to want to get off my antidepressants asap after this evening’s Panorama?

[GeraniumGirl]

Anyone else feel the same after watching the programme tonight?

One Panorama would not change my mind.

One research paper would not either.

A Cochrane review would.

FFS people need to start being more careful about assessIng medical evidence. This is what gets the vaccine hysteria, injecting bleach, and similar started.

we don’t say to diabetics to get off insulin

It depends. If someone is T2 through lifestyle, a good goal is to change lifestyle and reduce insulin resistance and come off synthetic insulin. Lots of people do it.

The same could be said for some people with depression or anxiety - have they tried all the lifestyle options available to them? Sleep, exercise, nutrition, social connections, talking therapy, are all shown to positively impact depression, but rarely prescribed.

Hi 👋
I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2020 and this led to my depression dealing with pain and change of lifestyle!
the dr prescribed me 20mg of fluoxetine and they worked really well !
I carried on taking them felt my normal self then had to have a medication review for the antidepressant and the dr asked me how I was I said really well she said ok we will drop u down to 10mg and if u still feel ok then u should be ok to stop after a month on the 10mg dose .
I still felt ok and didn’t request them the next month that was March this year and touch wood I’m ok still and I’m in remission with arthritis.
I think I’ve been lucky that the GP have monitored it well and not just let me keep requesting medication x

OP I feel very concerned about some of the stuff you have written. You said that stopping will possibly make you suicidal, that you feel self destructive atm, how you should be able to manage without them , that the stigma behind ADs is affecting how you feel about them....
Please do not stop taking them all of the things you have written above would suggest you arent ready to come off them atm. But at the very least you should not be doing this without speaking to a psychiatrist.
Ignore the documentary and ignore mumsnet. I have been where you are and stopped and you will feel fine for a few weeks and then likely feel very very low.

Who really cares about the stigma? People wont know unless you tell them and I guarantee you way less people care than you think they do and way more people take them than you think they do. People have always been depressed, people have always killed themselves this isn't some new weakness we have developed. Its just like any other disease-state we know more about it and can treat it better now.

And saying you feel self destructive and think will be suicidal coming off them then why would you? It is just as important for your life as any other med. And to stop would be irresponsible now. Who cares about placebos and sugar pills and whatever else everyone people on here are saying. Being offered AD due to work stress or bereavement isn't appropriate however to someone like yourself (who is seeing a psychiatrist and is making some of the comments you have made eg suicide) it seems absolutely appropriate. That's what I think some people are missing here.

I can’t disagree about the withdrawal part. Pretty sure doctors used to think antidepressant withdrawal symptoms might not be real. Anyone who has experienced withdrawal brain zaps would confirm that they are a very real physical symptom.

For me I don’t regret taking them because I’m a much calmer, productive person on them but I do think they’re over prescribed.

Exactly.

Why let one documentary change something about your life that could have massive consequences

They’re definitely not a placebo for me, the effect has changed my life. I’m quite happy to stay on them for life. I may try tapering down but if it doesn’t work I’ll just stay on them. I haven’t felt this content and happy ever I don’t think . Also now I swim 2k 3 times a week and before I was just lying around weeping so I reckon that more than counteracts the risks on my heart.

I haven’t seen the doc. It I’ve read a few articles saying ADs are just a placebo. They’re most definitely not and I even noticed that my driving was so much safer in the absence of anxiety - my car is covered in dents from the accidents I had when I was spiralling.

I find this sort of journalism very unprofessional as had I seen this programme a year ago I wouldn’t have taken the ADs and who knows what state I’d be in by now.

I think Panorama was trying to present simplistic, headline grabbing content which would generate conversation with very little thought of the consequences.

Panorama, like World in Action used to be hard hitting investigative research rather than simplistic shock-horror tabloidesque stuff. The UPF programme was in the same vein as were programmes on "throw away the pain killers". See also the descent of quality science programming such as Horizon dumbed down into pop quiz science promoting whoever is flogging a new diet scheme.

Once they have made the audience target, sold the new book etc they don't have to worry about the problems left behind them. They also do absolutely nothing to address the root causes of issues such as obesity, chronic pain management and long term mental health issues.

That's an excellent book - well worth a read.

