Prescription Meds Discussion

[MyOneAndOnly]

Been taking Prozac for a few months. Seems to lessen my anxiety and help with my OCD. But I started experiencing constant headaches and I was lightheaded almost all of the time.

This week I started transitioning to Zoloft.

Anybody have any experience with Zoloft? Good? Bad?

[Gossamer]

this girl I'm dating is going to rx me a weeks worth of Ativan for my flight to Greece since I hate flying and I just want to not have to deal

only phobia I still have at this point tho so whatev

[killtrocity]

I took zoloft for about two years in high school/college. I didn't notice the effects of it as much but it kept me from dwelling on negative shit and kept me going to class. I remember getting drunk much faster, and I was able to enjoy life and meet new people.

I stopped taking it spontaneously without weening off, for stupid reasons, and then popped a few after a couple months - this led to panic disorder and a year later I had to go back on, gradually, to prevent very panic attacks which had grown very severe and also agoraphobia.

Three years later I decided to try coming off, gradually, the correct way, and it's been over a year since I came off, and I've never been better. I've also been seeing a therapist on and off for 7 years but I'm moving and it's not necessary anymore anyway. But don't expect things to change from taking zoloft alone, unless you wanna be on it forever.

I did have extremely terribly awful cluster headaches a few months after going on zoloft the second time. HOWEVER, I also experienced these prior to going on zoloft for the first time and therefore zoloft cannot be the only cause. I found that doing intense cardio helped with those since they are thought to be caused by dilation of blood vessels around the eye: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/ . The last stretch I had was early 2010 and I fought those off by getting on the treadmill or running around the neighborhood when I felt one coming on. (This whole paragraph may be total non-seq but you mentioned headaches, sooo...)

The first time, I was on 100mg zoloft (50 mg is generally the lowest prescribed therapeutic dose). The second time, I only went up to 50 mg.

The second time, I noticed many side effects. My thoughts felt slower and this was extremely annoying. I also felt a general sort of fog clouding my psyche, I don't know how else to describe it. Sort of a mildly euphoric dumbness. Lightheaded could also be a proper description.

Zoloft will also fuck with your boners and orgasms. I remember having sex for an hour once to the point that it wasn't fun anymore. Sometimes it was closer to normal but SSRIs definitely fuck with your ability to get off, and they are infact prescribed for premature ejaculators

Also the second time I went on zoloft I gained about 20 pounds (up to 195 lbs). I had been eating a shit ton (entire pizzas and boxes of kraft macaroni) and exercising, and when I went on zoloft the motivation to exercise was diminished due to feeling more or less content and inert all the time, soo the equilibrium sort of shifted a bit. After I broke up with my gf at the time I started exercising again and have been back around 170-175 since. Just keep an eye on this



tldr; zoloft helped me with depression, anxiety, and acute panic disorder. It also prolongs orgasms or makes them feel weird. You will likely gain weight if you're not careful.

[reprise85]

He is supposed to gain weight on it... that's part of the reason he's on it.

I had no luck with Zoloft but several people in my family have.

GL scotty

[Order 66]

medphoria

[Banana]

People who allow themselves to take meds are fools.

[killtrocity]

Ah well in that case zoloft will probably help. This one time I woke up feeling anxious at 2 AM because I was hungry and proceeded to go downstairs and eat 5 things out of the pantry and fridge

[killtrocity]

how many pots did you smoke today nanner man

[Nimrod's Son]

Why don't you try dealing with your issues instead of medicating your way out of realizing they exist?

[slunken]

http://forums.netphoria.org/customav...ar11954_16.gif

[Order 66]

i deal with issues by beating people up

[pavementtune]

Originally Posted by Nimrod's Son

Why don't you try dealing with your issues instead of medicating your way out of realizing they exist?

Thank you, dr pseudo Freud. How about you shut up when you have no clue what you're talking about? FFS.

[vixnix]

I've put on so much weight, it's making me miserable. I don't know what to do. I binge eat and don't exercise. It sucks. I just ate about half a cup of peanut butter out of the jar.

I'm going back to my doctor to find something else because I'm sick of it. I'm on escitalopram and lamotrigine.

[vixnix]

It also makes me clumsy and forgetful. Initially I felt much better but now, a year later, I'm fat, clumsy and forgetful. So even in double my initial dose, I'm miserable. Stupid stupid stupid.

