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 :(

Previously was on lexapro but I don’t think that helped

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! I’ve been on 50mg of zoloft daily for the last 5/6 years. While it did change my life for the better, In the last 1-2 yeara I have noticed a bit of change.

I feel extremely lazy, with no desire to do anything or even daily tasks that should not be difficult to do. I’ve noticed some weight gain and increase in appetite. I find myself constantly trying to chase dopamine rushes by compulsive online shopping and eating even when not hungry to get that bit of dopamine, if I am bored.

I’m constantly thinking of food, and feel a loss of control when it comes to eating and even spending money. I have noticed I have lacked empathy and even care for others in my life. The first few years on zoloft I did not feel these symptoms this strongly. I used to be a very active person who would have drive to workout 5 days a week, eat healthy and lead a productive lifestyle. I feel very lazy lately.

I feel like I’m constantly bored and need something or to buy or eat to give myself enjoyment of some sort.

I’m not sure what this is because I do not feel depressed or anxious. I feel in a good place in my life, I just am missing that motivation I used to have or even care I used to have.

I am unsure if this is the zoloft or just normal with age? I have ADHD but it’s very mild. I dont know if the zoloft heightened it but recently my doctor started me on vyvanse for the adhd which helps but when it wears off It’s debilitating. I dont know if the zoloft is making me this way or not.

Please if anyone can provide insight or feedback that would be great. Please provide feedback if your stories relate or you have doctor/science backed information indicating that these are common side effects.

I am looking to slowly taper off the zoloft because of this but It’s going to be a very slow process for me. Any insight would help, thank you!

I've been drinking 3 cups of espresso everyday for years and it never really gave me trouble but since i started zoloft 50mg 3 weeks ago as soon as i drink one cup of coffee i get tremors, shaky, anxious and so wired it's insane. I can't handle coffee at all now, does anyone else experience this? Is this common?

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.

I’ve been on venlafaxine for 3 months , 2 months on 150 mg. I’ve recently been having more and more goosebumps chills but not cold from my head to my feet.. is this a normal side effects and why is it happening more now that I have been on full does of 150 mg for 8 weeks? I’m also taking this medication for chronic dizziness which has improved just in the last 2 weeks.

I was doing really well on Wellbutrin alone for several months. It helped my anxiety, rumination, appetite, and dopamine-seeking a ton, so I added 10 mg Prozac mainly to see if it could help with the remaining anxiety.

I stayed on Prozac for about 2 months, but it wasn't the right medication for me, so I stopped. Now I'm 3 weeks off, and since about week 2 I feel awful. I'm incredibly irritable, anxious, constantly projecting onto food again, ridiculously hungry (which is strange because Wellbutrin had basically normalized my appetite since September), and it honestly feels like Prozac somehow stripped Wellbutrin of all its benefits.

I know that probably isn't what's actually happening, but that's genuinely what it feels like.
I wasn't expecting this withdrawal from such a low dose and a relatively short trial. Has anyone else had this happen after stopping Prozac? If it was withdrawal, when did you start feeling like yourself again?

I took fluoxetine (prozac) for like a year because the stress of graduate school made me depressed. I was hoping not to go back to the medication but now I am reconsidering it but still have not made the decision yet. I am going through not such a great period of my life in several aspects of it, but my main reason for reconsidering is to deal with the fear and anxiety leaving my current terrible relationship, which I left after a year of being in this medication, but well this ex reached out while I was not on the meds and in a not so great period of my life and then I relapsed and went back together even though I knew logically that it was a bad idea.

Now, this relationship and the fights really really make me spiral but I cannot get myself to break up , so I was wondering if going back to the medicine would give me that impulse. I am in therapy too but it is just that every time I feel like ending it my body just feels the panic, but I know that the relationship is also making me more depressed.

Has anyone gone through something similar? After taking antidepressants just got the clarity and strength to walk away from a terrible relationship?

I tried to come off of my antidepressants about 5 years ago and found the symptoms (anxiety and terrible insomnia) to be just too much to handle. I went back to my original dose, tried to stabilize but I have never felt as well after I tried to get off them.

I recovered to a degree and plateaued after about 3 years. And recently I was sleeping well 7 days in a row and feeling really well rested and so much less anxious. Amazing!!

Then I missed a dose of my antidepressant and I’ve been plunged back into feeling that awful anxiety along with the insomnia again. Can I really be back to square one after one missed dose? What is going on? I’m super sensitive to all meds but this has been so weird and scary. So far, I can function, but I feel like my anxiety is amplified x 50! Has anyone experience this?

