Discussion Antidepressants with side effects of emotional numbing

[UserFromNowhere]

My antidepressants haven't really been working recently, and I was thinking of asking my doctor if we could try another since I'm already on the max dose for this particular antidepressant. However, I've also heard some antidepressants result in emotional numbing and I'm not entirely sure if that's something I want to go through. Currently I'm on ProZac and haven't noticed it, but I've heard it may be more prevalent on others, and I was just wondering about experiences of others on different antidepressants so I can choose with at least some bit of foreknowledge.

 

[limenlux]

I personally experienced rather severe emotional numbness while taking citalopram/Celebrex nearly a decade ago. I described the sensation at the time as "feeling like a block of wood". Prozac resulted in no discernable change to my frame of mind for better or worse.

I've been taking bupropion/Wellbutrin for nearly two months, and my sense of emotional numbness has been rising, though I can't confirm that it's due to the medication and not simply resignation given my current circumstances.

I hope you're able to find the medication that's ideal for your recovery.

 

[sensationalist]

My antidepressants haven't really been working recently, and I was thinking of asking my doctor if we could try another since I'm already on the max dose for this particular antidepressant. However, I've also heard some antidepressants result in emotional numbing and I'm not entirely sure if that's something I want to go through. Currently I'm on ProZac and haven't noticed it, but I've heard it may be more prevalent on others, and I was just wondering about experiences of others on different antidepressants so I can choose with at least some bit of foreknowledge.

Yes, I found fluoxetine to be really bad for this (though I can't 100% say there weren't other factors contributing). There weren't many of the terrible bad, agonising lows of before, but there weren't really any big highs in life either. I could still get happy and so on, but I didn't really feel the joy, or only very rarely. Physiologically, in a way. The same was true for negative emotions, so it definitely did beat being horrifically miserable and distraught all the time. I think it may have contributed to some sensation-seeking behaviours in me that manifested as self-harm, so if you think you might be sensitive to that I'd keep it in mind. Obligatory "not a doctor", though. I think SSRIs are fairly notorious for this effect in general.

Is agomelatine one you've looked into before? It's a less common antidepressant, but I had it suggested to me by a professional when I described some of the side effects I had with Fluoxetine. I've read good things, too. Am planning on giving it a shot at some point in the future, so can't speak personally to it just yet.

 

[UserFromNowhere]

Yes, I found fluoxetine to be really bad for this (though I can't 100% say there weren't other factors contributing). There weren't many of the terrible bad, agonising lows of before, but there weren't really any big highs in life either. I could still get happy and so on, but I didn't really feel the joy, or only very rarely. Physiologically, in a way. The same was true for negative emotions, so it definitely did beat being horrifically miserable and distraught all the time. I think it may have contributed to some sensation-seeking behaviours in me that manifested as self-harm, so if you think you might be sensitive to that I'd keep it in mind. Obligatory "not a doctor", though. I think SSRIs are fairly notorious for this effect in general.

Is agomelatine one you've looked into before? It's a less common antidepressant, but I had it suggested to me by a professional when I described some of the side effects I had with Fluoxetine. I've read good things, too. Am planning on giving it a shot at some point in the future, so can't speak personally to it just yet.

Well, ProZac is just the brand name fluoxetine, but I suppose our experiences differ on that front. I never really felt the same emotional blunting on the positive end, certainly on the negative end which I was grateful for because when I'd stop taking it I'd just fall into a deep despair where the thoughts of suicide became an active potential everyday (aside from the everyday casual ideation of it). Never looked into apomelatine myself. I was on Buproprin/Wellbutrin in the past but I didn't really think it was helping so I stopped it as well. I think that, luckily,, I don't seem to get the common side effects that are most reported on antidepressants (emotional blunting, increased thoughts of suicide/self-harm, libido issues, etc.) but I may also just not have enough experience on them.

 

[sensationalist]

Well, ProZac is just the brand name fluoxetine.

Woops, haha. We generally just use the actual name where I'm from, so can never remember what those brands are. That's honestly great that you don't get as many of those side effects. I only started noticing the effect going both ways to the point of bothering me after quite a while (like.. nearly a decade iirc) on Fluoxetine, so it might be something that was just building with time.

I hope you can find something that will work for you soon. It sucks when they don't work the way they used to.

 

[whorror]

I'm not the best example, as I'm also taking mood stabilizers and antispychotics (those are the big ones that numb me to the core) but I'm also taking 3 other depressants: duloxetine, mirtazapine and buproprin. Buproprin and mirtazapine are nice and help me with insomnia and ADHD (as buproprin is often used as an off the label ADHD med and mirtazapine as an off the label insomnia med), but duloxetine is not that great and it is also a hell to stop it, the withdrawals are terrible. I once forgot to take my dulexotine for 3-4 days and I had the most horrible headache I have ever experienced in my entire life. I really don't like this duloxetine and I'm trying to stop it.