Zoloft doesn't make me feel better anymore.

Stigmata

Stigmata

The Freeman
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I feel horrible. I've only felt worse since my dosage was upped from 50 to 100mg per day. I feel empty all the time. I have no motivation or energy to do anything for myself. I don't have the motivation to go out and get a job, or make music, or meet people. Nothing.

Nobody in my family talks to me except for my mom. I'm constantly depressed. My mood is always baseline or worse. I hate myself so much that it makes me sick.

This god damn drug was supposed to help fix me. Clear my head, raise my mood, lower my stress. But the reality is that Zoloft does ****-all for me. I take it every day and I still feel exactly the same as I did when I was diagnosed with depression. I just feel so ****ing awful right now. I can't sleep and I'm crying as I type this. What the hell is wrong with me?

Why can't I be okay?
 
yo man. Supposedly if they increase your medication, you have to expect some change. It is supposed to go away.

If it has never helped you at all, I'd tell your doctor that it is making you feel worse. Maybe they can try something different.
 
Zoloft takes about 4-6 hours to reach its maximum concentration in the body. I took my pill 7 hours ago, and I've felt worse in the past few hours than I have all day. Same thing happened yesterday. And the day before. Sad, lonely, insomniatic, and suicidal. God, I've been intermittently suicidal for the past few days. I need to get off this shit. I knew it was a bad idea from the start.
 
There have been studies that indicate that antidepressants can actually worsen depression and trigger suicidal thoughts and behavior. Be very careful.

And what you describe sounds like me a lot of the time, except that I'm not on medication.

It really sucks. :(
 
Google image search puppies. It makes anyone smile, seriously
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Man's got a point.

Even better, watching animals has been shown to make people feel better, relax them, lower blood pressure. It gets your mind off things too

There have been studies that indicate that antidepressants can actually worsen depression and trigger suicidal thoughts and behavior. Be very careful.

And what you describe sounds like me a lot of the time, except that I'm not on medication.
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and this. there was a huge thing on the news with a rash of teen suicides linked to mind-altering medications like anti-depressants.

Anything that changes the way you think can be very dangerous. Everyone seems to be affected differently, because everyone's brain thinks differently. It's not like beer where everyone get's drunk and walks and talks funny

I would just be chill. We love you man. Call the doctor in the morning and sort this out.
 
Doesn't always work though depending on the state of mind a person is in. I know from experience that sometimes even the most fun and funny things, or cute things, won't have the least bit of effect.


Anyways, going on what I was saying earlier.


Suicidality

The FDA requires all antidepressants, including sertraline, to carry a black box warning stating that antidepressants may increase the risk of suicide in persons younger than 25. This warning is based on statistical analyses conducted by two independent groups of FDA experts that found a 2-fold increase of suicidal ideation and behavior in children and adolescents, and a 1.5-fold increase of suicidality in the 18–24 age group.[137][138][139]

Suicidal ideation and behavior in clinical trials are rare. For the above analysis, the FDA combined the results of 295 trials of 11 antidepressants for psychiatric indications in order to obtain statistically significant results. Considered separately, sertraline use in adults decreased the odds of suicidality with a marginal statistical significance by 37%[139] or 50%[138] depending on the statistical technique used. The authors of the FDA analysis note that "given the large number of comparisons made in this review, chance is a very plausible explanation for this difference".[138] The more complete data submitted later by the sertraline manufacturer Pfizer indicated increased suicidality.[140] Similarly, the analysis conducted by the UK MHRA found a 50% increase of odds of suicide-related events, not reaching statistical significance, in the patients on sertraline as compared to the ones on placebo.[141][142]

Discontinuation syndrome

Abrupt interruption of sertraline treatment may result in withdrawal or discontinuation syndrome. This syndrome occurred in 60% of the remitted depressed patients taking sertraline in a blind discontinuation study, as compared to 14% of patients on fluoxetine and 66% of patients on paroxetine.[143] During the 5–8-day period when sertraline was temporarily replaced by placebo, the most frequent symptoms (reported by more than a quarter of patients) were irritability, agitation, dizziness, headache, nervousness, crying, emotional lability, bad dreams and anger. Around a third experienced mood worsening to the level generally associated with a major depressive episode.[143] In a double-blind study of remitted panic disorder patients, abrupt discontinuation of sertraline treatment resulted in insomnia and dizziness (both 16–17% vs. 4% for continuing treatment), although headache, depression and malaise did not increase significantly.[76] In another double-blind study of recovered panic disorder patients, the withdrawal syndrome was completely avoided when sertraline was gradually discontinued over three weeks, while patients stopping paroxetine treatment still suffered from it.[74]
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Stigmata said:
Why can't I be okay?
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The million dollar question.

