I have been on SSRIs for anxiety and depression for the past 6 years. Recently I’ve been feeling very blank. Like, I can sit through an entire conversation without changing my facial expression or tone of voice if I don’t think about it. Or I’ll stub my toe and not say anything but I feel the pain. I’ve never had this problem before so I’m kind of confused as to what is causing this. I’m not 100% sure it is even caused by my meds but for anyone who has experienced something similar and has some advice, I’m on 100mg of sertraline and 300mg of bupropion.

Hello! I have been on many different SSRIs over the last 15 years and decided I want to come off of them. The SSRI I am coming off of is Zoloft. I tried to come off a couple months ago and couldn’t handle the withdrawal symptoms so I went back on a low dose and the symptoms went away. This is my second attempt to come off and I’ve only been off for 4 days, following a very slow wean plan, and I am miserable. I’m dizzy, nauseous, my hands feel like pins and needles, and I’m exhausted. Has anyone else here come off of SSRIs after a very long time being on them? How long did withdrawal last for you? What were your symptoms?

Hi all. So, Kaiser was apparently OOS of Pristiq for my prescription, so now I am out for the weekend despite ordering on Monday (they only let me order a couple days before my prescription ran out.) I split my last two pills, but now am out starting tonight.

Any advice for dealing with the severe withdrawal people report? I have to work tomorrow and Monday, and the lower dosage already has me feeling really emotional and irritated. I'm half-tempted to call out tomorrow, but I wanted to get people's thoughts, tips, etc. I am dreading this

I am a 24 year old virgin. I have social anxiety so using dating apps is really the best option I have right now for meeting women. However I’m short. I made a post on a dating subreddit yesterday and they all said my profile was fine, but that it would be near impossible for me because I’m short. I’ve been in therapy for years and I’m training to be a therapist myself. I know my options are limited apart from exposure therapy and other talk therapies, which I’ve already tried. None of them have made the rejection of trying to approach a girl in public and being laughed at or turned down l any less painful. Would SSRIs numb the pain enough for me to ve able to do these things until I meet someone?

Struggling to find the right Prozac dose (20 mg vs. 30 mg vs. 40 mg) — extreme fatigue and emotional blunting
I’ve been taking Prozac (fluoxetine) for anxiety and intrusive thoughts, and I’m having a really hard time figuring out the right dose.
I started at 20 mg and eventually increased to 40 mg. Prozac has definitely helped reduce my anxiety, which I’m grateful for. However, the side effects have been difficult to manage.
My biggest issues are:
Extreme fatigue and oversleeping: I can sleep for 12+ hours and still feel exhausted and struggle to get out of bed.
Emotional blunting: I feel emotionally flat, almost indifferent to things that would normally bother or excite me.
Low motivation: Before Prozac, my anxiety pushed me to get things done. Now that the anxiety has decreased, I struggle to find the motivation to work.
Loss of appetite: I rarely feel hungry anymore.

I had some sleep and productivity issues even before starting Prozac, but they seem significantly worse now.

I’m a PhD student, and this is seriously affecting my ability to function academically and professionally.
I’m also trying to understand whether some of these symptoms could be related to depression rather than medication side effects.

I’m planning to discuss this with my prescriber, but I’d love to hear others’ experiences.

Has anyone experienced similar symptoms on Prozac? Did lowering your dose from 40 mg to 30 mg or 20 mg help with fatigue, emotional blunting, or motivation while still controlling anxiety? Or did you eventually find that a different medication worked better?

I’m not looking to change my dose without medical guidance, just hoping to learn from others’ experiences.
Thanks in advance!

I’m 19, I have OCD and I’m considering going on SSRIs to help treat it. However, one thing that I can’t shake is the fact you can’t really drink on SSRIs. I know how stupid that sounds. Obviously getting rid of my obsessive thoughts is more important than getting drunk but I’m on my gap year and next year I’m going to uni. I haven’t partied much yet despite being legally able to for over a year. I want to party. I want to go out and get a bit drunk and have fun with my future uni friends. But I know you can’t do that on SSRIs, and I really want to treat my OCD and anxiety. I also know that if i choose SSRIs, that’s a pretty big commitment. Pretty long term. Can I really sacrifice my young years of fun THIS early when I can go on SSRIs whenever? I feel like I’m stuck. Has anyone had the same problem? How did you decide what to do?

Does anything help this. I’m about 7 weeks on Zoloft and still worried.

After reading through a lot of great posts and informational advice regarding SSRIs here, I’m just curious if anyone has any experiences or thoughts about being on alcohol detox drugs and starting an SSRI? I’ve been on 300mg gabapentin and 50mg naltrexone for about a week after detoxing with 50-25mg Librium in the hospital (off of it now), I will be continuing to take the other two at those doses, and I am starting Zoloft 25mg either tonight or tomorrow (haven’t decided which is best to do yet). Just genuinely curious if there is anything specific I should consider? Or anyone who is going/has gone through this?

Many thanks friends.

