Have you ever been on an SSRI (citalopram, sertraline, fluoxetine, etc)?

[Fulanito de Tal]

For those that have been on an SSRI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_inhibitor) or know someone close that has.

1. Which SSRI was used?

2. How did you feel before?

3. Why did you start using it?

4. How long did it take to feel the effects?

5. How did you feel during treatment? Include side effects

6. How long did you take the SSRI for?

7. Overall opinion of SSRI based on your personal experience.

Example answers (I have not been on any SSRIs for a considerable about of time)


1. escitalopram (Lexapro)

2. Sluggish, couldn't start any major projects, trouble sleeping, always sad

3. I told my doctor which referred me to a psychiatrist. The pysch diagnosed me with major depression and recommended that I take Lexapro.

4. Within about 1 hour I felt nauseous, but that went away within about a week and a half. My mood changed in about 3-4 weeks.

5. I was able to concentrate easier and little things didn't bother me anymore. I noticed a drop in my alcohol use. Also, I started to enjoy things more like walking in the park or looking at the sky. Bad part was that I had trouble reaching orgasm. Sometimes I felt like I wasn't thinking at all, but just there.

6. One and a half years

7. It helped me, but a part of me felt that it was not legit. I was feeling better because of a drug and not because I should. However, with psychological treatment, I improved my mood and the Lexapro helped me do that. I was able to realize that I was taking on too much and had some faulty cognitions.Feel free to answer however you like and only which questions you would like. Also, throw in anything you think is relevant and I did not bring up.

I will appreciate your responses! :thumbup1:

[Apoi_Viitor]

1. I've been on setraline, fluoxetine, and one other that I can't remember

2. Depressed.

3. It got to the point where I was suicidal. So I was checked into an inpatient program, and then started seeing a psychiatrist.

4. About one to two weeks I think.

5. My moods are less chaotic, and I'm overall much happier. I can't recall any noticeable side effects.

6. It's been about one and a half years.

7. It's cool. I like not feeling sad all the time.

[Quail]

1. Which SSRI was used?
Citalopram
Escitalopram

2. How did you feel before?
Anxious for both, was finding it difficult to go out of the house without having a panic attack. Also a low mood, but they were prescribed for anxiety.

3. Why did you start using it?
It seemed like the best option at the time, given that anxiety can make life quite difficult.

4. How long did it take to feel the effects?
Took a while for citalopram to do anything. I think that it made me kind of numb more than anything. I wasn't really myself.
I only started on escitalopram a couple of weeks ago, but I do think that it is doing something.

5. How did you feel during treatment? Include side effects
As I said above, citalopram made me into a bit of a zombie and I actually felt a lot less creative when I was on it as well. I had horrible side effects when I first went on it too, with headaches, increased anxiety, feeling "high" (but not in a good way unfortunately), nausea. My sex drive also went way down the whole time I was taking it and it was harder to orgasm.
Escitalopram seems a little better, although I probably can't say for certain because it's only been a few weeks. There were fewer side effects when I first started taking it. I get really, really drunk when I drink now though.

6. How long did you take the SSRI for?
I took citalopram for about 5 months. I stopped taking it because I ran out over new year and started experiencing awful withdrawals that made me feel really unstable.

7. Overall opinion of SSRI based on your personal experience.
Citalopram wasn't very good for me. I'll have to wait and see about escitalopram.


I think it is important to remember that different drugs work for different people. Citalopram didn't work for me, but that's not to say that it won't work wonders for someone else.

[Sentinel]

1. Which SSRI was used?

Citalopram 20mg, in the US also known as Celexa

2. How did you feel before?

I felt like shit due to frequent panic attacks around the age of 23-24, so I was prescribed Citalopram by the company doctor at work. My general mood when off SSRI is mildly depressed, but I do have some 'ups'. I'm rarely exactly harmonious, but occasionally ok and sometimes even quite enthusiastic about stuff.

3. Why did you start using it?

See previous answer

4. How long did it take to feel the effects?

When I started using it, it took a month or two and then the panic attacks faded away.

5. How did you feel during treatment? Include side effects

I felt quite stable and content with life, but with time also increasingly numb. For instance my passion for politics started to feel like a lip service from an apathetic person. That got me to quit that shit, and thankfully I feel like myself again now.

6. How long did you take the SSRI for?

Not sure, but at least 6 years.

7. Overall opinion of SSRI based on your personal experience.

They helped me, but I'm happy to be off them. There are times when they offer a solution, but one must remember that it's only temporary, and should only be used in emergencies (like if you feel suicidal or might lose a job etc). Used over a longer period that stuff is evil. One misses so many good moments when ones emotions are turned on 'low', as was how I perceived it. So I'd advice people to try to get off them when the immediate need is over.

I'm no doctor though, so consult yours if you see them as trustworthy before taking my advice. Personally, I don't trust mine particularly as he is a company man, and thus I acted on my own judgement.

[Jazzratt]

1. Which SSRI was used? Citralopram, Fluoxetine and one other the name of which escapes me totally it having been a while since I was on that particular course of them.

2. How did you feel before? Well, I've been on them multiple times - each time for a reasonable length - but my feelings beforehand can be best summed up[ as "fucking miserable." Thankfully I am very pain averse and a bit of a fuck up so the suicidal feelings I had beforehand didn't amount to anything (obviously.) The times I took them while in my teens I was also very, very angry all the fucking time.

3. Why did you start using it? The first time its because I went nuts, pulled a knife on a teacher and then had some sort of breakdown. All the other times it was a re-eruption of depressive feelings.I was put on increased doses and other meds for social phobia/anxiety too.

4. How long did it take to feel the effects? On the lower doses I'm not sure I ever really felt any effects except perhaps being slightly happier due to what was, in hindsight, probably a placebo effect. On higher doses it wasn't long at all - a fortnight at most.

5. How did you feel during treatment? Jesus. It depended but I generally felt "less." Less bad, less angry, less frightened. I was also, apparently, less exuberant and less "expressive" according to my friends. I didn't suffer any major side effects as far as I'm aware.

6. How long did you take the SSRI for? The longest stretch was probably just shy of a year. I was on and off them for about five years ('03-'08) though. I was recently on my shortest course ever - about three weeks last summer: I was too afraid/lazy to go to the doctor to get my perscription again. Thankfully I wasn't as horrificly depressed as I have been in the past at that time so I got on just fine talking with a therapist.

7. Overall opinion of SSRI based on your personal experience. A mixed bag. Some of the courses were very successful especially for the depression. I can't say they were that great with the social phobia for which CBT was a bit more of a help - although I still try to avoid stressful social situations and sober interaction with strangers.

[Fulanito de Tal]

Anyone else?

[Quail]

2. How did you feel before?
Anxious for both, was finding it difficult to go out of the house without having a panic attack. Also a low mood, but they were prescribed for anxiety.
Just to add something to this, the citalopram was actually for intrusive obsessional thoughts as much as general anxiety, which it did reduce the frequency of, but not amazingly well.