Time to learn to live with the depression ?

I started taking sertraline in 2018

I recently ran out and cos of various administrative hold ups and having a new Dr after moving etc its taken nearly 2 weeks to arrange a new pack.

Apart from having some wierd dreams and being a bit lethargic in the mornings I've had no ill effect from the withdrawls. 

I think its time to move into the endemic phase of being a depressive old misery guts 

I think if it hasn't made me feel half dead in 2 weeks it won't..

And this is proof they are no longer needed . And have probably gone on too long.

I will add that due to extreme forgetfulness its not the first time I have done a stretch without them with little ill effect 

The answer is as always "it depends"

medicating away feelings is a bad idea overall. But none of us know what your condition is, and whether it is one which really requires meds to keep life bearable. 
 

if you find yourself using alcohol/cannabis/coke/etc to manage your mood instead then the meds are probably better overall 

I was on a v low dose anyway

The whole "tapering off" argument I have heard before and I even have a pill crusher from when I tried to do that but I can't help but feel it's one of the many things in life where the only way to know is to try doing it 

As I said no major ill effects and I had long suspected they were no longer necessary 

I am pro meds and there's a good reason the law requires some people to take them but if you've come off with no effects maybe they weren't doing much for you anyway

Gaga dahlink... ...that is great news.

I'm actually surprised you were on pills of any type... ...your posts come across as sad at times but also those of a realist and someone in control.

I was on half of what was prescribed so there was very little impact by the end.

I actually found a few spare in the back of a drawee so I suppose I have back up now .

 

I’ve never had any medication for depression, although I have been prescribed it several times following suicide attempts (many years ago), and also a good 20 years of feeling extremely unhappy. But I always felt that there were real causes to my unhappiness and I worked on them and solved them (after many years of work) and now I am quite a well balanced person. But then I was probably never depressed. My sadness had real tangible causes that I just struggled very much to solve. So I would say, if you have true depression, take the medication. It’s the same as any other kind of medication, it is giving your body something it should have anyway. But nowadays we posit depression far too quickly, and that diagnosis can be the “easy way out” compared to solving the real tangible causes of what is normal human sadness.

For example, no obese person should ever be diagnosed as depressed since the obesity is the likely cause of their mental state. It’s only really Winston Churchill types who are truly depressed, ie people who appear to have well rounded successful lives with no obvious reason to be sad.

Stop saying “meds” you weirdos. You’re not American.

Glad you’re doing fine without the pills Gaga. I really don’t like the idea of anti-depressants and would never take them. I don’t see how removing / numbing your feelings is better than dealing with them through therapy / exercise etc. 

If someone who has attempted suicide can't be described as having depression then frankly I'm not sure what the point is of having the word.

My own view is that it's something that affects every human that has ever lived and should thus be viewed as endemic and inevitable and not as some abnormal illness to be treated with pills. Even the chemical imbalances are almost certainly an effect and not a cause... your brain chemistry doesn't just spontaneously change in your body like a tumour appearing coincidentally at the exact same time something traumatic or horrible happens does it ? It's a reaction to external stimuli

 

My own view is that it's something that affects every human that has ever lived and should thus be viewed as endemic and inevitable and not as some abnormal illness to be treated with pills. 
 

Amen. I’m sure some people really need to be on pills that numb your ability to experience normal human emotions but I doubt the millions that are on these pills are really benefiting from them. 

I came off SSRI's in the same way, just forgot to take them for like 3 weeks and realised I was fine, so just carried on without them.  Glad you have been lucky enough to escape the side effects of coming off, some of the stories are grim.

As for taking them in the first place, they cost next to nothing, are relatively fast acting and don't require much effort (important for depressed people).  Compared with other (often scarce or expensive) treatment options which require significant commitment and take a long time, they are absolutely great at quickly making you feel like you are taking positive steps.  Even if in many milder cases the effect is no more or less than a placebo, you still need to take them to get the placebo effect. I think they are a wonderful tool, and everyone who might benefit should be encouraged to take them.

