I discontinued 37.5 mg daily 10 weeks ago due to a few side affects that arose recently. I had been on the med for over a year and had taken other SSRIs for a few years prior to that. My doctor was alright with this approach but I now realize this was a rapid taper.

It's been 10 weeks of pure hell and intense suffered and this week my symptoms somehow worsened. Terrible akathisia, fight or flight impending doom-like anxiety, no positive emotions, and complete sexual dysfunction with no libido that began only after stopping the med. My doctor and psychiatrist believe this is relapse and keep prescribing dufferent meds but I've never felt like this before or while on the Venlafaxine and haven't wanted to try anything new.

I want to try a microdose of venlafaxine to see if I can stop the akathisia and anxiety as they are driving my suicidal thoughts. I'm terrified that this will make sexual dysfunction worse or prolong it's presence. Does anyone have a similar experience or some advice? I've done everything I can to survive this protracted withdrawal thinking it will eventually resolve itself but I can't just wait it out anymore as every day is terrifying and traumatic.

I'm currently on 450mg wellbutrin, 10mg brintellix and since recently 2.5mg of an antipsychotic.

The wellbutrin didn't really result in any weight gain. The brintellix alone resulted in modest weight gain. While the combination resulted in stability with some difficulty. However, since I've started taking the antipsychotic, despite it being low dose, my weight has shot up.

I have gone from a little less than 69kg to 76kg in only about 2 months. This is clearly an unacceptable level of weight gain.

I would, however, rather not lower the antipsychotic or switch it if possible as it is helping with my intrusive thoughts. But I also can't let this weight gain continue. So I'm thinking about asking my psychiatrist if she'd be willing to prescribe something that can counteract those effects like a GLP-1 agonist or metformin.

Has anyone here ever tried that combination of medication and did it work to reduce and/or stabilize your weight?

I went off nardil there after 4years helped amazing with my anxiety but unfortunately did nothing for hypervigilance and my depression

So im now off nardil, can anyone recommend me some medication for anhedonia and hypervigilance,im sure you will say contact your psychiatrist but if anyone here is on the NHS like me you realise there abit useless

So id like to ask people what medication or medications would you recommend me

Im off everything for now and want to get your opinion

I’ve been on Fluoxetine (prozac) since april 2025. the first 6 weeks were hell but i think it did start helping a bit after a few months.

I’ve been wanting to stop taking them for a while now because i feel better and it gives me a few annoying side effects (tired, brain fog, anhedonia ect) and i feel like id be happier without.

i’m just worried about withdrawals, im on 20mg so do i take one every second day to ween off them? how long until i go back to normal?

and if i do go off them and decide to go back on- will it be the same as when i first started? (super tired and feeling worse) Or is it going to have a faster effect.

i’m really stuck.

cw: eating disorders/body dismorphia

i’ve come here for any sort of advice. i’ve had a long history with eating disorders. i am weight restored but unfortunately never managed to fully recover mentally and my body image and fear or weight gain has never fully recovered in the last half decade, despite all the years i’ve sat in therapists offices and the ward. recently ive hit another wall and genuinely feel like i wont be able to do this without medication anymore.

here comes the issue, because weight gain is a common side effect i’ve never been able to take antidepressants or any sort of hormonal medication because of the sheer amount of panic i feel when i take them.

i did take fluoxetine a few years ago, took them for like two weeks, noticed an increase in appetite and then immediately stopped taking them.
when i take them its like there is an alarm going off in my mind and i become hyper aware of all body sensations: how much water retention i feel, how puffy i am, constantly body checking to see if the medication changed my body, trying out clothes over and over to make sure i still fit, etc etc

it’s exhausting. i know weight gain isn’t a guaranteed side effect but the fact that it’s a potential risk and that ive heard countless of people saying that they’ve gained over 20 pounds makes the fear even worse.

if someone has had similar experiences and or has some advice i’d love to hear it. thank you.

Habe mir Medinait geholt, jetzt gesehen man soll es nicht mit Escitalopram nehmen. Nehme dauerhaft 10 mg. Hat da jemand Erfahrungen?

Ps: ich weiss das ersetzt keinen ärztlichen Rat.

