Honestly, I regret going on SSRIs at a young age (14). I had a lot of side effects that I didn’t yet have the vocabulary to describe. I also feel like I blindly trusted psychiatry a little too much, by not looking into the pros and cons. I feel like I have some permanent brain fog and sexual dysfunction, but it’s impossible to tell what’s actually from the SSRIs.
But they’re very effective. To this day, my psychiatrist still insists I should go back on SSRIs (he’s known me since I was 15, I’m 21 now) and that I was doing better when I was on them.
If you have bad depression and a developed frontal lobe SSRIs may very well be the right decision for you. I don’t want to sound like I’m completely against it or scare you because these can be life-saving drugs. That being said, Wellbutrin has a much milder side effect profile but is less widely effective (they work well for some people, but less people). I‘m on it now and I don‘t have any bad side effects. It also has the added bonus of doubling as a smoking cessation aide, which is good if you have a nicotine problem. See what works for you. If SSRIs have too many bad side effects for you, try a different class of antidepressant. If Wellbutrin is ineffective, try SSRIs.
Everyone is affected differently.
generic bupropion actually but same thing. it’s an NDRI, never taken SSRIs myself so I can’t speak from experience there, but i’ve never experienced the mood-dampening effects some people experience from them. I feel like I still have a full range of emotions but the spiraling and lingering malaise doesn’t show up when I’m feeling down and I don’t feel stuck there. also side shout for buspirone for anxiety, still tend to be an anxious person sometimes but I don’t feel like it controls me or inhibits me much with medication
The only antidepressant that has ever worked for me. Am I a little concenred about long term side effects? Maybe. But in the meantime, life doesn’t feel so incredibly difficult and heavy
- lexapro: first one ever, made me feel very flat and actually more depressed
- wellbutrin: made me manic and possibly activated my bipolar disorder
- prozac: sweaty and agitated
- zoloft: sweaty and agitated
- lithium: sleepy
- seroquel: sleepy
- buspar: didn’t work
- lamotrigine: horrific
- abilify: combined with zoloft + caffeine it felt like I took molly or ecstasy this was actually fun for me personally the best antidepressant was realizing I was using drugs and alcohol to cope, stopped smoking weed all the time, find a good match for a therapist, ate healthier, got a job that was fulfilling, get off social media, exercise, find a supportive partner (it’s all easier said than done but this truly does help)
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