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Silva: Can't concentrate/focus with SSRIs help


Silva

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Hello friends, its nice to find a safe place where we can talk about our problems with antidepressants.

 

I'm 25 years old, male, live in Brazil, my story is long and painful, but to make things short, I was diagnosed with IBS in 2016 and I have to use SSRI'S or else I suffer super strong chronic abdominal pain and all kinds of weird symptoms that would make a grown ass man cry.

 

I tried most SSRI'S and "all" of then make me feel "stupid" I can't focus properly, They have different side effects but the lack of focus is common place for me.

 

Anyone tried using another drug (maybe adhd drugs) to cope with the side effect ? My brain just doesn't work "right" if you know what I mean. I just can't make quick "connections" my thought is slow and dragged, my focus is blurred. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm desperate, thank you.

 

I can make normal activities like working, typing, reading "bad".

 

I don't have depression, never had.

 

I am a bit anxious, been all my life but never used medication.

 

I always use the lower dosage, because if the doctor increases I start to feel "numb" and weird, I am super sensitive to side effects. Currently I am using 20 mg "half" Pristiq the best so far.

 

If I stop using ssris, my brain returns to normal and I can focus, work, and study properly again but then the pain symptoms in my gut and discomfort starts all over again after a month or two.

 

I tried:

Amitriptyline/Nortriptiline (don't work)

Sertraline - Zoloft (makes me feel great but can't study)

Fluoxetine - Prozac (don't work make me dumb)

Citalopran (don't work make me dumb)

Escitalopran - Lexapro (don't work make me dumb)

Desvenlafaxine - Pristiq (make me feel great but can't study)

 

Edited by ChessieCat
increased font and got rid of weird underlining in blue and red
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  • ChessieCat changed the title to Silva: Can't concentrate/focus with SSRIs help
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hello, Silva, and welcome to SA.  It appears from your post that you are caught between two unpleasant choices: being on SSRI's and dealing with cognitive issues or suffering painful IBS symptoms.

 

We are a site for helping people taper safely off psychiatric drugs.  It is unclear from your post how we may help you.  Are you interested in tapering off whatever psychiatric drug(s) you are taking?  Assuming you are, I am going to give you some links that I hope will be helpful to you.

 

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.  Please list your past drugs, doses and dates and the drugs you are taking now.
  • Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years. 
  • Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago) 
  • Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016. 
  • Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. 
  • A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. 
  • Link to Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.
 
At Surviving Antidepressants, it is recommended that a person taper by no more than 10% of their current dose with at least a four week hold in-between decreases.  The 10% taper recommendation is a harm reduction approach to going off psychiatric drugs.  Some people may have to taper at a more conservative rate as they are sensitive to even the smallest drops.
  
 
 
here is some information on withdrawal from psychiatric drugs.
 
 

 

When we take medications, the CNS (central nervous system) responds by making changes over the months and years we take the drug(s). When the medication is discontinued, the CNS has to undo all the changes it made. Rebuilding the neurotransmitter production and reactivating the receptor and transporter cells takes time -- during that rebuilding process symptoms occur.  
 
 
Please be aware that sometime withdrawal symptoms don't appear immediately after a too-fast taper.
 
 
Healing isn't linear.  There will be ups and downs.
 
 

There are many existing topics and discussions on this site.  You can use Google and include survivingantidepressants.org in your search string.  For example, "SurvivingAntidepressants.org IBS"

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

 

 

Please research all supplements first and only add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.
 
While it is often a first response to stress to take a B-Complex, in withdrawal it can be overstimulating.
 
 
Many members have found the techniques in the following two links helpful in coping with withdrawal.  
This is your introduction topic -- the place for you to ask questions, record symptoms, share your progress, and connect with other members of the SA community.  I hope you’ll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation.  I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but I am glad that you found us.
 
 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

Edited by Gridley

Gridley Introduction

 

Lexapro 20 mg since 2004.  Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017.   

End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg 

End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg

End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg  

Oct. 30, 2020  Jump to zero from 0.025mg.  Current dose: 0.000mg

3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete.

 

Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements

Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium

Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium 

End 2021  year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg

End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg 

End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg

Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper.

Taper is 95% complete.

 

Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986.  Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg  

March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper

Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper

Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper.  Current dose as of Feb. 22: 7.6mg

Taper is 90% complete.  

  

Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zinc, melatonin .3mg, anti-candida, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase


I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs.

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  • 9 months later...
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Silva, 

 

How are you doing? You haven’t checked in since your original post. Hope you’re okay. Sending hugs🤗😂

Been on APs, benzos, ADs and opiates, for chronic pain. Had Akathisia in the past that made me suicidal. Still on Seroquel. 2019:➡️ March10=7.25mg ✔️ April17=7.0✔️ June5=6.75✔️ July14=6.50✔️ Aug28=6.25✔️ Oct10=6.20  ✔️ Oct21=6.0✔️ Dec16=5.80 ✔️ 2020➡️ Jan 21=5.60 ✔️ April2=5.40 ✔️ May29=5.20 ✔️ Aug14= 5.0 ✔️Sep29=4.80✔️2021➡️ Jan31=4.60 mg✔️ April24=4.40mg✔️Jul17=4.30mg ✔️ Aug 28=4.20 ✔️ Oct 11=4.15✔️Nov1=4.10 ✔️ Nov21= 4.05✔️ Dec13= 4mg ✔️2022 ➡️ Jan8=3.95✔️ Jan31=3.90✔️ March2=3.85 ✔️ April4=3.80 ✔️ June16=3.75✔️ July26=3.70✔️ Sep2=3.65✔️ Oct21=3.60 ✔️ Dec8=3.55✔️2023➡️ Jan 26=3.50✔️ March 17=3.45✔️ June12=3.40✔️ July30=3.35✔️ Sep14=3.30✔️ Oct31=3.25✔️This is NOT medical advice.Consult your doctor.

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