Posted , 4 users are following.
4 months off Serlife (Sertraline) and I have symptoms not present prior to my using SSRI's. Is my brain chemistry damaged? And has anyone read Scientific American article on SSRI efficacy being little better than a placebo?
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Dom05879 Benjam1n
Posted
Hi Benjamin,
It's a good question, but I'm not sure there is a definitive answer. I haven't read the specific article you mention, but I have read artciles about SSRIs and that they are sometimes no better than placebo, especially for mild to moderate depression.
I've read about this a lot, and I also have experience of trying to come off SSRIs twice and finding it so hard that I went back on. I've read many accounts of people who had worse symptoms after coming off SSRIs than they had before going on, but equally I know several people who used SSRIs with some success and came off them without issue. As is often the case with drugs that affect brain chemistry, there is a lot of variation in how people respond.
It is pretty clear that anyone using a SSRI for an extended time (say, minimum of 6 months) will experience many changes in brain chemistry. The unanswered questiion is whether any of the changes are permanent. The brain is capable of massive feats of neuroplasticity - which means it adapts and changes based on the prevaling conditions it encounters. I suspect that a lot of the changes that occur during SSRI treatment are not fixed but are due to plasticity, and will eventually return to the condition prior to starting treatment. However, I think this can take many months, and if the SSRI treatment was very long, then perhaps it could take a year or more. I don't think your brain chemistry is 'damaged' as such, but rather it has become highly adapted to the presence of SSRIs, and thus it will take an extended period to return to baseline. It's impossible to say how long.
I have a background in biology (but not human biology, or neuroscience) and what I've written is based on my reading, own experience, and from talking to many people on SSRIs, or people who have extensively used serotenergic drugs, including recreational drugs. So, this shouldn't be taken as anything definitive. In fact, scientific studies which would answer this question are hard to do.
This has been a bit of a brain-dump. I'm not sure it helps. I find the topic very interesting so I'm happy to discuss more if you want to. Take care.
Benjam1n Dom05879
Posted
Dom I really appreciate you taking time to answer my question so fully. I'd like to spend a little time considering your post before responding further - but thank you again for your insights!
Benjamin
Dom05879 Benjam1n
Posted
Hi Benjamin,
You're very welcome. There's no need to reply, unless you have the time and inclination
I'm not an expert on this, although it seems to me that there is a lot about SSRIs that the experts don't know either. Antidepressants are a very crude tool to try and treat a highly complex issue, and the brain is so complicated and nuanced that it's no surprise that there is much about the effects of SSRIs that remains unknown!
Take care,
Dom
Guest Benjam1n
Posted
Hi Benjamin, I'm wondering the same thing. Spent an incredible amount of time searching for an answer and it seems like yes the brain can take a while to go though and or return to homeostasis. I've read that some changes can be permanent. I took sertraline for 2 weeks, had most of the physical symptoms but the ones that haven't stopped are the headaches. Never had them prior to the medication. It's been3 months now. Any medication I've taken to counter it just aggravates it. It's been a rough 3 months. I've had testing to see if it's anything else and nothing turns up. Which leads me back to think that the sertraline did cause this.