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TheWayfarer: Zoloft Side Effect + Emotionless


TheWayfarer

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Not medication all the time, got it. I appreciate the support DJ. Its is definitely encouraging to know you made a full recovery and most of all that the medication had nothing to do with it. I believe it is that assumption that keeps many of us in this vicious cycle.

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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Worse lately, i don't like going to bed without accomplishing something so sometimes i stay up late looking of that feeling... Other times its just the adrenaline.

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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*stress

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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That's the key. Focus on staying busy all day, go for a run. Workout. Get back into a routine and meditate. Not in that order. But you need to change things up here. You'll notice when you have windows , its because your in the moment and content. No more worry.

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So you would agree that this issue is natural and not SSRI induced. it is simply a side effect of excess stress/anxiety

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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When the brain is overwhelmed it goes numb. Whether or not its from serotonin or downstream downregulation/desensitizing from excess stimulation brought on by stress? I dont know. What i do know is, that the only way to become mentally healthy is to spend your time doing and not thinking. Thinking is harmful to the mind. Worrying is like cancer to the brain.

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So you believe if i were to recognize that this is truly caused by stress sanctity and depression and i were to master coping skills and immerse myself in life i will make a full recovery within a year? 

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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Hi WF.

 

So you would agree that this issue is natural and not SSRI induced. it is simply a side effect of excess stress/anxiety

 

When did this start for you ?  After SSRI ?  We live in a stressful environment - I don't think it's necessarily a side effect of that.

 

Anyway, maybe DJ is right and " overthinking " this could be detrimental for healing.

 

My advice would be to " let it go " and concentrate on the " healing aspect " . Continuing to " thrash " this around can only be harmful in the long run.

 

Breathing, accepting and /or meditation will be helpful and I hope you decide to go that route instead. I can understand you wanting to know the why's but sometimes it's just not possible to understand the exact intricacies of this process. The body is a " wonderland "of idiosyncrasies and sometimes we just have to go with the flow of that and surrender to it. It might give you more peace in the long run to think of it that way.

 

I hope you find some of that peace. :)

Ali

Many SSRI's and SSNRI's over 20 years. Zoloft for 7 years followed by Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Cymbalta, Celexa, Pristiq, Valdoxan, Mianserin and more - on and off. No tapering. Cold turkey off Valdoxan - end of May 2014

 

                                                  Psych Drug - free since May 2014
.
         

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Hey Wayfarer:

 

 

If you believe you have information that proves it is possible for the CNS to be impacted in the long term after one pill then feel free to tell me. 

 

I know I have read in a few places that one dose can change the brain.

 

Here are some sources I found to back that up:

 

http://www.medicaldaily.com/single-dose-antidepressant-lexapro-can-change-brains-wiring-just-3-hours-303932

 

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-antidepressants-brain-structure-20140918-story.html

 

http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/09/19/one-dose-of-ssri-antidepressant-changes-brain-connectivity-in-3-hours/

 

https://science.slashdot.org/story/14/09/21/238233/new-mri-studies-show-ssris-bring-rapid-changes-to-brain-function

 

http://time.com/3399344/antidepressant-changes-the-brain-study-finds/

 

PSSD is real, but you don't have it.  You are in antidepressant drug withdrawal.

 

It is a cruel reality that one pill can take months to recover from, but you would not be the only one to have this experience.

 

There is one member here who had long term negative effects from one dose of St. John's Wort, which is not as strong as the drug you took.  It depends (in my understanding) on how you metabolize and methylize the drug in your liver, based on your genetics.

 

Stress is important, but in some people, the drug simply should not be used.  You are one of those people.

 

I'll read on to see if there are any other questions, but I think Ali's post above is quite important.

 

Change the Channel

 

Redirect: Another Way To Change Cognitive Framing

 

and

 

http://psychcentral.com/lib/15-common-cognitive-distortions/

 

I hope you see the sun today!