Hi! I have an anxiety disorder and OCD and I was prescribed Zoloft to take for it.

About 2 weeks ago, I took the starting dose of 0.25mg and I reacted very badly to it. Jitteriness, weird sensation of coldness, anxiety, panic attack, weakness, neck tension all at once, it was horrible.
So I went to a psychiatrist who told me to start with 12.5mg instead. And to also take 0.50mg Xanax per day first two weeks.

It's been a week since then and I'm still afraid to start. I've been reading on Reddit for days now and I'm not sure what to do.

I'm going on a trip in 2 weeks and I'm not sure if I
should even start now because I really don't want to have side effects there. I would start tomorrow with 12.5mg and then next week 25mg and continue like that until I return but I'm not sure.

Just thinking about starting it again makes me very anxious but l'll also be anxious without it, especially on my trip that's out of the country. Any tips?

Hi!!

I made a post here a few weeks ago asking if people had weight gain on SSRIs.

I say about 98% of people on the post said yes.

It really turned me off my SSRI. I’m taking it for OCD but my OCD is so bad and when I stopped taking the SSRI, the next day I was so incredibly irritated (I was sitting in a library and every single little noise or thing was annoying me or cars on the road) as it cleared out of my system and I promised myself that day I’m done with my SSRI.

I was prescribed setraline and I was on this back in 2018-2021 and it really made me gain a lot of weight. I went from a UK size 8 to a UK size 14 and I had a puffy face or “moon face”

I lost the weight now.

I do want to take it again to help my OCD but I really fear it’s gonna make me gain weight like that again.

What should I do? Switch to lexapro?

Hi I've been dealing with social anxiety, social disengagement, low mood, negative thinking, low motivation. I've been prescribed effexor since April and it helped with my dissociation and reduced my social anxiety a bit but it didn't really do anything for my low mood and motivation. I was prescribed atomoxine for my ADHD and low mood and I've been taking 40mg for 3 weeks and 60mg for 3 weeks and it helped quiet my mind a bit and helped with attention and focus a bit but didn't really do anything for my low mood, low motivation, social disengagement and social anxiety and I still struggle to get up and do my tasks and I still get overhelmed. Don't really know what to do anymore

hi there I just started taking Prozac (it’s called Fluoxetine where I’m from) today and am super worried about getting nauseous or throwing up while it’s settling in.

are there any foods I should avoid? or maybe some I should include in my meals to reduce or eliminate nausea?

if it helps I’m on 10mg for the next 7 days and 20mg after that.

Coming of two terrible months on Zoloft with debilitating side effects I wonder howcome the effects of SSRI/SNRI is so random? Can’t think of any other form of medication that works so differently from person to person.
Some feel like new person fast, others get very sick
My doctor suggested that I shouldn’t try anymore, even though my CYP test results are normal I seem to tolerate these drugs poorly. My psychologist whats me to try every single one.
Don’t know if these numbers are correct, but asked chatgpt about how effective these medications are and the results where 19% better then placebo. That meant that 19% experienced a 50% reducing in symptoms.
Don’t know if that is good or bad. All these meds are pretty old now. I’ve read that MM120 shows great promise, but may be several years before these come to my country even if they get FDA approval.

Hello, I suffer from a lack of feelings and sexual problems.

I'll explain it simply: I started taking a psychiatric medication called Faverin a year and several months ago We experienced severe financial hardship, and I realized I wouldn't have the money to buy the medication again. So, I decided to gradually stop taking the remaining medication I had. I stopped after about 20 days of gradual reduction, around August 6th, when I experienced some symptoms Like Brain Zabs Emotional numbness and general sexual weakness, but the truth is that the only symptom that disappeared was the brain zapps. I still have a lack of emotion, a lack of sexual desire, and suicidal thoughts. I tried to go to the doctor again, but I have no I have the money to make a reservation, so I hope to find help here.

Has anyone had any success losing the weight they gained from taking an SSRI without stopping its use?

I had a couple of days at about a 400 calorie deficit and by the end of the second day I felt awful. Any advice?

I’ve been on Sertraline 50gm for around seven months now, in the beginning it was tough but I slowly got my life back and I’ve had a lot of positive effects (see previous posts). I was initially put on this drug for anxiety and low mood and I think it could be linked to peri-menopause. I had an early period and for the last two weeks since my mood has been terrible and I’ve had awful brain fog and low-level depression. has anyone experienced a dip like this after months of feeling good? I feel like I’ve got a thick head can’t focus or concentrate and feel exhausted. I will definitely be going back into the Doctor as soon as possible but I’m not sure whether this could be a new reaction to the medication and maybe need a change or if I need to come off it altogether? I’d appreciate any advice from anyone particularly peri-menopausal women that have had success with this drug and what they did next. Thankyou

I (32F) am about to start SSRI for the first time.
I am reading some scary stuff about people becoming asexual from it, even after getting off of the meds. And that ruining their relationships.

Would love to hear some perpectives on this

I have BPD and have had therapy for about 5 years. There is always this sadness and heavyness I carry with me.

