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SSRI's and suicide

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Posted 3/7/2005 9:10 AM (GMT -8)
I'm new here, so sorry if this subject has been covered a billion times. But I know , well, I mean I KNEW, several people who killed themselves only AFTER starting on certain SSRI's.

I myself first had feelings of suicide and homicide only after taking SSRI's for the first time many years ago. When they were

relatively new. Luckily I recognised that these feelings were largely being CAUSED by the SSRI's.

Is this common? I have wanted to ask someone (except the mediacl profession, who NEVER blame the drugs THEy prescribe for anything - no matter what), for a long time.

Thank you in advance if anyone bothers to reply.

 

Posted 3/7/2005 10:31 AM (GMT -8)
david i was on zoloft and tried to commite suicide so yes i do believe some meds do cause suicide thoughts. also if you search zoloft on the net u will find that it is a very common side affect of the drug. I find it crazy that Dr. would still prescribe a drug with so much cotraversy but they do. I am currently on lexipro but it doesnt seam to be working . I go on fri. to get it upped or changed. good luck to you and hope to hear from you again. -
Posted 3/7/2005 2:45 PM (GMT -8)
Hi David. I think some people on anti-depressants have a higher than average chance of commiting suicide just due to depression. There has been alot in the news about teenagers and pills but not much on adults. Personally, they are what stopped me from killing myself.
Posted 3/8/2005 1:39 AM (GMT -8)
Thank you both for your input. It reflects my experience that opinion is split on this issue. My own experience was that this particular SSRI made me more POSITIVE. To the extent that when I had thoughts of self-harm, I was really positive this was the right thing to do. The drug seemed to amplify my thoughts. If I had had good thoughts, they would probably have been amplified. But as it is I had only destructive ones.
Yes, I have seen some articles about teenagers and these drugs, but I don't understand why this doesn't apply to adults too. I still remember vividly my thoughts at that time, and it is still scarey even 10 years later. I was a different person .
But also, of course SSRI's have helped many people too. Ideally it would be possible to predict which people are going to have serious adverse effects before prescribing. But I doubt whether we are anywhere near that level of sophistication today.

The only answer is more research probably.
Posted 3/8/2005 4:47 PM (GMT -8)
SSRI's?????????

Posted 3/9/2005 12:04 AM (GMT -8)

Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors. Basically, a class of drugs that help your body to "re-cycle" a neurotransmitter called serotonin at certain nerve cell junctions.

  nono f you click on some of the recent posts on Paxil etc, you will see the debate on this is widespread, with some alarming conclusions.

They can be a very sharp, but two-edged, sword. yeah

Posted 3/13/2005 6:44 PM (GMT -8)
My therapist suggested that people with severe depression don't have the energy or wherewithal to commit suicide; once they start feeling a little better, but not a lot better, they suddenly have the required energy and determination to follow through. I don't know if that applies to everyone or not, but it's a thought.

Personally, I took Paxil for a while, and it didn't do much for me. Now I am on Effexor XR, which is an SNRI (serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor), and it has done miracles for me, no exaggeration. I am symptom-free, where I used to be so bad I could not function. I used cut and beat myself, and I did try to kill myself once. Several times I wanted to, but couldn't muster the energy to do it. So to me, meds are definitely worth any risk. (Although to be honest I've never heard a good story about Zoloft or Paxil.)
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