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Original poster

Do antidepressants make us numb?

29 replies

Pinkbutton85 · 20/11/2018 13:08

I've been on sertreline (zoloft) for a couple of years now. Starting off on 25mg and now up to the max of 200mg. I'm completely emotionally numb. I acknowledge and accept what antidepressants do and why etc.

But have any of you found coming off them before your doctor says you're 'ready' has helped?

My Dr says to expect to be on them for the rest of my life...

I have tried other types of anti depressants and they all leave me feeling empty.

What are your experiences?

OP posts:
notWORKzilla · 20/11/2018 13:12

In my experience, it was the depression that made me numb, not the tablets. I was either low or numb But through tablets and CGT and a brilliant psychiatrist & psychologist I began to feel normal and feel emotions again.
But every experience is different I suppose.
Are you getting any other help apart from the tablets?

pisspawpatrol · 20/11/2018 13:12

I take something different, but mine don't make me feel numb. I do find they provide something of a buffer zone though. Before my emotions would go from extreme to extreme, these days they're more of a gentle curve between two track if that makes sense? I find it much easier to cope that way.

UpstartCrow · 20/11/2018 13:13

I came off them too early once and it did not end well. It set me back months, and I wouldn't do it again.

MVLipwig · 20/11/2018 13:14

I’m on a fairly low dose of 20mg citalopram, I recently tried to come off but am back on them after a few months. I do feel fewer peaks and troughs of emotion while I’m on them, but I choose to interpret this as stability if that makes sense. My lows are still low but less acutely felt and I’m aware I’m having them. Tbh the main detriment to me is the effect on my sex life and my inability to orgasm

Blanchedupetitpois · 20/11/2018 13:14

Mine stopped me feeling numb and gave me the space and motivation to heal through therapy.

PushItRealGood · 20/11/2018 13:15

I've never come off them because a doctor told me I was ready, I always made the decision myself.

And yes, they did make me numb. I have no idea why some people call them happy pills as they've never made me happy! Often being numb is preferable to feeling utter desperation though. Do you have any idea where your depression comes from? Have you tried any therapy to get to the root of it?

SwearyG · 20/11/2018 13:18

Sertraline made me numb. I was really struggling before I went on them but taking them turned me into someone who life passed by, when at least when I struggled I was aware. I’m on agomelatine now which works for me. I still feel but not with the peaks and troughs of me without medication. I can live whilst taking them rather than just exist.

Pebblespony · 20/11/2018 13:20

I can off early on my own once. It was awful. I had sleep paralysis, my mood was all over the place, I was sick. Never, ever again.

thinkingcapon · 20/11/2018 13:24

You're dr should never have said that

Annajohnsdottir · 20/11/2018 13:25

I was on sertraline 25mg for anxiety and depression and my doctor said I had to be on them for a minimum of 6 months, so I was. I found they made me feel like the 'give a shit' dial in my brain had been turned off completely but I just wanted it turned down a bit so I could function. They took me too far the other way. I stopped taking them at 6 months to get some control back.

It was hard coming off them (angry, mood swings, low mood, shakes etc.) and took about 2 months to adjust. I sometimes wish I were still on them when my anxiety kicks in but I know it comes with the downside of the 'numbness' that you describe so I try to muddle through.

Sorry you're having a rough time Flowers

M3lon · 20/11/2018 13:32

The point of the combined drugs plus talking therapy approach is that the drugs turn down the negative voices/emotions enough for you to establish a health routine in your life and deal with any issues that are triggering your low mood (from processing of past trauma to moving away from an abusive relationship).

The idea is that you can then reduce the dose VERY slowly and in a controlled fashion while making sure the lifestyle and theraputic changes have in fact done the trick.

If you have just been on the drugs and received no therapy to help change your over all conditions then coming back off the drugs will likely leave you back where you started.

However if you are now engaged in life and secure in your support network and coping strategies then it should be time to try.

You should ALWAYS discuss reducing the dose with your doctor. Even if you chose to go against their advice you should do it with their knowledge.

