Discussion If I take anti-depressive medicine my suicidal thoughts will cease?

[k3v3r]

antidepressants didn't stop my suicidal thoughts, for the first month or so i just had the energy to do it (before i was so depressed that i didn't have the energy to actually do it)
Now i've been taking them for 1.5 years, they don't take my suicidal thoughts away, but they do make me less depressed. If depression is the reason you want to ctb, they might work. But everyone reacts different

 

[Quinlor]

antidepressants didn't stop my suicidal thoughts, for the first month or so i just had the energy to do it (before i was so depressed that i didn't have the energy to actually do it)
Now i've been taking them for 1.5 years, they don't take my suicidal thoughts away, but they do make me less depressed. If depression is the reason you want to ctb, they might work. But everyone reacts different

Thank you for the advice. Yes, my suicide thoughts have two causes, one is a chronic depression and second a broken relationship.

 

[Ruffian]

I am not sure if it directly effects suicidal ideation but it definitely makes you more likely to kill yourself. The medicine may change how your brain works, but it's hard to quickly change what you think. Antidepressants can give a depressed person enough motivation and energy finally pull the trigger and act on their impulses.

I tried to CTB when I was 2 months into taking Sertraline. Now I'm on a new anti-depressant, I'm obsessed with suicide and can't stop thinking about it since I got out of the psych ward which was around 1 month ago.

This.

Especially young people in their teens and early twenties. I know SSRs and SNRIs come with a black box warning that they may increase suicidal thoughts in this population. You may want to do your own due diligence if this is your first time at the AD rodeo and you're in this age group. These are the most commonly prescribed ADs, so it's worth researching them. Some docs are willing to still prescribe what are known as the tricyclic anti-depressants, which were absolutely the best I ever felt in my life. I could not tolerate the side effects. Sadly, my doc didn't think not moving my bowels for 2 weeks wasn't a good enough reason to go off of them. I got a new doc and took myself off of them. Yeah, definitely trying to learn all you can by researching each class would be good so you'll be prepared to discuss their risks and benefits with your doc. If he's not willing to have an open dialogue with you about it, get someone else.

I would say yes it's worth a shot if you want to die, but ultimately it's your choice. This is one of the few places in the world where people are for the most part trying to have an adult conversation about the topic.

 

[JadedGray]

I think it would be better to try more natural alternatives like St. John's Wort or 5-HTP. At the very least they don't cause the many side effects (some permanent ones) that anti-depressants can cause. And like many have mentioned, they can cause (or increase) suicidal and homicidal ideation. They are also horrible to withdraw from once you decide to stop taking them. In the beginning like a placebo they might help, but in the long run you just end up having to increase the dosage until they no longer work. Of course, this is only my experience with them, which has been horrible and one of the biggest regrets I have. Everyone's brain is different and how it will be affected by these chemicals. Age is also an important factor, I wouldn't advice anyone under 25 years old to take them unless they were a last resort, since the brain is still developing and the last thing it needs is something that could permanently alter how it works.

 

[Mart]

Doesn't work for me. I take them religiously and it doesn't stop the thoughts. Granted, I'm on lexapro which seems pretty mellow compared to others.

 

[azucaramargo]

Well I've been on 100mg Sertraline for a couple of years now but I'm still suicidal and still self harm almost daily. All they do for me is numb my emotions, don't take away the bad thoughts or anything. But if I go off them (have a few times over the years) then I do get really unstable and my emotions are all over the place so I guess they help with that a bit.

Hi Sereg0r, not to meddle in your affairs, but I too took 100 mgs of Sertraline for several years. It was magnificent, but after many years, I found it just wasn't that effective anymore.

My point is, have you tried different medications? In addition to (or, instead of) the Sertraline? Adding Bupropion to my Sertraline regimen really helped me out of a bad spot.

I'm not recommending any meds in particular, but I just really think you might want to talk with your doctor about tweaking your regimen. (Usually adding meds is easier than having to wean off one and endure the oftentimes rocky "getting-started" period of starting another med.

 

[DownInaHole]

No pill that any psychiatrist has ever given me has helped. I've taken many different ones.

 

[phoenixx]

Hi Sereg0r, not to meddle in your affairs, but I too took 100 mgs of Sertraline for several years. It was magnificent, but after many years, I found it just wasn't that effective anymore.

My point is, have you tried different medications? In addition to (or, instead of) the Sertraline? Adding Bupropion to my Sertraline regimen really helped me out of a bad spot.

I'm not recommending any meds in particular, but I just really think you might want to talk with your doctor about tweaking your regimen. (Usually adding meds is easier than having to wean off one and endure the oftentimes rocky "getting-started" period of starting another med.

Thank you for the suggestion! I doubt I will ever go to see my doctor again before I ctb but if I do for some reason, I will mention this

 

[mathieu]

For me antidepressants aren't effective enough to stop me wanting to die. I take Parnate 40mg a day and have tried many others. I think you should try them, you might be one of the lucky people for whom they are very effective.

 

[deathenvoy]

Paroxetine made me more suicidal.