That obviously leaves aside the few people who experience significant side effects, and of course you have to be careful coming off them.   

I came off sertraline the same way - got busy, forgot to renew prescription, ended up not going back for more. I didn’t notice any ill effects. If they work as intended ssris should give you a lift that allows you to get your mind back on track and get into more positive thinking patterns, so if that has happened and you are not experiencing any negative side effects I personally would take the view it’s ok not to go back on them. I am in no way medically qualified however.

Not everyone who is suicidal has depression.   Wishing to kill yourself can have many reasons, depression (which I would roughly define as feeling incapable of taking any pleasure or interest out of life) as being only one.

I never quite get why people react so strongly to medicating depression and anxiety, maybe its a throwback to the bad old days of very powerful drugs, or maybe its just the perception of mental illness as weakness.  Apart from antivaxxiers, I cant really think what other illnesses people would refuse medicine for.  I mean, I get that lots of sadness is a natural reaction to specific real world events, but not treating it for that reason is like not taking paracetamol for a sprained ankle because the pain is a natural consequence of a specific real world event   

That’s a huge false equivalence. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors are powerful drugs that produce a high incidence of detrimental cognitive effects. They shouldn’t be taken lightly and in no way are they comparable to paracetamol.

I came off them last year.  ran out and didn't get renewed.  I did get side effects - brain zaps.  A very weird feeling.  When i moved my eyes suddenly it just felt like a zap to the brain.  I googled it and it's well documented.  So if you're able to come off without side effects then great.

Also one benefit - SSRIs really inhibit sensation, if you know what I mean, so coming off led to a revival of normal sensation.

I am sure my psychiatrist brother has saved many lives with these kinds of pills. It can be best if coming off them to be under the supervision of a doctor if possible.

I have been very lucky not to need them and just about no pills ever, not even the contraceptive pill and some people my age seem to be on all kinds of pills from sleeping pills to statins and all sorts. I am not anti pills if needed and will take a headache pill about once every 10 years but if you can manage without them I think it is better for many people's health as all of them seem to come with some kind of side effect. The side effect can be worth it if it stops you dying etc but best to avoid them if you can.

However I am not in a marked person hated category in the eyes of the state as I have not had the covid vaccine despite paying loads of tax to the NHS and just about never needing a doctor (not least because my body is a temple undefiled by stuff......) so I am sure I will be wearing my Unclean special sign soon enough as mandated by the state including of course when returning from holidays when I will need god knows how many expensive covid tests and 10 days quarantine even coming from places with hardly any covid to covid infested UK - as L4 said this morning that is my fault and the laws are deliberately punitive.  "If travellers are not fully vaccinated they must take a test up to 48 hours before their journey, and they must pre-book two tests to be taken on day two and day eight after they arrive. Once they arrive in England they must quarantine for 10 days."

Warren - that’s dumb. Paracetamol works in a straightforward way which is well understood. How SSRIs work (and respected medics have cast doubt on whether they work at all) is not really understood - nor is depression. You are comparing apples and sea cucumbers. 

I've been on and off antidepressants since I was 18.  I was sick of taking them (ie sick of thinking my life was so bad that the only way I could cope was to be on pills).  I also used to come off them accidentally ie finish the pack and forget to order new.  I'd be ok for a few weeks then suddenly it would hit me, maybe 2 months down the line.  Anyway I started Infraslow Neurofeedback Training therapy a while ago and mentioned it on here.  It's going well.  Off the meds now for about 3 months, no meltdowns, having proper deep sleep, congnitive function is sharper.  It's not cheap (£100 a weekly session) and it;s not quick (I was told I'd need about 20 sessions) but it's working and I was very sceptical.

"Under the supervision of a doctor"="calling the doctor and having the exact same conversation full of ceveats and ifs and maybes as you could with a friend/Google/ROF and then just trying it yourself anyway"

No doctor supervised me not taking them before 2018 so why now?