Coming off anti depressants after 20+ years

puddy

mynameistallulah wrote: »

Got to agree with you, I would go as far as to say seroxat should be banned.

well i have mixed views, although its horrible to come off, i found it very effective, i didnt find prozac very effective

after a time off any meds, i started to struggle and am on escitalopram, its not as effective as seroxat but im too scared to go back on that again

another friend of mine, a cpn! is on and off seroxat like no bodies business, she has tried others but they either make her too anxious or set her tinnitus off

puddy

raven83 wrote: »

I had the same trouble with seroxat too, it was like going cold turkey i found it very hard to come off them and felt awful, this is because they leave the body very quickly. I have been on prozac on and off for years and i find coming off them so much easier, i am usually fine for the first couple of months coming off them but then i notice that i start to go downhill after that.

i think that i only managed to go cold turkey because they had stopped working for me, i think there is a situation where they can reduce serotonin or something after long period of use and so coming off them actually made me better iyswim, and i think that happened to me. of course this is all self monitored because GPs are not really specialised enough to understand the complexities of it all, as i say, i used my friends and my own knowledge, the gp just wants a form filled in and as long as you're not suicidal you can get on with it

AbbieCadabra

Karen, you sound like you're in a really good place to start making some changes with the meds you're taking. a lot of what you've explained is very close to my own experiences so i have a little understanding of how tough it's been for you. as already said, you seem to have been a little bit let down on the medical side of things & the support on that front hasn't been what it should be.

when i had my meltdown, i think it took about a 3 month wait to see a psychiatrist after i was referred. i always remember him saying to me "even if you can't see it now, i'm sure you'll look back on this part of your life & what happens over the next few years as a positive experience & a change for the better". it's taken a hell of a long time, but i think i'd have to agree with him!

from seeing him i then had 12 weeks of CBT, once a week sessions that were so stressful to start off with, but i did feel a big improvement by the end of them. i was able to go back to work then & i changed from full time to part time to try & lessen the stress as some of it was work related. this only lasted for 6 months though & i was off again feeling nearly as bad as i had done before. (i'm no expert by any means but knowing a little more now, i think that CBT can be effective for mild depression or perhaps OCD type tendancies, but for deep seated emotional problems, i think that CBT only really skims the surface & acts as a sticking plaster). i then started seeing a counsellor at the doctors (which lasted for about 6 weeks) & i was put on the waiting list for psychotherapy via the doctors.

the type of care out there differs so much from area to area & i've no doubt that if i went into the system now needing the help i did some 11 years ago, i wouldn't be offered the same support again. i know the therapist i saw no longer works for my doctors as her contract was ended & i saw her right until the time that she left.

really hope you can find a way forward that suits you Karen, there'll be plenty of bumps ahead, but you're only human! good luck

Dunroamin

puddy wrote: »

some are easier than others. i was on seroxat and it was a nightmare the few times i tried to come off them, then at some point i felt they were not working for me and then some months later, realised i kept forgetting to take them, so wondered if i could just do it cold turkey and i did

seroxat are the hardest to come off, out of the ssri versions, because they have a very short half life, i believe that prozac has the longest half life so the symptoms are not as bad

It might not be suitable for everybody but I've successfully come off Seroxat a couple of times by switching to Prozac which is, as you say, much easier. My GP was sceptical but it worked for me and there are lots of people on the internet who've also done this.

puddy

yes, i wanted this option but was told i just had to come off seroxat (at the other times i tried, the very last time i just stopped)

i have never been able to get to see a psychiatrist, no matter how mad i look! i think its a disgrace as GPs are not specialised enough to understand the meds or complexities, but even when i was first diagnosed 12 years ago, it wasnt an option, nor was therapy, i dont meet the criteria. theres a term in medicine which is 'worried well' youre a bit depressed but can manage with some meds so thats what they'll put you on

in reality i probably had depression from a young age, probably around 13 or so and i agree with above, if depression and anxiety has just come on as a reaction to a life event, then cbt is helpful but for many of us with childhood issues cbt just wont touch it and even 'counselling' may not solve things, it may just be a case of learning strategies to manage

bright_side

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Karen23, I am very surprised that you have been on anti-depressants for so long. Are you also under the care of a psychiatrist?

Can I ask whether your GP has reviewed you regularly, or was it one of those things that you just accepted that you would be on for life?

I haven't seen a Phychiatrist since 1991 shortly after the ECT finished. Up until about 7 years ago I saw a GP regularly for reviews, but since then they've pretty much left me to it.

bright_side

krlyr wrote: »

If you were taking insulin for diabetes, would you feel the need to wean yourself off it after 20 years just to "go it alone"? I would question whether you have a medical need for antidepressants, e.g. a chemical imbalance that physically causes depression. If that's the case then antidepressants are no different to the insulin for diabetes, anti-inflammatories for arthritis, or other medications.
If it is depression with an emotional trigger, have you dealt with that trigger? Something like CBT could be worthwhile to change your mindsest, seeing a therapist to discuss an event/issue in your life that may have triggered the depression, etc.
I wouldn't just expect depression to have disappeared because 20 years have passed, if you've not done anything to deal with the initial cause.

Edit: Sorry, saw your later post that went into more details, if you feel that your issues have been addressed then good luck in coming off the ADs, but don't feel that you're giving up if you do have to go back onto them.

Thank you. When the doctor told me I would need the tablets for life, he used diabetes and thryroid problems as examples. I've felt for many years that I don't suffer depression in it's true form, more of an inability to cope with my emotions as I mentioned before. There has always been a trigger. I do believe I have 'dealt' with the intiial cause (as much as is possible). I no longer believe that I am a bad person for 'allowing' it to happen. I had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I can never tell my Mum what happened because of what it would do to her. At one point I thought I would have to break contact with her altogether because the secret put a huge wedge between us. I have accepted that now. It is what it is.

bright_side

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

i always remember him saying to me "even if you can't see it now, i'm sure you'll look back on this part of your life & what happens over the next few years as a positive experience & a change for the better". it's taken a hell of a long time, but i think i'd have to agree with him!

Love this It's a lot of hard and painful work, but getting to the root of my problem was certainly the best thing I ever did!

When I first met my counsellor she handed me a piece of paper with the quote I have in my signature on it. I couldn't make sense of it at the time, but it is so very true. When you've been at rock bottom, I think you learn to appreciate the little things in life so much more xx

bright_side

Apologies at my inability to multiquote :rotfl:

meritaten

karen - years ago my MIL was on very addictive anti-depressants. and sleeping tablets.
I was horrified at the amounts she was taking and persuaded her and her GP to slowly reduce them - it took time (a couple of years) but she did get off them.
I actualy blame the GP - he just signed repeat prescriptions and never saw her from one year to the next - and all she had to do to get the dosage upped was to ask the receptionist - and that stupid doc just signed it!
and yes MIL was of the opinion that Valium was the way she would cope for the rest of her life as she would 'always be depressed'!

It wasnt easy Karen - the reduction in dose would be hard for MIL each time - but she did it - only thing she did that made me have some respect for her. but she deserved it for that.