 

[TheBlackSwordsman]

Medication will likely make you dependant on them just replacing problems. Id see if there are natural alternatives to try first before medication. But this is just my opinion.

 

[CTB-London]

I suggest that you give antidepressants a try. They might not make you less suicidal, especially if your suicidality is not mood-dependent, but they will most likely improve your mood organically by resolving your neurochemical imbalance. You should then be able to treat suicide more rationally and less impulsively, a sign that your underlying mood disturbances have been relieved.

If you decide to try them, don't forget to give them some time to act on you (generally around 2 weeks) before assessing their effects. This means that you might not feel any improvement immediately or might even feel worse in the first few days after starting the treatment.

Anti depressants can help if you have a psychiatric disorder with a physical cause such as a Serotonin deficiency.

They never helped me because I live in a permanent state of situational depression caused by being gay, which I hate. Anti-depressants provide little relief from other situational depression such as that caused by a bereavement or loss of a partner (to name a couple of examples).

 

[not_a_robot]

antidepressant can make you more suicidal, or less suicidal, or maybe impulsively buy a ski-boat even though you hate water, or have no effect at all.
Your pill pusher can only guess at what the hell it might do.
Isn't the medical industry great?

 

[TimeToDie]

Since january I tried ctb many times: hanging, poison, night night and probably in some moment in the future SN or hanging again. My therapist in the same time tried without success convince me to take anti-depressives. If I finally start to take these pills my suicide thoughts will ceased and I will stop to pass most of my time here talking about death and suicide? Seems to me something ridiculous...

I can tell you from personal experience that it's possible for drugs to make one feel like living another day is a perfectly reasonable option. A decade ago that's the effect I got when I was prescribed dextroamphetamine for treatment-resistant depression. No antidepressant med has ever helped me, not even MAOIs (which I used in huge doses). Amphetamines (such as Adderall) are worth a shot if you can get them. Best to claim you have ADHD since psychiatrists absolutely love giving stimulants for that. I'm the only person I know of who ever got amphetamines for depression, even though amphetamines have a long history in the treatment of depression, being what was used prior to the advent of TCAs & MAOIs back in the 1950s.

Anti depressants can help if you have a psychiatric disorder with a physical cause such as a Serotonin deficiency.

They never helped me because I live in a permanent state of situational depression caused by being gay, which I hate. Anti-depressants provide little relief from other situational depression such as that caused by a bereavement or loss of a partner (to name a couple of examples).

Try Zoloft. It will ensure that you don't have any desire to fuck the same sex, or opposite sex, or masturbate. It will make you entirely asexual!

Some docs are willing to still prescribe what are known as the tricyclic anti-depressants, which were absolutely the best I ever felt in my life. I could not tolerate the side effects. Sadly, my doc didn't think not moving my bowels for 2 weeks wasn't a good enough reason to go off of them

Yeah, I know about the side effects: imipramine gave me the driest mouth ever and it made it impossible to urinate. On the positive side, if TCAs fail to work, you can go with plan B and use them to CTB. Back in the day when TCAs were in common use they were a leading suicide drug. And amitriptyline (a TCA) is still a favorite suicide method on this board.

 

[ExitTheDay]

When I took anti-depressants they only worked for the moment, and made me feel very manic but I think that's because I have BPD. After a few weeks of being on them I stopped taking them because they made my brain feel fried and I couldn't get any sleep for some reason, this was 2 years ago and it made me realize I did not need medication because it only makes it worse for me

 

[WaterUnder]

Not for me they didn't. They made me off the page suicidal and I was well above my mid twenties when I started them. It's been a serious struggle ever since.

Some people report that they help them, though. For me? The struggle is nonstop.

 

[MAIO]

Since january I tried ctb many times: hanging, poison, night night and probably in some moment in the future SN or hanging again. My therapist in the same time tried without success convince me to take anti-depressives. If I finally start to take these pills my suicide thoughts will ceased and I will stop to pass most of my time here talking about death and suicide? Seems to me something ridiculous...

Antidepressants generally don't work better than a placebo for mild-moderate depression, especially long term. If you believe it will work and start focusing on other things, like exercise, socializing goals, etc., you have a decent chance.

 

[BlueMeanie88]

I was prescribed Venlafaxine. It made me completely numb and emotionless. I am an extremely emotional person and cry in pretty much any movie! No joke. I sob in every one of those commercials from Thailand about MetLife. When I was on this I could not shed a tear. For ANYTHING. I still had suicidal thoughts. However it did help with getting me to function on a day to day basis

 

[charlottewilts]

i was put on clozapine while I was inpatient. i could barely walk from the fatigue it gave me and it was hard forming coherent thoughts and sentences, but surprisingly had no suicidal thoughts despite being highly suicidal when I was brought into the facility. then I found out they put me on the highest possible dose for a first-time taker, and asked them to lower it. after they did most of the unpleasant side effects ceased, but the suicidal thoughts came back, so I just spat them out until they discharged me. so they do work, but the toll is high

 

[Shamana]

I suggest that you give antidepressants a try. They might not make you less suicidal, especially if your suicidality is not mood-dependent, but they will most likely improve your mood organically by resolving your neurochemical imbalance. You should then be able to treat suicide more rationally and less impulsively, a sign that your underlying mood disturbances have been relieved.

