Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To still be very unsure about SSRIs and to ask for your experiences

31 replies

Elle7rose · 25/02/2020 01:20

Just that really!

I have several, quite severe Psychiatric conditions (luckily none of them 'Psychotic' disorders) and have had a long history of therapy but I've never taken an SSRI for long enough for it to help.

I tried a very low dose of Fluoxetine for a very short time but didn't feel well on it. I'm really put off by the side-effects and by concerns that SSRIs probably just make everything worse!

I thought it might be interesting to see a poll. Have you found SSRIs helpful?
YABU- Yes I have found them helpful.

YANBU No, they are/were not helpful

OP posts:
XDownwiththissortofthingX · 25/02/2020 01:42

Weren't helpful for me, because I was continually misdiagnosed, and therefore misprescribed.

I've met countless people though, both personally and professionally who have found SSRI's to be enormously helpful with a whole gamut of MH conditions, so I'm not necessarily sceptical of them entirely.

Also, side-effects are extremely common when first starting a new SSRI, but more often than not they settle down after a couple of weeks at worst, so you have to be cautious with writing them off purely because you feel nauseous or grind your teeth a couple of days after starting your prescribed meds.

There are far more sinister, disagreeable, and toxic psychiatric medications being routinely prescribed than SSRI's. They're not absolutely benign, but they're relatively so compared to some of the more exotic anti-depressants and anti-psychotics. It's usually a case of finding the right one for you, and if you're lucky, it's the first one you try.

Marilynmansonsothereye · 25/02/2020 01:45

Citalopram helped me immensely. Very quickly too. I was depressed.
I'm cautious now as I have a friend with sernatonin syndrome. However she was taking an SSRI along with anothe drug it should not have been coupled with. (NHS prescribed too) :( and it is a horrible disease.

honeyloops · 25/02/2020 01:50

SSRIs (Citalopram) have been instrumental to my recovery. Sertraline, however, I had awful side effects with - so it very much depends what drugs suit you.

IdblowJonSnow · 25/02/2020 02:08

I had seroxat years ago for fairly mild (in the scheme of things) depression. Not without side effects but it did help and came off them gradually after 6 months.

ViciousJackdaw · 25/02/2020 02:29

Finding the right antidepressant (and that's not always an SSRI) is a bit like finding the right Pill - there's so many different types out there which will affect people in different ways.

DrPeppersPhD · 25/02/2020 04:12

A year on Fluoxetine here, takes about 6 weeks to kick in. In the mean time there are some side effects, being very tired, feeling clammy and shakey hands at first, mental symptoms like brain fog come a little bit later, then eventually I'll have one awful night when I feel like utter shit, have a few panic attacks and then wake up and feel amazing, and then honestly just keep up the high. They have changed my life, and are worth the couple of lingering side effects (brain cutting off in the middle of a thought and occasional shakiness) for the difference they've made. I actually feel like I have a life now, and enough mental energy to deal with shit being thrown at me out of the blue. I still have bad days, but for the first time in nearly 10 years I actually feel some spirit inside of me to keep going.

serialtester · 25/02/2020 04:15

I'm on the max dose of citalopram and it's been a life saver.

trixiebelden77 · 25/02/2020 04:37

All drugs have potential side effects. We would consider a side effect to be common if 10% of people got it....so 90% did not. Drug warnings naturally have to be thorough and include all side effects no matter how rare so that an informed decision can be made.

The ‘side effects’ of untreated mental illness are much more common, more debilitating and more dangerous.

Pinkarsedfly · 25/02/2020 04:43

Citalopram has given me a normal life; after forty years of living with anxiety, health anxiety and pure OCD, the last five years since I’ve been taking it have been a revelation.

I’m on it for life and I’ll be forever grateful to whatever bloody genius invented it.

SimplySteveRedux · 25/02/2020 05:26

I've tried pretty much all the SSRIs and found escitalopram the most effective but didn't relieve me of much. I'm currently taking max dosage duloxetine (SNRI) for about six months now and about to transition to dual duloxetine/venlafaxine (I have PTSD, CPTSD and GAD).

