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Comment by milesf | Hacker News Reader

This isn't really news. The side effects were made known to me years ago, and it was still better for me to take them. I used to have a mental illness condition that messed up my life for over a decade. I've learned and relied on a whole host of tools.

If you or someone you know is in need of help because of anxiety, depression, mania, etc GET HELP! There is very, very good help out there.

Send me a message if you don't know who to talk to. I know all about how scary it is to seek help, to admit that maybe you have a problem that might need medication. You are not alone, and you're not the first person to go through this. I know it can feel that way, but it's not.

Seriously, send me a message. I might be a stranger, but I don't want anyone to have to endure what I had to.

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(Hi-jacking the top comment, but yours is lacking that key detail:)

There are several molecules available, all have side effects, very different; amusingly, they are generally complementary: one makes you gain weight, another loose — so talk about that kind of detail with your psychiatrist. Loss of sexual appetite is common for the most popular; its non-existent (with anecdotal mentions of improvement) for the second most popular. Any issue, any secondary effect that you encounter, digestion, head-aches, can hopefully be compensated for.

Don’t ask me for names, I couldn’t spell those for the life of me.

Source: dating a shrink; that’s my everyday dinner talk. Not sure I’m 100% confortable with dudes detailing their limpness with my girl all day. However, can 100% attest that she doesn’t remotely care, unless its publishable (it’s not); more importantly, after loosing six close friends to suicide, all medicated, each improperly, it’s not even a question to me: talk. Journal it if you have to. Plus, it’s better than her second choice anyway (urologist).

  > Don’t ask me for names, I couldn’t spell those for the life of me.

Sounds like escitalopram (Lexapro, Cipralex) and bupropion (Wellbutrin, etc), often used together.

That's how most doctors make the diagnosis too: with absolutely no information.

This is a great combination for suicidal thoughts and numbness.

The "most popular" ones you're referring to are SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), which work by binding to 5-HT2 receptors in your brain and preventing (unsurprisingly) the reuptake of serotonin, leading to more serotonin present in the synapses. Serotonin is generally associated with positive mood, but it also delays orgasm, so patients taking SSRIs frequently report anorgasmia, or inability to reach orgasm.

I suspect the "second most popular" you refer to would be bupropion, tradename Welbutrin, which is mildly stimulating, and thus pro-sexual.

There should probably be a way be a way to contact you, if you're going to invite people to message you.

I agree with this 100%, if you need them you should take them.

That said, just because you need them at one point in your life doesn't mean you will always need them. I was on various things for around 9 years before making a serious attempt to see if I still needed them. Tapering was a long difficult process, but it's been almost a year now and I'm glad to be off. I'll certainly go back on if I need to, but for now I don't.

So, the big issue my girlfriend had was they put her on anti-depressants for a year and a half.

I have very very severe depression, and how I've learned to cope is using a combination of CBT and anti-d's. The latter, I only take when a bad episode has started, and I come off them within about three or so months.

This avoids the "discontinuation syndrome" and gives me enough of a solid base to overcome the depressive episode using CBT and life changes.. I use them like a band-aid, basically, and it keeps the "dirt" out while my mind heals.

Cheers to you, well said. As someone for whom SSRIs have helped mitigate serious OCD and MDD, I salute you. No drug is perfect, but the depth of suffering that millions of people would be subjected to without our modern pharmaceutical toolkit is incalculably worse than the side effects.

my email is miles@coderpath.com

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