Social Skills Training for Adults

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In the time it takes you to post that you could have looked it up

You are incredibly lucky then nemorosa. I wouldn't wish this oddball side effect to medication on anyone. I have been on and off anti depressants for close to 20 years. Prozac actually worked the longest with the least side effects, was effective at very low dose until one day, inexplicably it started causing suicidal thoughts, paranoia and the beginnings of psychosis. Two weeks after stopping it all of those symptoms disappeared. My doctor was baffled because I had taken it successfully - and intermittantly - for about 6 years at that point. I can no longer take it at all. Even low doses produce the same effects almost instantly.

Zoloft literally turns me into a zombie in one dose. Literally incapable of putting two words together, staring blankly. It's like an off switch for me.

Wellbutrin - in one dose I had heart attack like symptoms - crushing chest pain, pain down my arm and up into my neck. I'll be able to recognise the real thing if it ever happens now...

The list goes on. Most of my symptoms are not typical and have no basis in 'the literature' yet my doctor, through the process of elimination has concluded that I'm one of those 'weird medication people'. For the record, I'm also a redhead and we are also known to have altered reactions to medications as well especially with sedatives and narcotics.

These immediate side effects with Celexa are well known to doctors - my new doctor started me on a half dose because of my past history and was very familiar with immediate side effects I'm experiencing now. And, just like before, I know I just need to wait it out to see if it will be effective. For someone unfamiliar with these side effects it can be extremely disconcerting. At some point, you need to make a decision if you can live with the side effects for the sake of the benefit. Many times, for me, the condition the medication is trying to correct is more tolerable than the numerous side effects. Most medications have a list of possible side effects that fill a page. When you suffer from most of them, or the most severe of them on a regular basis no matter the medication, it is in your best interest to be wary.

They call it 'PRACTICING' medicine for a reason. They don't have all the answers yet.

I keep thinking about this post. I have a person in mind to try this with actually. Thanks!

Sorry it wasn't clear to me why I should feel lucky.

But she would not have known that a dictionary existed which had such meanings of such acronyms .

First hit on google.

But 'they' are the majority. This is how it should work for them. This is necessary and effective for them because it is how they operate. They need the social support. If we want to succeed in their world, we need to learn the skills to adapt.

It's not how it works for us. It makes things difficult for us. Should it be different? It would be nice if it were but honestly, their society wouldn't work without meeting their social needs. So, we can either learn to adapt to their rules or we can set off and forge our own. I won't try to change them as long they don't force change on me. Maybe we can even learn something off one another along the way.

I'm assuming you don't have wild side effects by the way you have been deriding kfisherx for hers...

Also - she is talking about side effects - not medication effectiveness. She clearly stated that she knows it can take time to feel the intended effects. She has been talking about side effects.

Looking it up does nothing to further the social interaction - asking someone to explain does.

You haven't been reading. The effects were:

4-5 days - Nausea
14 days - Sexual dysfunction lasting a month
21 days Numbing (presumably the drugs positive effect)
28 days - extreme drowsiness, must sleep constantly. Effectively as long as I take it
35 days - Incredibly disturbing vivid dreams night after night.
40 days - Apathy. Could not be arsed to do anything. Boredom ensues and life effectively comes to a halt.

Withdrawal stage:

Brain zaps & dizziness. Manic laughter for no apparent reason. Sobbing uncontrollably. Anger.

I'm still going through withdrawal now. About 2-3 months in.

I find it interesting that you mention I've been deriding, when I've been subjected to a contemptuous and sneering response from the beginning.

Yes, I have. These are the most common side effects which you did report you experienced. You also said:



You told her that the symptoms she was experiencing couldn't possibly be from Celexa, literally accused her of making it up and then further refuted her claims by using your own experience as the clinical model. I consider this 'deriding'.

