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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Pain/Other Symptoms/Depression
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
Pain/Other Symptoms/Depression
by dhilbert, Dec 01, 2005 12:00AM
About 7 years back, a very stressful event in my life precipitated a crisis. After that
I was on Zoloft and a beta blocker Atenolol. This combination worked very well
for me. But I got tired of the side effects - especially the sexual dysfunction.
I had no libido whatsoever.
So this summer I slowly tapered off both the medications. Now I have
stopped Zoloft for about 2 months. Now I am noticing symptoms - every now
and then I feel despair. I also cry for no reason and everything seems dark.
Add to that I see no return of my libido. I also am noticing tension headaches
(as if a vice around my head) and general fatigue.
After 2 months, is this depression ? Or is this withdrawal from 7 years of the
medication ?
I feel hopeless. Please help me.
I was on Zoloft and a beta blocker Atenolol. This combination worked very well
for me. But I got tired of the side effects - especially the sexual dysfunction.
I had no libido whatsoever.
So this summer I slowly tapered off both the medications. Now I have
stopped Zoloft for about 2 months. Now I am noticing symptoms - every now
and then I feel despair. I also cry for no reason and everything seems dark.
Add to that I see no return of my libido. I also am noticing tension headaches
(as if a vice around my head) and general fatigue.
After 2 months, is this depression ? Or is this withdrawal from 7 years of the
medication ?
I feel hopeless. Please help me.
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Dec 03, 2005 12:00AM
, Dec 03, 2005 12:00AM
These have the ring of withdrawal symptoms, especially the vice around your head, but wouldn't expect them this late. The every now and then frequency may just mean a natural rhythym...nothing to do with depression, just existence. The libido is another problem....could be that you have become so used to it being gone that you are not now doing anything novel or interesting to stimulate the libido...it needs some help.
I sympathize with your loss of libido. I was on Zoloft for less than a year, and my libido has been permanently squashed. It's been almost five years since I've taken Zoloft (or any other anti-depressant) and I still have no sex drive. It's my belief that Zoloft causes permanent damage to the libido. My drive was fine until the Zoloft.
Jeff
I have been on Nardil for 17 years. In the last 18 months, I have had bizarre side effects: inability to walk and slurred speech from gabitrol (added to my Nardil). This also happened when I stopped taking Ativan after being on it 4 days! It got so bad, I was hospitalized.
Also, my sleep has gotten so bad. I am lucky if I now sleep 5 hours. I used to be able to sleep 8-9 hours.
To help me sleep, I was given Halcion. It worked day one but by day 2 it had no effect whatsoever, even at very high doses. I then got Seconal to help me sleep...I eventually took 400 mg. the first night with no effect...I was up all night.
There are more...to many to write here. I am going in to the hospital (Columbia Presbyterian - Psychiatric floor) to get off Nardil. I don't know if anything else will work for me, other anti-depressants didn't when this whole thing started 17 years ago. The one hope I have is subutex, an opiod that very experienced doctors are starting to use for depression. The only thing that makes me ok now and with energy are real opiates: oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc. Maybe this will work.
So, doctors may have opinions...but they DO NOT KNOW. I would say that the medical understanding of the brain and how it works is at stage 1 ONLY, with 99 stages to go. So, don't give up hope...they may not know for sure...but stage 1 is better than no stage at all.