Posted by Bob on January 13, 2005, at 2:55:43
In reply to Re: i think i hav brian damage from the meds, posted by t-rocker on January 12, 2005, at 22:53:38
> hi , i feel the same way. i recently came off ssris. which i was on for 7 years. they seemed to help a bit at first. but then eventually i was feeling worse than ever. i was having obsessive thinking, panic attacks, depression with intense crying spells. all this while being on the highest dose of antidepressants mind you. so i gradually tapered off them. i mean real slow. but i still had severe withdrawal symptoms. the panic attacks were more intense than ever. really bad crying spells. i was never even depressed before i started taking this crap. i took them because of my anxiety. however after being on them for so long. i was extremely depressed and suicidal. which i was never before. they are certainly very powerful drugs, which affect everyone differently. and they are certainly overprescribed, especially to children. i personally think its a big money making scam. i have actually heard doctors confirm this. they may help some people, but we are all very different and unique. i always thought of any of those drugs similar to alcohol. some people drink and get violent, some get goofy, some get depressed, some get really happy, some get drowsy, some get wired and courageous. the point is they affect every ones emotions diffferently. well so do these stupid seretonin anti- depressants. but to answer your question, no i dont think you or i have brain damage. but you may need to change your lifestle. exercise, eat healthy, do yoga, meditate, pray go to church, find a good therapist, find a good 12 step program. these are the things i did, and they have alot more than any damn pill without all the serious side effects. my personal favorite is going out for a long run and clearing your mind. i hope this helped. - tom
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You made some excellent points in there Tom. The whole story about the 7 year degeneration, and subsequent nasty withdrawl are much like my story. I've been in the game for over 12 years, and have tried so many meds I don't want to even remember. My initial problems weren't "depression" per se, but rather, certain anxieties, and obsessive sexual thinking. No exaggeration, I almost died with a couple of the meds trying to get off of them, and developed a host of mysterious unexplainable physical problems that eventually became quite debilitating. I also learned with all this that I cannot ever give advice to anyone else about whether or not to try antidepressants, because I've rarely seen anyone react as badly as I have - as you said, everyone is different. I finally was able to taper off of Lithium about 2.5 months ago, and am hoping I can stay "clean" for awhile. The meds have created such a nasty lifestyle that I don't ever want to go back there. If I go down the cr*pper again though, I don't know what I'd do, as there aren't many choices out there.I don't think the medical community has recognized how damaging some of these things are to certain individuals, but on the other hand, what other alternatives are out there?
poster:Bob
thread:440937
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050108/msgs/441485.html