If you decide to try them, don't forget to give them some time to act on you (generally around 2 weeks) before assessing their effects. This means that you might not feel any improvement immediately or might even feel worse in the first few days after starting the treatment.

It's myth that depression is caused a chemical imbalance such as low serotonin and that AD's correct this imbalance. It's a hypothesis that never been proven and disproven many times. The reason SSRI's have all the shitty side effects they do and awful withdrawel is because they are fucking with your nervous systems homeostasis.

That doesn't they can help though, but I'd say the main theraputic effect is numbing your emotions. It's not really more amazing than that, and in the beginning many people get akakthsia and increased suicide ideation.

 

[Jolene40]

They make you feel better, not happy.

They made me absolutely euphoric for a time. Like all things it eased off and I was just stable so to speak. I was only on them for 2 years though so problems may have cropped up in time

 

[Shamana]

Anti depressants can help if you have a psychiatric disorder with a physical cause such as a Serotonin deficiency.

They never helped me because I live in a permanent state of situational depression caused by being gay, which I hate. Anti-depressants provide little relief from other situational depression such as that caused by a bereavement or loss of a partner (to name a couple of examples).

The idea that there is a serotonin defiency as a cause of depression is lie spread by big pharma because it's makes them billions and billions of dollars. Why do you not think there is neurotransmitter test for this, since the myth has been spread for 60 years? In the cerebral spinal fluid tests the serotonin of depressed people and healthy people were excatly the same.

SSRI's can reduce your sadness though by numbing your emotions.

 

[MAIO]

It's myth that depression is caused a chemical imbalance such as low serotonin and that AD's correct this imbalance. It's a hypothesis that never been proven and disproven many times. The reason SSRI's have all the shitty side effects they do and awful withdrawel is because they are fucking with your nervous systems homeostasis.

That doesn't they can help though, but I'd say the main theraputic effect is numbing your emotions. It's not really more amazing than that, and in the beginning many people get akakthsia and increased suicide ideation.

One of my biggest problems with antidepressants is exercise is generally as effective as antidepressants alone for whatever condition they are trying to treat, even though drug companies find their own studies, and can do as many studies as they want. Let's say 12 studies show drug A is less effective than placebo and 2 studies show drug A is more effective than a placebo. Guess what? They only base the results in the two studies that showed its more effective than a placebo. There are another significant issues as well. For instance, antidepressants can suppress your brain's impulse/control center, which are why antidepressants are generally prevalent in school shootings, or part of the reason why suicides are higher on them.

 

[inconsequential]

The only studies that prove antidepressants of any sort are effective were funded by their respective pharmaceutical companies.

 

[JustLosingMyself]

Taking antidepressants is the easy part.
Whether they work or not... prozac, lexapro, seroquel and paroxetine didn't do much, only numbed all emotions and feelings, 2 made me ravenously hungry, 1 made me sleep all day, 1 exacerbated risk taking just to feel something other than being miserable.
The side effects are horrible as far as I'm concerned for limited to no benefit in my experience.
I went off them 10 months ago and have still to recover from the withdrawal. Literally went batshit crazy for 5 months and 2 psychiatric admissions in that period.
I don't think I'll swallow those poison pills again unless forced to.
Just my experience.

 

[Quinlor]

I hate when I have a crisis and someone says: why you don't take medicines! I feel like everyone are against me. Suggesting take AD it's like a password to say: fuck off don't bothering me freak.

 

[Shamana]

Selegine intranasal can be a pretty good anti-depression. Increases motivation, dopamine, sex drive etc. Biggest side effect and problem is insomnia, so if you could combine it with sleeping pills it would my recommend AD. Most AD's just numb emotions and cause sexual side effects, so I would not really recommend them, but if your so desperate that you are serious about suicide then maybe getting on AD's under supervision from a psychiatrist is maybe not a bad idea.

You can buy selegine from a psychiatrist on FB called otoosan otto. It would be my first choice.

 

[mathieu]

Antidepressants have never really affected my suicidal thoughts, although at times they have helped the other symptoms of depression to some extent. They sometimes have helped a little but never enough. I take Parnate now after trying most modern ADs. I don't know if it does anything. I could be worse without it, who knows?

 

[mplslonely]

Pills have never helped me at all. As an attempt to try something different public radio got me excited about psilocybin. First time in a decade CTB isn't 80% of my brains thought process. I still have some anxiety and thoughts but they are much more managable.

 

[Ruffian]

The one I can tolerate is Wellbutrin. Unfortunately, like most people here, getting off of it it is like getting a divorce. I think I'm suicidal now - when I look back to the brief period I went off of it there was nothing in life I could tolerate. I'm sure I'll be on here one day as one of those people mega damaged by pharmaceuticals.