Sertraline induced motivation loss reversal

[Vagos]

Hey folks, 

I have been taking an SSRI for almost 3 years now, first year 75mg of sertraline (for reference the usual dose is 50-100mg, sometimes doctors prescribe as little as 25mg and as much as 200mg), second year first half 50mg, second half 25mg, third year, first 9 months I didn't take any, 10th month I took only 12.5mg, 11th and 12th month didn't take any either.

The problem is that I feel like I have lost my motivation permanently and with that goes the potentiality of falling in love... I am 100% sure it has to do with the SSRI use. Even though these drugs are being prescribed widely and have been used for years now, the research that has been made on them is not very extended and obviously heavily manipulated by financial interests.

So feeling like I have lost a considerable chunk of my motivation and feeling like it is of neurological/neurochemical nature I'm trying to research on solutions of how to reverse this effect. If anyone has any answers or any legitimate ideas on what could work I would be glad to hear them. I feel like microdosing psychedelics is probably going to be an interesting approach to reverse the motivational damage.

Thanks for reading

[Cathal]

what are you trying to fix with these drugs?

[Vagos]

6 hours ago, catcat69123 said:

what are you trying to fix with these drugs?

I am not anymore, but their side effects don't seem to wear off with discontinuation

[Cathal]

@Vagos i meant in the sense one could be they a side effect of discontuination although it's unlikely it is something 'permanent' (talk to someone about that) but 8 weeks with no usage, maybe it's just that you need to give it more time after that time period of usage.

it just might be the case you are where you are supposed to be. I mean, in life, in your journey or whatever. This is the reality without the inclusion of external forces changing your chemistry, maybe that would be hard to swallow but if that ends up being true you can accept that and begin to understand it

psychedelics won't really change anything too if this is your intention, it will make you feel a bit more free for a while if microdosing and you will definitely feel like 'this is working' but it will just leave you where you're at now, not seeing the truth in underlying issues, but essentially what i'm getting at is, if my original perspective ends up being true for you then it's better to use psychedelics to understand why you feel unmotivated in life.

just a perspective to hold in mind from my own experience 

[Ulax]

I'd personally hold off on the psychedelics.

I'd look into Internal family Systems therapy (IFS). If you have issues with funding the treatment, feel free to say so, and I'll tell you how to get free/ reduced cost depth therapy.

A couple other questions:

1) How do you find reading?

2) Do you feel many emotions? I.e. are you numb? Are you sometimes overwhelmed by them?

[Raze]

I’ve heard relationship author John Gray claim there are ways to heal it but I don’t remember what he said. Perhaps use that lead.

[Vagos]

On 3/14/2022 at 2:38 AM, Ulax said:

I'd personally hold off on the psychedelics.

I'd look into Internal family Systems therapy (IFS). If you have issues with funding the treatment, feel free to say so, and I'll tell you how to get free/ reduced cost depth therapy.

A couple other questions:

1) How do you find reading?

2) Do you feel many emotions? I.e. are you numb? Are you sometimes overwhelmed by them?

Sure, I would greatly appreciate it and I'm eager to try.

1) I read a bit, probably 4 books/year or so.  The books I want to read I read fast and with motivation, the books that I press myself to read because I'm persuaded that they are going to benefit my personality and I see it as homework I read more slowly and with less motivation.
2) I don't feel many emotions really and I would really love to feel more... 

[Ulax]

1 hour ago, Vagos said:

Sure, I would greatly appreciate it and I'm eager to try.

1) I read a bit, probably 4 books/year or so.  The books I want to read I read fast and with motivation, the books that I press myself to read because I'm persuaded that they are going to benefit my personality and I see it as homework I read more slowly and with less motivation.
2) I don't feel many emotions really and I would really love to feel more... 

I see. Had something in mind if you struggled with reading.

Re not feeling many emotions, I'm sort of in a similar boat except I feel 0 emotions. Except for anxiety when I see people I've had conflict with, and anger when someone pushes past my boundaries and my defence mechanisms to my boundaries.

Re IFS, I'd advise trying to get as a high a level IFS practioner as possible (Level 3 = Highest). One from here: https://ifs-institute.com/practitioners.

Funding wise:

- https://youarerad.org/therapy

- https://psychosynthesistrust.org.uk/counselling/low-cost-psychosynthesis-counselling/ (somewhat similar method to IFS)

----------------------------------------------------------

Also, would you say your a controlling person? I.e. You seek certainty a lot in your life with things. For example, certainty of good marks on a test.

[BlurryBoi]

@Vagos i was prescribed Sertraline too (i stopped taking it long time ago), for depression.

Because i used to numb myself every hour of the day (to escape), it fucked my dopamine levels (the motivation molecule in your brain).

But it's not fucked forever, you can get your dopamine levels back to normal in a few weeks/months max if you get real serious about it.

 

"Dopamine Detox" is a biiig part of the solution for you here.

 

If you go all the way and make it a part of your lifestyle, this will without a doubt increase your motivation A LOT.

 

Here's a link for you to start your researches :

https://overthinkersjourney.com/the-right-way-to-do-dopamine-detox-fasting/

[Vagos]

Thank you very much folks, I appreciate your help!

[Nivsch]

On 13.3.2022 at 11:45 AM, Vagos said:

Hey folks, 

I have been taking an SSRI for almost 3 years now, first year 75mg of sertraline (for reference the usual dose is 50-100mg, sometimes doctors prescribe as little as 25mg and as much as 200mg), second year first half 50mg, second half 25mg, third year, first 9 months I didn't take any, 10th month I took only 12.5mg, 11th and 12th month didn't take any either.

The problem is that I feel like I have lost my motivation permanently and with that goes the potentiality of falling in love... I am 100% sure it has to do with the SSRI use. Even though these drugs are being prescribed widely and have been used for years now, the research that has been made on them is not very extended and obviously heavily manipulated by financial interests.

So feeling like I have lost a considerable chunk of my motivation and feeling like it is of neurological/neurochemical nature I'm trying to research on solutions of how to reverse this effect. If anyone has any answers or any legitimate ideas on what could work I would be glad to hear them. I feel like microdosing psychedelics is probably going to be an interesting approach to reverse the motivational damage.

Thanks for reading

Why all these changes? This extremely irritating to your nervous system. 

How did you felt during the 25mg?

And during the 12.5?

Versus the last two months with 0?

You might probably have significant withdrawal symptoms right now.

If you will feel worse the next month I would return (with another doctor) to 12.5 or 25 and stay there for couple of months until you feel ok, and then start to taper according to the rule of 10% every 4 weeks which found out to be the max safe phase for reducing ssri drugs.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Nivsch

[Asayake]

Have you tried Lions Mane mushroom dual extract?

[Vision]

How are you doing now?