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AntisocialGG

Member
Sep 28, 2025
20
Honestly i don't know how to start, i just noticed it yesterday because i tried weed (1. We will come back to this) and i had sort of a bad trip. But every time i try something like caffeine, nicotine, THC. Any of that makes my legs shake uncontrollably (obviously the effect with THC is the most noticeable one of them all).

Well the thing of the story is the description of my bad trip with the THC + SSRI (Citalopram 30mg).

I was with 2 friends and they had half gram, they made the first one and i rejected that one, i thought it was too early to get it since i had the Citalopram around 13-14 that day. But we stayed a bit longer, we bought some drinks and made the second one. At that point i just wanted to have some fun and relax, i took 3 hits and then one of the last. Total: 4 hits.
I was kind of desperate for the effects and when it hit me, it was... something. I was paranoid. i didn't want another bad trip where i lose consciousness. That one felt good, this one didn't because i was afraid, i was keeping an eye on the watch while trying to chill, even tho i felt like i was faking it. We were singing one of the songs i like, and it felt like forever. We were talking and they were aware that i was feeling a bit bad but they also know that saying the risks could be worse specially in that case because it could make me more paranoid. And it is a fact, i was watching their every word rapidly filling the sentence in my mind with something bad happening to me. Hopefully i realized that me doing that didn't help and was making it worse, so decided to watch reels. Then we had a fit of laughter. then while i was sitting in the floor my leg started shaking uncontrollably, they tried not to worry me but said "stop shaking so much" and gently after some seconds suggested that we go home and sleep. we started walking and i couldn't control the shaking, not even while walking. But mentally i was trying to figure out what were they talking about. realized they were also high so i just gave up, we ended up at my house and i said good bye. I was worried that my family could caught me like this. But they didn't they were sleeping fortunately. I went to bed and there i relaxed, a lot, but my muscles wanted to move anyway,

Honestly i am proud in part of my self management, because i was aware of whats happening, why its happening and used some grounding techniques. As well as my friends i know they know how to handle this type of situation. So i was aware of how they were trying to avoid me saying im feeling bad because it made me feel better at some grade.

SSRI effects alone are good and all especially for recovery. But i don't like that i can't take caffeine, nicotine, or any other toxic :/
My psychiatrist said THC, and nicotine are okay while i don't abuse or generate dependence or resistance (didn't even mention caffeine tho). but Alcohol ? nope, forget about it, don't even think about it.

i don't like the fact that for other people handling undiagnosed depression with alcohol or another toxic might have a hard time even trying to go to therapy or psychiatrist for these things. The thing that i don't like most about all this topic is that the information with a good source about what could happen, how to prevent it, how to handle all these type of things with toxics are spread and hard to find in some way.

I know this post doesnt have the discussion prefix, but i would like to know what does the recovery community thinks about this in general. If anyone wants to ask for details about my story i am more than willing to do it. i also would like a review from 1 to 10 of my writing.
 
RosebyAnyName

RosebyAnyName

Staring at the ceiling for 6 hours
Nov 9, 2023
306
SSRI effects alone are good and all especially for recovery. But i don't like that i can't take caffeine, nicotine, or any other toxic :/
This is one of the reasons I stopped SSRIs (not the only reason: SSRIs weren't very effective for me anyways). I've heard that SSRIs make any drug that influences serotonin levels feel stronger than normal, because the serotonin will be released like normal but then not removed from the body as quickly due to the SSRI. I noticed it as well, when I was on SSRIs I found that just one hit from my vape (weed) was plenty, meanwhile normally I'd take at least 2-3 hits before getting high. I learned pretty quickly that I needed way less weed when on an SSRI. I'd almost say having a lower tolerance is good and would help you save money in the long run since you would need less weed, if the price of the SSRI itself didn't offset any potential gains.

I also hated not being able to drink coffee, especially since the SSRI made me feel tired as well and I'd want the pick me up of caffeine.

