![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 19 of 19. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by kathyy on July 15, 2001, at 10:30:29
I have completely lost my emotions and interests on a combe of ativan, and celexa. I also lost peripheral vision, and have muscle spasms 24 hours a day. I was only on for 25 days. I was never like this . I t is now 14 weeks later. I think this is permanant. Has anyone had loss of emotionss? Like Love, Happiness, apathy, caring,etc.(not like in a depression though) This is totally different.
Posted by Joy on July 15, 2001, at 11:22:52
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by kathyy on July 15, 2001, at 10:33:09
Hi Kathy,
If you were always loving and happy I'm curious why you took these meds. Maybe if you don't need them, and you are emotionally 'normal' they change you for the worse, instead of for the better. I don't know what else to think. The effects should have worn off by now, however. Maybe you could talk to a psych about this. I'm sorry you have lost emotions. Prozac has toned down my emotions and sensitivity of which I'm glad. It's a big relief to me, but I was not always happy and loving. I was depressed and very anxious and sometimes irritable. I hope you get everything back to normal. Best wishes.
Joy> HAs anyone also felt so weird like they have extreme difficulty making like the easiest decision? I'm not interested in anything anymore , not even my family who I know I love dearly. Has anyone's love life changed cause of these pills?? Mine has and I was always such a loving happy person. Do these chemicals in your brain ever bounce back?
Posted by kathyy on July 15, 2001, at 15:18:30
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by Joy on July 15, 2001, at 11:22:52
Hi Joy, here's what happened. I had gone to primary physician casue i was having mucousin stool and stress from worrying too much(pressures) death in family, mom in hospital, etc. I had 1 panic attack at dr's office. I had never had one before so he decided to give me lorazepam(ativan) 0.5 mg take every 6 hours as needed. Well, ativan creates a rebound panic/anxiety in the interim, so it's hard to stop. That's why it's addictive. Well, I took it for the 1 panic attack, and this is exactly what started happening to me. So after 2 weeks, I decided to stop pills. Well I had shooting pains and tremors, and sweating. I went to dr. he decided to taper them with Celexa. I have since found out I would've been fine if he just straight tapered me. I was at 3 pills a day. He started my taper at the same amount,. I knew nothing of tapers and drugs, never having taken pills in my life , or drugs, or alcohol. I'm 32.
So i believed him, after 2 weeks into taper I had lost my peripheral vision, difficulty making decisions, couldn't breathe for 5 weeks, palpitations too, etc. Well dr. sent me to 2 detoxes( both times with no drugs in my urine) figure that one out. This has been a medical nightmare. The 2nd detox gave me phenobarb every 2 hours to prevent a seizure. We since found out I couldn't have had one (drugs were outta system) This whole fiasco has Not been My fault. I feel as if people blame me. Yes I was stupid to start taking ativan for 1 panic attack, but it creates rebound panic. And I got help when i realized what was happening. I just got all around bad medical advice. 5 dr's have said so.
Posted by Joy on July 15, 2001, at 17:54:14
In reply to Re:response ssri's, posted by kathyy on July 15, 2001, at 15:18:30
Hi Kathy, You sure got a run around. Your worrying at the time was 'normal' due to your family situations. There are many uninformed doctors out there. Ativan is not addictive for everyone. Some people just take it when needed. I take Xanax once a day at night and have had no problems. You are right, just slowly tapering off the Ativan would have been the thing to do. Of course it's not your fault. I hope you feel better, and that things improve for you and your mother soon.
Joy
> Hi Joy, here's what happened. I had gone to primary physician casue i was having mucousin stool and stress from worrying too much(pressures) death in family, mom in hospital, etc. I had 1 panic attack at dr's office. I had never had one before so he decided to give me lorazepam(ativan) 0.5 mg take every 6 hours as needed. Well, ativan creates a rebound panic/anxiety in the interim, so it's hard to stop. That's why it's addictive. Well, I took it for the 1 panic attack, and this is exactly what started happening to me. So after 2 weeks, I decided to stop pills. Well I had shooting pains and tremors, and sweating. I went to dr. he decided to taper them with Celexa. I have since found out I would've been fine if he just straight tapered me. I was at 3 pills a day. He started my taper at the same amount,. I knew nothing of tapers and drugs, never having taken pills in my life , or drugs, or alcohol. I'm 32.
