Dude, the guy threatened you, how did YOU act inappropriately?
Seriously, I feel for you. I’ve had to go without my meds for a few days – it’s hell. Does Zoloft withdrawal include the “zaps” like Paxil? That’s the worst.
I hope you feel better soon!
It was a complete turnaround from what we saw in the beginning, the picture you painted, and how you left everyone hanging and then went straight to the gym.
I may be wrong, but this whole thing smells like bad cheese.
What you told us in the beginning does not match up with the end.
Not buying it.
Q
I wrote this post, then thought it might be too harsh and irresponsible and deleted it, then I wrote it again.
The effect of antidepressants, can at most be derived from two sources. The effect from the active compounds in the drug **and ** from the placebo effect.
Those who took inert sugar pills got the majority of the improvement those who took the Zoloft got.
That is to say, the majority of your improvement was due to your increased hope, and your sheer will to get better. You did this by yourself, you know it can work.
Your bad feelings may from you attributing ALL of of improvement to the drug, and thus you feel terrible without it. Be kind to yourself and don’t be anxious.
You have no excuse to be anxious, clinical anxity is a medical condit… :smack:
There might be some built up chemical dependance to the drug too, so I would still seriously think of continueing with the drug or at least restarting it and ramping it down. I wouldn’t want bad things to come from a post I wrote.
Less controversially, exercise has a proven effect on lifting your mood, you definately made the right choice going to the gym.
Quasi, he could just be feeling out of it from the lack of meds, that’s all. I don’t think he’s deliberately trying to deceive anyone. Withdrawal from anti-depressants can really fuck you up, especially when you go cold turkey.
Care to show me what the fuck you are talking about? Does the fact that I went to the gym seem strange to you, considering the circumstances? Exercise is a natural anti-depressant and especially for me, someone who has regular routines and schedules built around it. If this seems phony to you, aside from the question of why the hell I would concoct a story like this, just go away; you don’t need to waste your time reading and posting here.
Why did you post your problems here if you weren’t going to listen to what was told you?
You had people worried about you and then you left and came back with the “true story”, which I still don’t know.
The entire PROBLEM was that you’d run out of meds, had been out of meds for 7 days and didn’t know what to do, right?
You began to cry, which made US/ME begin to worry, but the next thing I/We know, you’re talking about something else, and the lack of Zoloft is forgotten about, even though you were given all kinds of answers here on how you could GET your meds, which you didn’t even acknowledge.
I know I’m the bad guy in this thread, but I can’t help thinking there’s something wrong here. If not, I’ll be the first to apologize.
Quasi
Yes! Zaps! Omg, I didn’t know how to describe it. It’s more like “zooms”, if that makes any sense.
And the fact that I got so upset at my behavior here, despite the other guy’s actions, is part of what I am talking about. It’s hard to explain. It wasn’t so much the reality of my actions that got me so upset; rather it was the feeling that my actions left me with.
Two things could be occuring
- He’s a troll
- He’s a real person looking for advice and encouragement to get him through a difficult time.
Lets say you treat him as a troll, if he’s a troll, then you’re still playing his game by criticising him. If he isn’t a troll then you’re just kicking someone vulnerable when they are down.
Treat him as who he presents himself as, and at absolute worse, you’ll make a troll bored.
When I throw myself into someone’s problems, I do so with the fear he or she may hurt themselves.
This was the case with the OP.
I read what he wrote and began to worry. In good faith.
I spoke to him, we all spoke to him and gave him suggestions.
None were taken.
And now you’re telling me that a cry for help, with tears, depression, withdrawal wasn’t really what it seemed?
And none of the suggestions would be followed up on?
What happened that this person turned his back on what might have helped him?
Quasi, you’re a good fella to worry. But as a fellow depressive, I read Jamie’s account and it felt like something I’d do. Reading over the thread, it seems to me that you got very concerned and started pushing for updates (a very kind thing to do) but then felt he’d been disingenuous.
Step back for just a second, and look at it with me another way?
I know folks worry about discontinuation syndrome, those effing brain zaps, etc. And folks were right in urging him to go get more, but I dunno, when I get like that (I’m like that right now) I pretty much behave like he does. I feel utterly helpless, then pop out and buy my favorite bread from the bakery. I come here, but don’t update Facebook and my friends freak. I don’t eat/work/sleep/clean/shower/brush teeth, until I have-have-have to go out. Then I go out and enjoy myself. WTF?
The funny thing was, I was ready to come here and talk about the clarity and the soul-sucking depression that return hand-in-hand when I fall off the med wagon, and I was surprised that no one besides Guinistasia really wanted to talk about that–they were all “GO GIT YER MEDS, SON!”
This dichotomy may very well be because I am also depressed, and didn’t think to warn him. Like him (sorry to refer to you in the third-person, Jamie, in your own thread), when I fall into the pit I know what I need to do, what I’m supposed to do, what I MUST do, yet I do nothing. So telling a fella who is in that space to “just do it” (even though it’s in his best interest) doesn’t occur to me, I guess.
