Topic Title: Does SJW have any disturbing effects...?
| |  "Does SJW have any disturbing effects...?"
, Thu 23 Mar 07:47
Question: Does SJW have any disturbing emotional effects, like emotional blunting, apathy, etc. I've heard and read it doesn't do anything other than the stuff I've already read (hypersensitivity, etc.) but I just want to make sure. Previous and recent experience has made me leery. See below for aforementioned experience. Answers and such appreciated. Thanks. :)
-StrandedAlien
I was prescribed an SSRI (Lexapro, AKA escitalopram, to be precise)for my depression (which appears to be situational/reactive in nature...I've never suffered from depression before, and I can tie it to a specific event and the ensuing week of stress, before which, I was fine.)I took Lexapro for a week, until I noticed a very disturbing emotional effect around the seventh day. I wish I had done my homework BEFORE taking that stuff! I had experienced emotional blunting. Even when I was in a relatively good mood, I didn't feel all that happy. I felt more not-sad than actually happy. Scariest of all, I felt it affect the way I felt about my girlfriend (Before my depression, our relationship was just short of perfect, and even now, she is supporting me, for which I am grateful--not all girlfriends are so supportive,understanding, and patient.) That was when I stopped taking it. Luckily, I haven't suffered from withdrawal, which is good. I've been clean for a week now. The withdrawal symptoms are worse than the depression I was taking for them in the first place! I then also read about how they can mess around with romantic feelings, and after what I experienced, I can believe it!
Posts: 0 | | Registered: Thu 23 Mar 2006 7:26 |
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| | "Re(1):Does SJW have any disturbing effects..." , Thu 23 Mar 11:09
Well, the mind is a very complex thing and the prescription antidepressants seem to make things even harder to understand. Sometimes the side-effects, or even just a function of how they work, affect you in subtle but important ways that are difficult to pin down. Definitely the withdrawl from prescription meds can be much worse than the depression was in the first place - I know this one first-hand.
Due to the complexities of these things, it's possible (but unlikely) that SJW would do this... affect you in an unexpected way. But I doubt it. It's a natural herb and generally the side-effects are minor for most people.
Your best bet is probably to go through the Experiences section of this website, which date back almost six years now (and thousands of posts). Some of the earlier posts are hard to get to (I'm fixing that in the new version of the website, coming soon) but it will give you an idea.
Best of luck,
Kelly
Posts: 822 | | Registered: Thu 5 Oct 2000 21:48 |
| | |  "Re(2):Does SJW have any disturbing effects..."
, Thu 23 Mar 18:26
quote:
Well, the mind is a very complex thing and the prescription antidepressants seem to make things even harder to understand. Sometimes the side-effects, or even just a function of how they work, affect
...
Thanks for the reply, I'll look at the Experiences section. The mind certainly is a complex thing. And it's VERY scary when you're faced with its complexity going wrong...WHEN YOU'RE INSIDE IT. It's one thing to look at someone else's mind from the outside. From that vantage point, it's safe, and easier to see what's the problem. But when it's happening to you, that's awful. It's especially scary because it feels like you have little, sometimes no control over what your mind does.
Sometimes, my mind has gone so far as to deny that I really have depression, or that anything at all is wrong, that I should just follow the irrational thoughts (thankfully not to suicide, though what they try to urge me to is also pretty bad...That's one reason I said the withdrawal effects were worse than my depression. One of the effects is thoughts of self-harm. I've never gotten to that point, let alone to suicide, though I once, for a second, contemplated suicide, just to keep thinking this an incredibly disturbing intrusive thought that took a day to go away.) When my mind tried to deny that anything is wrong other than my not following its irrational doubts and fears, I ask my friends and my mother about how I was before this happened to me, I do research, and I'm able to put that stupid denial to rest for a while. (Before, I was pretty happy most of the time, subject only to the normal ups and downs of life, very calm, patient, just an all-around nice guy. I think I'm still a nice guy, but my attitude has suffered, along with all my other symptoms. :( )Not to mention, I remind myself of how it's interfered with my education (At the worst of it, I've had to skip classes (I'm a college student) or leave classes early or at least for 20-30 minutes at a time to keep from bursting into tears for no reason. As a result, my English professor thought I just didn't want to complete the class,and found it strange, considering my love of writing, until I explained to her what was going on. I've been improving somewhat, though, but the "black dog" is still there, prowling around my mind.
Grateful for your website and for your reply,
Johnson
Posts: 1 | | Registered: Thu 23 Mar 2006 7:26 |
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