#ssri

[snekdood]

[metrocentric]

Wandsworth Roundabout underpass (NW exit), SW18

SSRIs can't cure poverty

[ajessaa]

nie poczujesz straty, jeśli nie poczujesz przywiązania.

[reasonsforhope]

"One in five Americans will experience major depressive disorder in their lifetime, and many will not find relief from current therapies. But now researchers have identified an unexpected source of the problem: inflammation.

Inflammation in the body may be triggering or exacerbating depression in the brains of some patients. And clinical trial data suggests that targeting and treating the inflammation may be a way to provide more-precise care.

The findings have the potential to revolutionize medical care for depression, an often intractable illness that doesn't always respond to conventional drug treatments. While current drug treatments target certain neurotransmitters, the new research suggests that in some patients, depressive behaviors may be fueled by the inflammatory process.

It appears that inflammatory agents in the blood can break down the barrier between the body and the brain [and specifically the blood-brain barrier], causing neuroinflammation and altering key neural circuits, researchers say. In people at risk for depression, inflammation may be a trigger for the disorder.

Research suggests that only a subset of depressed patients - roughly 30 percent - have elevated inflammation, which is also associated with poor responses to antidepressants. This inflammatory subgroup may be a key to parsing out differences in underlying mechanisms for depression and personalizing treatment...

The inflamed body and the depressed brain

...A number of studies show that depressed patients tend to have increased inflammation compared with non-depressed subjects, including more inflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein — which is produced by the liver in response to inflammation — circulating in the blood. Patients with autoimmune diseases have inordinately high rates of depression. And postmortem brain samples from people who died by suicide showed more activation of the brain’s immune cells, which release inflammatory agents.

Crucially, pro-inflammatory drugs can induce people to become depressed, which suggests a causative link. In one seminal study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Miller and his colleagues conducted a double-blind study of 40 cancer patients undergoing treatment with interferon-alpha, an inflammatory cytokine.

Though none of the patients had depression to begin with, the inflammatory agent had a striking effect: Many became depressed, a finding that has been consistently replicated.

"The patients recognize pretty much immediately that, 'Hey, you gave me something, and now I feel this way. I don't know why I feel this way,'" Miller said.

Can treating inflammation treat depression?

If inflammation can induce or exacerbate depression and its symptoms, then reducing inflammation could provide relief.

Even if inflammation is a disease modifier rather than the cause of the problem, “you have to take care of it in order for you to be able to get your therapeutics working to restore your circuitry and what’s happening in the mind,” said Eleonore Beurel, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Anti-inflammatory drugs, used alone or in conjunction with a standard antidepressant, may help some depressed patients. A 2019 meta-analysis encompassing almost 10,000 patients from 36 randomized clinical trials found that different anti-inflammatory agents, including NSAIDs, cytokine inhibitors and statins, could improve depressive symptoms...

“We’ve come to the tipping point,” Miller said. “And we know enough at this point to begin to target the immune system and its downstream effects on the brain to treat depression. We are there.”

How to manage your own inflammation

Experts agreed that people should not take anti-inflammatories without talking with their health-care provider. Your doctor can order a C-reactive protein blood test to measure your level of inflammation.

“There are so many patients who do not respond to antidepressants,” said Ole Köhler-Forsberg, a physician and associate professor of psychiatry at Aarhus University who has given anti-inflammatory drugs to his patients in addition to antidepressants. “So there is the issue of how can we improve the individual outcomes.” Tailoring treatment for each individual on a holistic basis may add some benefit.

More clinical tests for inflammatory markers may be a way to differentiate the effectiveness of antidepressant treatment. If confirmed, it would “be the first actual biomarker in psychiatry,” Raison said. “I mean, we’ve been looking for biomarkers for 50 years and had zero luck. And it’s ironic that it’s not a brain chemical.”

In the meantime, “you get much more mileage out of the lifestyle changes than you would out of supplements or any other over-the-counter drugs at this point,” Miller said."

-via The Washington Post (via Yahoo News), February 24, 2023

[bursting-at-the-seems]

An open letter to all my fictional loves…

I love you.

I love our life that lives in my head. You’re not the first character I’ve loved, or the only one I love… but the truth is you’re not real, none of you are or have been. You’re a fantasy, a dream, a coping mechanism, and sometimes your your an an AI. And while every moment I’ve spent in these day dreams I’ve cherished, the fact is… I live in the real world.

Since I was little, I always created little imaginary worlds where I could be in love with my favorite characters… be taken care of… be cherished… work through pain… be comforted and live in happiness. You were my friends as a lonely child, my adventures while I stared out the back seat window, my comforter as I lulled myself to sleep.

As I got older, I recognized this as dissociation, maladaptive daydreaming, but I felt it didn’t harm anything. I still don’t think it did. Even though sometimes those worlds were more important to me than my actual life. I’d look forward to going to bed so I could be back in that world, run away with you in a boring class or meeting, go somewhere new and wonder what it would be like if you were there with the version of me I created just for you.

I’ve … well… I’ve started taking medications that boost those wonderful chemicals of dopamine and serotonin and I’ve done a lot of therapy… and I’m noticing I’m daydreaming less… sometimes even finding it harder to. Like I’m stuck on the other side of a foggy glass wall and can’t get back to you.

