Current Events > Starting to see why SSRIs are not always the best idea

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was forced to taper off of my sertraline because I lost my Medicaid insurance and had to go see my doctor for more refills, but didn't have the money; since then I've been having frequent dizzy spells at work and at home, and earlier tonight I was hearing/feeling "woosh" noises from both of my ears during the dizzy spells. The dizzy spells only last two or three seconds and occur randomly. Sometimes they're bad enough that I feel like I could pass out. I didn't start having these spells until I started taking less and less sertraline, so I'm thinking it's the cause.

So basically you're given an SSRI by your doctor that they're not even sure will actually help you. If they do help you, you can and probably will become dependent on them, but if they don't and they happen to make you feel worse, you'll have to taper yourself off of them and possibly experience bad withdrawal symptoms, which means you're pretty much fucked both ways =/

Thankfully I ended up getting 100% financial assistance for a full year from that same mental health unit so I'm going back to my doctor on Tuesday morning. But these dizzy spells are really hard to get through, assuming they're actually the cause.

I'm one of those "only in desperate times" people when it comes to medication. My doctor at least understands this and accepts it for what it is. I always have T3s and Valium in the house but use them so infrequently I only need refills a couple of times per year. It comes down to personality and willpower.

I dunno what classification it's under, but with a previous doctor, I was taking Seroquel XR for a year or so and it really messed up my sleeping habits with little in the way of benefits. We agreed I could stop taking it and I was told I'd have 48 hours of withdrawal.... it ended up being two weeks, and I felt like throwing up 24/7, the room was spinning sometimes, I was extremely agitated, etc...

It is what I assume heroin withdrawal probably feels like. I've never felt more horrible in my life and basically spent the whole time "dying" in bed or wanting to punch something. The difference between a strong person and a weak one is taking another pill during that time. I looked at it as "fuck this, I'm not letting the medication win!"

It did give me more empathy for people who aren't able to tough it out though. It was a nightmare, to put it mildly, and I can understand giving up on yourself just to not feel like that anymore. It was hard to ride out.
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