Life on SSRIs

​By Jazz

TW: this article speaks about topics involving depression, medication and drug withdrawal. This article is not medical advice, but simply me talking about my personal experiences with SSRIs. 

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed form of antidepressants. Until I was prescribed them myself, I had never heard of them nor did I know what they actually did. I had, funnily enough, heard some of the brand names they’re marketed under commonly used in television shows and media: Prozac, Zoloft and Lexapro. They’re often used as treatment for depression, but can also be prescribed to help with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. To put it into layman’s terms, they force your brain to create more serotonin and block other parts from taking it up, thus meaning there is more of the hormone available for…well, for you. 

I was first prescribed SSRIs when I was eighteen, and two years after my initial depression diagnosis. I’d tried to put off taking medication for as long as I could, purely because I didn’t want to become dependent on it - but, the cold, hard truth is that sometimes, we need medicine. I had never felt ashamed about needing to take stuff for my physical health, so I don’t know why I was hesitant to try stuff for my mental health. Still, my previous coping mechanisms weren’t working and so, my doctor prescribed me a low dosage of fluoxetine (known under the brand name Prozac in several places). The bit I was most scared of was the side effects, purely because the ones listed on the NHS website weren’t great, but it was actually very manageable. 

The biggest side effects for me happened in the first few weeks whilst my body adjusted to the new chemicals that my brain was producing. With every SSRI I have taken, all of the extra symptoms passed after 2-3 weeks; that’s the thing I would stress the most to anyone who starts taking them. It can be very strange at first, but persistence (and sometimes resistance) is key. With that said: if they persist after a long period of time, speak to your GP. Some medications don’t agree with everyone and there are other ones available. 

I ended up coming off of that particular SSRI as the side effects were becoming too much for me. I was sleeping too much due to fatigue from the fluoxetine and even though I felt better mentally, my constant napping and lack of energy counteracted any positive results. I spoke to my doctor, and I was prescribed another SSRI instead: citalopram. It’s a more recently developed one and after two weeks, I had adjusted and felt very few long term side effects. I’m still on it now. 

SSRIs worked for me: I’ve felt better since I started taking them. Of course, there are other factors too - I’ve made an active effort to eat better, drink less alcohol and live a more balanced life. The hormones from the SSRIs contribute to my motivation to do so, though. I’m very lucky that my experience with them has been mostly good, but everyone will have a different reaction. As I said, my first time round with them was very unenjoyable but I’m glad I tried another one. 

I’ve learnt a lot since being SSRIs, but these are my main takeaways. 

1. The timeframes are different for everyone. My first SSRIs took a month before I felt anything, and my second ones I felt after two weeks. Different dosages will equate to different reaction times; with my citalopram, I started on a lower dose for the first week and moved to a stronger one the second week. This helped with my adjustment, as opposed to fluoxetine when I was just on the same dose the entire time. It also depends on what other medications you take, what type of SSRI you take and other lifestyle factors.
   
   
2. There are long term side effects. The most commonly recorded ones are nausea, decreased libido and a dry mouth. I found that it also impacted my appetite and made me less hungry and as a result, I lost weight. After 2-3 months, however, I had adjusted and found that the longer term side effects went away on their own. 
   
   
3. They might not work for you and it’s okay if they don’t. For every ten people that have had a positive experience with SSRIs, there will be ten who have felt the opposite. There are so many other treatments - both in the form of medication and some not - that you can try. SSRIs are not the only treatment, nor are they the “best.” Different things work for different people.
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4. Don’t be afraid to try another one. I felt completely disillusioned after my first stint with SSRIs, but it wasn’t til the second one that I tried that I actually felt it worked. ​