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> Even SSRIs which are given out like candy can have severe side effects like GI bleeding.

SSRIs and SNRIs can cause akathisia. It happened to me, and it was by far the worst thing that happened to me ever in my life. I went through 6 months of nonstop hell with akathisia, and it was the worst 6 months of my life. Trust me, if you have severe akathisia, it is worse than death.

This is somebody who has akathisia from taking Effexor (an SNRI): https://youtu.be/W_iiy8ISvdY

This is a public service announcement from an akathisia advocacy group (known as Akathisia Alliance) about akathisia: https://youtu.be/VgvhAilA070

Here is an article from a mother whose son developed akathisia from taking an SSRI for about a week. (My story has a lot of common denominators to this one): https://www.madinamerica.com/2021/06/boy-interrupted-a-story...

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SSRIs are awful. I still have doctors trying to throw them at me after 15+ years of treatment resistant depression. It's honestly delusional. MAOIs actually have less drug/drug interactions and less systemic reactions if used responsibly. If another drug had the same dangers SSRIs had I don't think doctors would be overprescribing it as much but by definition people who are going in to get Prozac, we can easily tell them everything's in their head and blame anything that happens on their disorder.

SSRIs also INCREASE the risk of suicide and a trial with healthy people without history of behavioral health issues on Prozac ended in some of the patients dying this way. This has been a huge cover up and I'm not sure if these meds got the black box warning about this. It's easy to say "ohh these patients would have done that anyway, they're depressed" but that's not what the data shows...

I don't know about a cover, but the notice at least in France for venlafaxine (Effexor) are quite clear about the increase of suicidal ideation in the first week(s), during which neurotransmitters rebalance. I was briefed by my doc and it still was quite the experience, trying the whole day to keep myself from jumping in front of trains, cars, or from bridges, windows, cars... Like 'WTF is happening to me'.

I also had very strange differences in mood or tolerance between brands of generics, that I'd never had before with any med. I'd go from OK to crap in 2 weeks and my wife would link it to prescription renewal and pharmacist giving me whatever brand. I used to think it didn't matter...

Oh and venlafaxine is a bitch to taper out. Constant vertigo, nausea, ringing and tingling, migraines and the fun panic attacks...

If we can find better, please please please keep researching.

> If we can find better, please please please keep researching.

Agreed. The current push and research around ketamine/psilocybin is promising but can't come fast enough. Other than the ketamine spray which is still very hard to get and needs to be taken in office there have been no novel depression treatments for decades really.

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