"Easy, easy - just go easy and you'll finish." - Hawaiian Kapuna

 

Holding is hard work, holding is a blessing. Give your brain time to heal before you try again.

 

My suggestions are not medical advice, you are in charge of your own medical choices.

 

A lifetime of being prescribed antidepressants that caused problems (30 years in total). At age 35 flipped to "bipolar," but was not diagnosed for 5 years. Started my journey in Midwest United States. Crossed the Pacific for love and hope; currently living in Australia.   CT Seroquel 25 mg some time in 2013.   Tapered Reboxetine 4 mg Oct 2013 to Sept 2014 = GONE (3 years on Reboxetine).     Tapered Lithium 900 to 475 MG (alternating with the SNRI) Jan 2014 - Nov 2014, tapered Lithium 475 mg Jan 2015 -  Feb 2016 = GONE (10 years  on Lithium).  Many mistakes in dry cutting dosages were made.


The tedious thread (my intro):  JanCarol ☼ Reboxetine first, then Lithium

The happy thread (my success story):  JanCarol - Undiagnosed  Off all bipolar drugs

My own blog:  https://shamanexplorations.com/shamans-blog/

 

 

I have been psych drug FREE since 1 Feb 2016!

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According to my phycologist i don't have Schizo, even though i am expenrcing all the symptoms of NS. 

 

I think you are young, and you have made some mistakes, and perhaps some of them were frightening for people around you, so you ended up on zoloft.

 

Why are you so eager to use "diagnosis words"?  I remember a time when I was relieved to get a diagnosis of Bipolar, because that meant that it "wasn't my fault" for all of the horrible things I'd done and experienced in my life.  Is that it?  If you accept a diagnosis, you can let go and surrender?  Into what?  The system?  Where more drugs and dehumanization await?

 

I don't even know what NS is.  Nephrotic syndrome?  Hunh?  Do you drink enough water?  Do you avoid caffeine and energy drinks?  This doesn't even sound like something a psychologist should "diagnose."  (fact is, a psychologist should NOT diagnose, he is a mental health professional, but not a doctor)

 

 

 

 i was balancing allot of stress and anxiety for a long time, the pill gave my brain a crutch, when the crutch was taken away my brain fell. 

 

It is my theory that in order to get us to perform, at our jobs, our school, in relationships, the drugs numb us out and give us energy.  But where does the energy come from?  I believe they strip the endocrine system and use it to "prop us up" in times of stress.  And that over time, the endocrine system and mitochondrial function is damaged by the drugs. (hence, adrenal fatigue-like symptoms, but they are temporary effects of the drugs, and withdrawal from the drugs)

 

But you were not on the drugs long enough to get that effect.  That usually takes at least 6 months (in a frail person) and is more likely to happen when the drugs are used for years.

 

The more you focus on PSSD, the less likely you are to heal the temporary malfunction you are suffering.  The more anxious you are about it, the more "performance anxiety" comes into play.

 

I just made a post somewhere else:  Why not call it "Temporarily Unhappy Genitals" or TUG?  Instead of PSSD.   Because it's temporary.  Your taking Zoloft was short term, this will not last forever, like you seem to be worried about.

 

This is why I recommend that you leave it alone.  Don't explore your sexual functioning.  I know how hard that is for a young man, but you will still be a young man when those feelings come charging back.  The longer you ignore them, the more powerful they will be.  There are also nutritional reasons for leaving them alone, for men, as you can drain your zinc and selenium - minerals you need to heal your brain & nervous system.

 

You keep talking about stress - is this stress that you can control?  Or are there environmental stressors that you have to live with?  

 

Sometimes when the body and brain "shut down" (protection is a good way to look at this) it is because you are in a situation that you need protection from.  If you have toxic people in your life, or constant pressure that is pushing you away from yourself - these are stressors that need to be addressed before you will get well again.