Who prescribed it to you? Talk to him, see if he can recommend you anything else, or just come off it. Kind of really doesn't sound like it's helping.
 
I took Zoloft, I spent 2-3 years as an empty shell of a person. Get off that shit. It seriously stunted my growth socially.
 
Lexepro worked relatively nicely for me when I was seriously clinically depressed. I also found a therapist who I liked much, much more. best of luck to you, Stiggy. I do suggest trying deliberately to reverse your mood by getting exercise or calling friends on a daily basis, if you can manage.

I've tried every SSRI on the market, including Zolof, Paxil, Effexor, Lexepro, Prozac and more. Also some experimental and more outdated drugs for depression. Some how I feel I've kind of grown out of it, though, it's wonderful for the time being but I know that there's always the possibility of the panic and depression coming back -- I'll probably start Lexepro again in that case and try to see my therapist more. I'd be happy to talk seriously about it with you if you sent me a PM or IM, I know how shitty shit shit it can be.
 
I love you, Stigmata. You're going to be alright, my friend.
 
Bad^Hat said:
The million dollar question.

Who prescribed it to you? Talk to him, see if he can recommend you anything else, or just come off it. Kind of really doesn't sound like it's helping.
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whatever you do , DO NOT do that ^ . Dont stop your medication unless you consult your doctor first. Fluctuations (from my experience) are common when changing dosage or medication so you might want to give it a bit of time , if you still don't feel comfortable with it consult your doctor.
 
I took Zoloft and within two months, almost to the exact date, I had really awful depression, suicidal thoughts and all.

Really dude, it's a drug that affects everyone differently, but it can have some Jurassic consequences if you're one of the unlucky bunch that it affects in a negative way, you can take that from me. Just do some research on SSRIs in general, it's scary shit.

If you ever want to talk about it privately feel free to IM me or something, I'm all ears.
 
I remember now, my doctor told me to call her if I started getting suicidal thoughts. I'm going to call her when I wake up.

And funnily enough, I just realized that marijuana is my anti-Zoloft. It reverses or significantly lessens the impact of my social complexes. When I smoke, I no longer have issues with self-confidence, assertion, over-analyzation, self-consciousness, stress, emotional oversensitivity, and emotional introversion/suppression.

[edit] Which is not to say that I think it's some sort of miracle cure-all drug. But it sure as hell seems to work for me.
 
I've been where your at stigmata, and still am today (thought not as much). I've attempted suicide before, and was about to late last year, in fact, i was such a danger i went to see my school psychologist, and they had me 5150'd. So trust me when i say this, go see your doctor immediately, and tell them everything that has been happening since you started the medication.

I know how you feel, trust me, i've been to hell and back multiple times, when there are the days when you feel like complete and utter shit, and the only friend you have is a gun, some razors, or alcohol and medication. I've gone through so much crap in this short span of a lifetime, the fact that i'm alive sometimes amazes me, but in the end, i'm glad that i'm still here. ..
 
I say trow that shit and go in a rampage in da city
 
Do you excercise as well or just take drugs?

Drugs are usually just part of a solution. Excercise does wonders for your body, hormone production, and overall feeling of well being.
 
Stigmata said:
I remember now, my doctor told me to call her if I started getting suicidal thoughts. I'm going to call her when I wake up.

And funnily enough, I just realized that marijuana is my anti-Zoloft. It reverses or significantly lessens the impact of my social complexes. When I smoke, I no longer have issues with self-confidence, assertion, over-analyzation, self-consciousness, stress, emotional oversensitivity, and emotional introversion/suppression.

[edit] Which is not to say that I think it's some sort of miracle cure-all drug. But it sure as hell seems to work for me.
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It is the best medicine, by far.

If it were me, I would switch from SSRI's to 5-HTP, it's a precursor to serotonin and can help keep your levels up naturally. Good for mood and regulating sleep. Also Aniracetam, it's a nootropic but also really gets you motivated. I take both and I think they've helped me a lot. And not to sound like a broken record, but psychedelics can really put things into perspective and make the world seem right, if you're willing.
 
Definitely get off the stuff. I didn't feel like my life was worth living till I got off Prozac.
 
I have a offtopic questiong about your doctor

she is hot?
 
I thought I was depressed for a while too, until I found out I was just bored with my life. **** up your usual routine a bit, get out more, go driving around, listen to some happy music and drive through the country. Getting out could do you wonders.

And about the marijuana, be careful. Use it sparingly, lest you become a nervous, shaky wreck. My uncle used to be addicted to marijuana, and though he's quit, he still scratches and jerks sometimes. Be careful with it, it might worsen you as well. Yeah, get a treadmill, or jog around your block a few times a day. Get buffed up or w/e. Pursue your dream body, it makes you feel a hell of a lot better about yourself. A hell of a lot better.

