I haven't found much being talked about #ssriwithdrawal here on #nostr so I'm bringing my story to the #nostrverse

Part 1

18 years ago, my mother was dying and I was in a very unhealthy marriage. I was mentally and emotionally unwell. I went to the doctor. I wish I had never made that drs appointment. But I did.

I was prescribed an SSRI. My doctor never gave me the full details to really understand what I was getting into. To be fair, I've also learned that big pharma tailored their trials and info to not actually inform the doctors either.

The drugs helped numb some of the negative emotions. But what I needed was real community and support, not medication to numb me from my life experiences.

Four years later, I had left my marriage and said goodbye to my mother and grieved that loss. I decided I was tired of the side effects from the medication and wanted to get off them. I followed my doctors advice and came off "slowly"... It is was no where near slow enough.

The panic was unbearable. I could barely function. I had gone back to university and thought I was going to have to drop out when I was so close to getting my degree. I went to my doctor and was diagnosed with a panic/anxiety disorder. So back on the meds I went.

I didn't understand at the time that I was experiencing SSRI withdrawal, and not a new diagnosis. I now know what was happening.

I'm going to split my story up over the coming days. This was just the beginning of experiencing how horrific SSRI withdrawal could be.