alt Hacker NewsThere is a real lack of transparency in communicating some of the long term impacts of SSRIs to new patients. When I was prescribed sertraline not one doctor mentioned the massive (and sometimes permanent!!) sexual side effects, the likelihood of weight gain or how brutal it would be to taper off.
Also, I ended up ignoring my doctor's (way too aggressive) tapering schedule and managing my own down-dosing with a pill crusher and a milligram scale. I went about 5x slower than the standard advice and avoided all of the worst side effects.
I don't think it would have changed my decision to start taking it but I would rather have known about all this up front so I could make a more informed choice.
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The problem is that psychiatry is an absolute zoo. Ive heard that if you go to 10 doctors you'll get 10 different opinions based on the docs personal experience.
Even if there are trials for these medications, the field is not quantitative in practice. "Standard of care" is a myth.
Could you share the specific mg/week taper you did for Sertraline?
for anyone who's curious about the sexual side-effects, this subreddit has stories from the unlucky few
Were you experiencing side effects that made you want to get off? For the vast majority of people there really are none.
It's harrowing to discover how much of the healthcare system can act like the nervous system does not exist, and the tools available to them are the only tools available, whether it's a prescription, or a focused therapy.
The inability to make an informed choice when not knowing the options up front other than the recommendation is truly one of the worst parts of all of this kind of stuff. Medication can be a reasonable reality many times, but increasingly in hindsight it seems like there can be other things to check first, physiologically, etc.
The number of things that are prescribed through guessing at groupings of symptoms vs just testing or imaging where it's applicable is something I truly can never unsee once I learned about it.
Semi related, did you ever come across saffron in your journey and what did/didn't stand out to you about it?
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You are absolutely right. In fact with the hit on men’s sexual ability sometimes or often times you could consider this a hit hot (very sinister framing) on the practical side, having in the best case no anxiety and being able to meet people and how are you supposed to date? Blue solution?
Men’s inability to perform is causing a huge hit on their psyche. So in any case consider wisely, I heard many accounts of very disappointed men.
It may help women, but that’s a different thing.
For men - only in rare cases to be considered if ever.
somewhat off topic but i’ve thought about tapering like this, but i’ve got wondered where can one get a calibrated milligram scale? or perhaps it doesn’t matter too much.