Or, more accurately, I spent six years taking antidepressants just to slip this skin. That’s roughly 2,190 days of ingesting 100mg of Sertraline, a total of 219,000mg. I’ve not slipped it; merely shrugged it off my shoulders, but it’s still hanging there and probably will for the remainder of my life. Most people who have experienced depression will tell you the same – you’re never really cured. Just like the addict, it’s a conscious choice not to slip into the ways of old.
Sertraline is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, more commonly known as an SSRI. SSRIs increase serotonin, a messenger chemical that carries signals between nerve cells in the brain. It’s thought to have a good influence on mood, emotion and sleep. After carrying a message, serotonin is usually reabsorbed by the nerve cells, known as “reuptake”. SSRIs work by blocking reuptake, meaning more serotonin is available to pass further messages between nearby nerve cells.
I’ve been on this same SSRI since June 2013. I started on 50mg per day for six weeks, before returning to my doctor to ask for an increase, which was agreed at 100mg. This hasn’t changed for almost six long years, until Tuesday when I asked my GP if I could commence the process of withdrawal. She agreed and my dose has now been reduced to 50mg for six weeks before a further review of whether I am progressing significantly enough to reduce to 0. This is called tapering. It’s important not to withdraw cold turkey from SSRIs due to the risk of Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome, which can have severe mental and physical repercussions. You can read more about ADS here: going off antidepressants.
I wanted to write a couple of thoughts per day to describe what tapering feels like. My initial symptoms when I first started Sertraline were varying in both length and strength. The ones I most remember are listed below:
- Insomnia – I’ve always been a terrible sleeper but SSRIs made this feel more pronounced.
- Night terrors – ever sat up bolt upright in the first few hours of sleep? Ever seen spiders or shapes or people in your bed or on your wall? Doesn’t sound nice, does it? This is a night terror! What fun… they started in 2013 and haven’t stopped.
- Nausea and gastro problems – D, V, no appetite.
- Tiredness – see above re insomnia. Or as I like to call it, inzombiea, because you feel like the walking dead the following day.
- Teeth grinding – ever observed people who’ve taken ecstasy? They contort their faces into all sorts of wonderful shapes. They also grind their teeth. SSRIs are like taking ecstasy, right down to the teeth grinding and facial gurning. I’d wake up some mornings feeling like I had lockjaw.
- Tongue biting – like the above, I spent a lot of time biting my tongue for no reason except what I assumed was adrenaline.
- Dissociation – oh this one is fun. If by fun you mean horrible and terrifying. You basically don’t feel like you exist. You feel spaced out to the extreme, to the point where you don’t feel like you actually are where you are. I’d be walking down the streets on autopilot. How did I get from A to B? How did I make my legs move? I had absolutely no idea.
- Loss of libido – would you feel like jumping into bed if you were coping with all the above?
Thankfully most of the above waned after three or so weeks. Some side effects, such as insomnia and loss of libido, have stuck around, much to my annoyance. Who knows, maybe they’ll disappear as part of withdrawal! One can hope, but I imagine the withdrawal will feel much the same. Because I’ve been on my antidepressants for so long, I am likely to feel the effects more strongly. Thankfully, with a sensible head on, I am proceeding in the best way I know how – discuss with GP, agree to a tapering schedule, be aware of side effects/withdrawal symptoms, and commence.
This is my journey.