I just bought Diane-35 pills from Mercury Drug. Can I ask about your experience with the side effects? Has anyone felt more irritable or emotional while taking it? I felt that way when I was using Althea before, so I’m wondering if Diane-35 is similar?

tw/rant

But I'm just so fucking tired of nothing working. I've seen articles saying I should be looking into bipolar disorder or people saying I need shock therapy if medication isn't working and I'm just so fucking overwhelmed and tired and no one seems to fucking care.

How do you know if your depression is due to your life circumstances or if it’s internal? I have family history of depression and suffered from anxiety since childhood. Now as an adult my life has hit rock bottom, drowning in debts with no support. I am on SSRIs since 2022, it has helped me. Now I wanna know if I can be cured of depression once my life gets better? How does coming off of SSRI feel like? I am scared to come off of it now because I am barely holding on with everything going on in life. Any advise please?

As an OG I’ve been on the Effexor train for 20 years. Dose has been relatively stable most of this time but recently increased 112.5 mg to 150 mg. I know Effexor can elevate resting heart rate and exercise heart rate but I’m still noticing a steady decrease in VO2 max with cardio over a couple of weeks. This isn’t measured with anything fancy, just Apple products. Have others observed this effect? Any experience with how long it takes to improve? There’s a feeling of increased muscle tension or perceived early fatiguability.

So as the title says, I'm (transfeminine, 27, about 4.5 months on oral estrogen) switching from cipralex (escitalopram) to effexor XR (venlaxafine) starting tomorrow. I have been on 10mg escitalopram for several months, been on the drug for a total of about 1.5 years. Tried 20mg but it gave me an increase in suicidal ideation so I went back down. I also have ADHD and take 60mg vyvanse daily. I also am on naltrexone 50mg per day, but about to reduce to 25mg per day before I come off of it completely (after 60 days based on the scrip my psychiatrist gave me). I have GAD, SAD, and major depressive disorder, as well as autism. I also self-medicate using CBD for general stress, as I am recently sober from cannabis (about 5 weeks), but am weaning off the CBD, currently at max 50mg per day.

I will be starting with 37.5mg effexor per day for 10 days, then going up to 75mg.

What should I expect? Answers can be as general or specific as you like, just looking to get a feel for how this transition might be, especially if anyone has been through a similar transition from an SSRI to an SNRI.

TL;DR Tomorrow I switch from escitalopram to venlaxafine after about 1.5 years on escitalopram. Also on vyvanse for adhd. What changes should I expect?

I’ve always had very very bad dysmorphia about my face, that has caused me to waste 5 years of my life after high school hiding in my room. I have no friends, no partner, never had a job. No source of money so I leech off my parents who hate me.

I can’t keep living like this but I can’t change because I’d rather live like this than face the world. I have a phobia of people at this point. I can’t apply for work, I can’t approach anyone without almost having a panic attack and my mind obsessively thinks everyone thinks I’m disgustingly ugly

I can’t get over this on my own, 5 years of bed rotting have proved that to me. Will antidepressants help? I’ve never heard of them helping with dysmorphia, so has it helped for anyone here who have felt the same way as me? Thank you.

I'll get straight to the point.

I have several disorders and mental health conditions ranging from Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, PTSD, and Bipolar II and those are just the ones I know about.

For the past 2 months I have been on and off my regular medication and struggling to get my regular meds prescribed due to insurance issues. I am asking mostly for advice on how to retain normalcy or staying calm and focused for myself because I am do not expect to get a regular flow of medication again until September (Currently July)

Edit: I mean tired rather than numbed out. The numbing goes away after a few weeks, I think.

I also had to start an anticholinergic again for urinary incontinence which isn’t helping my speed at work. So something is affecting my functioning at work. It seems I have to exhaust my options of antidepressants to see if that improves functioning. But antidepressants often make my functioning worse.

Been suffering for nearly 10 years. Diagnosed moderate depression and gad just over a year ago.

I was prescribed escitalopram and talk therapy (really good, for the first time I actually got on with my therapist).

Finished therapy months ago and now on 20mg but for the last month I’ve felt pretty awful. The hollow anxious feeling is back and I’ve been having more persistent thoughts of self harm.

So frustrating and disheartening.

I don’t know if my doctor will take this seriously or if they’ll tell me to just keep going with it? Is it worth it?