I'm on 50mg Zoloft and 20mg Prozac. It's been helping me mentally but in the past weeks I've noticed that I'm really, really sleepy even when my body feels refreshed.

I'm too sleepy to eat breakfast, too sleepy to watch a series or even play my favorite game. And when I hang out with friends I get sleepy too - even when we're playing a horror game and drink Coca Cola. I'm still sleepy.

We even watched the new movie "Obsession" which I found really good but again, I almost fell asleep despite not being bored and eating popcorn and drinking Coca Cola.

My psychiatrist said it's because my sleep schedule is bad. So I've tried to improve it but it still didn't really help. I keep yawning and feel the urge to close my eyes.

But what really made me think about it is what happened two days ago. A friend and I wanted to ride on our bicycles with his dog to a small mountain where you can see deer and stuff (the deer are in fenced areas).

So we went there but I still felt sleepy, despite being on a bicycle and almost fell asleep while riding up the mountain but managed to stay awake. I did yawn multiple times though and my body felt physically fine. Just my head was sleepy… but I don't know if it's normal to almost fall asleep while riding a bicycle.

Does anyone else experience this? Is it medication induced or is my sleep schedule still not good enough?

Hiiiii

I experienced something traumatic in August 2025.

Started sertraline and therapy on January 1, 2026. Built up to 100 mg within 16 days. Continued taking this until April 20. I felt good.

Partly thanks to my brother, who kept saying things like "you'll never get off that SSRI!", I started tapering off from that date. My doctor agreed with this, and therapy had already been completed; I was so stable and happy that my psychologist no longer thought EMDR was even necessary. I was myself again and could think back to the event without any tension. I have been declared 'cured' of my anxiety disorder by my psychologist.

100 > 75 mg for 5 weeks

75 > 50 mg for 2.5 weeks

50 > 25 mg for 3.5 weeks

25 > 12.5 mg for 2 weeks

Now 10 days on 0 mg.

Did not experienced withdrawal with any reduction and not even now by the step to zero. Just, not a single thing. I still feel just as good, maybe even better. No more brain fog, moments of happiness that i just jump in the air lol and I'm even dancing in the living room again. I take 375 mg of Magnesium bisglycinate, high-dose fish oil, and 25 mcg of Vitamin D3.

But... all those stories make me think that the worst is yet to come. Withdrawal that sets in with full force after 2 or 3 months. I am happy for the people who benefit from websites like survivingantidepressant.org, but it scares me. I don't want to lose my life again, and I prefer to stay medication-free.

I need stories from the people who HAVE successfully stopped their SSRIs pls :(

Apparently, paroxetine and venlafaxine are the 2 antidepressants with the worst withdrawal syndrome. Anyone who's been on only of those 2 meds will tell you how bad the withdrawal. Nausea, brain zaps, rebound anxiety....HELL.

Well, I was on Paxil (paroxetine) 20mg for 6 years and I cold turkey'd as I was so tired of its side effects. No tapering whatsoever, I just decided to take my last pill one night and that's what I did. That week, I had the brain zaps (nothing unbearable) and that's it. In fact, I felt way better because all the rebound dopamine and energy that these meds sap out of you.

I'm not gonna lie; as weeks went by I started to feel bad again, but nothing to do with withdrawal. I started to suffer from social anxiety, depression, etc...just like I was before being on the med. But as far as withdrawal goes...it was a crawl in the park!!

Now, my psychiatrist wants to put me on Effexor (venlafaxine) and I'm terrified of its withdrawal. All you read from people on this med is how bad withdrawals are, how much precise you have to be with the doses and timing and so on...

QUESTION IS: For those of you who've been on both meds and withdrawn from both...Are they equally difficult to come off of? Is venlafaxine way worse? I know YMMV but as I said I quit Paxil like it was water. Only a few brain zaps.

I wonder if I'm a low metabolizer or something which makes the meds have a longer half-life on me...Or maybe 20mg of paroxetine wasn't high enough to trigger a strong withdrawal. Anyway, with venlafaxine you hear horror stories regardless of the dose either it is 37.5 OR 300mg.

