My Body Can't Handle Ssris... Can Anyone Recommend Other Ptsd Meds?

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

Hi all, I'm new around here. I posted a detailed msg about how I got to this forum in the 'Intro' forum. Thanks in advance for reading my post! I searched the threads and didn't seem to find any previous posts specifically about SSRIs & their GI side effects.

Essentially, my body is too sensitive to take SSRIs. 13+ years ago, after 6 months, I had to get off them (Serzone & then Celexa) because I would need to get off the NYC subway (not at my stop!) because I felt so dizzy & faint. Last summer I tried Lexapro for a short time - dizziness. Just recently tried Prozac & had an unbelieavably horrible reaction; I was very sick for over a week. (severe dizziness, nausea & diarrhea that rendered me non-functional)...lost weight...got about 2 weeks behind on my graduate school coursework...total disaster. I'm 38 (almost 39) years old, and going back to school at this age is already tough...plus I need to be well enough to look for work ASAP.

For years I lived without meds but at a high price...that I was somehow (?) able to justify. Now that I'm in grad school & have moved to a new area, there are way too many stressors & triggers...I can't ignore the seriousness of my symptoms and they're affecting my ability to seek work, to complete my graduate assignments, to establish friendships, etc. My line of study also happens to be particularly triggering - Master's in Public Health...I read a lot of stats & articles that I identify with.

Over the years I experimented with herbal medications, like the 'Nerve' supplement, (a combo of nervines like hops & valerian) but I think I was too anxious for it to have any effect. I tried 'Rescue Remedy' (Bach flower essences) & it did virtually nothing for me... I believe in herbal treatments. I just have 38+ years of tension in my body & I don't think herbal remedies can address something so acute. I don't think they're designed to.

I have a new (really, 1st one in 15+ years) psychiatrist (in addition to the psychotherapist I see). I told her I want to try Wellbutrin. She says it won't help my anxiety... That's disappointing.

My main symptoms are severe anxiety, bouts of depression, self-injury (nail/cuticle picking to the extreme), dissociation, somatic-flashbacks, anxiety attacks, body tension/dysfunction (IBS, acid reflux, muscle tension, etc.) & strong feelings of shame/guilt.

I don't have insurance and can't afford alternatives like the True Hope mental nutrition program or EMDR...though I wish I could, because I think they could really help me. Right now all I can afford is getting standard psych. prescriptions from my university's student health center or the local public hospital. And I see a therapist at a sliding scale institute...which I may not be able to continue because I don't have a job...yet.

If you can recommend any meds (including combinations, like maybe Wellbutrin with a non-SSRI anti-anxiety med?) that wouldn't aggravate my over-sensitive GI tract, I'd be incredibly grateful.

Thanks so much for reading,
Leah

 

[Ted Moen]

A low dose (20mg) of paxil (generic) works well for me. It takes the edge off ptsd symptoms and allows me to manage them with CBT tools I have learned in therapy.

Ted

 

[anthony]

Steer clear of SSRI's IMO... they are proven now as a majority not to work effectively for PTSD treatment, counter to initial claims.

You're better off to stick with pure anxiety focused medications, which you can discuss with your physician.

The depression caused by PTSD is mood depression, which means its caused by the anxiety. Treat the anxiety, you treat the depression. SSRI's attempt to treat the depression, which usually equates to making a person more depressed as they overdose the system when the system was functioning normally already... its mood based, not biology based.

 

[Sazza]

Thanks for this anthony, like you Leah i have been having issues with SSRI they make my depression worse, they help with the anxiety but cause my mood to sink. Why is it people with PTSD continue to be treated with SSRI then?

I was thinking ssri and my worsening depression were related to me being short of something other than serotonin. Anxiety wise they have slowed my thoughts down but made them more intrusive and still have that need to keep moving despite ssri making me tired. This is something need to think about next time see GP but don't feel confident saying above.

<Un necessary quote above reply removed by Amethist>

 

[Sterre]

... i have been having issues with SSRI they make my depression worse, they help with the anxiety but cause my mood to sink....

I experience the same thing as you do Sazza. The SSRI's cause more frequent depression with me, then without them.
They do help in lowering my anxiety, but they make my depressions worse and more frequent.

I choosed to decrease my AD's very slowly, and I am tapering of now for 6 months. I do have more anxiety, but I feel far less depressed. It is very frustrating because I cant seem to convince my doctor that it is better for me not to take SSRI's.

 

[anthony]

Sterre asked me this, and here is a very good read... whilst the read is an essay, the citations it references aren't, hence the evidence of the pax medica downfall: [DLMURL]https://www.ptsdforum.org/c/gallery/-pdf/1-83.pdf[/DLMURL]

 

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

A low dose (20mg) of paxil (generic) works well for me. It takes the edge off ptsd symptoms and allows me to manage them with CBT tools I have learned in therapy.

Ted

Thanks, Ted. This morning I saw my psychiatrist & after a long discussion I agreed to try Paxil. We're starting at a non-medical dose - 5mg, because I'm so sensitive. She thinks my body needs to get used to it, in order for me to tolerate normal doses. I'm crossing my fingers this works.Thanks again.

 

[Leah - SF Bay Area]

Steer clear of SSRI's IMO... they are proven now as a majority not to work effectively for PTSD treatment, counter to initial claims.

You're better off to stick with pure anxiety focused medications, which you can discuss with your physician.

The depression caused by PTSD is mood depression, which means its caused by the anxiety. Treat the anxiety, you treat the depression. SSRI's attempt to treat the depression, which usually equates to making a person more depressed as they overdose the system when the system was functioning normally already... its mood based, not biology based.

