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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
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!
Posted by Margit on February 20, 2004, at 2:47:57
In reply to Long term side effects of SSRIs, posted by Maximus on February 19, 2004, at 23:58:06
I found interesting article on long-term side effects of SSRIs.
Posted by jlbl2l on February 20, 2004, at 17:06:14
In reply to Long term side effects of SSRIs, posted by Maximus on February 19, 2004, at 23:58:06
remember recent discovery that one of the long term benefits of ssri's is new brain cell growth. only known drugs that can do it so far.i imagine the bad outweight the good tho
Posted by Maximus on February 20, 2004, at 18:48:19
In reply to Re: Long term side effects of SSRIs, posted by jlbl2l on February 20, 2004, at 17:06:14
> remember recent discovery that one of the long term benefits of ssri's is new brain cell growth. only known drugs that can do it so far.i imagine the bad outweight the good tho
All antidepressants and anticonvulsants do that. In fact, that is "probably" why an antidepressant works. It is not a particularity of SSRIs.
The bad outweights the good? In the long run it is more a question of choice.
Posted by jlbl2l on February 20, 2004, at 19:08:35
In reply to Re: Long term side effects of SSRIs » jlbl2l, posted by Maximus on February 20, 2004, at 18:48:19
anticonvulsants dont. it was just discovered last year that antidepressants do.
Posted by sjb on February 22, 2004, at 7:37:29
In reply to Long term side effects of SSRIs, posted by Maximus on February 19, 2004, at 23:58:06
I think you bring up some excellent points. Very interesting and your experience is similary to mine. I've been on meds for about 10 years, Prozac being the first and have tried over 25 different ones in various combos. I really get miffed when I read results of short terms studies (esp. with weight loss), as long-term studies seem to show the opposite.
This is the end of the thread.
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