Do Aspies React Much More Strongly to Antidepressants?

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In early March, I went to a doctor for depression. My depression was severe enough that I was barely getting through the day, although stopping short of suicidal thoughts. I told my doctor what was going on in my mind. Without much hesitation or reservation on his part, he prescribed me a powerful SSRI. He warned me about possible side effects, and the possibility of the SSRI not working at all. I didn't care. Something, even if less than 50% effective, was better than how I was feeling. Since the drug was relatively new, he wanted me to follow up with him by phone weekly, until I saw him again in 3 weeks. I said OK. Then I went to my pharmacy, and got the pills.

Within just 3 days of taking the SSRI, all traces of my sadness were GONE. If anything, I felt the opposite: giddy, smiling non-stop, and breaking into brief bouts of laughter at random moments. (Comparable to how I used to feel a few days after having sex with escorts.) Ten days later, the extreme giddiness subsided, but I still felt happier than I did in years. I also noticed an inordinately strong "cuteness overload" feeling when interacting with animals, which wasn't true before getting on the antidepressant. The first time I called my doctor, he sounded surprised, but told me to keep taking the pills. When I came in to see him, and told him how I felt, he was generally surprised. He said that his patients often reported flat emotions, rather than the euphoria I had. He was so shocked by my good results, that he stood up from his chair and shook my hand.

For the last few weeks, I felt happy as a clam, even though my life is pretty much the same as before I started taking this SSRI. Another thing: Less than a week ago from today, it caused me to have a wild, frenzied, sexually charged makeout with a woman in a nightclub, like I haven't had in 10 years. But I'll talk about it more in another thread.

This makes me wonder: Why did I react so strongly to an antidepressant, feeling like I was in heaven on earth? Did my AS/ASD brain wiring make me react so strongly to a pill developed for NTs? Any how come I had no side effects? No flat emotions, no listlessness, nothing! Just pure euphoria. Was it my Asperger's brain wiring? Or was I simply depressed for so long (without realizing it), that a few doses of a banal SSRI felt like getting Raptured into heaven? I mean, for most aspies, sadness/misery is a common part of life. So no wonder this SSRI had such an effect on me.

I never mentioned my AS/ASD to my doctor. I don't want him to blab to my insurance company about it, which could make them raise my monthly premiums. My decision not to disclose it is final; leave it out of the discussion.

Also, this makes me even more bitter at the therapist I saw as a teenager. Many times, I hinted and overtly asked her to find a way to get me some "happy pills". (Which was how I referred to antidepressants, due to not knowing the correct term.) And yet, she always dodged the request every time, and in a disrespectfully obvious way to boot. I can't help but wonder: how would have my life turned out if I got this SSRI as a teenager?

Glad you are doing well on them. Which one did the doctor prescribe?

I've generally found SSRIs to work very well, although some have been better than others, and I tend to find higher doses work better. I've no idea if this is related to my aspieness or not.

The fact that you are feeling better after a long period of depression probably also helps. I also wonder what things would have been like if I'd started the tablets a few years earlier.

I'm glad it's working for you. Most of the time we hear stories about how they don't work. I myself tried many different types and none of them worked. So it's probably not an aspie thing. I did react strongly to them as in side effects. I even got serotonin storm with one of them. Depression is horrible but usually it doesn't last, thankfully.

I forget the stats but it's something like 95% effective, but because only people who they don't work well for have anything to say those are the only things you hear about. Great you're feeling well, that's all that matters

I'd be careful; I had this manic, too-good-to-be-true response to antidepressants when I first started them in 2013 - after about a month it all collapsed and I self harmed for the first and only time in my life, before falling into one of the worst depressive episodes I'd ever had.

Effexor.

Coincidentally, I was on my antidepressant for about a month too. No depressive episodes so far. In fact, my doctor was surprised how happy I was from the drug, especially after initially coming to his office looking sad and lethargic. Should your scenario come true, I embraced a "laugh now, cry later" mindset. Because anything that alters my mood that strongly can't be good for me. Also because I'm making up for lost time; for all the dumb shrinks who made my depression worse and refused to get me antidepressants, when I was young and powerless.