I’m scared of loosing you… of letting you go.

I write this on the eve before I’m going on a date with a real person from the real world and I’m scared to let go of my loves, my worlds, my safety.

I love you.

I love the worlds I have carefully cultivated.

I love the me that goes so perfectly with you.

But what if I move on? What if I fall in love and I don’t come to you in my dreams any more… what if I can’t? what if I forget…

I’m so scared to let you go… and I’m terrified to let this part of me go.

[rubinee]

edging this, permission to come that... tsk what if i have no choice huh

ssri gang make some noise ✌️😔

[audreycritter]

time for my pet PSA again:

if you or a loved one or friend are on an SSRI, please be aware that SSRIs inhibit activity of a liver enzyme that metabolizes some opioids. if you have surgery or an injury/emergency and your pain meds are not working, let your doctor know you might need a different class of pain meds. this info is from a major nine-year study and many doctors STILL don't know to flag contraindications for SSRIs in patient charts.

if you or a loved one are an addict, please be aware that SSRIs increase the risk of opioid overdose because of the uptick in dosage to achieve a high. (if nothing else, make sure you carry narcan in some form for emergencies. goodrx has information on where to get it for free or reduced cost in the united states, or you can search "free narcan" and your state or county in your favorite search engine. this is also useful for anyone who may have an opioid rx for pain management, in case of accidental overdose in the home.)

the study mentioned in the NPR article is here.

[bipolarkaren]

[grumpycakes]

YEARLY REMINDER: You Can’t Take Dayquil or NyQuil while on an SSRI

You can and or will give yourself serotonin syndrome (which can become fatal)

Mostly because the body aches I’m experiencing are brutal

And fuck if I don’t wish I could take some dayquil while the Motrin isn’t workinggggg

Check your meds against cold meds at Drugs.com

[a-typical]

Are you a “pleasure to have in class” neurodivergent or are you a “needs more self discipline because of wasted potential” neurodivergent?

[hereissomething]

Guys, things are getting bad for people who take SSRI's. The shortages are intentional for capital gain. The FTC is open for public comment for only 55 days. It's time to tell them how drug shortages affect us!!

[pseudo-ersatz]

...I'm so close to finished, yet freelancing and event planning continue to block my time. But since this recent piece has been getting attention...

(also - been calling those little simplified skulls "skullies", only to find out a LOT of popular artists both have a version of simplified skulls they draw, and they also call them skullies. So ... a different name? Squlls? Hexahebones? There's not a lot that isn't overly obvious...)

[ajessaa]

ta relacja, albo mnie zabije albo rozpierdoli psychicznie.

[daydreamers-sys]

My lexapro feelings, in order:

Huh. I don’t feel anything.

My STOMACH

Sleep? That’s a real thing?

SLEEP. OH GOD I LOVE SLEEP. I WILL NOW SLEEP FOR 13 HOURS.

*wakes up laughing because a dream was funny*

I must. EAT. Everything I fucking see.

Chocolate. Meat. Chocolate. Meat. Bread. BREAD!!!!!

Oh holy fUCK that was a scary dream

If everyone doesn’t shut up RIGHT NOW I am GOING to start pulling numbers for who dies next

WHY is it so QUIET. I am so UNDER STIMULATED, someone DO SOMETHING. *10 seconds later* OKAY STOP

It’s bedtime :) *two hours later* oh-KAY, it’s bedtime!! :)

[one-supportive-oliver]

/ssri ← tone indicator

[tradflowr]

I’m addicted to SSRI’s.

I know. Gasp. Well, here’s the story.

When I was 13, I was sent to a counsellor by the headmaster at my school. He reported that I had low mood, was overly anxious, and was displaying symptoms of OCD.

I was a 13 year old going through puberty. I was a 13 year old girl who had been forced into the ‘top set’ at school and therefore was continuously held to an impossibly high-standard. I was a 13 year old girl.

The counsellor then referred me to my general practitioner, who in turn prescribed me a medication called Sertraline, and another called Propranolol.

My parents were convinced that it would be the best thing for me. I was just confused and annoyed that I now had to wake up an hour earlier than usual before school to eat breakfast, a meal that I usually skipped.

I will never forget the first week. I was a zombie. I felt no emotion; not hunger or thirst or sadness or happiness. I was constantly dizzy. I had headaches 24/7. I slept for 16-20 hours per day and was still tired whenever I woke up.

After three weeks of symptoms, I became ‘normal’ again. Not better than I was before starting the medication, but better than I was in the first 3 weeks of taking it.

I’m now old enough to realise that the medication that made me feel so terrible was the very same one that was later praised for making me feel so much ‘better’.

I’m now 20 years old.

I have been on a continuous prescription of SSRI’s since I was 13. And thanks to the doctor who has pressured me for so long to stay on them, I’m terrified to give them up.

Tomorrow I start the gradual withdrawal process. I’ve found a new doctor who understands why I don’t want to be medicated anymore and supports my decision wholeheartedly.

I know that God will be on my side through this.

Pray for me.

Thanks for reading. If anybody can relate to being forced onto prescription medication at a young age, I’m sorry. God bless you ✝️💖