M3lon · 20/11/2018 13:34

I meant to add that I cam back of setraline before my doctors thought I should but much more slowly than the recommended path because I suffered quite severe symptoms initially. I HAD received the therapy and training I needed to survive without them and, once the withdrawal symptoms ceased I was essentially fine.

It should also be noted that not everyone reacts severely to coming back off them...though many do. Again ALWAYS inform your doctor if you are changing your dose.

EmeraldShamrock · 20/11/2018 13:43

They definitely make me feel slightly numb, not enough to not care but enough to be emotionally in check, I can make more practical decisions instead of feeling over whelmed to easy. I love and adore my family so it doesn't numb love. I do wake with some dark days, but most days used to be dark before I was on them.
An old friend committed suicide and left 4 children I was sad when I heard, but not massively and that scared me.
I have to weigh up the pros and cons. I suffer with pmdd so still go slightly crazy each months, but I used to feel suicidal every months before flouxentine 40mgs.
I always try to do caring things it helps keep things in perspective.

JellyBaby666 · 20/11/2018 13:43

They made me feel quite numb, and I felt strong enough after 18 months to just come off them. Big mistake! I should have weaned and definitely discussed it with my GP. I was fine but it was a rough few weeks! Therapy, EMDR to be specific, was what got me to a better place eventually - anti-depressants didn't do much to help me feel well and normal in the long run. Please discuss with your GP, I wish I had!

Original poster
Pinkbutton85 · 20/11/2018 13:46

I'm verging on being worryingly numb. Both of my OH's grandparents who have been like grandparents to me too for the last 10 years are both gravely ill. I adore them both so much! I know I should be sad, but I'm not. Or I am, but I don't feel it.. I feel nothing and it's scary.

I have had counselling and have been seeing a life coach, not sure either have made a massive difference tbh. But I am in a different place mentally than when I started taking them..

OP posts:
Original poster
Pinkbutton85 · 20/11/2018 13:47

I definitely won't stop overnight. I'll wean myself off very slowly. When I found out I was pregnant with my second I stopped overnight and I felt like I was floating around for weeks!

OP posts:
Sparklesocks · 20/11/2018 13:48

My DP is on citalopram, he says he doesn’t feel numb but more stable/capable – less likely to have big lows (or big highs) like he does off them, but he feels more in control on them.
The only thing he struggles with his is it takes him longer to reach orgasm, and he is a bit sweatier than he was before (i.e. breaks into a sweat easier than he used to).

Bombardier25966 · 20/11/2018 13:50

They made me numb. I stopped being able to cry which made me feel even worse.

Original poster
Pinkbutton85 · 20/11/2018 13:52

@Bombardier25966 - Yes! I've cried probably twice in the last year...

OP posts:
didyouseetheflaresinthesky · 20/11/2018 13:52

Mine used to but I threw a massive strop about it Blush got a psychiatrist referral and asked him for the old fashioned tricyclic antidepressants because I hated the modern ones so much. He let me trial them and I've been quite good on them. A few side effects but I can live with the dry mouth if that's the trade off.

megletthesecond · 20/11/2018 13:53

Seroxat made me suicidal Hmm. The others made me feel not myself. I don't touch them these days. A low level of numb depression seems safer for me.

EmeraldShamrock · 20/11/2018 13:54

I would speak to the gp at reducing them slowly, especially if you are in a different place a better one.
Just to say I had a similar situation with DP gran mother when she was I'll. I regret it though since she went I think of her every day with a heavy heart.

Original poster
Pinkbutton85 · 20/11/2018 13:58

EmeraldShamrock - I'm going to be devastated when they go. I just don't know how to feel any emotion anymore. I recon it will all come out eventually!

OP posts:
EmeraldShamrock · 20/11/2018 14:00

I know it is awful, otherwise you seem like you are ready to wean off them. Goodluck Flowers

CuppaSarah · 20/11/2018 14:01

Mine dulled my emotions definitely. But I needed that while I learnt coping mechanisms in CBT. Then I was able to come off them and have been stronger than ever. But had I not had the respite they gave me I wouldn't have been well enough to recover.

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