 

I'm not saying "quit school" or anything drastic - but you need to look at what those things are which have stressed you, and begin to address them with a long term plan.  If it is school, then make a plan for what you want to do after school.  I dealt with school by going for a 3 mile run every day after school.  And then - my plan involved getting a job over summer.  And then, my plan involved going to university.  Each of these plans also took me away from the toxic situation that was my home, and helped relieve stress.

 

What is your plan for alleviating stress?  Focus on it instead.

 

I see now, that there is a whole 'nother page after this post.  I'll look at it shortly to see if there's anything I've missed.

"Easy, easy - just go easy and you'll finish." - Hawaiian Kapuna

 

Holding is hard work, holding is a blessing. Give your brain time to heal before you try again.

 

My suggestions are not medical advice, you are in charge of your own medical choices.

 

A lifetime of being prescribed antidepressants that caused problems (30 years in total). At age 35 flipped to "bipolar," but was not diagnosed for 5 years. Started my journey in Midwest United States. Crossed the Pacific for love and hope; currently living in Australia.   CT Seroquel 25 mg some time in 2013.   Tapered Reboxetine 4 mg Oct 2013 to Sept 2014 = GONE (3 years on Reboxetine).     Tapered Lithium 900 to 475 MG (alternating with the SNRI) Jan 2014 - Nov 2014, tapered Lithium 475 mg Jan 2015 -  Feb 2016 = GONE (10 years  on Lithium).  Many mistakes in dry cutting dosages were made.


The tedious thread (my intro):  JanCarol ☼ Reboxetine first, then Lithium

The happy thread (my success story):  JanCarol - Undiagnosed  Off all bipolar drugs

My own blog:  https://shamanexplorations.com/shamans-blog/

 

 

I have been psych drug FREE since 1 Feb 2016!

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Seeing my docs and i believe that this is purely stress induced psychotic symptoms and emotional blunting our goal is to alleviate the stress and anxiety. I have already been pulled out of school and will continue to not be in school until my emotions return. I have just devised a schedule i will try to follow to the best of my ability. I will also be more than likely taking part in a facility type program just for people with OCD uncontrollable stress like me. It is going to be a 30 day program so i hope by the end of the 30 days i will be so stress free i will see improvements in my condition. As i said my stress is OCD related and i can't control it no matter how much i try, whenever i get a little emotion I'm flooded by adrenaline and everything shuts off again.

Do help with my OCD my doc and i are putting together a list of concerns and answering each concern. We are specifying in the list why i have no need to be afraid of some of these fears because it isn't happening.

 

For example one of them is PSSD, i am afraid that seeing i am very stressed allot my brain wasn't giving time to heal and it will soon settle in as permanent or long term disorder like PSSD with emotional numbing exedra. So, we already have our reason for believing i don't have PSSD. But you being someone who is pretty knowledgeable about the subject seem pretty convinced i don't have it. Why do you say that?

 

I have sexual numbing emotional numbing.... What are your reason?

 

And thank you all for your responses. I believe when it comes to PSSD the medical community has a choice they can either believe in it or not, seeing  almost all evidence is anecdotal most people choose the later..  

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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And as DJ said it can be all stress related he said he literally "turned off" one day his sexuality emotions everything. If i was dealing with no stress or OCD before them maybe it is CNS dysregulatuion but before i went on the meds i was liyrally dying of stress.

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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I almost had esophagus surgery from all the stress i was going through. (the acid reflux was becoming to much for my vocal cords and stomach)

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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I was also thinking it could be this... http://www.whatsyourgrief.com/feeling-nothing-during-grief/

 

 

Think about it depression, stress, anxiety and placebo along with a little DNS destabilization left over from the pill. It can make up "the perfect storm" leading me to were i am now.

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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Thanks DJ - My thoughts exactly . Move on with the healing.  Don't overthink this - let it go . :)

Many SSRI's and SSNRI's over 20 years. Zoloft for 7 years followed by Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Cymbalta, Celexa, Pristiq, Valdoxan, Mianserin and more - on and off. No tapering. Cold turkey off Valdoxan - end of May 2014

 

                                                  Psych Drug - free since May 2014
.
         