Quasi, you’re very open and humorous about the struggles you’re facing. Things aren’t always logical and perfect, right? I submit that we’re all that way, especially when the Rat Bastard depression has us in his slimy grip. Logic falls right off the page.
Jamie, hope things even out for you. Have you tried Wellbutrin? I tried it twice, and it made me so stupid I could barely speak. What good would getting my libido back be if I couldn’t carry on a conversation, eh? (hrm. don’t answer that.:D)
There is some research that indicates this. Definitely not all. I can say, without any hesitancy, that anti-depressants have a real, non-placebo effect on my brain and body.
Jamie, I apologize.
You scared me and I wouldn’t have wanted you to hurt yourself.
I was afraid that you would have.
I apologize.
Bill Craig
Apology accepted. 
I had a similar experience when I went cold turkey off Effexor (plus other fun withdrawal side-effects like ‘brain zaps’, nausea, vomiting, body aches).
For me, the major depressive symptoms cleared up in about a month and a half (the whole time of course I was questioning if I was nuts to keep off meds if I felt this way), and I have never regretted stopping the meds and have not taken SSRIs again. I am certainly much more emotional now than I was on medication, but in a good way - I have some slight highs and lows, which I enjoy. I absolutely feel like I have ‘clarity of mind’ that I did not when I was on medication.
Being on Effexor (and Celexa, Risperdal, and whatever else I was on over the 5-6 years I was medicated) was like my brain and emotions were wrapped up in cotton. At the time, it was useful to me, since my depression and anxiety were largely situational and I had no choice where I was living and what I was doing with my life. But I would not want to live my life like that.
ETA: And I would rather deal with my (non-suicidal) depression and anxiety, which I’ve had as long as I can remember to some degree, with other means. I am basically doing well and have been for many years - if I ever again enter a state of debilitating depression and anxiety, I would reconsider medication.
Antidepressants have a very real effect on me too, but I don’t think you can really say whether it’s a placebo effect or not. (Placebo doesn’t mean “no effect”, after all.) If it’s a placebo effect, I’ll take it. It did amazing things for me when I was suffering from severe post-partum depression.
I’m not on Zoloft anymore, but when I was I went off it cold-turkey once, and wow. Not good. Double-plus ungood. I’ll agree with those who have said not to trust anything you’re currently thinking, because you’re not in a state of hyper-clarity, you’re in a state of Zoloft withdrawal.
Edit: As far as side-effects, I did not have any flattening of mood or anything like that. However, it did kill my sex drive completely dead while I was taking it. (It got better.)
Everyone can have anecdotes about what works or doesn’t work for them and people they know etc etc but since they are FDA-regulated drugs, by definition they have a greater/more significant effect in treating depression (or other indicated uses) than placebos in a statistically significant proportion of the population. The comparison between the active ingredient and a placebo is an incredibly significant testing phase in the process needed to get approval for use.
Sorry you’re having a tough time, jamiemcgarry. I can’t relate personally, but I’ve known enough people to go through similar things to know that it’s never as simple as “just do what you need to do, already”.
And the guy in the gym was an asshole. Could you have “stepped” on his foot to get by? 
Ha, no, it wasn’t him that was in the way, it was his collection of dumbbells on the floor in front of him.
And as far as the effectiveness of antidepressants vs placebos, those studies are using patients with mild to moderate depression. Pretty much all research indicates antidepressants have a significantly larger beneficial impact for severe depression compared to placebo. (not that you were arguing against this, I’m just saying)
I can relate to the snapping at someone; I snapped at someone this weekend, and I felt bad about it for a while afterwards (I think it’s not bugging me as much now). She was acting a bit of an ass herself, but my response was out of proportion, and I wish I hadn’t opened my mouth. It happens.
A statistically significant difference does not equal a big difference, especially as the active substances’ side effects could indicate that it isn’t a placebo, enhancing the hopefulness of the test-subject, effectively making zoloft, with regards to its antidepressant qualities nothing but a superplacebo.
Anyway, I’ll stop my hijack. The absolute worst thing the OP should do to stop the drugs cold turkey, they do create brain changes, for fair or foul, so he has no option but to either continue the drug or gradually taper himself off it. I was only chiming in to reduce the nocebo effect and his worries.
As has been discussed, it is extremely dangerous to stop antidepressants cold turkey. I used to be really inconsistent at taking my meds and it landed me in the hospital when I was in college. I’m glad you have reached out to someone, my best advice would be to stay in regular contact with people you trust and inform them immediately if you start to have any suicidal thoughts. Until you are back on your meds and stable you are at an elevated risk for harming or killing yourself, and it’s important that you and everyone around you takes that very seriously.
Good luck.