I also have always wondered if I have ADD. I have signed up for a test, but it wil takes months before it is my turn.

Because i cant stand the heavyness any longer, I talked to a psych and asked for meds. They persceibed me SSRI. And I am eager to try it.

I am do however wonder about the correlation between BPD and ADD.

Anyone with some more insight on this?

Lets say you had severe anxiety, social anxiety, depression etc. How much did the meds lowered them?

I have been on 10mg-20mg paxil for about the last year or so and I really love this drug, if I didn't have to work for a living I would probably just stay on it. I just feel good and able to handle anything. I took it only for anxiety as I've never really had depression. I had a slightly diminished sex drive but honestly not bad. The problem is the anticholinergic effects make me pretty tired, and I makes it harder for me to think and learn new things which I don't like.

In the past 3ish months i've tried:

Lexapro 5mg for 3 weeks: Gave me depression for the first time in my life for a few days, then I just felt pretty numb, great for anxiety though. Seems to have killed my sex drive on it though.

Sober for a whole month: Felt obviously more clear headed but I really couldn't relax well unless I took some propranolol and had a few beers, I also felt a lot less emotionally resilient.

Prozac for 17 days 10mg every other day: Felt very good in the beginning and I felt extremely horny in the beginning which was nice. Lead to a lot of insomnia and leg aches, then drastically increased anxiety and fear, had first panic attack of my life. Brutal, basically quit on the spot and went back to paxil to just be stable again.

Right now I am on day 6 of zoloft and it feels like prozac-lite, except I have very little sex drive and I cannot catch my breath. Also experiencing depression. Very good for social anxiety though.

I also don't tolerate dopaminergic stuff well (nicotine, adderall, ritalin, vyvanse) they all make me pretty depressed and kill my sex drive so I would prefer to stay away from things like that.

I logically know that I need to just stick with one of these for a full month to see if I can get the benefits but it sucks. Anyone find a good paxil replacement out there?

Hi All,

Since I started 100 mg Sertraline I have found myself pretty scatty. I am normally very put together and kind of famous for not forgetting things, but I have had enormous trouble forgetting things like which uniforms the kids need for school, and I have found myself sort of pottering around instead of turning up for appointments at work.

I have tried to check my calendar regularly, and I have been using a lot of visual aids in the home to try and remember things.

But that said I am still slipping up, for instance today I had to go home to pick up a tennis uniform, and I realised in the morning that I couldn't attend a meeting in the afternoon even though I'd accepted it weeks ago.

Although my employer is aware that I'm unwell and on Setraline, I detected a lot of upset and anger today from a few people that seem to think I am 'taking the piss'.

Obviously I'm pretty hurt, but I'd like to understand, how does Sertraline affect memory? What even is brain fog?

My union and employer keep pushing me to explain the side-effects and I keep pointing out that I find it really hard to know because I've never been on SSRIs before, and as time goes on the side-effects and their severity seem to fluctuate.

Thanks in advance.

I’ve been on 50/75mg of Stada and forgot my pills when I went to the airport for a trip (also forgot to take them this morning so ended up taking 75mg at 1:30 pm) but the pharmacist at the airport gave me DOC brand and it made me feel HYPER and almost manic…I called a friend and she said I was speaking at three times my normal speed but I hadn’t noticed. Can there be this much of a difference between generics? I feel like I’ve just taken adderall or something.

I’m considering coming off my 50mg of sertraline. I have been on it around 15 months now and honestly it’s changed my life for the better! I have PMDD and had horrendous anxiety and ROCD which got considerably worse following a bad synthetic mushroom trip.

I honestly cannot thank sertraline enough for saving my life and it’s made me feel like myself again. HOWEVER it’s suddenly started to affect my sex drive over the past few months, before it levelled it out and made me just care slightly less about sex, where as now I don’t really care for it at all. This is freaking me out because I miss being horny and I don’t want to lose that, I’m too young to not enjoy sex with my partner and I miss it.

I also feel as though sertraline is an easy fix for some of my big life decisions, I need to maybe feel a bit more in order to push myself further and force myself out of my comfort zone. My sertraline has been a nice comfy crutch during all my hard times.

But I do have PMDD, ADHD and Endometriosis… right now I feel good, but in 2 weeks I won’t. I’m planning on going on birth control and a new supplement for PMDD but I’m scared to come off my meds for these reasons.

I want to know will my sex drive return?!
What is the best way to come off my meds with the least side effects?

I tried coming off them earlier this year and went cold turkey and the first 2 weeks were fine and the next 2 I spent crying constantly and felt horrendous.

All advice welcomed

TIA

Hey all!
I’ve recently switched from Luvox back to Zoloft, which I’ve taken before.

It’s only been 3 days, but I already feel happier, less anxious, less irritable and more like myself again. I even notice it in the morning before taking my Zoloft or Vyvanse (40mg).

Could Zoloft be working this quickly, or is it more likely from stopping Luvox? Has anyone experienced something similar?