Yes, I know that there have been many threads on this topic in the past, but I want to ask not about SSRIs in general but the different brands. They all have the same general purpose but they all seem to have slightly different applications, and their side effects are all different. Could you guys just lay out all the brands you’re familiar with and tell me the differences between them?
Also, after reading about your experiences with these drugs, I’m horribly afraid of the side effects (as I may start an anti-depressent regimen soon). Could someone please tell me how often these awful side effects actually occur?
It’s impossible to draw a good picture of the specific effects and side-effects of different drugs from anecdotal evidence. The only way to know how any one drug will affect you is to take it. Nonetheless, I know it’s reassuring to hear honest descriptions of what it’s like to take them, so here goes:
I started with Effexor (not strictly an SSRI, but close enough for the purposes of this thread). I had nausea for a few days, weight gain, lethargy, etc. And after two months, I felt worse than to start with. But the single thing that made me decide to give up on it, without consulting a doctor, was its effect on sex. (This will recur later…)
Then I was given Prozac. I got an allergic rash, so had to quit immediately.
Then I got Celexa/Cipramil (different brand names in different countries). The only side effect was the sexual one - it doesn’t stop your libido, but it has a very specific ability to inhibit orgasm. Very frustrating. But by this time, I’d split with my girlfriend. so it wasn’t so much of a problem. While being on it I’ve started to feel a lot better - although it seems unlikely that it’s to do with the drug, and more to do with other things such as CBT that I’ve also been going through recently.
I like crazymeds.org for info on different meds. I agree with gorillaman that the only way you are going to know what effects the meds have on you is to take them. Not everyone has noticeable side effects. Out of the four people in my household, I did very badly on zpolft, Mr P didn’t respond well to prozac but did OK on cipramil for a couple of years, my older son had a horrific response to prozac but was OK on effexor and was wonderful on zoloft for a year before he very suddenly was not and my younger son is doing beautifully on a tiny dose of prozac.
I second the comments about Effexor and weight gain. Yeah, that’ll help a depressed person. Make her* fatter*! :rolleyes:
I’m not on anything right now (even though I probably should be) because of all the stupid side effects. I don’t have the heart to try drug after drug after drug till one of them works properly, especially when you need to give each one a couple of months to prove its uselessness.
I hope you find one that works well for you, Pride, and I hope it’s the very first one you try. I have friends who are doing just fine on Celexa and Effexor and didn’t have the same problems as me. As always with drugs, the reaction can be very different in different people. Best of luck!
I agree that you have to take each one n order to know what it will do for/to you. Each one was carefully studied and found effective for certain people before it was released. The only things that you can say in general are that most of them are have a good chance of having adverse sexual side effects. Paxil is good if you also have an anxiety problem. Effexor is an especially powerful antidepressant for many people but can also cause strong side effects. Prozac and Zoloft are among the oldest and most commonly prescribed antidepressants and generally have little to moderate side effects but may not be the most effective antidepressants for some people.
I have tried most of them. The best piece of advice I can tell you is to be an informed consumer. Most of the doctors that I have delt with have a bias for or against certain drugs and write prescriptions partly based on habit. You to be aware is the drug you are prescribed is effective for your primary condition and the side effects that it generates. Read about your prescription on the internet or elsewhere. If you don’t think it is working the way it should, let your doctor know and be explicit in what is right and what is wrong. If each SSRI worked for everyone, then their wouldn’t need to be more than one of them. Your doctor should be able to make a decision based on your information whether to change your dose or switch you to a different drug.
I agree 100%. Docs do have their biases, usually because they have had patients who were successful on those scripts. But you are you and he should be willing to help you discover the med best suited to your needs and how your body responds. Most will, but if you have one who is not so inclined, get another doc.
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my oncologist suggested a sub-clinical dose of Effexor. I was reluctant because I had not been depressed prior to my diagnosis and felt that any depression was situational. He wanted me on it primarily to counter the side effects of taking me off HRT and “if you get a mood lift from it, so much the better.” It has worked well for me. So well that I (in all my infinite wisdom :rolleyes: ) decided that if I felt good, then more would make me feel even better. I requested an increase and regretted it. I felt great lethargy, like I was walking through molasses. So I went back to my sub-clinical dose (about 25% of the dose for clinical depression) and feel good again.
One med I would investigate fully before taking is Paxil. There have been some reports of associated psychosis, especially when coming off the drug. It also can cause significant sexual side effects which can lead people to go off the drug periodically and lead to reported frank psychosis. I say reported because I am not familiar personally and offer no cite. But I would advise anyone to read up on this issue before considering this drug.
