Psychotropic medication discussion thread

wiredskipper45 said:I feel like I’ve already rambled on about Prozac quite a bit here. 🙂
For me, it actually had the fewest side effects. Well, except for that first time I took it—I think I slept for like 36 hours straight. After a week, though, that heavy feeling was gone. I was sleeping like a baby, and the depression finally started backing off after a few months of use (mostly, anyway). Sadly, the anxiety ended up ramping up over time, but honestly, that was mostly just due to some stuff going on in my life...
With Effexor and Zoloft, I was constantly nauseous. I felt aggressive, restless, wired, and my heart would just race... the anxiety was physically painful. And that was after only taking one dose of each. I don't think I could have survived two days of those side effects.

Thanks,

Did you also deal with dizziness, nausea, or restlessness from the Prozac, and what kind of dosages were you starting on versus what you moved to later?

If I understood correctly, you were on Zoloft 1 day? That’s exactly what the instructions suggest, and I can personally confirm that those "very common" side effects are almost a guarantee during those first 3 to 15 days. Once you get past that, the anxiety stays fairly well managed, but it never truly lets go of you completely.

Scott Alvarez22 said:Unfortunately, for me, it feels exactly like I'm starting from scratch all over again.

That sucks. I really hope things turn around for you soon. 😉

And, if you don't mind me asking, what actually went down on that day when you missed your Zoloft? Did everything eventually settle back down, or was it just a mess?

Scott Alvarez22 said:Prozac

I'm looking for some firsthand accounts regarding Prozac, if anyone has them—specifically how it stacks up against Zoloft or Effexor?

I was on 5 mg of Zoloft, but I actually switched off it after just one week by moving to a different AD.
(I've never tried Prozac myself)

Mark Nelson said:That sucks. I really hope things turn around for you soon. 😉

And, if you don't mind me asking, what actually went down on that day when you missed your Zoloft? Did everything eventually settle back down, or was it just a mess?

I've touched on this before;

For me, Zoloft has a massive impact on how I perceive the weather—specifically atmospheric pressure.
When the barometric pressure drops, I deal with nausea and dizziness, whereas high pressure brings tension and headaches.

I find myself constantly having to balance it out with Xanax; when there's high pressure—like during a bright, sunny day—I feel like I need more Xanax just to cope, but during those rainy, humid days from the south, I barely need any at all.

In my experience, Zoloft and Xanax share a surprisingly similar set of side effects—shaking, jitters, nausea, and so on. The main difference is the timing: with Zoloft, everything hits within thirty minutes to two hours, whereas with Xanax, the symptoms tend to flare up once it wears off after a couple of hours. It took me years to finally realize that the symptoms are almost identical, almost as if Zoloft somehow has Xanax baked right into it.

fadedbear92 said:I was on 5 mg of Zoloft, but I actually switched off it after just one week by moving to a different AD.
(I've never tried Prozac myself)

Which AD did you switch to, and did you end up dealing with the same symptoms from the Zoloft that I am?

Guys, I really need some support right now. Is it normal to be hit this hard by nervousness, anxiety, and nausea? Just to give some context—it’s my seventh day on an AD, specifically Paxil, and yesterday was the first time I took the full tablet. Will this intense, constant anxiety eventually subside, or am I just dealing with a side effect?

David Bishop4 said:Guys, I really need some support right now. Is it normal to be hit this hard by nervousness, anxiety, and nausea? Just to give some context—it’s my seventh day on an AD, specifically Paxil, and yesterday was the first time I took the full tablet. Will this intense, constant anxiety eventually subside, or am I just dealing with a side effect?

I dealt with that same intense jitters during the first 10 days while my body was adjusting, though I didn't have the nausea part. Honestly, if I were you, I’d definitely reach out to my doctor right away so they can evaluate the situation and decide how to proceed.

Andrew Doyle said:I dealt with that same intense jitters during the first 10 days while my body was adjusting, though I didn't have the nausea part. Honestly, if I were you, I’d definitely reach out to my doctor right away so they can evaluate the situation and decide how to proceed.

I feel like I should try to push through this, especially since I know others have complained about nausea too, but this constant anxiety is honestly killing me.

And what am I supposed to say about all that "nervousness" you're dealing with? Honestly, I’ve been known to start my workouts well after midnight just to burn off that restless energy and get it out of my system.🙄

Scott Alvarez22 said:Thanks,

Did you also deal with dizziness, nausea, or restlessness from the Prozac, and what kind of dosages were you starting on versus what you moved to later?

