I keep thinking about this for some reason. I lost my best friend back in the 90s after he showed up at work with a knife and threatened a VP (the friend was an accountant) for no real reason, and then committed suicide a few weeks later. I don’t know the details of the dosing regimen but it was widely assumed his Prozac prescription had a lot to do with this. He was a Vietnam Veteran and was very mild mannered and with no signs of PTSD (that he ever told me about) before these incidents. Some people have really bad experiences with SSRIs!
Another friend, though it is nothing like the above story, had temporal lobe seizures both after starting and ramping down sertraline (Zoloft). She had not experienced anything similar in the previous 40 years. The SSRIs are interesting in that they can potentiate seizures while the dosage is changing, yet are actually siezure-protective (mildly) while at a steady dose.
Note to all: Don’t play around with anti-depressants are your own. The tricyclics have their own interesting stories.
“Don’t play around with anti-depressants are your own.”
My advice would be to not use anti-depressants...PERIOD! All they do is cover up symptoms. They do nothing to treat/cure the cause.
What’s terrifying in this transition state is there is no reasoning with the person: their axioms have changed to abnormal, and all rational thought is based on broken fundamentals. To challenge their world view during this time is to incurr utter wrath or fear. All you can do is get them back to a stable recurring medication level (even if it’s zero) and wait for the emotional thrashing to settle. I’ve seen several people go thru it. Don’t go there.
DON’T F WITH ANTIDEPRESANTS. Do exactly what the doctor says. If a doctor is not involved, do not use them.