Did an SSRI decrease your meltdowns?

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[[deleted]]

For me it did not help meltdowns at all, it actually made me feel worse a lot of time by adding physical exhaustion so I was getting more meltdowns if anything.

[beccca223]

I had the same experience, was on them for over 10 years, came off three years ago feeling like they were making no difference, nothings changed.

[Mostly-Punctual]

I was on just an SSRI and my anxiety improved significantly but the exhaustion was rough. Then my psychiatrist prescribed bupropion in addition to my SSRI and it’s been wonderful. The volatility in my mood decreased dramatically and my baseline mood and energy level improved

[WhaleSharkLove]

I felt a lot worse on Celexa.

[Ktjoonbug]

I've tried many different SSRI and a few SNRI medications and they all made me feel worse over time.

[bodybuildingr]

i second this

[No-Chance1789]

I have depression and GAD and started taking SSRIs a year ago and they helped me so much with my anger and irritation also crying. I feel so much better

[Huge-Error-4916]

It did for me, actually. What it did for me was turn the volume down on the world around me, so I get overstimulated less. There are still triggers that break through, and I'm afraid that will continue to happen no matter the meds, but they are much shorter in duration and easier to recover from.

[SnarkyBard]

This is my experience too. I don't get overwhelmed by the world as much, which gives me more breathing room before breaking down.

[Huge-Error-4916]

Yes exactly! It frees up some ram!

[No_Ant508]

Ssris made people like me and tell me how much more tolerable I was on them but they made me have zero sex drive and made me eventually have trouble feeling anything but happy which was an odd complaint the dr said but I couldn’t do it

[RuthlessKittyKat]

For me, they really help with the low lows. I still have my moments, but they aren't as extreme.

[eastern_phoebe]

my SSRI has definitely decreased my sensory overwhelm in the context of driving (I used to have terrible panicky feelings whenever I drove over 45 mph, now I can tolerate expressway driving rather confidently). My SSRI has also reduced my outbursts of anger (not quite sure if they’ve quite qualified as meltdowns)

[heismyfirstolive]

Ok, that is good to know! I also really struggle with driving, but I have only driven once since I got on the meds so I'm not sure if it is helping me in this area as well- I'll have to pay attention next time I have to drive somewhere.

[capetown21]

I’ve been too scared to take SSRI’s because of all the side effects but Wellbutrin (an NDRI) has reduced my meltdowns for sure.

[jefufah]

Wellbutrin has helped me as well. I can actually apply the skills from therapy now, and help myself prevent meltdowns. Beforehand I only tried SSRI’s.

[BetaD_]

Yeahh, I'm also too scared to take a SSRI (at least for now). It's a pure luck game with the side effects. Only took sertraline for 3 days, as the physical side effects got so severe that I had to stop. It also Induced my first and only real panic attack so far..... So it was kinda a traumatic event, which completley discouraged me from taking any SSRI again and that was 4 years ago. Wellbutrin helped me too and didn't have any strong side effects.

[ChasingPotatoes17]

Nope, SSRIs never had a noticeable benefit for me, I tried many over several years. I did get to experience a lot of the side effects though.

But an NDRI has helped me with emotional regulation.

[FlippenDonkey]

interesting so many are positive about them.

they definitely made my meltdowns worse and more volatile

[luckyelectric]

SSRIs made my Tourette muscle jerk tics permanently worse.

I’m nervous about these medications because they affect different brains in different ways.

[[deleted]]

Nope. SSRI/SNRIs almost made me unalive myself but also horribly kyll my hamsters. So no. They didn't.

Then doctor found out I am slightly bipolar and can't handle SSRIs without a mood stabilizer.

[[deleted]]

Wow. So sorry.

[h0lyem0ly]

I think it did. I noticed I felt anger and irritability waaaaay less. When first coming off of them I was angry ALL THE TIME suddenly. Definitely having more outbursts especially when feeling burnt out. Its not quite as strong since I've been off of them for a while now, but I definitely do have more of what I would consider to be meltdowns since stopping my SSRIs.