It could be that your doctor as a teenager was reluctant to give you meds because they have been shown to increase suicidal tendencies in kids and teens. She should have explained that to you though, in my opinion, instead of avoiding the question or being patronizing. But that may have been her reason.

I had VERY QUICK changes in my energy levels, like I had 10 cups of coffee. Before, I felt like I had some wasting illness I was so tired all the time. My drug isn't an SSRI though. That reaction did level out within a few days. My mood didn't change as dramatically or quickly, but it has improved. I have that "cuteness overload/laughing for no reason" reaction to small amounts of alcohol though. Which is why I am careful not to drink regularly...I enjoy it too much.

It may be a good idea to do a very rudimentary record of your mood each day (event just a 1-10 rating scale), so you notice if it starts to go downhill. It may not happen, but if it does, that way you can maybe catch it before you crash.

Also, be aware of any changes if you miss a pill...I have had to skip doses when I had a stomach bug, and it's been helpful to me to notice and acknowledge any effects on my moods. (The potential "crash" if you miss doses is also a reason you need to sllllloowwwwly taper off your dose if you decide to stop taking the meds.)

It was a therapist, not a doctor. (She'd have to refer me to get me a prescription.) Which made it doubly insulting, considering how therapy is supposed to make you happier. Of course, in retrospect, it all makes sense. Her job title was "family therapist", which means her focus was my parents' happiness, not mine. And what's ironic, is that she didn't protect me at all. Instead of getting a proper antidepressant, I took up drinking: sneaking my parents' alcohol at first, then buying nasty-tasting cooking wine.

Alcohol is very situation-dependent for me. At a boring or hostile party, I could drink a whole 6-pack and still feel sober (just not be legally sober). But in a wild, fun venue, 2 shots will have me drunk as skunk, like in the nightclub with that woman. Also, I'd never drink before handling small animals. They're very fragile, and could be injured if handled incorrectly. And since alcohol causes clumsiness, you get the idea. Speaking of which, I volunteered in an animal shelter shortly after going on my prescription, per my doctor's advice, after I told him I liked animals. I volunteered there before; usually, I tickle the animals by the ears for a few minutes, and leave it at that. But this time, I got a MASSIVE cuteness overload from a litter of golden retriever mix puppies. I cooed over them and petted them for 15 minutes, until a staff member reminded me to clean their cage. (I didn't tell her I was on my meds, just briefly apologized for spacing out.)

My doctor actually told me to do that for the first 3 weeks, from my initial visit until the follow-up. I guess he was worried I was trying to "score" antidepressants. Nothing heavy, just a few lines detailing how I felt each day; perhaps he hoped to deter me if my depression wasn't "sincere". When I showed him my journal, presented in an Excel chart, he chuckled. But he knows I work in IT, so he wasn't surprised by the format I chose. (As opposed to, say, scribbling raves and rants in a Mead composition book.)

I missed a dose a few times. (I didn't tell my doctor.) Usually because I was so spaced out from thinking happy thoughts, that I'd forget to take that day's dose. And once because I was on a skiing day trip from 9:00 AM till 1:00 AM, and didn't take my bottle. I never felt any bouts of sadness. Although I probably might if I forget more than one day.

I've always responded very well to the lowest dose possible of SSRI meds. For example, I felt like you do when I took 25 mg of Zoloft for PTSD. They kept increasing it up to 200 mg, but I felt zombified and anxious at that dose. I reduced the dosage in increments back to 25 mg and felt good again. I don't know if ASD is the reason for my response. Are you taking extended release Effexor? Maybe that explains why you skipped a day successfully.

Effexor XR is the only kind prescribed nowadays, so yes. Effexor (regular) was discontinued, due the heavy vertigo and nausea it caused. (It might still be used for inpatient hospital treatments.) With that said, the half-life of Effexor XR is very short by antidepressant standards: 9 hours. Although lingering mood boosts may remain afterwards, apparently. Most antidepressants have a half-life of 24 to 72 hours.

