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Reading about the withdrawal symptoms I have to wonder why people arent up in arms about it as with the so called opioid crisis. Different to opiods, SSRI are m

Reading about the withdrawal symptoms I have to wonder why people arent up in arms about it as with the so called opioid crisis. Different to opiods, SSRI are meant to be taken for long periods. The SSRI withdrawal seems to just be accepted as a part of the treatment.

tokai 8y ago
Having experienced antidepressant withdrawal syndrome and having lost a friend to opioid addiction. I would say that comparing the two is preposterous.
- cf141q5325 8y ago
  Thats comparing the effects on friends an family with the effects on the user. Which in turn, is a bit unfair. It wouldnt be much usefull to talk about people who got suicidal because of SSRI side effects either. It is a rare side effect that might happen and not something that apparently happens regularly like withdrawal. edit: I am not looking for a moral equivalence here but didnt have another example where addiction and physical withdrawal is accepted beforehand for a treatment.
  - tokai 8y ago
    Sorry I don´t follow you.
    - cf141q5325 8y ago
      If you take properly prescribed opioids it is unlikely you get addicted, withdrawal symptoms or die. Those are issues stemming from miss use. Personally induced or by a careless physician. The exception is in palliative care and chronic pain where it still beats the alternative. Apparently you get SSRI withdrawal from normal prescribed use. And its not surprising if you consider how long people have to take antidepressants. I am a bit shocked, that something as commonly prescribed as SSRI have such severe withdrawal symptoms from normal use. Of the top of my head, i dont know of many kinds of prescription drugs that cause a withdrawal once you finish your regiment.
      - tokai 8y ago
        You view of these things don't converge with my experiences at all. The flue-like 'withdrawal' from ssri's is not nice, but it is peanuts compared to drugs with a misuse potential like opioids. Opioids rewrite your brain's reward system, the withdrawals are excruciating, and your former addiction will be a part of you for the rest of your life. As I wrote having first and second hand experience with both kinds of withdrawal I think talking the danger of opioids down while talking ssri's up is wrong and dangerous.
        cf141q5325 8y ago
        And I think its wrong and dangerous to lump together the side effects of opiod miss use and the side effects from proper prescribed regiments. By all means, Opiod miss use is dangerous. Nothing new here, we as humanity have known that for centuries by now. But I think its only reasonable to point out, that withdrawal being an expectable side effect of a SSRI regime is extremely scary. That there is a insane panic about even medical use of Opiods while no one blushes an eye about that kind of severe expectable side effects is worrying. Sure they are not comparable in risk, but the hurdle for a SSRI prescription is also quite a bit lower then the one for Opiod prescription.
stordoff 8y ago
Opiates kill[1], and are used recreationally. Those are two big differences. [1] SSRIs _can_, but rarely https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9786310 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9786310
- cf141q5325 8y ago
  Opiates can kill if used wrong. And yes they are used recreational, the big problem occur when they are not used as prescribed. SSRI apparently has a withdrawal problem even with proper usage
  - SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
    But SSRI's don't have as much of an abuse problem - there's not immediate feedback that makes you want to take more SSRI's - at best you feel "normal" and "numb in a different way" with a side order of sexual dysfunction. Nobody is going to street vendors for that.
  - stordoff 8y ago
    Opiates have a withdrawal problem with proper usage (as a long term user of prescribed opiates, I am frequently warned of this).

tokai 8y ago

Having experienced antidepressant withdrawal syndrome and having lost a friend to opioid addiction. I would say that comparing the two is preposterous.

cf141q5325 8y ago
Thats comparing the effects on friends an family with the effects on the user. Which in turn, is a bit unfair. It wouldnt be much usefull to talk about people who got suicidal because of SSRI side effects either. It is a rare side effect that might happen and not something that apparently happens regularly like withdrawal. edit: I am not looking for a moral equivalence here but didnt have another example where addiction and physical withdrawal is accepted beforehand for a treatment.
- tokai 8y ago
  Sorry I don´t follow you.
  - cf141q5325 8y ago
    If you take properly prescribed opioids it is unlikely you get addicted, withdrawal symptoms or die. Those are issues stemming from miss use. Personally induced or by a careless physician. The exception is in palliative care and chronic pain where it still beats the alternative. Apparently you get SSRI withdrawal from normal prescribed use. And its not surprising if you consider how long people have to take antidepressants. I am a bit shocked, that something as commonly prescribed as SSRI have such severe withdrawal symptoms from normal use. Of the top of my head, i dont know of many kinds of prescription drugs that cause a withdrawal once you finish your regiment.
    - tokai 8y ago
      You view of these things don't converge with my experiences at all. The flue-like 'withdrawal' from ssri's is not nice, but it is peanuts compared to drugs with a misuse potential like opioids. Opioids rewrite your brain's reward system, the withdrawals are excruciating, and your former addiction will be a part of you for the rest of your life. As I wrote having first and second hand experience with both kinds of withdrawal I think talking the danger of opioids down while talking ssri's up is wrong and dangerous.
      - cf141q5325 8y ago
        And I think its wrong and dangerous to lump together the side effects of opiod miss use and the side effects from proper prescribed regiments. By all means, Opiod miss use is dangerous. Nothing new here, we as humanity have known that for centuries by now. But I think its only reasonable to point out, that withdrawal being an expectable side effect of a SSRI regime is extremely scary. That there is a insane panic about even medical use of Opiods while no one blushes an eye about that kind of severe expectable side effects is worrying. Sure they are not comparable in risk, but the hurdle for a SSRI prescription is also quite a bit lower then the one for Opiod prescription.

stordoff 8y ago

Opiates kill[1], and are used recreationally. Those are two big differences. [1] SSRIs _can_, but rarely https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9786310 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9786310

cf141q5325 8y ago
Opiates can kill if used wrong. And yes they are used recreational, the big problem occur when they are not used as prescribed. SSRI apparently has a withdrawal problem even with proper usage
- SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
  But SSRI's don't have as much of an abuse problem - there's not immediate feedback that makes you want to take more SSRI's - at best you feel "normal" and "numb in a different way" with a side order of sexual dysfunction. Nobody is going to street vendors for that.
- stordoff 8y ago
  Opiates have a withdrawal problem with proper usage (as a long term user of prescribed opiates, I am frequently warned of this).