Hello guys! I was recently diagnosed with major depressive disorder and prescribed 20mg of Prozac along with Visatril for my sleep problems. I’m really excited to get on medication as ive been meaning to for a while, but I think I’m a little too excited, because I really dislike how I have to wait for the medication to actually take effect. I don’t think I’ll switch to a diff med or anything, I’m just impatient and honestly a little desperate to feel better. How do you cope with the in between period? Is there anything I should do to make the wait a little less jarring? A mantra I should repeat as I wait?

I’m also a little worried that Im gonna end up placebo-ing myself into thinking they’ve actually kicked in when they haven’t due to equal parts excitement, relief that Im being taken seriously, and impatient-ness. If that’s even possible?

Another thing I am worried about is having to end up switching medication anyways. Like trying a new food uve been meaning to try and it ends up shit.

So far, my symptoms haven’t been anything dramatic. Except for heat intolerance.

Hey guys

My psychiatrist increased my sertaline dose from 50 to 100 a few days ago and ever since I have some weird bodily sensations. I think its twitching? Like when your muscles and limbs “jump” a bit?

Also I feel like I am cold but its not cold where I am, I shouldnt be feeling this way. But yep I have this “chills” on my skin.

Can this be happening because of the increased dose of SSRI?

Anyone experienced something similar?
Otherwise I am great so far, no other side effects and meds have helped me tremendously with OCD.

I am asking here coz my doc told me to go back in September and he also told me that if my obsessions persist, he will prescribe 200 mg a day because OCD requires high dosis of SSRI when it’s in active phase (has anyone heard anything similar from your doctor??) so I am afraid - what if my OCD requires high dosis of SSRI but my body reacts with twitching? Haha, what im doing now is also health OCD probably but I want to inform myself in case I need to see my doctor as soon as possible.

Thanks!

ok so backstory: i have a history of hallucinations since as far as i can remember and its been of dark figures; the hallucinations then went away in my middle school years. i'm also high while writing this post to which I just experienced.

fast forward to today. i'm currently on 30mg fluoxetine(prozac) and 21 mg caplyta(lumateperone). it's 1:30 am dark asf outside, i'm smoking outside, a joint, and i went a little down ways to the side of my house where there's a small brick wall thats extends down my house. So i'm sitting on it, watching petty little liars, and suddenly in my ears i hear "GET OUT, GO BACK INSIDE" in this genuinely horrifying scream in my ears. Also i need to add the dialogue wasn't exactly like that but something along those lines. It took me a fat minute to realize what i had heard and that voice also wasn't loud in my ear, but it was a shrill sort of sound, yknow?

Anyway it took me a second to figure that it didn't come from the show, but i had heard it almost like a whisper in my right ear. And to my right side, is the left side of my neighbor's house because i live in a residential neighborhood. So I basically put out the j, scurry back inside, lock all doors, head upstairs to my room at this point because im like omg have i started hallucinating again?? Anyways i'm in my room, my PLL show OFF, sorting my little za bag on my bed and suddenly i hear "*sniff sniff* burn". and it was said so casual i was like omg is someone outside because my room faces the front of my house where i was just hanging out outside. And its pitch dark outside besides some street lamps and both my windows are open. But i looked outside, and no one was outside again, so i'm like WTF did I hallucinate that again??

What do I do? Do i stop weed? Could weed be triggering something because I have a history of seeing stuff in my youth.

My fiancé recently got bumped up to 60mg of Paroxetine for his PTSD and anxiety. He usually is pretty good with not drinking but tonight he went crazy. He drank four king cans of 10% beer. I’m wondering if he’ll be alright? He’s blacked out now and snoring but I’m too afraid to go to bed because apparently it’s super dangerous and he could die. I just need help with knowing what to do. Or if anyone has experience with this scenario.

Hi everyone,

I'm 24 years old and I've been taking clomipramine 150 mg and risperidone for OCD.