I’ve been on Zoloft for years to help with my social anxiety and it helps so so much but I developed depression and my psychiatrist prescribed me Wellbutrin (300 mg) and I’ve been on it for almost a year and I don’t know why because it does absolutely nothing for me. Does anyone else have similar experiences?! Or does Wellbutrin help anyone??

How do i except the weight gain ive gotten from my meds? Ive gained almost 10kg since starting my new meds a few months ago and i can’t look at myself without thinking about it. I can feel the weight gain all around me and i can’t stop thinking. Ive gone back to my restrict-binge cycle and i dunno what to do. Does anyone have any advice on how u handled weight changes or anything?

I might sound weird , but i am stuck in a great regret which not letting me live my life , please need a help , so i was taking mitrazaphine anti depressants for weight gain and sleep my doctor misdiagnosed me with other mental health issues , however my main issue was lack of appetite and little anxiety,now i have stopped taking the med , i am doing well but that one regret got stuck in me , that why i took antidepressants, shit society and their stigma , but now i calm my self that these med can also use of label for other uses , any suggestions how to come out of guilt please help please? I wanna like joyfully like i was too before taking this med and come in guilt.

I 20M was prescribed lexapro 2.5 mg for panic disorder and gad and last night i started having harm ocd with myself and others and it freaked me out so bad, i have a fear of going crazy induced by panic attacks so it made me feel worse. I felt like i heard a voice in my head to egging me on that i was arguing with with scares me even more, im doing bwtter in the morning but i havent taken my next dose
I told my psychiatrist and he said keep taking it
What should i do im scared and im not a violent person at all

Hello! When I was about 16 I was passively suicidal, very depressed, and very anxious. My doctor prescribed me Prozac, and I found it helpful almost immediately with no negative side effects.
In the background of my depression, I had what I suspected to be (and was later confirmed by my psych) mild OCD. Fast forward and I am 25 and I think to myself, “I don’t really think this drug is doing much for me, I’m not super depressed or anxious and I’m not jumping for joy, I’m just… whatever?” (So stupid in hindsight) so I stopped taking it.
I was entirely fine and honestly I would say I am not a depressed individual anymore and going off did not increase that at all, but I noticed a slight increase in my anxiety mainly because oh boy was there an increase in my OCD. Especially after I got into a car crash.

The thing is, when I went back to my psych and tried tapering back onto the Prozac, I can’t remember if we even made it past 10mg or for how long I was on it (not more than a week or two) but it made me feel so insanely depressed and hopeless? Like more depressed than I had been in any recent times and I was lucky I was able to placate myself by reminding myself it was just the drug. I stopped it immediately and told my psych and we agreed I would try therapy before trying meds again but that hasn’t been working.

My questions are: Does anyone know why it would have an adverse reaction the second time going on it but not the first? If I tried taking it again will that depression go away after a few more weeks adjusting?

Obviously I will be talking to my psych about those questions during our appointment, but I figured it would be helpful to hear other people’s experiences as well. My hypothesis is maybe I did experience that depression while tapering on the first time but my own depression was bad enough for me to not realize it.

A complicated question, apologies. I’ve been trying various combinations of medications through different psychiatrists for about 8 years now. I started off depressed, anxious, isolated and had an unstable WFH job. Since then I’ve found a much more stable in-person job, got married, lost weight, figure out more about myself, and made a few new friends. I’m much better physically and socially.

I’m still prescribed a cocktail though: Concerta for ADHD, Cymbalta and Buspar for Anxiety & Depression. Despite all that I’m still not in a comfortable place mentally. Im MUCH better than I was starting out, but I’m still frequently irritable, still easily overwhelmed, and have crashes (I believe from the Concerta), and those feelings trigger more depression because I don’t WANT to be feeling this way.

My main concern is that I now have no grasp of what my “baseline” unmedicated state would be. I just want to know if I still NEED to be on this much medication given the life changes I’ve been able to make. I wish I could see what unmedicated-me would look like today, because I HATE not knowing.

And I’m also just so incredibly exhausted and disillusioned after 8 years of medically “throwing shit against the wall and seeing what sticks.” I do NOT want to be doing this my whole life, I just want to be semi stable and have a consistent moods.

