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I had this terrible experience before I was publicly out about my gender that sent me into a very suicidal train of thought. I had a moment clarity to get mysel
by KirinDave 10y ago
I had this terrible experience before I was publicly out about my gender that sent me into a very suicidal train of thought. I had a moment clarity to get myself to a doctor (my partner was pregnant at the time, or I probably won't be here writing this now).
The doctor gave me citalopram (brand name is Celexa, I think?) I had to stop taking it. I'll list the side effects I had, but not before I point out: It saved my life. Yes, I had bad side effects. But it also helped me overcome the anxiety and rage I was suffering from and resolve to come out about my status.
Ultimately I had to taper off of it, which was hard. My doctor advised reducing my dose by 1/4 the original value every 9 days until I was done. The end of it was quite rough, I confess.
But while on it, I gained nearly all the weight I lost in a year of physical training back (just 4 months of treatment), my heart palpitations were nauseatingly bad, and I suddenly had to sleep a lot longer to get even a modicum of rest.
When people say, "You should consider medication" it is to help normalize the idea that in trauma situations medication can help people with some types of MI. It is not because they're fun, side-effect free, or not a "real" course of treatment. It's important to remember that when considering these stories and your own mental health.
- dannylandau 10y agoDid the side effects from Celexa correspond to those found on this health search engine Healthbee
- KirinDave 10y agoI listed them and my doctor said they were actually in the most common side effects. I have not pursued information beyond that.
- harshreality 10y agoI don't think even people like the anti-med Robert Whitaker would be against using these medications short-term, for major clinical depression or for other conditions where patients are low- or non-functioning; the primary goal there is to get people stable so they can participate in productive behavioral therapy or modification so that they don't need the meds long-term (particularly since afaik the balance of evidence is that the effectiveness of these meds declines to the placebo level over the long term). It's the use of psychiatric medication for relatively minor psychiatric disturbances in high-functioning individuals, and for long periods of time (years), that draws most of the criticism.
- KirinDave 10y agoI have talked with many people who think meds will ruin their careers, destroy their cognition, render them feeble, or are a profound mark of shame. At a personal level, many people refuse chemical intervention for these issues.