Zoloft and Nicotine

[Skimo]

Wow, this is some very frank discussion!

I'm originally from Alaska, I was born and raised there.

SAD is real, unfortunately for several people it's alot worse when the sun goes down, my own experience with it is a very noticeable increase in energy when spring comes, allmost like my body knows that it's time to hunt and gather and enjoy myself before the dark comes again.

During the winter months it's harder for me to excersize or get outdoors and keep as physically fit.

I've known the fakes out there who lie to doctors for meds, I still know one, and he's been off of pills since he started smoking the herb again.

I've known people who should be medicated, but aren't because they want to deal with it in thier own way.

I've found myself thinking, for many many years now, about things like "what if a guy comes in with a weapon" "what if that guy walking down the street next to me turns out to be a raging maniac"

thought that come unsolicited, I know then that it's time to go for a hike, or go camping, or at the very least work out at the gym for a week if I can't get away from work or the house.

I think many people get nervous about places filled or devoid of people.

my thoughts on it are if you really are alone in the woods miles away from societal safety and physical safety then it's absolutely OK to feel scared or paranoid about your unfamiliar surroundings, this is my view only, and directed at what I feel.

[Jason]

I do think the time of the year has a very pronounced and lasting effect on people who are afflicted with depression/anxiety problems.

I had my "episode" in the middle of winter a couple of years ago, and although I'm a lot better off now, I did have an increase in slight panic attacks during the past winters and almost nothing during the summers. It was always worse at night, also. I would somewhat compare it to when a former junkie gets a craving out of nowhere when he visits a place that he used to use drugs at. It's just something that will always be there until your brain (hopefully) "forgets" about it.

[Grim]

To be honest I think mine got really bad after 9/11

Dont know why but i started having nightmares about atomic bombs going off and killing everyone.

Then it made it to where I was just afraid of dying.

Honestly i still am.

I know thats stupid but I have so many goals ive yet to achieve and the panic attacks really made me contemplate death all the time and im so scared of dying young.

At least the meds are helping my mind to get to stop constantly thinking of death.

This is a good thread though.

This is why I love this forum.

[bearcat87]

This is why I love this forum.

We have an unusually great forum.....

Which is why I feel comfortable telling all of you that I am scratching my junk :shock:

[Raddleman]

Which is why I feel comfortable telling all of you that I am scratching my junk :shock:

:? How does one scratch one's junk? Ball-bag rearrangement? :lol:

[sth]

Yeah, uh I'm going to have to agree with rsuelzer.

SSRI's aren't physically addicting in the manner people usually think of as "addicting". The withdrawal symptoms people report with SSRI's is due to the fact that they change your brain chemistry, so going from 30mg of Lexapro to 0 really fast, isn't a good thing for you. Especially when some of these have very low half-lifes (Lexapro in particular)

Starcadia:
The last time I quit Paxil cold turkey. For a month I had electric pulses in in my head every time I moved my eyes left or right. Never again. Endure or die.

See, sadly the reason is because you didn't use the proper method of titration off of SSRIs.

Also, a lot of people report that anti-depressants make them feel weird when they start taking them. This is again due to your body becoming accustomed to them. A lot of people who could probably benefit from their use don't use them because they are not willing to deal with the 7-14 days of feeling rather odd while your body is getting used to the drugs. But, this is usually the M.D's fault, because they tend to either be ignorant of this fact, or just decide not to mention it to their patients.

And don't forget that the best way to get 100% benefit from using these types of drugs is to combine their use with talk therapy (I have personally seen cognitive therapy + anti depressants work absolute wonders in some patients) Talk therapy can really help with those irrational thoughts of people judging you, and random anxiety for no good reason, feelings of doom and death looming around every corner, and all of that.

As for the guys here reporting sexual side effects, if you find that SSRI's help you, you should also tell your doctor about the sexual side effects. In my experience, patients who experience this can sometimes find relief just by a slight lowering of the dosages. The LOWEST possible effective dose should be used with anti depressants. Sadly, most M.D's do not take the time to find this magic dose with most of their patients, and they just follow the manufacturers prescribing information; which generally states something like:

Start the patient on dose X. After one week go up to dose Y, then if they are still not getting relief, you can go up to dose Z. IF that doesn't work, the max possible daily dose is A; so feel free to prescribe that to them.

But a lot of people will see benefits from doses that are just AT dose X or below dose X, they just aren't usually on that dose to notice (given the 7-14 day time span it generally takes to adjust to the meds). I have also heard of sexual dysfunction from anti depressants to be dealt with by masturbating a crap ton while going up on the dose, but that is just from a couple patients/friends who told me that it helped them never really experience much sexual dysfunction... still, that's kinda funny. I take lexapro, but only 10mg, as 10mg helps, and I have no sexual dysfunction at all.

but uhh, anti-depressants are used to help people stop smoking. But it doesn't always effect people the same way. As, I had quit smoking cold turkey before I started taking lexapro, but as soon as I went on it, my craving for cigarettes went through the roof, which is when I found snus . I actually take SSRI's (Lexapro) for unrelenting, severe migraines; At one point I had experienced a migraine for almost 6 months STRAIGHT.[/quote]