> So i believed him, after 2 weeks into taper I had lost my peripheral vision, difficulty making decisions, couldn't breathe for 5 weeks, palpitations too, etc. Well dr. sent me to 2 detoxes( both times with no drugs in my urine) figure that one out. This has been a medical nightmare. The 2nd detox gave me phenobarb every 2 hours to prevent a seizure. We since found out I couldn't have had one (drugs were outta system) This whole fiasco has Not been My fault. I feel as if people blame me. Yes I was stupid to start taking ativan for 1 panic attack, but it creates rebound panic. And I got help when i realized what was happening. I just got all around bad medical advice. 5 dr's have said so.
Posted by celest on July 16, 2001, at 3:21:11
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by Joy on July 15, 2001, at 11:22:52
Kathy,
What the hell are all these people talking about. I'm scared too right now I could cry. I feel the same way. Damn i wish I could just get back to normal. It seems as if I cant get a striaght answer. BUt I too feel like I have no emotions. I'm not happy or sad. I want to cry and I can't. I feel like I'm not relaxed either. And I can't sleep. I you talked to anyone about this yet? May-be we can help each other. What a nightmare. Will it ever go away, it what I want to know? in the same boat CelHi Kathy,
> If you were always loving and happy I'm curious why you took these meds. Maybe if you don't need them, and you are emotionally 'normal' they change you for the worse, instead of for the better. I don't know what else to think. The effects should have worn off by now, however. Maybe you could talk to a psych about this. I'm sorry you have lost emotions. Prozac has toned down my emotions and sensitivity of which I'm glad. It's a big relief to me, but I was not always happy and loving. I was depressed and very anxious and sometimes irritable. I hope you get everything back to normal. Best wishes.
> Joy
>
>
>
> > HAs anyone also felt so weird like they have extreme difficulty making like the easiest decision? I'm not interested in anything anymore , not even my family who I know I love dearly. Has anyone's love life changed cause of these pills?? Mine has and I was always such a loving happy person. Do these chemicals in your brain ever bounce back?
Posted by kathyy on July 16, 2001, at 15:06:21
In reply to Re:response ssri's » kathyy, posted by Joy on July 15, 2001, at 17:54:14
Joy, Hi . you are right. I just went to neuroophomaologiat today about peripheral vision being gone. He said that it is an unfortunate side effect from meds.Although rather infrequent it can happen he said. He said he is hopeful that it may come back. I hope he is right. You are right, some people have no problenm with ativan, others do. It's like all meds. Some people are sensitive I guess. I wish that Doc had just given me like 2 or 3 xanax or ambien to calm me with the pressures ( family) and told me to get therapy or do yoga or join a gym or whatever could relieve stress. Hindsight is a great teacher. Even neuro doc today said that I'd still be noraml now if I hadn'tt have taken meds, and that panic attacks/anxiety - the body has a way of taking care of itself and that they can go away through working through the cause of them in therapy. He even said he used to have them and they went away with no meds. Well, take care.
Posted by kathyy on July 16, 2001, at 15:25:40
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by celest on July 16, 2001, at 3:21:11
Celest, Hi, I just saw your post. I'm curious to know what happened. Were you on meds? (how long, etci did not have a good side effects printout sheet like the one on celexa.com, etc. That site is very specific as to what can happen. However, the sheet are not regulated properly, and you can go to one pharmacy and get a 1/2 page printout with not much to say. Or you can go to like a CVS, where printouts seem to be just little bit better than say Eckerd( where I went)..) It's amazing that I've done so much research after the fact. SSRI's work so well for some people, and others it just devastates. I am never relaxed either. I feel so bizarre. It is so hard to describe to people. It's like I wanna jump outta my skin. It almost feel so uncomfortable that it sometimes seems like death would be better. It feels that uncomfortable. I keep hanging around in hopes that it will get better. It must. Anyway, yes, I too cannot rest. Yes i do sleep, but when I lay to sleep I have to sleep. I can no longer just nap, it will ruin the whole day/night. I miss my naps. I'd love to know where these emotions have gone.I'm very angry at what happened. I throw stuffed animals when I get mad at my fiance over what happened. I miss being a regular person. I'm not getting many answers. I've seen 2 psych, 1 therapist, 1 internist, 1 neurologist, 1 reg optom., 1 neuro-optom. They all say the same thing, that I got bad advice, and that they can not understand this whole thing. Especially why my doc sent me to detox with only having 25 days of pills, a drug reaction, and clean urine. I just wanna be normal again too.
