facts please back them up with at least a source so this site is not mistaken as one to factual recorded data. We are just a group here of people who have had to take these meds and the amount of positive or negative response may not be a factual recording of effectiveness here. SSRIs back fire for some with PTSD as myself, but for many others they are a life saver. I have seen SSRIs work too much good to blanketly condemn.
 
I was on Effexor for about a year and it was an awful med to be on and an even more awful med to go off of.

Then the military put me on Seroquel which made my weight sky-rocket from 170 to 230 in less than 6 months but the doctors told me that I just needed to eat better and exercise more and I hardly had the energy to do either.

I have mentioned it in a couple posts but my current doctor has me on Depakote, Lamictil, Seroquel, Klonopine, and Wellbutrin. I am finally losing weight but that's because I'm on a very strict diet.

My hair it seems like it is falling out, it's all over the shower, all in my towel, it's ridiculous. Which I believe is a side effect of the Depakote.

This doctor has also threatened to put me on Lithium and/or Abilify if I keep complaining about the Depakote and Lamactil.

Luckily I have my husband who can also be a bit more forceful than me, I tend to be quiet and reserved and less likely to talk back or argue about my meds.

I do know that if I got rid of most of those medications, I'd lose alot more weight and I do believe I don't need to be on all of them anyways. I take 7 pills at night (2 of which are psych meds). And Lamactil is awful to try to swallow and usually I don't have a problem swallowing a pill.

As for most antidepressants I've been on Zoloft, Celexa, Effexor and now currently Wellbutrin (which I think has helped me actually quit smoking this time--2 weeks and counting).

But no anti-depressant has ever worked for my depression. And the other meds I'm on now certainly don't help either. In fact the only purpose they are serving is that they are making me entirely too numb and brain-dead. I still get severely depressed and have suicidal thoughts most of which I can ignore even though I know they are there.

I wonder sometimes if any meds actually work for PTSD symptoms since I believe that all the things wrong with me are directly stemmin from the PTSD.
 
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