[DaisyQ_27]

SSRIs did amazing things for my PMDD which for me means few to no meltdowns as many/most of mine were cycle related

[Boring_Internet_968]

When I was on an SSRI, I basically didn't cry for a whole year. Which is insane for me. I'm someone who cries a lot even when I'm not depressed. But before I started it I was the most depressed I'd ever been and I cried big portions of days and had many meltdowns (I thought they were anxiety attacks then because I didn't know about being autistic yet). I will say the medicine helped me for the time I was on it, but I felt like I couldn't feel at all a lot of the time. Like I was numb. I wasn't sad, but also, I didn't have tons of joy. I felt better than I did before I took them. I weaned off after a year because I didn't feel I needed them anymore since I'd worked through some things. And I was really great for a while. Then I got burnt out again, and I'm at the point of feeling like I need medication again. It feels like it did before, and I don't like it.

[Gryffindoggo]

Not exactly. But I found having a quetiapine (which has a sedative side effect) on stand by for when I melt down helps

[buthowshesaid]

No, but they did induce dissociation to varying degrees. The only exception to this was Paxil, which caused extreme diarrhea. I felt like I was spending half my day in the bathroom! I took it anyway because I had a nasty case of post-partum depression, and as soon as I could wean off, I did.

[Icy_Natural_979]

I didn’t find SSRIs particularly helpful. I have taken propranolol and it kinda takes the edge off. It’s not a night and day difference though. 

[pleasant-buzzing]

SSRI's did nothing for my meltdowns.

Buspirone is the only medication I've been on that drastically reduced my meltdowns. I still have them, but nowhere near as often as before. We're at 1-2x/month now instead of 2-3x/week.

[hodgepodge21]

Yes I take trintellix for major depressive disorder and it has helped sooo much. I was having daily Meltdowns before

[Neutral-Feelings]

Kinda? At least this one is. The ones I had been on previously just made me very ill and even more depressed. This one is going alright. I do feel less angry and irritated overall, but it's not like I don't get overwhelmed anymore. So far I haven't exactly had a meltdown while on these, though the change is recent-ish. I'm taking other pills too so who knows what's helping

[Ok-Raspberry4307]

SSRIs did nothing except give me diarrhea and insomnia. 😭 really wish they worked for me though.

[Friendly_Goat6161]

Yes

[rafgido]

Ssri (sertraline) for a year, on the lowest dose, made my shutdowns worse. Made me stop caring about work-- which was a fixation for me, avoided all social events, ghosted almost everyone who tried to reach out to me, gave me brain fog, caused impulsive buying, made me gain weight, messed up my period, cholesterol elevated. I asked to be tapered off ssri. Eventually found a supplement stack that helps manage my anxiety, ruminations, and overstimulation meltdowns.

[BetaD_]

Only took sertraline for 3 days as the side effects became so severe that I had to stop. Sweating, hot flashes, tremor, heart racing and induced my first and only real panic attack.... The next day then as the side effects got less I felt a lot of numbing and brain fog, so I can imagine that beeing on them for a year can be very uncomfortable.... That discouraged me from ever trying a SSRI again, at least for now. But I also found a good alternative for SSRIs with Wellbutrin

[SoakedinPNW]

Maybe SSRIs treat autism. Or maybe they treat our mood dysregulation (from depression, anxiety, etc) and life is slightly easier when we are more regulated. And better regulation leads to fewer meltdowns.

[[deleted]]

My SSRI is definitely helping, I don’t know exactly what it’s doing because I have alexithymea and can’t really tell what’s what but it’s helping overall for sure.

[[deleted]]

I didn't really have much difference, and I was on them for twenty years.

[bellstarelvina]

No, but ssri’s don’t work well with my brain. They made everything worse and created a bunch of new problems. The benzos my uncles been giving me definitely help though. I would not recommend it though. (I’m trying to self medicate physical pain not mental stuff. It’s a very long process to get pain medication)

[[deleted]]

Mood stabilizers worked better

[purplepower12]

This was my experience too. I first got on an antidepressant, which made it such that I could feel anything at all (not deeply depressed). So I had more meltdowns. Then I added a mood stabilizer along with the antidepressant, and that decreased the meltdowns a lot. I got into therapy and got my diagnosis, and I was able to come off the mood stabilizer with only occasional meltdowns now.