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Thats a nice thought but i will catastrophise in the future that is a given, i need ammunition to fight it off. Carol believes i don't have PSSD, she is probably the first person who believes PSSD exists who is almost certain i don't have it. She obviously has her reasons to believe i don't. If i can learn those reasons next time i freak out about PSSD i can use her logic to fight off the attack and if i use her logic enough i can condition myself to believe i definitely don't have PSSD. Witch will help me greatly on my road to recovery.

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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I'm sorry but I'm not sure that's what Jan meant however I'm  confused.

Ali

Many SSRI's and SSNRI's over 20 years. Zoloft for 7 years followed by Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Cymbalta, Celexa, Pristiq, Valdoxan, Mianserin and more - on and off. No tapering. Cold turkey off Valdoxan - end of May 2014

 

                                                  Psych Drug - free since May 2014
.
         

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I didn't say thats what Jan thought i said JAN believed i didn't have PSSD. Atlas thats how i interpreted what she said. Do you believe i have PSSD? How do i know this isn't just induced by stress anxiety and depression?

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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And i never said i believed i dont have a problem i have issues i know that i just am had pressed to believe one pill can possibly do everything i am experiencing. Even when people like GHOST claimed to have had a long term PSSD reaction after only 4 pills it just doesn't seem posable. Even if it were posable i don't believe it would affect me to this degree.  But it was restrung to know JAN didn't think i had PSSD so i was curious why she thought that.

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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 I will let her answer.  I'm not sure.

Many SSRI's and SSNRI's over 20 years. Zoloft for 7 years followed by Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Cymbalta, Celexa, Pristiq, Valdoxan, Mianserin and more - on and off. No tapering. Cold turkey off Valdoxan - end of May 2014

 

                                                  Psych Drug - free since May 2014
.
         

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Doesnt focusing on it make you stressed? That's exactly the kind of behavior you should begin to be mindful of. Create a routine. Get out of your head. You'll never find the answer your looking for until you recover

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Hey Way - 

 will also be more than likely taking part in a facility type program just for people with OCD uncontrollable stress like me. It is going to be a 30 day program so i hope by the end of the 30 days i will be so stress free i will see improvements in my condition.

 

I think this is an unrealistic expectation. 

 

A 30 day program for OCD will not relieve your stress.  It will give you tools for dealing with your stress - tools which you may have to use every day for the rest of your life, in order to function and be well.

 

Hopefully, it will give you some new ways of dealing with things so that some stress is relieved because you perceive the stress differently.

 

I didn't say thats what Jan thought i said JAN believed i didn't have PSSD. Atlas thats how i interpreted what she said. 

 

OK here's my logic (sorry Ali, this wasn't meant to come down on you).

 

MOST people who have an SSRI reaction or a withdrawal reaction - go through a period of different types of side effects and symptoms.  ONE OF THESE symptoms is genital troubles.  Alto said it too - MOST of the time, these go away.  When they don't go away, that is PSSD - I would give it up to 3 years before using that diagnosis, and I don't like diagnosis words at all - so I would resist calling it PSSD, even then, after 3 years.

 

My logic is that you are also displaying OTHER symptoms which are common in withdrawal:

funny smells

anhedonia

sticky thoughts (which you claim you had before, since you seem to affiliate with your "OCD" diagnosis)

ruminating (which you surely also had before, as this is a human habit)

health anxiety

 

all of these are common symptoms from SSRI's and withdrawal.

 

Only you know how many of these happened before you took the zoloft.  I reckon some of it - the smells, the anhedonia, the sexual difficulty - are after the tablets, as Ali implied.

 

That is my logic.  I hope you can use it to defend yourself against your brain.  Though maybe as DJ suggests, a "battle of the brain" isn't always the solution.

 

I agree with DJ, thoughts - and attaching to them - can be toxic.