Posted by JohnL on July 18, 2001, at 18:25:42
In reply to Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by kathyy on July 15, 2001, at 10:30:29
Hi,
I experienced exactly what you describe, and I fought it, for years and years. And you're right, it really wasn't pure depression, but was kind of similar, but obviously some kind of beast with a life its own that wasn't true textbook depression. I came to know it as anhedonia, or lack of pleasurable emotions. It's just my opinion and my own experience, but I think all the SSRIS (except Prozac) are totally the wrong choices for those symptoms. Instead, believe it or not, antipsychotics like Zyprexa or Risperdal, and sometimes stimulants, are the way to go. Prozac is so different from the other SSRIs that I don't even think of it as one of them any more. I like Prozac, antipsychotics, and stimulants, or any combination of them, for symptoms like yours. Your symptoms are actually more like a form of mild schizophrenia than depression. Don't let that scare you. It's just a word. But if you were to read up on the 'negative symptoms of schizophrenia', you would see a lot of similarities to how you are feeling.That IN NO WAY means you are schizophrenic. It just means that the symptoms are more similar to that than they are to true depression. There are so many cloudy overlapping bounderies between all the different psychiatric labels, I think it's hard to classify something as this or that. Instead, target the symptoms and forget about trying to name them. For symptoms like yours, I like Prozac, Zyprexa, Risperdal, Amisulpride, Adrafinil, Ritalin, Adderall. I would limit my searches to just those handful of drugs before considering anything else.
John> I have completely lost my emotions and interests on a combe of ativan, and celexa. I also lost peripheral vision, and have muscle spasms 24 hours a day. I was only on for 25 days. I was never like this . I t is now 14 weeks later. I think this is permanant. Has anyone had loss of emotionss? Like Love, Happiness, apathy, caring,etc.(not like in a depression though) This is totally different.
Posted by Cecelia D. on July 21, 2003, at 19:14:19
In reply to Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by kathyy on July 15, 2001, at 10:30:29
Kathy: I know exactly how you feel! I started taking celexa at 10mg a day, and gradually went to 20mg a day. After almost 2 years on this medication, I have lost interest in everything I ever liked to do. I feel like a zombie. I've lost all emotions and interests, feel uncomftorably restless, like something is missing, and that life is just passing by all around me. I can barely will myself to wash my hair in the morning. I've lost peripheal vision, my short-term memory is shot to hell, and sex is is thing of the past. I can't feel anything anymore! And yes, it's totally different than regular depression, because I can't even cry! I'm drowning in a pool of apathy. If you hear of any help for this, please let me know.
Thanx, Leslie.> I have completely lost my emotions and interests on a combe of ativan, and celexa. I also lost peripheral vision, and have muscle spasms 24 hours a day. I was only on for 25 days. I was never like this . I t is now 14 weeks later. I think this is permanant. Has anyone had loss of emotionss? Like Love, Happiness, apathy, caring,etc.(not like in a depression though) This is totally different.
Posted by Francesco on July 22, 2003, at 9:29:56
In reply to Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by kathyy on July 15, 2001, at 10:30:29
Hi Kathyy I had recently the same experience with Celexa. It's far worse than depression in my opinion, it's like being dead. So I stopped it cold turkey with no remarkable problems. In a couple of days my emotions came back. I couldn't enjoy anything, everything was the same but I fortunately managed to understand that these syntomps were dued to the drug. Some years ago I tried Prozac and I can confirm that it doesn't affect the emotions as Celexa does. Now I'm going to try Wellbutrin. My life on Celexa was a kind of nightmare and since you seem to have the same problems I had I hope you will have the courage to quit it. Please, let me know :)
Posted by noa on July 22, 2003, at 18:44:35
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by Francesco on July 22, 2003, at 9:29:56
I remember when I was on Prozac, I couldn't cry.