I take the 75 mg dose, which is second-lowest. Maybe once my birthday passes, where I can use my prescription to get some euphoria in, I'll ask my doctor to switch me to 37.5 mg. Hey, I can't be on it forever.

While you are feeling this great, I'd recommend thinking about whether there are any changes to your lifestyle, activities, etc. that you want to implement while you have the emotional and physical energy to handle the change. It sounds like you've already started that by volunteering with animals. But that way if your energy boost turns out to have been somewhat temporary, you will have already made and adjusted to those positive changes. Hope that makes sense? This could totally be your new normal, but just in case it isn't, you may want to take advantage of it.

Be careful, if you have undiagnosed bipolar disorder SSRIs can cause this type of reaction leading to full blown mania.... I have BP but the only reason I can take this type of med is because I am also on a mood stabilizer preventing me from going full blown manic...

Nope. If anything they made me worse. Most of time they did they did nothing.

Hmm, interesting. I've been on several different antidepressants, and none have seemed to be very effective. I've been on Effexor for a few months now, and it doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot for me. I've also had six months or so of ECT, which has done nothing but completely screw up my memory (long-term and short-term), zero change in my depression from that.

I took various anti-depressants for about eight years. Within an hour of taking my first pill I would always get some euphoria that would not last longer than a day. I would say "miles of smiles". I stopped with difficulty about two years ago when I felt medication wasn't helping me and the harmful effects seemed most prominent.

I'm way ahead of you. I recently had a frenzied, wild, sexually charged makeout in a nightclub. And it was with a girl I only vaguely knew. I met her through a new friend of 1 month (male), who I met through an old friend of 2.5 years (female). Anyway, one night, New Friend, me, that girl, and a few other people all went bowling, just several days after I started taking Effexor. (Old Friend couldn't make it, since it's crunch time at her job.) Me and the new girl talked long enough to exchange Facebook contacts. I honestly didn't feel much in the way of chemistry; plus it was a weeknight, so the atmosphere was a bit rushed. Then again, she's very attractive, so I didn't expect her to be into me, anyway. I didn't care; she still seemed cool, and liked my story of flying a small plane.

I pretty much forgot about her, until 10 days later, when she group-invited people on Facebook to go clubbing. Five people replied in a group chat, me including. Six people went in total: 4 guys, 2 girls. The club was a place I knew, and close to me: under 10 minutes by train. I haven't gone there since 2010 (I lived far from it back then), when I had a very boring experience there. (It changed ownership since then.) I ate dinner, watched TV, and walked to the 11:17 train. I got to the club, and met the group on the sofas by the dance floor. As we talked, she was holding my hand a lot. Soon, we all get drunk, and get up to dance.

The next 20 minutes were kind of a blur. It must have been all the newfound confidence on my part, from the extra SSRI-induced serotonin slamming into my brain. Don't forget the mass surge of oxytocin from her dancing with me. Next thing I know, we're engaged in a wild, frenzied makeout! The kind I haven't done in over 10 years, and believed to be impossible for anyone over 30. (I'm 35; she's 29.) To the point where the people around the perimeter of the dance floor are watching us in shock. The other people in our group had their jaws dropped to the floor. And the bartender was cracking up when I came up to the bar; he even undercharged me for the drink I bought for her.

We all parted ways when the club closed. I sent her a Facebook message next day, but nothing materialized from it beyond a quick friendly talk. Oh well, I'm not even disappointed. That night, I felt like I was 21 again, only without the the social awkwardness and the ugly face I used to have. (Heck, I even went for a plastic surgery consultation.)

Oh, and I volunteered in animal shelters before seeing my doctor for depression. It was fun working there, but the good feelings dissipated an hour after I was done. He still advised me to keep volunteering. Now I feel a mood boost for 24 hours afterwards, especially if I work with puppies and kittens that day (as opposed to adult animals).