Hi Anthony, thanks so much for that info! For the past ten years I've noticed that I only get depressed when my anxiety is severe, so I guess I sensed the pattern without knowing the findings from the literature. This morning I shared that exact info with my psychiatrist & she pretty much disagreed with me. I told her I wanted something to focus on my anxiety. She said that other than SSRIs & SNRIs, my only other options were mood stabliziers and addictive anti-anxiety meds & she didn't recommend them. Then she said that there are some off-label uses for anti-psychotics, but that she didn't recommend that at this point. She suggested that I try Paxil at a low does to see if 1) I can tolerate it & 2) it'll help. I went along with her, because I'm feeling desperate.

I don't have insurance, so I'm kind of stuck with her recommendations & what she's willing to prescribe. I really feel that to get a psychiatrist who has the time to really get to know me & my needs, I need to have insurance & see someone privately, which I can't afford right now.

: / <-- that's me feeling perplexed...

Thanks again, I agree wholeheartedly. It's finding a provider, when I don't have insurance, who will agree with that, that might be challenging for me. I'll be searching for options, will keep you posted.

 

[anthony]

Nearly all medication is addictive, so trying to say that the very SSRI's and SNRI's that she wants to prescribe to you aren't addictive in themselves, is total bullshit on her part. This is why they have such a drawn out withdrawal process to get off them. Psychiatrists love to tell a person it will all be out of your system in a week or two, but that doesn't mean withdrawals cease... because now you have this new reality of your body having to adjust without medications, which with PTSD can send you into its own little frenzy of confusion, thinking you need to get back on meds, when in fact your body is still in withdrawals and your brain still needing to learn new coping behaviours, other than medication.

Valium is one of the best medications for anxiety, as its a slow release drug, ie. like SSRI's, except you can take it smaller doses at constant periods, ie. twice daily, 2 - 5mg each dose, keeping it within your system except for when you sleep, pretty much. Valium can become addictive, ie. if you treat it like anxiety fix, ie. panic attack, take valium, ahhhhh all better now. That is addiction, pure and simple. Xanax is highly addictive, not because of the drug, but due to the quick high it gives. So a person starts to behaviourally changed, feel some anxiety, shoot a Xanax, ahhhh, all better now. You could give the person a sugar pill and they would do the same thing... ahhh, all better now.

Addiction with those meds is primarily behavioural. Very few actually become biologically addictive. If you don't have an addictive personality, even approach towards there use, then such medications are far more effective for PTSD than SSRI's or SNRI's, both being anti-depressants with a side use for anxiety. Problem is, they often make a majority more depressed, suicidal even, than without them. So a doctors instinct is to ignore the patient, instead telling them to up the dosage to maximum amounts... basically you just become dull and lifeless, that is their idea of treatment it seems these days.

 

[amethist]

We are now in the middle of a fight to get hubby of the so called "Best for him" drugs. Looking to get him onto an anxiety only medication ASAP. I told them over 2 years ago that these were not the right ones for him, but was ignored and told to make sure he took them as he should. This is why the fight is now on.

First we have to find out who is going to take responsibility for his medication from now on, as GP can't change them, old Psychologist wont/cant see him for 4 months.

So much info from here is going to be printed off and stuck in front of which ever Psych he see's, before they will be allowed to do anything. Because the so called top Psych actually said there is very little knowledge of PTSD and how to treat it in our area.

Never, now how did I know that before it was said.

As for the length of time to get them out of your system when you have been on them a long time. it will definitely be a lot longer than a week, as after taking a low dose of what hubby takes for just 2 days, it took 4 days for my head to clear fully. Needless to say after taking the 2 days of them, they were dumped, I did not know what planet I was on, for a full 72 hours, but took 3 more days after that, for me to feel back to as I was before taking the first one.

Sorry if this is more of a rant, but boy is some one guna swing when this is sorted.

 

[anthony]

It was actually a leading psychiatrist here in Australia within PTSD, that pushed Nicolette towards this above approach, because she had the exact same results as myself, and most others do on SSRI's and SNRI's, being you become a lifeless zombie and often you become more depressed / suicidal, because they completely put your system off balance by blocking neurotransmitters that are actually functioning fine in the first place. The depression is purely anxiety.

Psychiatrists are correct though with addiction of benzo's... and its not the drug though, it the behavioural aspect of the patient taking the drugs.

Even with my own 2mg dose, twice daily, I started getting pains in the chest again. One method is to take more, bad choice and hence you become addictive. My other choice was to cut them back and examine the source of stress, rectify that whilst cut back to one tablet in the morning... no more pains again and on less of the drug / able to return to normal twice daily when I need it.

If you can't manage yourself with such drugs, then I agree with a psychiatrist that they aren't safe for the person. Addiction is an issue with some drugs... more so than with others.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Steer clear of SSRI's IMO... they are proven now as a majority not to work effectively for PTSD treatment, counter to initial claims.

You're better off to stick with pure anxiety focused medications, which you can discuss with your physician.

The depression caused by PTSD is mood depression, which means its caused by the anxiety. Treat the anxiety, you treat the depression. SSRI's attempt to treat the depression, which usually equates to making a person more depressed as they overdose the system when the system was functioning normally already... its mood based, not biology based.

I already "liked" Anthony's reply, however I want to add that this was exactly my experience with depression and SSRI's.

Professionals SAY that this class of meds works on both anxiety and depression, but in my opinion, it works when the anxiety is caused by the depression, NOT when the depression is caused by the anxiety. Unfortunately it took a long time before I realized that they aren't merely co-occurring, rather the depression follows the anxiety. I worked on fixing the anxiety and the depression started to lift.

ETA... In response to the OP, there is a non-addictive anti-anxiety med in a class of it's own. It's called Buspar. It worked for me but as the dose increased, my anger went thru the roof. I know everyone experiences meds differently, but from what I've heard, coming off paxil is a bit more rough than coming off other SSRI's. Just something to consider.