 

Meditation and mindfulness is key to releasing your thoughts, letting them go back into the thought place where they came from.  You are not your thoughts.  Thoughts are a product of what your brain does for a living.  It's up to you to choose whether you will make them important or not.

 

Here's my piece on Rumination:

Rumination used to be a part of our survival, when we were living rough - how to protect the children from the bear, where to hunt next, what techniques for hunting work better, was that root really good to eat? - and many other survival items that we would ruminate on, after the sun went down, and talk about with our family or tribe.  It was a key part of learning and surviving.

 

The problem now, is that these survivals are now handled by modern society (when was the last time a bear was seen in your neighborhood?).  But our brains are thinking machines, it's what they do.  

 

So instead, the brain has other things to focus on:  should I have said that?  what did she mean?  I definitely shouldn't have done that!  Maybe I could've done better?  What if I'd said this instead?   These problems are unsolvable!

 

Then, the judgements come in (because the brain is a thinking machine, and you've exhausted all the scenarios, and your emotions are engaged, so you start to judge:  I am such a failure!  All I do is hurt people!  I am a burden to those around me, I am useless!

 

The first step is to disengage the emotions; as you found, the silly children's song is useful for that!

Then - learn to observe the thoughts, back away from judging them.  They are only thoughts, it is only your brain doing what it was born to do.  

 

The images I have used for thoughts are train cars, rattling by on a track.  You can jump on any one of them and go for a journey - but the goal is to let them go by - they are just thoughts on a track.  Let them go by.  As soon as that thought goes by, then another will take it's place.  Your brain is doing it's job.  You can even use the rhythm of the train tracks to tell yourself:  thinking, thinking, thinking.

 

The best way to separate yourself from thinking is to pay attention to your breathing.  When you focus only on your breathing, that connection between your body and the rest of the world - air - inhale, exhale, breathing - then you notice that the thinking is not so important.

 

Another image I have used is clouds.  You can't control thoughts, anymore than you can control clouds.  They come and go as they will, doing what they do.  (The Sound of Music has a line:  "How do you catch a cloud, and pin it down?")

 

The difference between me and a zen master, is that the zen master still thinks, but he has run so many thoughts down that track that his thoughts are more efficient.  He has traced the thought generating mechanism to its source in the brain, and manages to pay attention only to the thoughts which are useful.

 

He still has clouds in his skies, but they are clearer, brighter, and more likely to be productive.

 

 

Clarity:  the silly children's song exercise.  When you get a sticky thought, sing it out loud to the tune of a nursery rhyme.  Until it sounds ridiculous.  Make fun of the sticky thought.

 

I just saw a great movie called "The Peaceful Warrior."  I think you would benefit from it, and enjoy it - though I found it hard to find, but I am in Australia.  It's about a young gymnast who has to change his way of thinking and being, especially when his leg is crushed from a motorcycle accident.  And an old man who guides him along his journey.  There's a book, too, but the movie is good.  Maybe it would help you to see it a few times.

 

I hope this helps.

"Easy, easy - just go easy and you'll finish." - Hawaiian Kapuna

 

Holding is hard work, holding is a blessing. Give your brain time to heal before you try again.

 

My suggestions are not medical advice, you are in charge of your own medical choices.

 

A lifetime of being prescribed antidepressants that caused problems (30 years in total). At age 35 flipped to "bipolar," but was not diagnosed for 5 years. Started my journey in Midwest United States. Crossed the Pacific for love and hope; currently living in Australia.   CT Seroquel 25 mg some time in 2013.   Tapered Reboxetine 4 mg Oct 2013 to Sept 2014 = GONE (3 years on Reboxetine).     Tapered Lithium 900 to 475 MG (alternating with the SNRI) Jan 2014 - Nov 2014, tapered Lithium 475 mg Jan 2015 -  Feb 2016 = GONE (10 years  on Lithium).  Many mistakes in dry cutting dosages were made.


