WE NEED A FULL BAN ON SRRIs BEFORE MORE LIVES ARE DESTROYED!!!
First off, these drugs are absolute poison and should be taken off the market NOW! People’s troubles with anxiety and depression CANNOT be solved with the equivalent of LSD/PCP/Ecstasy! These drugs only inflame the symptoms and make recovery impossible.
I am still coping with a mild case of PPD, brought on by the stress of having two children in two years (my second pregnancy wasn’t planned), and a very troubled stepson that lives with us. I went to my OB/GYN, and while he sent me for a complete physical, including a thyroid/anemia screening, he also handed me three bottles of Zoloft to take for three weeks. He said they would help calm me down, because my anxiety level was awful. I had no idea my anxiety would go from bad to manic.
The first day I took the Zoloft, I felt fine. The next day, I had a vivid, disturbing nightmare and a hypoglycemia-like reaction. Thank God I was able to get down to the refrigerator, even though I was in a near-catatonic state, and consume an ice cream bar. I stabilized, but had no idea what happened to me.
For the next few days, I had severe nightmares, and sometimes when I woke up, I was in a state of anxiety and confusion that I can’t even describe, it was so bizarre. Thought upon thought upon thought, all making no sense.
It was an act of God that I found drugawareness.org and read through these stories. Even though I knew MORE anxiety was a possible reaction to Zoloft, I had no idea it would happen to me!
To make a long story short, I stopped Zoloft after five days, with the encouragement of my OB/GYN. Even he was horrified at my reaction to the drug. I do not blame him for what happened. I don’t think he’s fully aware what this drug can do to people. I would bet most doctors are not aware.
It took another two weeks for the drug to wash completely out of my system. I still had nightmares and severe insomnia for a week after I stopped the drug. Only after two weeks did I start to feel like myself again. Now, I’m back to square one with the PPD. I’m furious that I lost two weeks of recovery because I spent two weeks trying to recover from Zoloft!
I am now taking natural supplements, getting a hormone test (to see if my estrogen/progesterone levels are contributing to this), and eating better. In my opinion, this is the only cure. Don’t rely on a drug. I am fortunate that I stopped using this garbage before I got even further down the road with it! If my reaction after five days was that horrifying, imagine if I continued with this “treatment,” which I now know was no better than pumping my veins full of LSD or PCP!
We can’t cure what’s ailing us with the equivalent of illegal street drugs. Now that I know what these drugs can do, I will do whatever I can to keep people away from them. My life could have been ruined. Many others’ lives ARE ruined. I was lucky. WE NEED A FULL BAN ON SRRIs BEFORE MORE LIVES ARE DESTROYED!!!
Lisa Spinelli
spinman969@aol.com
3/25/2002
This is Survivor Story number 34.
Total number of stories in current database is 48