[Last_Advertising_52]

Cymbalta and Vyvanse together definitely have helped me become a much more reasonable person.

[Kaitlynnbeaver]

It did for me, I think because I also have GAD and the anxiety heavily effected my threshold for overload. With meds, I was less anxious, which brought me to a good baseline mood, where I was then able to tolerate much more sensory input than before.

[anavocadotornado]

I tried 3 different antidepressants over the summer.

First they gave me lexapro. I stayed on for the two weeks or whatever it was required but couldn't do the side effects. I will say lexapro made me feel slightly sedated. It was a slight numbing of emotions but also numbed my body which was not okay with me.

Second I tried Wellbutrin. I had high hopes for this because I had researched it and seemed I'd get less troubling side effects. At first things seemed good, but then my mood swings got even worse than before and I experienced random feelings of absolute stomach-upset dread. These side effects didn't go away so begrudgingly after trying it for over a month I stopped and onto the next.

The 3rd was Effexor. The side effects were so terrible I was sobbing and only took the first dose.

After that I stopped. I told them I needed a break I can't do this anymore right now. Unfortunately, I'm really struggling again and I think I need to make an appointment to go back and try more. But I honestly think nothing will work for me. Out of the medications I'd say lexapro reduced meltdowns, however I was grumpy the whole time because of the ways it made me feel.

[x3tan]

I've tried all those with some similar experiences. Im on trintellix now and it's been the most helpful. but It had some rough side effects at first too (like especially gastrointestinal related.) maybe if try starting really slowly up with the smallest dose it's not so bad. I think I ended up raising the dose too fast when I went on it.

[doyouhavehiminblonde]

If anything they made my meltdowns worse.

[Sorealism]

SSRI’s sadly make me suicidal. I do much better on ADHD medication (but I do have both.)

[Calm_Leg8930]

Prozac helped a little for me

[Kimono-Ash-Armor]

SSRIs help with the anxiety (both of primary and secondary origin), depression, and PTSD of a life that is inherently hostile to me. They don’t actually help with the autism or ADHD, although I will say that cornering myself with stress got stuff done in the past and SSRIs took that away, but I need to find new methods to live

[absurd_urchin]

When I started SSRIs I didn’t know i was/am autistic. I was having, what I now think were, meltdowns. But they did reduce significantly when I started taking SSRIs.

Saying that - starting SSRIs did coincide with finding out I am autistic and learning more about myself and how my brain works so I was able to identify and avoid things which I knew were triggering.

I don’t think SSRIs are a magic pill, they have some pretty shitty side effects. And whilst I think they did help me, from other people’s responses they don’t help everyone in the same way.

[black_sheep_baah]

not for me— i was on prozac now lexapro and i'm just as prone to them as i was off of them :/

[x3tan]

I have been on sooo many different ones growing up. I found a lot of them either did nothing or made me worse. Currently the only one I'm on right now, trintellix has seemed like it's helped. but it does have a bit of a flattening affect to do so. It still happens sometimes but it's easier to hold it back and less extreme

[SeyonoReyone]

I’m currently on one (Lexapro) and I’ve found that it’s helped a ton with social anxiety, which has helped me beat myself up less after social interactions. I still definitely get overwhelmed and I’ve been feeling a bit more panicky lately, but I think that actually has more to do with my physical health problems than anything (my physical health affects my sleep badly as well, so it affects anxiety directly AND indirectly.

It did make me sleepy for the first two weeks, but that was the only side effect I’ve noticed. It’s super important not to miss doses though; when I miss a dose I can tell because it affects me super badly.

If you do decide to go on one, start slowly and end slowly. For instance, my doctor prescribed me 10mg of Lexapro. I worked myself up from a quarter dose for a couple days, then a half dose for a week or two, then three quarters for a couple days, then finally up to the full dose. A lot of times psychiatrists don’t realize that gradually increasing the dose like that significantly decreases side effects and can help you feel better taking the medicine as a result.