Posted by Maximus on February 19, 2004, at 23:58:06
Hi everybody,
First of all, i'm not an anti SSRIs. It is just some observations based on my experience and some relatives. After all, i'm taking SSRIs since 1990. Prozac was the first and i tried them all.
I let you remember that i'm BP2. In spite the great results i get from the Lamictal i still need an SSRI/SNRI for the residual anxiety and depression.
It is probably not scientific but with all the emails i received during these years, i believe there are still many side effects undocumented. Ok, here they are:
1- Propension to gain weight -> get worse with years.2- Sexual side effects. -> slightly worse after years.
3- Low testosterone level. -> Seems to begin after 3 or 4 years.
4- Apathy -> present during the begining and still there after 10 years or more. Probably the worst of all.
5- Sugar, tobacco and alcohol craving.
P.S. Please don't stop your medication for that. I hope sincerely that i've not been scary.I just find that is a high price to pay to get well. I can't wait for the new generation of psychiatric medications: CRF antagonist, Substance P Antagonists, etc...
Well i have an hypothesis but unfortunately i can not prove it. I think that after many years of ssri's consumption, there is a down regulation (or sorta) of dopamine in certains regions of the brain.
There are conter mesures such as: psychostimulants, dopamine agonists, DHA, etc. But they don't always work and they bring also their side effects too.
On that, have a good week-end!
poster:Maximus
thread:315939
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040218/msgs/315939.html