I've heard nasty things about taking any of the psilocybin drugs (shrooms, LSD, DMT) with SSRIs since those drugs directly increase serotonin levels in ways that stuff like weed doesn't. It can lead to serotonin syndrome, which can be deadly. Interesting, considering normally the psilocybin drugs have no mechanisms that could directly kill you (but can still be traumatizing).
 
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orpheus_

orpheus_

Member
Apr 26, 2024
68
So sorry you had to get through this. Well, for many people mixing substances with ssri is risky and any doctor would advice against it, but the reactions are still very individual and if someone feels brave enough (or reckless enough) to test it, go on.

From my personal experience:
Mixing ssri (fluoxetine) + alcohol (in small/moderate amount) was not a great idea. For the first time it made me very tired and kind of suddendly "turned off" the positive effects that medication had on me for one day. For the second time, same thing happened but the med effects "disappeared" for a few days, like I just felt like complete shit. For the third time all of the above and also the most terrible headache of my life the day after. All of it is not that terrible but considering the fact that this medication was what made me functional, loosing its effectiveness for a few days meant a complete breakdown. Still I stopped drinking completely after that, just not to risk it and also in general I'm not a big fan of alcohol.

Caffeine + ssri is safe for me, the only negative thing that I experienced (and might have been a coincidence) was when I was just starting fluoxetine (it was around week 3) and I drank two strong coffees in around two hour span. And I felt like I was dying after that, complete panic, cold sweat and tremors, I thought I was having serotonin syndrome but it was probably just very strong panic, I don't know though.
But generally caffeine works the same on me as it did before ssri, now even when I have big amounts of it in a short time.

I have no experiences with other substances though. My psychiatrist 'banned' me from pretty much everything, but didn't explain why, so I ignored it being like "he's being overly cautious" until I started having unpleasant experiences with alcohol. I agree that doctors should warn the patients about what could happen if they mix ssris with substances - still the reactions are individual, but there are some common patterns. Just telling someone "don't take anything" might simply not work unless that person doesn't know WHY they shouldn't do it. And if they do, what should they be prepared for.
 
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2

2percent

Member
Sep 10, 2024
15
I spent 6 years on sertraline/zoloft, eventually reaching max dosage. I took adderall as well throughout. These are my experiences with other substances alongside:

-12-15 cups of coffee/day; no difference or ill effects that I could tell before and after starting sertraline
-alcohol; no issues
-weed; mostly refrained due to paranoia but the paranoia was present before starting the sertraline, so as far as I can tell no difference
-LSD; regularly microdosed as I found it helped to mediate adderall side effects and reduce anhedonia/numbing effect of SSRI
-psilocybin; greatly reduced efficacy (presumably due to SSRI); required dosage for psychoactive effects far exceeded gastric tolerance
-MDMA; greatly reduced efficacy similar to psilocybin; no gastric intolerance but was reluctant to really push the envelope on this one
-ketamine; didn't try it before the sertraline so can't compare before/after but my experience lines up with what I've read for people who aren't on other medications and so seems it was pretty standard
 
concession

concession

Member
Jun 3, 2025
66
I`ve spent some time on citalopram and I remember how caffeine started to affect me with 3x force.
When I was on mirtazapine the effect was not that profound, so maybe speak about medication change with your doctor.

But maybe better try to think about whether weed does you any good and whether you should continue to consume it and hang out with people that are consumers.
I thought I love cigarettes before I just gave it a thought and realised that this is the one of the most disgusting things I ever did.
Try https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59996322-allen-carr
 
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AntisocialGG

Member
Sep 28, 2025
20
But maybe better try to think about whether weed does you any good and whether you should continue to consume it and hang out with people that are consumers.
I thought I love cigarettes before I just gave it a thought and realised that this is the one of the most disgusting things I ever did.
Try https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59996322-allen-carr

Thanks for the suggestion. Honestly i don't have an addiction, i just do it every 3-4 weeks. but i think im going to stay with citalopram and just reduce the dosage of all three (weed, caffeine and smoking). i don't smoke that regularly either, i just notice the effects on these things and wanted to share this experience. I am aware of the risks, including getting addicted, but i control myself in that aspect.
 

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