Hi there Anon,

I'm glad you brought this up. I am used to talking with people here who have similar opinions to me about the drugs.

I totally believe that you feel you have been helped by the med, and I know that many other people feel the same. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Please just keep a few things in mind. First, there was a reason for the depression you had. The med will be masking the symptoms, but not addressing the underlying causes. Depression can be caused by nutritional deficiencies. By mercury. By medical problems. By hormone imbalances. As well as life circumstances. While you are feeling better, you will do yourself a favour by trying to find the roots of your problem so that you will eventually be OK with coming off the med and staying off.

The other thing is that these meds damage the body. Sometimes it takes a while. They interfere with blood sugar metabolism, and they make changes in the nervous system. The brain re-wires itself in order to cope with the sudden influx of a neurotransmitter, in this case both serotonin and noradrenaline.

Coming off the meds too quickly can cause a lot of damage in itself. When you do discontinue, make sure you do it slowly. I quit mine cold turkey over 14 months ago and am still experiencing symptoms. They are going to take a long time to heal. As desperate as I felt, I do believe that taking that drug was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, if not THE biggest.

This stuff is powerful. Please be careful, and take care of yourself. Symptoms occur for a reason. They are the body's way of communicating with us.

Linda.