If I understood correctly, you were on Zoloft 1 day? That’s exactly what the instructions suggest, and I can personally confirm that those "very common" side effects are almost a guarantee during those first 3 to 15 days. Once you get past that, the anxiety stays fairly well managed, but it never truly lets go of you completely.

you have to be careful with Mirzaten if your blood pressure is on the lower side. and yeah, now that you mention it—I definitely had bouts of dizziness from it. it would hit for a few days and then just stop, happened a couple of times like that. didn't get the nausea or the restlessness, though... not like when I was on Zoloft or VELOFAX. I know I probably should have toughed it out longer, but the thing is, I usually don't even start an AD until I'm already feeling pretty terrible on my own, and then you pile all these side effects on top of that—ugh. I just can't seem to power through it. :/

starting Mirzaten today. my starting dose is always 15mg.
I was supposed to take 45mg, but I didn't... stayed at 30mg max.

David Bishop4 said:Guys, I really need some support right now. Is it normal to be hit this hard by nervousness, anxiety, and nausea? Just to give some context—it’s my seventh day on an AD, specifically Paxil, and yesterday was the first time I took the full tablet. Will this intense, constant anxiety eventually subside, or am I just dealing with a side effect?

The worst part is behind you; from here on out, things should start looking up every single day.

I’ve been finding it pretty tough to stay focused since I started taking Haldol. It feels like my brain just drifts off, and I'm struggling to actually follow along when people are talking to me. :\

Scott Alvarez22 said:Which AD did you switch to, and did you end up dealing with the same symptoms from the Zoloft that I am?

I switched over to Paxil back then; honestly, I didn't run into any side effects at all while tapering off.

Scott Alvarez22 said:The worst part is behind you; from here on out, things should start looking up every single day.

I really appreciate that. Until then, I'll just be getting by on Xanax. 😉

David Bishop4 said:I really appreciate that. Until then, I'll just be getting by on Xanax. 😉

Look, if you can, try to scale back on the Xanax. It gives you that initial little lift, but once it wears off about an hour or two later, you get hit with this mini-withdrawal—drowsiness, nausea, all that good stuff—which just leaves you feeling more on edge, so you end up taking another dose, and then you're stuck in this endless loop.

That crash after the Xanax stops working usually hits within two hours of the dose wearing off, so you really just have to grit your teeth and wait for it to pass.

I don't know exactly how much you're taking, but try to keep it to a minimum; eventually, the AD should start doing its job and level things out.

Scott Alvarez22 said:Look, if you can, try to scale back on the Xanax. It gives you that initial little lift, but once it wears off about an hour or two later, you get hit with this mini-withdrawal—drowsiness, nausea, all that good stuff—which just leaves you feeling more on edge, so you end up taking another dose, and then you're stuck in this endless loop.

That crash after the Xanax stops working usually hits within two hours of the dose wearing off, so you really just have to grit your teeth and wait for it to pass.

I don't know exactly how much you're taking, but try to keep it to a minimum; eventually, the AD should start doing its job and level things out.

Honestly, don't worry too much. I'm one of those people who can stick it out as long as I need to. I never take more than two a day.

Honestly, Xanax doesn't even give me any nausea or make me drowsy, and it seems to kick in way longer than just 2 hours🤔

It’s just one thing after another today!!! 🙂🙂 Between the nausea from the pills and this gastritis, I honestly can't tell which symptom belongs to what anymore... It's unreal. Still, I suspect it’s just my body adjusting to the AD. From about 5 or 6 in the evening until around noon the next day, I’m completely wiped out, then I get a few hours of peace before it all starts over again... I just hope all of this ends up being worth it, because I feel like I'm losing my mind...

Brandon Lopez6 said:Honestly, Xanax doesn't even give me any nausea or make me drowsy, and it seems to kick in way longer than just 2 hours🤔

I’m in the same boat, really. My level of drowsiness fluctuates quite a bit depending on exactly how much I take, and honestly, even the effectiveness of the dose seems to shift based on my headspace—it all depends on just how intense my anxiety or panic attacks are feeling at any given moment.

I honestly don't get all this talk about Mirzaten. I've been on Calixta for eight days now, and it actually knocked me out on the first day—period. But then Thursday afternoon hit, and this insane anxiety just took over. I took my 15 mg Calixta and 0.5 mg Seroxat in the evening, but an hour or two later, everything felt even worse. I knew I had to be up for work in the morning, and I was spiraling thinking about how tomorrow would be a total disaster if I couldn't sleep. Usually, I’ll just take another 0.5 mg of quick-acting Seroxat to calm down eventually, but this felt unbearable, so I figured I'd just take some Ambien to, I don't know, basically pass out quickly and be done with it. I took 10 mg of Ambien, laid down, and spent the next hour tossing and turning in bed until I realized I wasn't going to sleep at all. I ended up getting up to light... a candle, I guess? I felt a little woozy, but I was wide awake and still feeling anxious. Eventually, I just put on a movie and somehow, finally, managed to settle down and drift off... HOW? 🙂