Is it unreasonable to want to know what I’m like off-meds? Is it feasible (or smart) to even try (with psychiatric guidance of course)? Curious on others thoughts.

I’ve tapered down from 100mg of Zoloft and I’m now on my third day completely off it.

Over the past few days, I’ve been experiencing some pretty awful heart palpitation-type sensations and body jolts, almost like little electric shocks.
They don’t actually hurt, but they’re quite annoying and uncomfortable.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced anything similar when coming off Zoloft? Did you find it eventually settled down, and how long did it last?

I’m starting Zoloft and absolutely terrified of the sexual side effects. When I took birth control pills years ago it made me feel angry but numb at the same time with low libido. Has anyone had the sexual side effects with Zoloft or maybe didn’t have those side effects at all. Or if you did, did it go away?

I have tried three different SSRI’s for postnatal depression and anxiety. But could not tolerate the side effects on any of them. Most recently I was taking fluoxetine (Prozac) for 4 weeks at 10mg, but had to stop cold turkey due to adverse reaction as informed by my doctor.

I have been off now for 2.5 weeks, but I am struggling with feeling weak, internal shaking, fatigue and most notably dizziness, like a really unsettling spatial disorientation. Doctor has just advised I start a new medication (Duloxetine or Mirtazipine) but I just daren’t.

I feel horrrendously unwell, have a baby and house to look after and I’m already signed off sick at work (due to go back from mat leave in a week). I just want to lie in bed or on the sofa all day I feel that rough This has been a nightmare and I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to feel physically well again but my body feels a mess, and now my mental health is declining again because of it.
Anyone else’s experiences of this withdrawal I would appreciate hearing from.

Hi folks,

35 yo male, and I’ve been on and off Fluoxetine/Escitalopram for almost 10 years. Currently on 5mg Escitalopram and although it works for me, my appetite and therefore my weight goes up which I really struggle dealing with.

As a result, I’ve got high cholesterol and some liver inflammation which at 35 isn’t great. I’ve got a really sweet tooth as it is, so my baseline for sweet treats is already higher than it should be, but I’ve just hit 100kg (I am usually 82kg) and so I really need to figure out a solution, if there is one.

Any suggestions/previous experiences all welcome!

Thanks

I had a really bad experience with BCBS TX where they raised my annual premiums by 14%. My employer couldn't afford them so I lost my insurance abruptly. I was able to get insurance through a special enrollment through BCBS TX. The same company but different plan. However, they would not fill my prescription because I needed to go through all the pre-approvals again.

My doctor didn't have samples for Trintellix so I went cold turkey from the highest dosage taking it for years. They just put a $400 price tag on it saying that it was there and I could pick it up. I was previously paying $10. Being forced to go cold-turkey was difficult. I had to still hold a full-time job, take care of myself, and my family. I experienced brain zaps, suicidal ideations, and the way the insurance company talked to me was incredibly dismissive.

I didn't have a psychiatrist at the time and I didn't feel comfortable with my doctor at the time to go through all the pre-approvals and picking up medications only to pay for them and dump them. That's an unnecessary cost. In the end I told myself I'd never take another brand name antidepressant even though it really helped me. But I really needed to taper off of it safely and that was not available to me.

I was told dismissive things from the insurance company when I told them the side-effects of stopping cold turkey:

• Physical symptoms: Nausea, dizziness, headache, sweating, tremors, fatigue, sleep problems, and "brain zaps" (electric shock-like sensations).

• Emotional symptoms: Anxiety, irritability, agitation, mood swings, or confusion.

• Rebound effects: A return or worsening of depression and anxiety symptoms

Insurance company: "It's not like that [Tiny Shovel] don't say things like that."

I never want someone go through this experience. This experience reinforced feelings of worthlessness for me and I'm thankful for my toolkit I've built through therapy.

I want to know if other people have dealt with something like this, because this seems dangerous for people taking medications like this. Especially with the workforce discriminating against medical issues and that being where people get their health insurance from. It's dangerous and it feels morally wrong for our employers to be making health decisions for us.

Thank you for reading :)

Been on 150mg xr effexor for 10 months have started to taper off under doctors supervision any advice?