The tedious thread (my intro):  JanCarol ☼ Reboxetine first, then Lithium

The happy thread (my success story):  JanCarol - Undiagnosed  Off all bipolar drugs

My own blog:  https://shamanexplorations.com/shamans-blog/

 

 

I have been psych drug FREE since 1 Feb 2016!

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I appreciate the response Jan. Although the three year limit you are putting on this seems a little radical to me. When i asked by Phycologist what i was experiencing this is (paraphrased version) of how she responded,

 

 

 

"WHAT IF THE SSRI HAS CAUSED PSSD?"

I can’t conform or deny PSSD’s existence however you do not have PSSD. PSSD is medical withdrawal. Does it exist like a switch? no. It is not permanent nor immediate there are short term side effects but you are not experiencing long term side effects, your long term side effects are experiencing because you are focusing on them and mistaking stress anxiaty and depression side effects for PSSD side effects.  I have treated many people who were hardcore long term drug addicts, thees drugs do re-wire the brain and literally shut off certain arias. I have seen thees people through therapy make full recoveries.
 
although the brain's structure may change right away after taking a single does it will not hold that new structure, your brain will after a short period of withdrawal return to its former structure. Your brains structure can not change to a new structure that suddenly. Your brains structure has been in existence and developing gradually ever since you were born. Your personality and emotional response have been relatively the same for several years, one pill can't re structure your brain in the long term based off of our current understanding of the human brain. Although it will stay as long as you harp on it(through the placebo affect)
___
As i said above this is heavily paraphrased. But it does make a valid point. I alive a portion of my symptoms are due to preservation and another portion is due to stress anxiety and depression. I am unsure wether any of this has to do with the medication at this point in time. 

Just because i didn't have these symptoms before the meds does not mean the meds caused it. I had a panic attack after the initial negative reaction and i got very stressed anxious and depressed, i expected it to go away within a day or two when it didn't i looked this up and self diagnosed myself with PSSD. (it didn't go away initially because the underlying cause was still there(stress anxiety and depression that went untreated) and because i was focusing on it and constantly asking myself. When i believed i had PSSD i thought my entire life was ruined and i would never make a FULL recovery therefore i could never be the same person and all my dreams were forfeit. I cried for two days then sunk into a state of suicidal shock and despair that lasted a while. Later i went psychotic and had a complete melt down. This trauma tied with placebo worsened stress anxiety and depression and untreated health OCD created the perfect storm i am weathering to this day. 
 
Based of of what we know about the human brain and scientific facts this seems to be the most logical explanation for what i am currently experiencing it. I don't believe mis labeling it as a SSRI withdrawal is helpful or realistic. But i did ask for your opinion and i am thank full for it because it does provide me with some extra much needed hope. 
 
I hope the facility i will soon be attending will both condition me to believe i am not damaged that this is not withdrawal(An unhealthy paradigm because in this paradigm you put yourself at the mercy of time and uncertainty, with can lead to prolonged symptoms and worse OCD) it will hopefully also teach me coping skills for stress anxiety and depression witch keep the adahonia/numbness and other phycsimatic symptoms going.
 
Anyway thank you once again for all the helpful advice. I have one last thing to ask before i go off for some time.
 
Can you explain this? I believe i have an explanation but i would like to know your opinion. But after i must leave the forums for some time.
 
________
 
i am very socialy award lately for example when i was in the middle of a conversation with my brother i started to play music on my computer that was socially awkward because if i want to hear music i do it later and focus all my atenstion on my brother… I wonder why i did that i also feel this metallic taste.
 
Now i have become very light headed i seem to be experiencing spacial disorientation and pretty bad sweating and nausea the numbing sensation seems worse its as if i have entered a deeper layer of psychosis it even apears to be getting worse i don’t know what to do i know that it can’t be anything degenerative. It ha to be what doc said it was and it is it would be foolish to think otherwise. although when that person on the forums said this could be withdrawn it amens sense the windows waves and patterns seem to happen despite how i feel and how hard i work on treating this. But i must have faith that it is not.
 