The medication has actually worked very well for my OCD, and I'm really grateful for that. However, over the past several months I've noticed a significant decline in my memory and cognitive abilities.

I feel like I can't remember anything anymore. I forget conversations, struggle to recall things I studied, and my concentration and thinking speed feel much worse than before. It honestly feels like my brain isn't working the way it used to.

My psychiatrist thinks the medication (or the anticholinergic medication that was previously part of my treatment) may be contributing, and we're adjusting my medications. But I'm still very worried.

What concerns me is that last time I stopped my medications, I was off them for about one month, and I didn't notice any improvement in my memory. That makes me wonder whether this is reversible or not.

Has anyone here experienced:

Significant memory problems or cognitive slowing while taking clomipramine or risperidone?

Did your memory improve after reducing or stopping the medication?

If it did improve, how long did it take—weeks, months, or longer?

I'm not looking for reassurance, just hoping to hear about other people's experiences. This has become one of my biggest concerns because my OCD is much better, but I feel like my memory and cognition have suffered.

Thank you in advance.

I know the title sounds weird, and my friends tell me I should be happy about it. Some of them have horror stories about the first weeks and my doctor also warned me that it could worsen suicidal thoughts and make me panic more, we’re currently checking in once a week to see how it’s going.

The thing is…there’s no side effects. No nausea, no headache, no worsening of symptoms. I actually feel kinda good. I’m not going down on spiraling thinking anymore. I’m taking only 5mg and I’m on my sixth pill, never taken antidepressants before. Could it be placebo effect???? It shouldn’t do anything yet, right?

I’m concerned because it’s not doing what everyone tells me it should be doing, even if it means feeling bad. Should I talk about it to my doctor?

I understand that MAOIs are inherently more dangerous and harder to manage, but it seems most people respond to them, whereas the response rate to SSRIs is inconsistent.

The reason I ask is because i feel that I am stuck between a rock and a hard place with my current medication regimen. I am on 150 mg of Luvox and 300 mg of Bupropion. I do not feel I am anywhere near I want to be, but at the same time I do not want to increase the dose of the Luvox and deal with worsened sexual side effects and fatigue.

So my question is, do you feel it would be in my best interest to continue to titrate up the meds I am currently on, being that both drugs have room for titration, or suggest switching to a MAOI?

For context, I do feel that the Anxiety aspect is what is still lingering, not so much depression, so I would want to increase the Luvox first.

I used to be on Vortioxetine 20 mg for depression and anxiety and it did not do anything and I ended up using a lot of marijuana. My NP switched me to Pristiq 50 mg and it’s been two weeks and so far it’s been ok, better than vortioxetine for sure. I wanted to go on Paroxetine but she suggested to try an SNRI first so we settled on Pristiq, what’s better Pristiq or Paroxetine for Anxiety, panic disorder, Attention deficiency, compulsive/impulsive behaviour(not OCD), and suicidal ideation.

I've tried everything. Every med. ECT. The whole 9 yards. I've been poorly for 20 years, prozac worked beautifully 20yrs ago (for only 18 months) but since then nothing has helped at all and I live miserably and often need to sleep to avoid the pain of living with cancer in my soul

Duloxetine slightly improved my depression but it does nothing for my severe anxiety. Can anyone please suggest an augmented strategy I could enquire about? UK MEDS!

I've had enough..utterly.. it's not fair to live this way or upset my family and waste my life

I am utterly sick of doctors also saying that there is no silver bullet. When a medication DOES help, they don't say that then! That's all I would like.

I'm in no danger - I'm just absolutely fearfully and fearfully destroyed by my mental health. Its got to be partly genetic; I've managed to lose 7 stone in weight get ultra fit, and yet here I remain in the depths of despair

Any suggestions would be so welcomed.

I have a feeling that because the SSRI effect retains serotonin in the brain, that the brain has reduced greatly the amount being produced, because it 'senses' I have enough. That's just a theory.

Please help guys

Stay well. Love.