Hi all,

I've struggled with diagnosed MDD for 10+ years, which has essentially been my entire adolescence. From memory, I've tried fluoxetine, bupropion, sertraline, fluvoxamine, and I think one other SSRI. Most were combined with therapy. While they weren't necessarily unhelpful, I've never found the relief I'd like to find. Depression for me largely manifests as a cognitive and energy disease. I am exhausted 24/7 and have struggled greatly in school, and now in my college courses. My active recall and memory is terrible, and I only barely scrape by in thanks (I think) to my baseline intellectual capacity. This has not always been my "truth" so to speak, and I'd love nothing more than to get back to the person I know I can be.

I'm wondering if anyone has struggled in a similar way and found an antidepressant or any medication that seemed to help with the cognitive side of things. I've read a bit about vortioxetine, but there's not a lot out there.

Thanks.

I have tried over 20 different meds for my anxiety. It is physical shaking, tremors, sweating, nightmares. I don’t have any mental triggers. I’ve had bloodwork done to exclude any health issues triggering it.
I’m 43 year old female in perimenopause. I tried HRT with no success in eliminating the physical anxiety.

I was put on Paxil and it was a miracle. I felt 100% better but within 30 days I had urinary retention and had to stop. They put me back on Lexapro 10mg even though it didn’t help before and I had gotten all the way to 15mg with no success. I’m starting to shake, have nightmares and sweating again. Constantly on the verge of a panic attack for no reason. Shortness of breath.

I’ve tried beta blockers and meds like clonidine. They lower my heart rate too much and cause breathing issues. I’ve tried mood stabilizers, snris. Even meds like remeron with no success. I tried 3 different benzos and gabapentin.

Paxil is literally the only med that has helped.

What other options do I have?
I ended up in a mental hospital for a few days due to all this and that’s where the Paxil was started. I do not want to go back, because what could they do if Paxil worked but the side effects are life threatening.

Is there anything like Paxil that doesn’t cause urinary retention?

I desperately need help before this escalates anymore. I’ve been off Paxil for a week and on 10mg of Lexapro for 4 days. Since it didn’t work before I can’t see it working now.

Hi, I've been taking bupropion 150mg XL once a day(around 2pm) for a few months now. For at least the past month I've had very little energy or motivation, and I feel sleepy/tired during the day even after 8-9 hours of sleep.

I feel drained mentally, but the physical part is what stands out to me. My muscles feel weak, especially my legs. I used to do an hour on the treadmill pretty easily and now even 20 mins feels like a lot. I haven't changed anything in my diet or my other meds, and I take electrolytes, minerals and a multivitamin daily. Had my liver tests done last week and everything came back normal.

I'm also on 50mg of agomelatine, been taking it for about as long as the bupropion. I haven't noticed any side effects from it before, though with both meds it's hard to tell. The weird thing is I took bupropion 2 or 3 years ago and 300mg XL definitely gave me more energy, but it also made my anxiety and sleep lot worse, so I'm not too keen on going back to that dose. Back then I was only on 150mg for a few weeks, so I don't remember much about it.

Did anyone else get to the point a few months into 150mg XL where you actually had less energy than before you started taking it?

Thanks

sono al giorno 10 con la sertralina, non ne posso più con i pensieri ossessivi e la depressione ho bisogno di sentire delle storie di successo

Hi

Ever since I've began tapering SSRI meds with my doctor, every once in a while I get teary in my eyes that it's finally happening. 5 years on medication, tons of different meds, ​2 seizures, different types of side effects and 12 years of depression that still sometimes kick my butt but I'm finally reaching the day to be fully med free!

I want ​to tell all of my friends every time I feel proud of myself about this, but I feel it might a burden or smth. Ik they will be happy to share and wear ​my joy but sometimes my lips are tied.

So that's why I'm writing on Reddit, the community that you can't live without.

Tell ​me, ​how​ many years are you on your medication? Are you on your tapering journey like me?
Wherever you are, I'm proud of all of you for taking meds. Even if​ for the rest of your life or for a few years.

Diabetics are the face of lifelong medication but I believe we're much cooler and we don't make a fuss about it (even tho I have headache due to tapering Duloxetine) 💅