I completely agree that these drugs can be very, very dangerous. We do not want to mess with the serotonin levels. I was on one for three months, and if I was even 1 hour late to take the pill, I would have the worst nightmares that night, nightmares that I have never experienced before or since, coming from my own private personal terror imagination. Since I was a new mom, that meant seeing my child tortured and killed before my eyes, etc. Weaning off of these drugs is HELL. It can be like weaning off of an opiate. You need to be under a doctor’s care.
Had it not been for this forum and some discussions I had a long time ago with some Freepers as well as prayer for answers when this happened she could have died. She was taken off all medications but Ativan and was OK within 24 hours. In walks a Shrink and doubles the Zoloft. Within one our of taking that pill she was in it again. They still didn't think. I went home and got on line and on search with Zoloft +Trazadone +Adverse reaction had thewers in seconds.
My wife has severe neurlogical and sensory damage. She is a quadriplegic. The SSRI's were giver her to help overcome a bad reaction to a medication a dentist had given her that put her in a COMA. She has taken benzodiazepine {Xanax} for 25 years now a low dose at .5mg three times a day.
I am disgnosed as having General Anxiety Disorder of non phobic origin. My sensory processing system is basicaly shot. They tried me on SSRI's about 16 years ago when this hit me. First was Paxil which blocked my bladder. the others gave me bad headaches, increased anxiety, irratibility, and headaches. My actual disorder or combination thereof has no given name.
A doctor took me off of them and on Xanax at .5mg four times a day and I can somewhat function. I also have seizure activity from the senory issues. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy does not work for this either. I've had this, Depression, PTSD, and OCB all at the same time with one triggering and feeding on the other. The Depression and OCB which was merely a compensation issue and was the first to leave. The PTSD took several years with a therapist. I had gone through a lot of bad things in a few years time.
The G.A.D. {name given for disability reasons} is a neurological issue caused in part by Inner Ear issues, hearing loss and severe Tinitus issues, vision issues including single eye functional, all combined which I've had since early childhood and was mistaken for ADD ADHD. Nope Ritalin sure don't help neither LOL. For some SSRI's are the only thing that works. For some like my wife and I benzodiazepines like Xanax are the only thing that work and all the text book writings about long term use and it not working didn't happen with us. For me it's the only thing that does work.
“We do not want to mess with the serotonin levels.”
Oh, yes “we” do! I was on serotonin reuptake inhibitors for seven years. Though I’m a guy (it makes a difference), I wasn’t taking them for depression (arachnoiditis from a spinal cord tumor). Since I didn’t want to mess with long-term opiates to fight the pain, this class of drug was what I chose. I can’t tell you about psychological effects, since I really didn’t notice any changes in that regard. The pain was far more controllable though. In my case, no depression meant no psychiatric complications. I actually slept better, but that was probably due to the lower pain levels.
I would still be on them, but they finally put a spinal cord implant/stimulator into my spinal canal. Presto! No more need for the drugs. I might have cried after the surgery, but I assure you that they were tears of joy.
You’re right about coming off them. I did it within a month, and it was......unpleasant. I was really cranky. Most of the time I just stayed clear of the rest of the family, but it was a titrated transition. All things considered the irritability was quite minor, but I did notice it. Now it’s all behind me (literally). Those pills were a great benefit to me, since long term treatment with opiates is a dead end street anyway, with lots of unpleasant side effects. SRI’s were a godsend for me before the stimulator became available. In all the time I was taking them I never noticed a mood/psychiatric problem.
Oddly enough, you’re supposed to have an MMPI test before implantation. I declined, telling my pain specialist that I really didn’t want to find out if I was crazy. Apparently, he didn’t want to find out either, and gave me a pass. I have my suspicions about my own sanity, but as long as I don’t know it for sure it makes life easier. ;-)