# Medication can make you emotionally numb



## Anachiel (Oct 21, 2007)

Hi guys,

I was on zoloft for about 3 years. I recently weaned myself off the stuff a couple of months ago. I was getting brain zaps while I was coming off, but I think now Im getting back to normal again. For a while I felt relieved to be on medication. I wasn't getting any panic attacks at all and combined with another medication like propranolol (inderal) in case I ever had to do a presentation it turned out to be a good combination, relaxed and confident as ever. 

I came off the stuff because late last year I was just starting to get very mild anxiety and I had heard stories that meds can one day just stop working. I decided to wean myself off not only for this reason but also for the fact that I had gained so much weight it was starting to bother me. Also my libido went straight out the window.

But the thing that bothered me the most is that I became emotionally numb. I stopped posting like I used to, I stopped catching up with friends as much as I used to, not cause I was anti social, I became more relaxed around people but I just wasn't in the mood to be around anyone, I felt like I just needed myself only n was quite happy to enjoy my own company. Now that Im off the meds Im starting to crave company again n feel like writing more. So basically what Im saying is that there is good and bad in every decision you make, including medication. Medication can relax you but it can also do other negative things that you may not like, example the weight gain, decreased libido, emotional numbness. If all those emotions don't bother you then medication is great but for me it was starting to get to me, it wasn't everything I thought it was cracked up to be.

I can slowly feel my body changing again, Im starting to get a bit more anxious again but I keep telling myself that if I was relaxed while I was on the medication then somehow I can convince myself that I can feel like that naturally. Not sure if this will work but Im trying to get by taking natural supplements.

It kind of feels like a cycle, one minute you want to take medication, the next you get fed up with the side effects and want to try and do it naturally. That's were I am at the moment.

Im just glad that my natural emotions are coming back and they are giving me the inspiration to do what I love doing instead of feeling apathetic about people and my own personal creativity. I guess without emotion, you can't feel creatively inspired about something. When you feel numb how can you really give your whole self to the world? Sorry if this may not apply to many people, I guess millions of people do need medication and can't function properly without it but Im just stating my own experience and my experience may not be like someone else's as we all react to medication differently.

That's my post for the day.


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## CMK (Jun 14, 2011)

*Question*

My boyfriend is on an anxiety medication right now, and your post describes what he is going through perfectly. He is a very creative, outgoing person and he says the medication makes him apathetic and numb, and not want to be around anyone. Do you have any advice on what I can do to help him through this time in his life? He will hopefully be off the medication in a month, but is there anything I can do (from your experience) that would help him feel better?


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## wjc75225 (Jul 24, 2010)

Well said. Most anti-depressants have made me apathetic. The only one that didn't (for me) was Nardil, but that has a whole list of side-effects. I'm starting to ween off of Klonopin, and I'm actually feeling better. I haven't had the horrible withdrawals that people talk about, yet. I have gone from taking 3mg/day for over a year to now taking 1.5mg/day. The taper period was only a month, which is considered short for Klonopin. I'm still on Remeron + abilify, which seem to make me apathetic. I don't know what it's like to be on zero medication. It's kind of scary that I've literally been on something since I was 6.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

SSRIs =/= all medication.


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## wjc75225 (Jul 24, 2010)

Duke of Prunes said:


> SSRIs =/= all medication.


Who said it was? I wasn't trying to imply that.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

I was referring to the OP.


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## wjc75225 (Jul 24, 2010)

Duke of Prunes said:


> I was referring to the OP.


Ah ok. Yeah, it sounds like he's only been on 1 SSRI and a beta blocker. I found it a waste of time to go through the gamut of SSRI's, but some people respond to one. There's a lot more stuff out there, though.


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## Andrew1980 (Feb 28, 2009)

Mostly, people write these posts out of a desire to reduce their cognitive dissonance related to the decision (in this case, to come off meds) they have just made.

Anyway, this is a classic case of thinking you can cope without medication. As in "I am fine now that I am on medication, so I don't need it anymore!". Obviously, doesn't seem like it makes sense, but it is related to the illusion of free will and self-control that our brain gives to us.


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## wjc75225 (Jul 24, 2010)

Andrew1980 said:


> Mostly, people write these posts out of a desire to reduce their cognitive dissonance related to the decision (in this case, to come off meds) they have just made.
> 
> Anyway, this is a classic case of thinking you can cope without medication. As in "I am fine now that I am on medication, so I don't need it anymore!". Obviously, doesn't seem like it makes sense, but it is related to the illusion of free will and self-control that our brain gives to us.


Yeah, I agree. I equate it to a diabetic thinking he can live without his/her insulin.


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## CD700 (Apr 22, 2010)

I remember when I used to pay 100 bucks for 15 minutes to talk to a psychiatrist and beg him to make me numb from medz like i read about on the internet but he never did 
Numb to me sounds so much better then the pain of the past and constant anxiety I carry around with me all day every day SO PLEASE make me numb!!!!


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## Thorsten (Apr 6, 2010)

blakeyz said:


> I remember when I used to pay 100 bucks for 15 minutes to talk to a psychiatrist and beg him to make me numb from medz like i read about on the internet but he never did
> Numb to me sounds so much better then the pain of the past and constant anxiety I carry around with me all day every day SO PLEASE make me numb!!!!


So you're no longer seeing your pysch then? Are aquiring these medications not possible where you live?

Also, you could choose far better options than drugs that turn you into a zombie. But it might be an important step. Once you're there and you know whether you can tolerate it, then you'll know whether you can take being a flat, unemotional, joyless, closed off zombie for the next few months/yrs. I thought I might enjoy those effects too but once I was there it was not nice. 
I tried citalpram, lexapro (in dosages ranging from 2.5mg - 15mg), sertraline (in doses from 25mg - 200mg), fluoxetine (in doses from 1mg - 40mg).


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## CD700 (Apr 22, 2010)

Thorsten said:


> So you're no longer seeing your pysch then? Are aquiring these medications not possible where you live?
> 
> Also, you could choose far better options than drugs that turn you into a zombie. But it might be an important step. Once you're there and you know whether you can tolerate it, then you'll know whether you can take being a flat, unemotional, joyless, closed off zombie for the next few months/yrs. I thought I might enjoy those effects too but once I was there it was not nice.
> I tried citalpram, lexapro (in dosages ranging from 2.5mg - 15mg), sertraline (in doses from 25mg - 200mg), fluoxetine (in doses from 1mg - 40mg).


No I don't see him any more
I just got to my local doctor who can prescribe me the same meds anyway and is a bit more flexible. Prescribes Parnate for me and benzos from time to time which is more then the pych's I have seen.
When I was on 900mg of seroquel i guess it made me a bit zombie like but all my Social phobia and hopelessness was there.


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## Bacon (Jul 4, 2010)

Definatly Paxil!


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