Is anyone on antidepressants long-term/for life?

[Ladiesleaveyourmenathome]

I've suffered with depression, anxiety and obsessive intrusive thoughts so spoke to my GP after struggling for a while.
I was prescribed setraline 50mg which I'm familiar with due to working in healthcare. The doctor suggested that coming off it after around 6 months would be recommended..
The first day was frightening, I was slurring my speech, couldn't get words out properly and felt in a trance, but other than some nausea I'm now having no side effects.
That feeling of dread I had in my chest every day has gone. I'm managing the obsessive thoughts a bit better, and I generally feel a bit more hopeful about life and sleeping better.
It's changed me for the better, it's the best decision I ever made.
I'm worried this would stop if I were to come off the medication. Just interested to know if anyone has found this after stopping antidepressants, or whether anybody has continued them long-term? Can doctors refuse prescriptions?

I have been taking fluoxetine for 30 years. I've tried coming off it twice, both times I started to feel very anxious and paranoid after a couple of weeks. It suits me, it gave me myself back and gave me a life.

I've been on them for 25 years and combined them with mood stabilizers 8 years ago. I'll be on them for life, which I'm fine with because without them it's horrendous!

I've been on 100mg sertraline for 4 years now and my GP is supportive of this. About 6 years ago I stopped after 6m as I thought everything was solved, but I was just kidding myself.

I have been on them since my youngest was a baby, I just don't know they make me feel very flat much of the time I think and I worry about the bone loss and accelerated ageing that have been linked to long term use. I was also dismayed about the study showing that there is no evidence for depression being due to a chemical imbalance in the brain and I can't help but wonder if I am just psychologically dependent on a medication that doesn't actually do much or at best just alters my state rather than fix it. If I try to come off them though I quickly feel like I can't cope. I envy people like my sister who have never felt the need to use them and have never struggled with their mental health.

Went on anti depressants for pnd , probably triggered by childhood abuse. That was 38 years ago. Have no intention of coming off them. I still get the odd intrusive thought, but they don’t cripple me the way they do when unmedicated.

Not read the thread yet but will be reading!

I've been on sertraline for 4 or 5 years now. Needed to go up to 150 but a couple of years ago I brought myself down to 100 and I've been ok with this really. Not slumping to real real lows but I know at least there's room for manoeuvre if I needed it.

It helped me immensely and its just part of my routine along with taking my birth control.

Citalopram six years and counting. It’s saved me.

A different perspective from someone who has benefitted from Citalopram, yet was also harmed permanently and injured by an antipsychotic...

As much as I am definitely not "anti-meds" per se, unfortunately for me, I'm one of a few people who are in a minority when it comes to horrible adverse reactions and side effects. I've suffered from an iatrogenic (drug induced) neurological involuntary movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia that was caused by some prescribed off label antipsychotic called Pericyazine, which was given for severe anxiety and insomnia. It's hard to live with, has totally changed my life for the worse (in fact, I'd say it had ruined it in many ways), and has completely changed my views on psychotropic drugs .

As much as they can and do help many, the long term effects of them are not closely monitored or studied. And many people who have had serious problems with them are less likely to use them again. They have only ever been studied for a few weeks, and I don't think that they are meant really as a panacea for all ills.

@Gilead which ones are you taking? Not quite as long but I've been on a tricyclic for 20 yrs

Amitriptyline and Duloxetine.
so old and new!

I'm also on a low dose of escitalopram (5mg) and have been on and off for over twenty years for episodes of mild to moderate depression. They have been amazing for me, and I don't feel like I've suffered any adverse effects. However, this summer, I was on holiday and realised I was running low on my supply, so decided to take the opportunity to try and gradually taper off. For context - I've experienced a relatively common side effect in the past, even if I forget to take a dose for a day (or less!) - horrible dizzy 'electric shock' type sensations. Perhaps because I was still taking a tiny dose whilst tapering, this didn't happen, so I thought I was doing well, but about 2 weeks in, I suddenly started feeling awful - hugely anxious, a feeling of detachment/disassociation, low and tearful and awful headache and fatigue.

It was really unpleasant, and I had a lot going on, so I went back up to 5mg, and within a day or two felt back to normal.

I've since done some research online and have read that, particularly when on an AD like this long-term, you need to taper down extremely gradually (so just halving the dose, despite it being so small was still too much for my brain to cope with, by the looks of things).

I also read that many of these ADs including escitalopram are available in liquid form which allows you to taper down much more slowly, and I'm waiting to speak to my GP about this.

Having said all this, a part of me feels like I'm in a good place with no adverse effects (that I'm aware of at any rate) so why rock the boat....

Low dose escitalopram 5mgs (for about 10 years )
Initially on citalopram and then fluoxetine which didn't suit me
Initially starting taking SSRI's for acute anxiety disorder, probably stress at work was the catalyst
Found the added effect that they lifted my mood ( possibly had some degree of undiagnosed depression )
They gave me back my life.
I have no intention of stopping them.
Absolute life savers
Sending hugs

I’ve recently, within the last couple of months, started Sertraline.

I cannot believe the difference in myself. I’m a rational, functioning human again but above all, a far better mother. I wish I’d started it years ago.

I have zero plans to come off them, I really don’t want to go back to the person I was.
Having said that, I am undergoing intense EMDR therapy for some awful childhood trauma so maybe that will help 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do not want my child to have my childhood where I had to manage my mums untreated depression so I'll be staying on them.

Thank you @Gilead - useful to see what others take

I know this is an old post but just wondering…. I’ve been on Prozac for around 10 years and it seems to have stopped working. Doc has prescribed an AD in the same class (sertraline). Has anyone had success trying another ssri after ones has popped out?

25mg of Clomiperamine for about 16 years. Occasionally I have a few months without but my anxiety and obsessive thoughts ramp up again so I always think, ah what the hell and start again. I'll probably be on them forever and my Doc has no issue with this.

Is sweating a side effect that's common? I've been having night sweats (nothing like as bad as menopausal sweating - HRT fixed that), so possibly it's the Sertraline. Sorry OP don't want to derail your thread. In answer to your question, Ive been on a few different types of SSRI/SRNI's over the years and never had my GP suggested a time limit to come off them. I know I probably need to be on them for life and low dose Sertraline has been a game changer for me, after the initial usual horrible first two weeks of insomnia and yawning. God, the yawning is still quite bad around 4pm for some reason 🤔

@Hoglet70 how do you find clomipramine overall ? I have been on it for approx 20 years. Normally 25mg but had a horrible episode last year and on 60mg at the moment - but will ideally go lower again at some point.
I was down to about 15mg when it happened and it took a long time to settle again when I upped the dose.

@kizziee It seems to do the job for me, I was on 50mg in the beginning but have been down to 10mg on occasions, this is my 'bad' time of year so definitely need the 25mg. I'm glad you are on the up again.

Do you have many side effects? I find it makes me really constipated.

I've got complex PTSD due to a lot of abuse in my past, which I take anti depressants, beta blockers and diazapan (when needed) for. I'll be on them for the rest of my life.
I don't see any difference between having to take painkillers for my neuropathy and arthritis and painkillers (anti depressants) for PTSD. The medication helps with the pain and I have a much better life because of them.

Bump

Can anyone help?

Probably best to start your own new thread Soph.

I found Venlafaxine to be effective, after previously being on Duloxetine and others. I think it is worth trying different medications, if one stops being effective. There is always the risk / likelihood of some side effects but usually they wear off and the benefits outweigh the negatives, in my experience. Good luck.

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