Panorama need booting up the arse for their simplistic, Daily Mail-esque crap science reporting about depression and ADHD recently.

It's confusing and unhelpful, and no-one should be stopping medication for depression on the back of a TV programme any more than my DM should stop taking insulin for diabetes because insulin in itself can make you fat.

It’s actually basic medical reporting and the information has been in the medical domain for a long time.

GeraniumGirl
Op my first advice is if you feel better on them and that they are working for you don't let a programme like this convince you that you should come off them ignore and move on. If however you genuinely feel that they have done their job and you are ready to wean off them as others have said do it in consultation with your gp and do it very very slowly.
I was also on citalopram 20mg was the highest dose I got to. I was prescribed them due to severe post natal anxiety and I definitely needed them to function and mind my newborn I was in a bad way. After about 6 to 7 months I was feeling better than ever, a little too well iykwim so I knew it was time to come off that I no longer needed their support. The pattern my gp followed to wean me took near on 6 months. The dosage change happened every 2 weeks and went like this: 20, 20, 10, 20, 20, 10 for 2 weeks, then 20,10,20,10, 20,10 for 2 weeks, then 20, 10, 10, 20, 10, 10, 20 for 2 weeks then 10s only for 2 weeks than, 10, 10, 5, 10, 10, 5 than 10, 5, 10, 5, 10 then 10, 5, 5, 10, 5, 5, 10, than just 5s than 5, 0, 5, 0, 5,0 than 5, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0, 5 than nothing.

The reason I am sharing this is because I had zero side effects and did not notice anything change whatsoever. I had two friends at the time who were also trying to wean off and for both it was too fast and they ended up back on them. Getting this right is crucial imo but only if you feel you are ready.

One of the first things that was drummed into me by my therapist when I first sought help for depression was "do what works" and for me antidepressants seem to have a beneficial effect, even if science can't explain why.

Like any medication there can be side effects and withdrawal symptoms, the point is you have to balance the potential risks against the potential benefits. If you feel you don't need to take antidepressants then speak to your doctor about coming off them.

For me, the crux of this matter is that there are many many ways to resolve depression and SSRI's are only one of them yet right now the only thing that is offered to patients is an SSRI.

It's easy and it's lazy (on behalf of the medics not the patients). It gets people out of the doctors office quickly, but really does it resolve depression? Surely if you are still on them 5 years later, you are not cured?

Surely if you are still on them 5 years later, you are not cured?

Surely anti depressants are meant to help you cope with the symptoms of depression rather than cure depression?

Surely if you are still on them 5 years later, you are not cured?

medication isn’t always meant to cure. Sometimes it’s to help manage.

Surely anti depressants are meant to help you cope with the symptoms of depression rather than cure depression?

I think that is fair enough - using them for a period of time to manage your symptoms is reasonable. But then why are people on them for so long?

That doesn't strike me as a good care plan - depression should not have to last forever.

This is exactly me. I'm going through the ADHD process at the moment, and absolutely think that what I mistook for anxiety symptoms were actually chronic overwhelm from ADHD.

Currently on 150mg sertraline and hoping to come off it once the ADHD is sorted.

It depends on the cause of the depression. If it’s down to a medical reason it isn’t always curable.

It depends on the cause of the depression. If it’s down to a medical reason it isn’t always curable.

What is a medical reason for depression?

I found escitalopram useful for a controlled period to help me get on top of acute anxiety, but fuck me, the withdrawal symptoms were bad. As bad as the original episodes of anxiety. All in all, it was a good choice, but it did have consequences. These were explained and managed by health professionals.

But I am outraged that I was prescribed and allowed to drop a different SSRI just for migraines, without any of the same support and when I wasn't anxious or depressed.

And yet, if you paid heed to the Panorama documentary on ADHD diagnosis, you wouldn't take these either.
Don't let a tv programme make medical choices for you.

So for example I had a relative whose medical illness was caused by a surgery gone wrong. They cut something thyroid related they weren’t supposed to (this was decades ago) and it triggered severe depeession. She had to remain on medication for her life as when she stopped things got very dark. I believe some depression is also caused by chemical imbalances but I am not a doctor so I don’t know.

Pleased to hear that.