Just note - like weight gain and sexual side effects, this is true of all SSRI’s. They all have risks of psychosis and akasithia (sudden, unprovoked suicide or suicide attempts) - even in people with no previous history of depression at all. SSRI’s are powerful drugs that greatly affect your brain chemistry and should be taken only as a last resort.
Personally - Prozac had so little effect that it didn’t help my depression, but Effexor was so intense it was like I was on speed or ecstacy and couldn’t handle it. Yet my mother was perfectly fine on Effexor with zero side effects - go figure.
I’ve decided that the risks are just too great with SSRI’s - I’d rather attempt to live with my problems (and believe me, they’re anything but mild - i’d go as far as to call them crippling).
What everyone else has said - everyone has a different reaction, good or bad, to different drugs, and you won’t know what it is until you try it; you may need to experiment with a few until you find out which one suits you.
It took me ages to settle on Effexor, and even now I’m only on half the suggested “therapeutic” dose - major side-effect for me is that I’m extremely sleepy on it, but no other physical side-effects. {I’m also a recovering benzodiazepine addict on a slow reduction programme, which has enough nasty physical effects of its own, so it was important to find one that didn’t physically bugger me up}
I can’t stress enough that you may experience what they call paradoxical reactions; ie some SSRI’s may {and I emphasise MAY} do the opposite of what they’re intended to do. Prozac made me even more depressed, and Aropax made me very angry. If you do react badly to an SSRI and it’s affecting your mental state, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s only the drug, it’s not you. If you stop taking it, it will feel better.
As a corollary, you need to make sure you have a sympathetic and understanding GP and/or psychiatrist; it’s crucial. I took about 4 months of false starts before I found the right drug, and it’s frustrating and depressing in its own right - you really need to be working with the right people, and I was lucky in that I had a lot of excellent professional support. It may sometimes seem like a struggle, but there will be something that works for you and you will find it.
I hope this reply hasn’t stressed the negative too much: I’m just recording some problems that I had initially - you may be completely the opposite, and bounding about like a spring lamb from day one {actually they take about a week to ten days to kick in}. Either way, I really do hope it goes well for you - if you are having problems or just want to vent, I’m know there will be plenty of posters {myself included} more than happy to weigh in with advice and support. All the best.
I was on Paxil for about a year. The only side effects I noticed were in the first couple of weeks as my body adjusted to it. I had what I term “bowel urgency.” Not diarrhea, but it made me have to go NOW NOW NOW. That went away after a couple of weeks though. Also in that first couple of weeks, I noticed an odd sensation that is difficult to describe. It was as if the world were a video and occasionally, for a couple of seconds, it was like watching in slow motion or frame-by-frame. That also went away.
The only other thing I noticed, and I can’t be sure this wasn’t just a result of not being depressed anymore, is that I turned into a raging hornball. It wasn’t a bad thing though, the sex was GREAT, so I didn’t mind. The reason that I mention it is that since I’ve been off Paxil my libido has returned to a more normal state so it could have been the drug.
prozac and zoloft both killed my libido, also had really bad withdrawl effects from zoloft, like a cattle prod stuck in my mouth to my brain stem.
also, i took effexor for a couple of weeks, kinda made me speedy, and then i had a seizure. very strange, still having tests done.
for me, i really don’t like the side effects of any of them. usually a couple weeks of speediness (but at least the house is clean), then the effects wear off.
After trying Prozac and then Paxil about ten years ago, I swore off SSRI’s because both of those made me feel enraged all the time. For the past five months, I’ve been using Lexapro, which has made a significant difference in my outlook – I no longer feel as if everything in my life is under a dark cloud and subject to imminent collapse; in fact, I’m probably happier, on average, than I’ve been in years.
There’ve been some side effects however. For the first month and a half, I wasn’t able to sleep more than two hours at a stretch, and I’d wake up feeling fully caffeinated, though still very tired. I had sweaty palms, and “delayed” (read: impossible-to-achieve) orgasms. As the drug took effect, these particular side effects disappeared, but were replaced by others. I sleep well, but have a very hard time waking up in the morning – I’m sleeping later than I have in decades. I no longer have a problem getting to orgasm, but my libido is at its lowest ebb of my life. But I’ve accustomed myself to this and I’d really rather deal with these effects than continue to be as depressed as I’ve been for much of the past fifteen years. One thing, however, kind of bothers me: If I was good at procrastination before, I’m now the king of procrastinators. I’m hoping that over time I’ll be able to train myself to get back on the ball a bit, but for the time being, if it isn’t terribly important that a task be done soon, I have no trouble at all putting it off.