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Comment by wil421 | Hacker News Reader

One of the worst experiences of my life was taking an SSRI, I was just starting and somehow my prescription was for 2 grams instead of 200mg, due to a mistake. Worst experience ever, brain zaps and something else I’ve never felt before. Once I figured out the mistake I stopped taking it.

Luckily I was just a teen going through teen things and didn’t really need anything, just a little time.

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I did Prozac for about two months earlier this year, a relatively light baby dose.

It was utterly terrible. I couldn’t think about anything, basically zero focus on anything that took more than a minute of attention span, I felt completely detached from anything resembling an emotion, and I also seemed to completely lose my ability to feel hungry or thirsty, so there would be entire days where I would forget to eat or drink anything, probably making all the other symptoms worse.

They transitioned me to Pristiq, which has been considerably less horrible, though not terribly effective either. I am actually undergoing TMS now.

If you're not responding well to SSRI/SNRI drugs, you could give bupropion (Welbutrin) a try. Just ask for a small dose at first. You may even be able to take them together with Pristiq. It's worth a discussion with your care provider.

I actually am taking Wellbutrin as well, in addition to the Pristiq.

Wellbutrin worked great for about a year for me, but I don’t think it does much anymore, hence why I am doing TMS

2,000 mg is likely an unsafe dose of any SSRI. In the past I was prescribed one and the dosage was 20 mg and even that made me feel a little bit strange and uneasy for the first few days until my body adjusted to it. Sorry you went through that.

That sounds odd. Were you taking 20 tablets at a time?

Damn, 2 grams? I had no idea the dose could get that high.

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