[Dead Frequency]

I deal with the depression, but it's kinda mild I guess. But I started taking new mood, a 5htp with l tryptophen supplement and that helps me not be an angry dick becuz everything is extra shitballing. But again my shit is pretty mild in comparison. Tho I have stopped binge eating all day and have lost some tublards outta the ol gutbag

[Cool As Ice Cream]

once my doctor prescribed me muscle relaxants, because i had trouble sleeping, because of my back. hardcore! i took half a pill for two nights, but then i stopped taking them, because they were shit. you just end up very, very tired the next day. fookin' crap, man.

[MyOneAndOnly]

Originally Posted by reprise85

He is supposed to gain weight on it... that's part of the reason he's on it.

I had no luck with Zoloft but several people in my family have.

GL scotty

Thanks, but there's no way I'm gaining weight.

As long as my OCD and anxiety is in check I'm happy.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

you should gain some weight. you look like you just spent a couple of years in auschwitz.

[Dead Frequency]

You think he doesn't know that? Don't be an asshole, I hope he finds the help that he needs. Everybody needs help.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

yeah but then they come to my country and take all the help i should be getting and i'm like go back to your own country and get help there it's just common sense and then i just complain a bit more about the government and how shit they are and how i should be getting more of everything

[yo soy el mejor]

i started seeing a therapist about 18 months ago (the first time i've sought treatment on my own) and have gotten a lot out of it without the use of medication. but about a month ago, after seeing lots of personal improvement, i felt like i had hit a plateau. underneath all my lousy depression was some pretty serious anxiety issues (that even physically manifested themselves). i felt happier, had less anger, self-resentment, but i just had forgotten how to be social and trying gave me panic attacks.

(and finally the serenity prayer is more poignant to me now than it ever was in AA or otherwise:
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.)

prozac has stabilized my mood, but i think i may want to try something different. enrolling in improv classes at second city has also helped my situation - and i hope to eventually ween myself from any meds once i don't need them. but next time i am going ask about switching and also maybe getting something for my chronic back pain. hopefully soon i could just get medical marijuana for that.

[reprise85]

yo soy, i thought you were basically anti medication? i'm glad therapy has helped you so much and prozac has helped stabilized your mood!

[yo soy el mejor]

i was. am. i resisted for a long time. and when she first suggested medication, i declined, saying the last time i tried any was when i took seroquel in 07' and i just abused it by mixing it with alcohol. i didn't trust myself and didn't think medicine worked for me... but i don't really take anything when i'm plain ol' sick either.

i also don't like the idea of going to see someone just to get medication. I'M SAD! WHAT CAN YOU GIVE ME?

once i was clear-headed enough and had made plenty of improvements without it, i figured i should give it a real chance while continuing therapy and improv - which has also been great so far. although i do not want to rely on it 4ever.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

so everyone is on pills?

[yo soy el mejor]

i also take vitamins. you know how it is.

[MyOneAndOnly]

I didn't want to go into therapy. I didn't want to talk about my shit. However, it has helped a great deal and now I can't imagine not participating in therapy. But my food anxiety was so bad that therapy alone wasn't helping. I was eating less than 1000 calories per day. When you restrict calories for a long period of time it tends to fuck up your Serotonin levels. For anorexics that in turn makes our Anxiety worse. It becomes a cycle that's difficult to break out of. I understand why some people literally starve themselves to death. It's not because they necessarily want to die. It's because they simply can't eat without losing their minds.

Prozac seems to have leveled that out for me and allowed me to eat reasonable amounts of food again without freaking out about it. It hasn't done anything to help my Dysmorphia, but I can deal with that.

I also have a some weird OCD symptoms, some attached to food and others that have nothing to do directly with food, and Prozac seems to have lessened those symptoms as well, which is a huge relief.

The headaches and lightheadedness were starting to wear on me, though. I'd wake up every morning feeling almost like I was hung over. But unlike a hangover it would persist all day long. Hopefully I don't experience those side effects on Zoloft.

[MyOneAndOnly]

Originally Posted by Cool As Ice Cream

so everyone is on pills?

yes. it's the new normal.

Originally Posted by Cool As Ice Cream

you should gain some weight. you look like you just spent a couple of years in auschwitz.

thank you!

you know that for Anorexics that's a compliment! we like for our bones to show.

[duovamp]

Murder rampages are my anti-drug.

[MyOneAndOnly]

[Trotskilicious]

i'd like to point out that easily the two most self-absorbed total fuckwit douchebags said practically the same thing about this which is pretty much an endorsement in favor

nahmean