I really don't believe that teens should take any sort of drug unless they're sick. Regular medication can **** with you. What you really need are vitamins. :p
 
ok i wanna know why youz guys fell into depression in the first place? was it some kind of family problem, social problem,...

no offense but if you fell into depression because of some girl who dumped you or some guy said something...then you need a kick in the balls.
but i'd understand if it is some kind of serious problem like you're parents abusing you or being fuktard alcoholics, or somebody raped you, or you lost your leg or something, or death in the family.

if you're a normal middle class person with an average loving family and decent health...then you get no emphaty from me and you also deserve none. sorry for being harsh but it is the truth

seriously...i want to know why you fell into depression?
 
jverne said:
if you're a normal middle class person with an average loving family...then you get no pity from me.

seriously...i want to know why you fell into depression?
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The human brain is a little more complicated than you think. It's easy for you to brush this off as nonsense but as someone already said a lot of times depression has absolutely nothing to do with your enviroment, it has to do with a chemical imbalance in the brain. It's easy to think you know everything on this subject, but I would recommend you shut up aboout it and let people that research this for a living handle it.
 
jverne said:
ok i wanna know why youz guys fell into depression in the first place? was it some kind of family problem, social problem,...

no offense but if you fell into depression because of some girl who dumped you or some guy said something...then you need a kick in the balls.
but i'd understand if it is some kind of serious problem like you're parents abusing you or being fuktard alcoholics, or somebody raped you, or you lost your leg or something, or death in the family.

if you're a normal middle class person with an average loving family and decent health...then you get no emphaty from me and you also deserve none. sorry for being harsh but it is the truth

seriously...i want to know why you fell into depression?
Click to expand...

You know, I'd be a little more willing to take this seriously if he could really spell worth a shit. For now I'll just brush it off as he has no idea what he's talking about anyway, and his grammatical errors just make that more obvious. ^^

Just kidding... kinda. ;)
 
I've fallen into a minor depression but nothing major
We all get it Stig
We all get it and we all get over it
Just think about how much we love you and take a few happy-pills

Now i doubt i'm helping much but i've never been into that major of a depression...

Wow i suck at this kinda stuff....
 
jverne said:
ok i wanna know why youz guys fell into depression in the first place? was it some kind of family problem, social problem,...

no offense but if you fell into depression because of some girl who dumped you or some guy said something...then you need a kick in the balls.
but i'd understand if it is some kind of serious problem like you're parents abusing you or being fuktard alcoholics, or somebody raped you, or you lost your leg or something, or death in the family.

if you're a normal middle class person with an average loving family and decent health...then you get no emphaty from me and you also deserve none. sorry for being harsh but it is the truth

seriously...i want to know why you fell into depression?
Click to expand...

wow, you've just done a spectacular job at completely missing the point of a serious issue.
 
Exercise can do wonders for the human brain. I recommend:

An hours exercise a day.
Weed.
Lots of contact with friends.

Note, I am not a doctor and I am not promoting the use of illegal drugs. End note.
 
For the record: I only smoke once or twice a week. I use weed as a tool to help me learn how to relax myself and be more open with people, rather than a crutch to let myself imagine I'm smoking myself into normality.

I just called my doctor and she's busy with patients, but she'll be calling back soon.

[edit] I'll probably go biking in a bit. I've biked around with friends a few times this week, I should probably keep that up.
 
Beer does the trick for me. Allnighter on the town. That and some dope.
Only thing is you might feel worse when you wasted your last money and have some fines a and huge ****ing rent bill.
 
Be careful, too much depression medication can actually increase your tendency to have suicidal thoughts. If you're not feeling any better with the current medication, talk to your doctor about another one. The last thing you want to do is keep using this medication when all it is doing is making you feel worse.
 
Alot of anti-depressants take along time to work you know? I'm guessing your doctor told you about your drug etc so it might not be the case with Zoloft but many do take awhile, months even before you feel a 'lift'.

Also please don't read WIKI to get info on anti-depressants etc. Ask your doctor.
 
Stigmata said:
I've been on Zoloft for almost five months now.
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Hmm increase your dosage maybe? (no expert here, ask your doc PLSPLSPLS :))

what is your daily amount? 75?150?

75 is not alot f.e. You are also young I think so G.P's take that into account when prescribing amounts. My neighbour is on a huge amount daily but she is in her 40's and also has Parkinson's unfortunately.

I only know about SNRI's(effexor) wheras Zoloft and Prozac are SSRI's.
 
100mg/day, and I'm 20 - not old, but not too young either.

I honestly feel empty because of this drug. It's incredibly difficult for me to feel excitement, or happiness, or any other similar emotion.
 
Sounds a lot like my friend who has bipolar. He says the only help is pot.
 
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