FloraGreysteel · 25/02/2020 05:37

Ecitalopram (not a typo) has literally saved my life.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 25/02/2020 07:10

Loads of people wearing them in Leeds although mainly Asian students.

LapsedVeganAcademic · 25/02/2020 07:14

It took me a long, long time (like 10+ years) to dare to try fluoxetine. It helps though, so massively game-changingly hugely. I'm more than aware than it doesn't for everyone and does carry some risks and side-effects. But personally speaking, it works for me.

aLilNonnyMouse · 25/02/2020 07:18

Give it a real try. For me they kept me stable enough that I could actually work on the issues making my mental health worse. Once most of the triggers were removed from my life I was able to come off them and learn new coping mechanisms.

Before everything felt too overwhelming and I was fighting so hard just to survive I didn't have the time or energy to actually change anything.

KC225 · 25/02/2020 07:31

I was on Prozac about 17 years ago for 8 to 9 months due to depression. I was so incredibly low and struggled to keep it together. The side effects of Prozac for me was a cotton wool brain, slightly detached response to everything. But it stopped me crying all the time and was a mental leg up the getting better ladder. Around six months I suggested to my GP I wanted to reduce the dosage and with his help I come off it slowly. I wouldn't hesitate to take it again, should the need arise.

Good luck OP

EvaHarknessRose · 25/02/2020 07:48

Good luck OP, they help some people, to some extent, but you might need to try more than one. And decide how you will measure 'effect' with your doctor.

Marilynmansonsothereye · 25/02/2020 08:44

Thatmustbenigel ??

Original poster
Elle7rose · 25/02/2020 10:10

Thanks guys. This thread has really helped- it's great to know that 91% have found them helpful.

This might be too much info but I think I'm most scared because the tiny dose of Fluoxetine that I took years ago gave me dreams about suicide even though my main diagnosis is not Depression (I do suffer episodically) and I am not particularly prone to suicidal ideation/thoughts. I'm also concerned about suffering flattened affect/lack of emotion because my emotions are already a little flat and I feel like I don't respond normally to situations!

OP posts:
Saoirse22 · 25/02/2020 10:13

Escitalopram has virtually saved my life, I don't think I would be here today if it wasn't for those pills a few years ago. What didn't help however was the abusive, dismissive attitude of my then psych who would have made me dependant on meds for life had I not stopped attending our "sessions".

What I personally needed was a few months of SSRI kick to make things going and help me gather the strength to pull myself out of the deep dark hole I was stuck in. Fast forward a few years, I'm able to function without meds now, something I never expected to happen when I was younger. Of course, it was merely my experience, I'm well aware someone else might need years or therapy or a different type of antidepressants.

MrsBennetsnerves · 25/02/2020 10:40

I found them helpful for a while when I was going through a particularly depressed phase. My depression lifted within a couple of weeks. The side effects were not sleeping as deeply, reduced libido and being slightly hyper like I'd had too much coffee. I probably was more detached too. But at the time it was definitely an improvement on the way I felt before and that was enough. I wasn't on a high dose and came off them about 6 months later easily enough.

Waveysnail · 25/02/2020 10:44

Sertraline worked well for me but took 2 months to kick in

Buttons4me · 25/02/2020 10:45

I've tried many and the side effects have been awful. More than anything I hate the huge pupils which is noticeable to people. Wonder if all cause huge pupils.

justchecking1 · 25/02/2020 13:32

What is your main diagnosis if it's not depression, if you don't mind me asking? There might be another class of drugs that would suit you.

Original poster
Elle7rose · 25/02/2020 20:23

Hi Justchecking,
Very severe OCD- it's had a debilitating impact on my life, aside from Depression, my other diagnoses are anxiety related too.

OP posts:
MuchasSmoochas · 25/02/2020 20:30

I’ve been on different types for over 20 years and they are a life saver. The only one that didn’t suit me was Citalopram and I realised it quickly so I only had a few weeks of feeling side effects. I’ve been on sertraline for about 10 years, all good. The thing is if you are already anxious you will be hyper alert to side effects which can exacerbate them, you start to catastrophise. Easier said that done but I would definitely try to ride it out. Good luck to you, I hope you feel better soon.