She is sharing her experiences in the hopes of helping someone else. It is a factual reporting of what she is experiencing and these immediate side effects do happen. I can corroberate what she is experiencing. Inappropriate medication response is cited as a possible autistic trait, more common in women if I'm not mistaken. You experienced the common Celexa side effects. She is having an uncommon side effect that is fairly regularly reported.

So, you have two people here telling you that Celexa causes some mental impairment with the first dose and you are saying it is impossible because... why? Both of our doctors have recognised our symptoms as a Celexa effect. I'd like to know why you know better than they do.

So all those side effects and I'm still lucky? I really am on the wrong planet.

I clearly said that it takes weeks for the drug to be effective, i.e. produce the desired result. kfisherx appeared me to be purporting that the "space out" feeling was a benefit. I was trying to assure her (since I assumed this was her first experience of the drug) that this was not the case. I have never claimed you can't have a reaction to the chemical compound, but that the effect on serotonin levels is not in any way immediate.

So her assertation that this was a circular argument was accurate. She did state that she knew the intended effect would take time. I'm not sure where you read any 'benefit' from the spaced out feeling she's experiencing - to me, she seemed concerned about it.

And I said you were lucky to not have the oddball side effect reactions that kfisherx and I share. Unpredictable responses to medications - reactions not necessarily in the warning labels. The effects you suffered are in no way lesser or diminished because of that. No one is lucky to suffer. I have great sympathy for it actually becasue I've been there as have members of my family. I know how devastating they can be. Warning someone early on is admirable - people can sometimes just suffer along thinking that those things are normal or necessary when earlier intervention and med changes would have been more appropriate.

Personally, I would have been put on the defensive with the 'burst your bubble' comment as well. All along, you've been arguing a point you both agree on.

No, she kept posting a link from an article claiming that the effects of anti-depressants were "instant", and I stress effects as in "desired effects". On reflection, perhaps the "space out" thing is a cultural difference. From my perspective, being "spaced out" is not actually not undesirable (at least for a short while).



I don't myself consider any particular side effect more oddball than another, so I still think the "lucky" comment a wee bit strange. But there you go. Personally, I'd take being "space out" over sexual dysfunction, but thats just me.



I took exception to this which I found very dismissive and supercilious:



Hence my "burst your bubble" comment.

So ^^^THIS^^^ is what your "Panties are in a bunch" about? See the winking emoticon next to my "HA HA" statement. (The one that you conveniently took out when you pasted it above) The statement was tongue-in-cheek because I am guilty of doing the same thing. I always assume because I have an experience that everyone else will have the same one... It is part of our makeup as Aspies and sometimes our makeup is funny because it is so predictable. Also note in these comments how you do not even remotely distinguish between sides and affects of the medicine. You simply state that it is impossible for me to have any feeling about them in such a short time. You further insist that my MD and PhD will do/say anything since I am paying them even further deriding my symptoms as being related to the meds.


mmmm... Such a "benefit" that I immediately backed off the dosage....

Guys, I make a living with my mind. I cannot afford to be spaced out even for a little bit. For those of you who do not work, you may not grasp the seriousness of an side effect that makes me apathetic about being on time to meetings or makes me dull. I can assure you this is NOT a benefit. I will take sexual dysfunction any day.

Again.. a case of you thinking that because you experience or feel one way that everyone else does the same. Spaced out may be a benefit to you. Clearly NOT the case for me and many others...

Look brotha... Net is that I really don't want to "play" anymore. Your posts in this thread are not adding value to this thread. Go to another thread and start whatever sort of agenda about SSRIs and Celexa and whatever that you want. If you have the need to sort out our communication issues with me, please take it to PM. If you have some actual relevant data from pubmed or similar sources that will help me on my journey, I would be happy to learn from them. Otherwise, good luck on your own journey and may you soon find the right meds for your issues.

Last edited by kfisherx on 25 Apr 2011, 1:27 pm, edited 5 times in total.

Oh, my immediate rare side effect was high blood pressure. My doctor and I decided to see if it would go away, but it got much worse, at which point I tapered back off.

Also, the intrusive homicidal ideation.