Antidepressant withdrawal symptoms while taking them?

If you are taking different anti-depressants which using Prozac you are possibly causing Serotonin Syndrome which can be very dangerous. Talk with your doctor. I used a Prozac bridge to get off of Effexor but my doses kept getting lower. If the Prozac dose was too high I would start with diarrhea and knew to lower that. It is a little tricky but I was off the Effexor in 3 weeks and stayed on the Prozac for 3 months because of Effexor taking sometimes over a year to really clear side effects and for the brain to readjust.

I know this thread is super old but I’m going through the same exact thing I tried to get off Paxil end of last year not bc it didn’t work it just didn’t helped my depression but helped my anxiety tremendously well big mistake took Zoloft for a few months no improvement still withdrawing everyday even though I’m taking it everyday even went up on it, now I’m trying lexapro it’s been about a month still issue id say the withdrawals is even worse with this one and im almost had a panic attack on it its like my body isn’t absorbing it its so weird . Now I’m going back to Paxil I hope to god it doesn’t suddenly act like this too now then I’m all out of options I’ve took just about every antidepressant. OP have you found any solutions since you made this thread?

Has your Dr named it treatment resistant depression? Or refractory depression? I think they may mean the same.
I'm wondering if it's withdrawal you have or if part of the distressing experience is down to the meds failing to ease the depression eg if it's more pronounced than they realise,say, if your life circumstances are such that the antidepressant meds can only do so much?
I know it could in fact just be attributable to an adverse reaction to antidepressants.

There are so many different types" families" of them to try.
When younger I think my depression level/ type was resistant in that it took5- 7 yrs for meds to keep it at bay all year.

I was more than grateful to have a Dr who found meds and talked to me in problem solving way, that allowed me to function well April to November but then I'd just deteriorate each yr in November until April. That went on for about ( long time ago and memory not so good!) five to seven yrs.

I scraped a living by working in middle of night as the depression tended to lift at night- I had no chance in the daytime Nov- April.
Then an October became November and I finally went straight through winter depression free.
I'd wondered how I'd keep tolerating living with the knowledge such a painful illness would be back. That was in the background even during the good months.

I think the therapy the same Dr used by talking about how to deal with life, how to think, gradually made me place less pressure on myself.
Once I didn't feel my pressure or societal pressure to have and do x,y,z, it helped the depression and anxiety lift.

Everyone is different and each of us can have brain changes according to life circs and age, so our illnesses and needs can change a lot over decades.

To me, the depression linked into the anxiety: My job was too much for me, yet as I was single I had to keep going.
Or I thought I had no choice:

Without children, I could have retrained to do something less stressful. That could have been done at 40-41 which is when the depression became severe.
I should have done that but had myself in " invisible chains." I wanted what I thought was the kudos of the job and that's largely why I didn't see or why I stuck my head in the sand when it came to changing my life to ease the depression.

It's so easy in hindsight isn't it?

And if you have children then you have less freedom especially if you're a single parent.

I admire those of you here who are ill yet keep on working because you need to provide for your children. That takes courage and devotion.

Convolutedly as usual, I'm trying to suggest that maybe your life is so challenging that the meds can't get the depression under control yet/ completely under control yet.

Don't give up though, the first Dr I had told me she was at a loss and said this soon after starting to treat me in NHS when at the time ( mid- 2000s )even though not wanting to be alive I could still have an appointment only once every six weeks.

I wish she had not told me she was at a loss because feeling depressed to the degree I had it was petrifying and her sharing that she didn't know how to help further and so soon after starting to treat me, added to the hopelessness and morbid fear.

You need a Dr who doesn't give up, who keeps trying.

Luckily I was recommended a private Dr to whom I owe my life frankly. Quietly determined and confident, always knowing what to do say suggest next. Without showing defeat. That makes one feel much safer during the most frightening experience/ illness you can have. I think severe depression is the worst experience I've ever had by far.
I can now compare it with the awful pain of one parent having died when not wanting to go, the other gradually declining with Alzheimers for over a decade. I adore Mum and it breaks my heart to see her so ill now she is at the end- stage.

Yet I would still say that for me, severe depression was the most painful in terms of being absolutely unbearable. Even compared to anticipatory grief, PTSD( Mum was injured at the first care home having suffered neglect my siblings wouldn't believe was happening for a yr) anxiety and panic attacks/ states due to knowing she hasn't long and when triggered by the ptsd.

Don't give up hope because the worst depression can be reined in controlled and even no longer require meds.
I was told recently that unwell tho I may feel in certain ways, it looks as if depression may no longer be part of my mental health issues so I don't seem to need antidepressants at present.

I neatly fell off my seat. Never expected to hear those words.

Have you considered if you may have adhd?
It turns out that although predisposed to depression and anxiety genetically, a factor that contributed, likely a lot, to me not being able to cope, was adhd.

Once diagnosed in my fifties the adhd meds helped with work, confidence, energy levels so much. I wasn't convinced a med would suddenly change me but within fifteen mins of taking first dose of elvanse for adhd I was wide awake and getting on with a task I hadn't been able to face and there was no angst.

I'm sorry if these suggestions have been looked at and or clearly don't apply to you but am telling you anything and everything I can think of that might be relevant and help.

Don't give up. Good luck.

I'd have depression then anxiety worrying about how to keep a home if I couldn't work if I couldn't do the job..

You mentioned you were withdrawing when this started. Do you mean you were withdrawing from the Paxil?

@llm8991 Have you really tried ALL the antidepressants? Sounds like only the SRIs. What about Buproprion, a dopamine booster? And Auvelity, a new antidepressant that increases or stabilizes glutamate? MAO inhibitor patch, selegeline? And Spravato, a ketamine supporter?? Maybe one of those will help?

@cynthiaefs not really I should of specified i meant like the basic most popular ssris which still to me in my head is everything bc if all of these medications aren’t working when they do for millions of people what’s going on? They are popular for a reason. And I have anxiety about taking medication so all of those things you mentioned haven’t crossed my mind and am extremely hesitant. Don’t want to be a medication guinea pig and have adverse reactions and be in a worse state than before. Which is exactly what happened now just on the basic stuff, not sure if I’m just extra sensitive or what . Have you had success with any of those things you mentioned?

@llm8991 I have actually been on everything since 1970 from the tricyclics to the SRIs to the SSRIs to the MAOs to some antipsychotics to ketamine and TMS. With minimal success but I have refused to give up. One month ago I started on Auvelity and I feel that it is really helping me in so many ways. So don’t give up, you are you, your brain is unique. I am 75 now and have never given up hope and even traveled alot to get the help I need. Wishing you courage to keep trying things and eventual relief.

Hello! Starting day 18 on Lexapro 5mg and not feeling any relief from anxiety. Actually seems a little worse. Is this typical? New to antidepressants.