But my forehead is getting really tight, it feels really tight and cold especially on my eye brows everything is getting bigger and smaller i also feel very sick
i can also feel the weight of my skin agents my flesh it is strange. 
 
i feel like i am fading in and out of reality i am getting sick my skin is feeling tight my arms seem farther away from my head and i can feel more air on my skin all of a sudden everything looks different my hands look more depthy 
 
its as if my depth perception is changing, i t feels like what one would describe being vertigo. my face once again feels tight i am becoming very uncoordinated. My arms feel almost non existent and lighter my lower back feels really cold like my head. My vision in my right eye is getting worse i am having a hard time distinguishing side like right verse left.
 
What i fear is that this may be a pinched nerve or something that is life threatening that i must solve or get looked at immediately.  Given everything i am experiencing wouldn’t it eb an oversight nit to atlas consult with a neurologist? 
 
______

On the 29th i took zoloft 25mg. Since then i have suffered from savere apathy, low sex drive, nasua, cognative imparment, impulsiveness, inablility to plan properly, inability to properly construct sentences and ingage in conversation, fatugue. I see little to no improvement dailey and in some way it feels worse. 90% sexual numbness, can only feel emotion in dreams, in the day i feel mostly like a corpse braught alive by battery acid injections when i do have emotion its either depression or its muted and barely present. The range of emotion is hard to feel. Forlorn and nostalgia are the most common felt emotions..

 

Although now i recognize the sole cause of all this is not the pill. It is extreme stress anxiety and depression along with the Placebo Affect + medical anxiety.. This may have been triggered by the medication but now that it is out of my system and seeing i only took it for a day it has left no long term effect on me. I just need to learn coping skills and make life style changes that will lead me to a full recovery.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Yes, that's the thing about symptoms.

 

The more you focus on them, the more you worry about them, the more you Google them - the worse they will get.

 

Maybe let go of SA and Dr. Google for awhile.

 

Try and do something productive for yourself.

 

Get out of the house.

 

Or if you can't leave the house, watch Pinky and the Brain or YuGiOh.

 

But your practitioner - even though s/he doesn't believe that a pill did this - is right that:

your long term side effects are experiencing because you are focusing on them

 

It doesn't mean that your symptoms aren't real, or aren't caused by the SSRI.

 

and I'm not going to argue the point further.

 

It just means you need to look away from yourself.

 

Volunteer at a homeless shelter, cook at a food bank.  Give something to others, look away from yourself.  Serve others, take care of someone - even if it is a goldfish - besides yourself.

 

I cannot address your current symptoms.  THey sound like new forms of withdrawal symptoms.  Perceptual shifts.  But they are made worse by your attention to them.

 

I hope you look outside and see the sun today.

"Easy, easy - just go easy and you'll finish." - Hawaiian Kapuna

 

Holding is hard work, holding is a blessing. Give your brain time to heal before you try again.

 

My suggestions are not medical advice, you are in charge of your own medical choices.

 

A lifetime of being prescribed antidepressants that caused problems (30 years in total). At age 35 flipped to "bipolar," but was not diagnosed for 5 years. Started my journey in Midwest United States. Crossed the Pacific for love and hope; currently living in Australia.   CT Seroquel 25 mg some time in 2013.   Tapered Reboxetine 4 mg Oct 2013 to Sept 2014 = GONE (3 years on Reboxetine).     Tapered Lithium 900 to 475 MG (alternating with the SNRI) Jan 2014 - Nov 2014, tapered Lithium 475 mg Jan 2015 -  Feb 2016 = GONE (10 years  on Lithium).  Many mistakes in dry cutting dosages were made.


The tedious thread (my intro):  JanCarol ☼ Reboxetine first, then Lithium

The happy thread (my success story):  JanCarol - Undiagnosed  Off all bipolar drugs

My own blog:  https://shamanexplorations.com/shamans-blog/

 

 

I have been psych drug FREE since 1 Feb 2016!

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  • 2 years later...
  • Administrator

Hello, TW, how are you doing?

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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