Posted by Optimistic on July 23, 2003, at 6:56:25
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by noa on July 22, 2003, at 18:44:35
All these meds stink...none of them ever helped with my problems yet had many side effects. I think the doctors should be required to take these meds themselves before prescribing them to others. Maybe then they would truly realize what their effects were rather then listening to the drug reps.
Posted by Cecelia D. on August 2, 2003, at 11:56:16
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S » kathyy, posted by Cecelia D. on July 21, 2003, at 19:14:19
Hey everyone! I am thrilled to anounce that I am weaning myself slowly off celexa, and I feel better already! It's been almost a week since I went down to 10mg per day after two years of 20mg per day. I feel like someone unzipped me from a zombie-like shell!!!
I had a life-changing epiphany, and when I woke up the next day after, I didn't feel I needed it anymore!!! It's so great to get myself back!
There's hope for everyone, trust me!!! Celexa is evil, it strips you of your emotions and makes you an apathetic zombie. Get off of it slowly and you'll see what I mean!! If I can do it, you can too!!!
Good Luck!
Posted by Kacy on August 3, 2003, at 9:53:13
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by Joy on July 15, 2001, at 11:22:52
>Prozac has toned down my emotions and sensitivity of which I'm glad. It's a big relief to me, but I was not always happy and loving. I was depressed and very anxious and sometimes irritable. Joy
Same here. The emotions I lost were anxiety, irritablility and some of the depression. Those states stood in the way of being 'happy and loving' for as long as I can remember.I don't know if the side effects of 'lost emotion' hamper my efforts to improve my life, but without Effexor, I failed to improve it at all.So, sometimes I worry that I won't get to a good place, and that the same drugs that give me a chance at doing so will keep me from getting there. Since starting Effexor, then going off Effexor and back on, and off again and on again, I have come to know that this is, at least, a much better place.
Posted by Rickson Gracie on August 3, 2003, at 10:51:40
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by Kacy on August 3, 2003, at 9:53:13
I have been on 150mgs zoloft for 2 years.During that time I have been not feeling towards my wife or even world events.My mom died last year and I couldnt cry i just felt numb.my father died shortly after,same result. Most recently i have been tapering iam at 75 mgs,I have cried over the death of my parents and it feels like I have emotions again,not lika a numb robot.I cried very badly and was finally able to come to terms with everything.I want to try a non ssri because i dont like having no emotions.
thanks for listening
Posted by Cecelia D. on August 3, 2003, at 16:22:19
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by Optimistic on July 23, 2003, at 6:56:25
Noa, how right you are!! I'm getting off all of them! Soemthing happened that changed my life, and I don't need them anymore! They are not worth all the terrible side effects, sleep disturbance, apathy, restlessness, feelings of living in a vacuum and not in the present time....i could on and on.
You can find ways to manage your life without them!! Excersise, yoga, outdour activities...talks with friends..you can do it everyone!!
Posted by linkadge on August 3, 2003, at 19:16:32
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by Cecelia D. on August 3, 2003, at 16:22:19
When you first started them you stayed on them because even the side effects were a heck of a lot better that what you were experiencing.
When people want to get off them, they often are looking through the optimistic eyes of the Antidepressant.
Life events cannot permanatly change brain chemistry. I know those who have got married and then thought that they were so happy they didn't need them anymore.
*Any* positive event can turn sour when depressed.
Just be cautious thats all. And watch for the warning signs.
Linkadge
Posted by Cecelia D. on August 3, 2003, at 20:32:01
In reply to Don't be so quick, posted by linkadge on August 3, 2003, at 19:16:32
Linkadge, I understand what you're saying, but it's worth a shot. I can only pray maybe I just needed them to get over a bad period in my life. I never took them until i was 34. I feel i've worked through the bad event that caused me to take them, and maybe now I can deal on my own. I'm tired of feeling like an emotionless zombie.
I'll let you know what happens!
Posted by laurenn on January 14, 2004, at 0:55:53
In reply to Re: Has anyone LOST EMOTIONS ON SSRI'S, posted by JohnL on July 18, 2001, at 18:25:42
three years and counting i have still never regained my peripheral vision from use of ssri. crazy thing is when Dr. gave me ssri to take he told me not to stop if i had unpleasant effects . As i started to lose my vision he kept me on it even though i told him i was having poblems on it. i should have stopped it on my own but he said not too. i swear these dr's know nothing about the effects of this garbage.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.