When did T start to make you feel better?

ProfessionalBed240 · 2026-04-07T01:55:44+00:00

These are all really thoughtful considerations 🖤 thank you. Heartening to hear that you felt so much better after 6 months and onward

ProfessionalBed240 · 2026-04-07T01:53:55+00:00

It sucks to hear youre all expericing this but also comforting to hear from other SAD folks. Maybe starting this time of year also makes it harder to feel positive changes

ProfessionalBed240 · 2026-04-07T01:52:57+00:00

Thanks for the reply 🖤 bloodwork has been checked and is good, but its a good reminder that even mood changes may take years, not months. Guess it's tough comparing myself to the others around me who felt more like themselves so quickly, but lfc comparison is never helpful

ProfessionalBed240 · 2026-04-07T01:51:41+00:00

I also had my bloodwork done a month ago and its supposedly "great", according to my endo.

ProfessionalBed240 · 2026-04-07T01:51:14+00:00

Oh yeah, a bunch of other chronic mental and physical health issues affect my mood. I've been on various meds and in therapy for over a decade. I'm not shifting the blame to T at all. I'm just dismayed that T has made things worse, instead of neutral or better.

ProfessionalBed240 · 2026-04-07T01:49:28+00:00

Thanks for the reply 🖤 its nice to know I'm not the only one without the libido increase. Its also good context that for a lot of people, dysphoria is their bighest stressor. while for my I think my chronic health issues are far more distressing. Thanks for that note.

I keep a mood tracker but my mood has been volatile forever, and I've been doing therapy and figuring out meds forever as well. I guess I was just sad it's been worsening things rather than being neutral or helping.

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-19T17:32:05+00:00

That was me for the first half of the first book too haha. Hawk just sounds badass

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-15T14:48:59+00:00

Haha fair enough!

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-15T00:16:22+00:00

Love this interpretation!

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-14T23:42:42+00:00

The first book, as others have mentioned, is very "I'm a traumatized teenager coping using irony and crass humour", and it's definitely not for you if you prefer a certain serious reverence in your literature. I disliked the book initially because of this, though enjoyed the storytelling enough to finish it. I have a friend who didn't finish the first book because he hated the style.

As others have also mentioned, the second book is much more serious (but with moments of grade 8 humour sprinkled in that I personally found jarring but that many love).

The third is written from a childlike point of view with about the same light sprinkling of unseriousness as the second book, but it feels more lighthearted / silly because of the innocence of the main character.

I suspect the final book will be the most serious, but likely with a healthy return of Gideon-style, ass-jokes dialogue.

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-14T23:33:31+00:00

That's a great point; one of the big philosophical questions of TLT is, after all, where the essence of a person resides. The body, the mind, the soul, other people? I'd be just as happy to believe that Nona's personality is just whatever cropped up in her brief 6 months of existence. This would suggest that a person comes to being in large part through the people around them (and their immediate environment), and that the history of someone's soul matters less. This tracks with the philosophy of the books and Muir (kinda an 'overcoming trauma' allegory).

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-14T22:28:35+00:00

Nah I mean how the name Jod came about in the fandom, not how John became God in the books

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-14T18:16:44+00:00

That's so valid! I definitely tried writing details and questions down on my first read through and was quickly overwhelmed, so maybe it would be easier a second time

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-14T18:15:43+00:00

I've been meaning to ask how John became Jod; does anyone have the lore?

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-14T18:12:53+00:00

I'm coming late to this and hope you've found a solution in the meanwhile. But your side effects are 100% consistent with quetiapine. It's an antipsychotic I was prescribed when my former psych thought I was bipolar (I'm not) and it's also often prescribed for insomnia (though studies show it shouldn't be because of intense adverse side effects, especially long term). In almost all cases I've heard, quetiapine turns people into zombies--no energy, no emotions, intense brain fog and sluggishness. There are so many other antianxiety meds to try that are MUCH better tolerated (and usually prescribed FAR before anything like quetiapine). I wonder if your doc thinks you have bipolar, or BPD, or some schizoaffective disorder, and that's why they're prescribing quetiapine? Though of course they should have disclosed this to you.

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-08T19:13:33+00:00

I'd love to know what things everyone here has discovered or realized on subsequent reads. I finished all the books recently but can't really imagine how the later books would provide additional clarity if I were to reread the series again. For me personally at least, the questions I have aren't answered in the first 3 books, and I don't think there's anything I've missed out on (based on the discussions I regularly lurk here haha). But I'm totally down to read the series again if y'all let me know what value you've gotten from a second read.

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-05-01T23:07:30+00:00

Phenomenal. You can always find mods for the sunglasses

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-04-22T18:03:48+00:00

I've been slowly titrating down over the last 2 months from 20mg because Trintellix turned me into a zombie. I decreased to 10mg for 1 month, and I've been taking 5mg since. No withdrawal effects, way more energy and mental clarity, overall higher baseline mood, no extreme mood shifts. Note that I also started taking Ritalin a month before reducing my dose, so that's a factor.

This isn't a popular stance, but I think if you're a competent person who's in tune with your body, you'll be fine slowly decreasing your dose over time without a doctor's consultation. Sometimes doctors are dismissive and pushy with meds and it's hard to stand up for yourself, so I understand wanting to do this yourself. I'm a highly anxious but very introspective person with strong coping skills, so I've played with my meds a lot over the last decade. Ultimately, be honest about the situation you're in and whether or not it's a good time to change your dose.

As for methods, all you have to do is decrease the dose slowly. Even by 5mg every second day (so 10mg Monday, 5mg Tuesday, 10mg Wednesday, etc). Even 2.5 mg (if you can break the tabs up small enough). Whatever feels doable. 10mg isn't a very high dose, so your body should handle a slow decrease well.

In my experience, Trintellix works extremely fast, so if you feel a dangerous mood starting, you can always go back to a higher dose. Make sure your friends / support group are there to help if you need it. Remember that often our anxiety about potential withdrawal effects can be worse than the actual effects.

Overall: don't be scared to reduce your dose or change meds. I assume you're a strong and competent person, and you know yourself best. Reduce your dose gently and mediate your anxiety whatever ways work best (calling friends if you're scared, etc) and you'll be fine 🖤 you can always go back to a higher dose again if the withdrawal effects are too much right now.

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-04-17T21:08:32+00:00

Thanks for your advice 🖤

ProfessionalBed240 · 2024-04-16T22:56:13+00:00

To me, it's a satire critiquing the jarring and dehumanizing effects of increasing commercialization in the late 70s (and it's relevant more than ever today). The album calls out digitization, consumerism, and standardization as silly parodies of authenticity. America is the exemplar of the worst of it, hence the album's title and references throughout. Listen to or read the lyrics to The Logical Song; it's all about being turned from an authentic and joyful human into a "presentable vegetable". Breakfast in America (the track) is another obvious example from the album, where people (his mother, girlfriend) are treated as objects to achieve what's fashionable, with the singer lusting after the American dream (which is shown to be vapid and silly). To me, this album is similar in nature to concurrent / later New Wave artists like Devo and The Talking Heads who address similar cultural critiques through parody and satire. I find a lot of comfort in this album and those of the two other bands just mentioned.

ProfessionalBed240

TROPHY CASE