Are SSRIs numbing & blunting agents?

So SSRIs (Sertraline, Citalopram, Vortioxetine...) treat my base line anxiety quite well, also got rid of digestion problems, but I am struggling with emotional blunting, numbness, lack of motivation, indifference, no pleasure from anything or interest in engaging with anybody/anything. In an effort to avoid emotional numbness caused by Vortioxetine, I switched to Paroxetine thinking that this would possibly fix things since Paroxetine has slightly different effects than Vortioxetine but I feel the numbness coming back again. How do you get over this? Has anyone found a treatment or medication that is good for this? I'm not even getting enjoyment from food or exercise like I used to. Any ideas for augmentations to address this?

Thanks for any help/ anecdotes you guys can offer!

antidepressants in general...and especially the ssri and ssnri drugs...are basically "emotional novocaine." its...what they do. i read somewhere that Prozac, for instance, is sort of like taking some Thorazine (an old school tranquilizer/antipsychotic) plus a little bit of Ritalin. The drugs tend to be somewhat stimulating, but they also cause apathy.

I don't know what to tell you, honestly. Personally, I avoid SSRI and SSNRI drugs now. I was on a high dose of Wellbutrin until I dropped it fairly recently. Wellbutrin is more stimulating, less numbing, but even so...once I'd been off the Wellbutrin for a little while, I was amazed at how numb it had made me, while I was taking it.

Some doctors add wellbutrin to ssri drugs for apathy and such. Others will use Provigil, Nuvigil, Ritalin, Focalin, sometimes an amphetamine.

If you need help with anxiety and low mood, remeron can help some of the same problems as ssri drugs, but it works differently, so some people get what they need with less apathy. weight gain and sedation tend to be major problems. another problem is that some people find remeron effective, and then it suddenly stops working. but, there's plenty of people who take remeron, respond to remeron, tolerate remeron, and stay on remeron, so...its an option, maybe.

i've read that adding buspirone (buspar, in the us) helps some people with this, and can improve overall response. i dunno though...ive taken buspar, and it just made me feel more apathetic. everyone's different, though.

there's also other drugs for anxiety, of course...benzodiazepines, gabapentin, lyrica, hydroxyzine, promethazine, now and then low doses of some antipsychotics/tranquilizers.

ever tried talk therapy, art therapy, group therapy? im not pushing it on you. some people love talking treatments. im not one of them, but...yeah. valid option, for some people.

i hope things get better in your world. its kinda lame...for all this talk of "safe and effective treatments," blah blah blah, the psych drugs have definite limitations and they all cause their own problems. i guess it just comes down to weighing risks vs benefits and deciding what to do.

thanks for your response.

Mirtazapine sounds interesting. Weight gain wouldn't be a problem, my BMI is 20 and I am male. Could also help me with insomnia & sleep disturbances. My appetite is somewhat low.

What about Moclobemide? It's like the only reversible MAOI. It's available where I live.
I've been also thinking about trying some atypicals like Tianeptine, Opipramol, Trazodone...

I am going to have talk therapy in a few weeks.

Thank you.
Yeahh indeed, psychiatric medications are somewhat a major letdown.

Sometimes, for some people, that emotional blunting is a relief, especially if one has been 'feeling too much' or is hyper-sensitive to every emotion and feeling. I have had breakdowns, gone through them battling to come out, absolutely exhausted from the down mood and/or overthinking every little thing, and the numbing from meds is an incredible relief. It gives my mind and body, finally, a kind of rest.

It is possible that the dose you're on is too high. That's what it sounds like to me.

I feel little. I would like to feel more.

I am on a low dose.

Sometimes blunting, though also a little bit uplifting. This is why some antidepressant medications come with a 'black box warning' which warns that the medication may cause the ensuing of suicidal behavior.

This is because people often think about suicide, but are too physically 'out of energy' to pursue these thoughts. When one takes an antidepressant, the slight lifting of their energy may cause them to act on the suicidal thoughts.

hi. i dont know much about the psych drugs you listed, but i have read positive reviews on tianeptine. i think its from the same company that created amineptine which, sadly, is now not available...worked too well, I guess.

anyway, personally, id think that if you decide to keep on trying psych drugs, tianeptine might be worth a shot. it seems fairly well-tolerated and more pleasant than ssri, ssnri, tca, etc. I think its dosed 3x daily, which is kind of a pain. maybe there's an xr now?

other than that...what little ive read about mental health in france makes it seem like there's plenty of talking treatments available, from a number of different paradigms. that's much better than most of the united states, of course.

i hope you get the treatment and help you need.

Ive taken zoloft, prozac, celexa, paxil,lexapro,trazadone,remeron,cymbalta,and well butrin. The only one that did not cause mental numbness is wellbutrin for me.

Trazodone and Mirtazapine caused mental numbness for you?
5-HT2C receptor inverse agonism of Mirtazapine should counteract the "numbness"...

Made me sleepy at night and very dull during the day. I was also on Seroquel, and Depakote at the time.

Since you are on a low dose, I wonder if your depression is not being sufficiently treated. That could be why you feel apathetic and so on. Maybe it's a higher dose that you need.

I haven't felt much emotional blunting on sertraline. In fact, it helped calm my nervous system down enough for me to access my feelings in therapy.

I don't think so. Sure, there is some apathy and anhedonia caused by depression, but right now it's like all my emotions are suppressed totally. I've never had that before being on Sertraline. Motivation was fluctuating, now it's totally gone.

Tianeptine definitely sounds interesting.
I already have it on my list of "To-Do's"

I will have CBT in a few weeks.

Thank you

What better alternatives are there to SSRIs?
Is Mirtazapine good?

There are the ssni's like cymbalta and I believe effexor. There is also wellbutrin and the older tricylics. Also MAOI's

Cymbalta is quite interesting.
Effexor isn't even an SNRI ^^

I would really like to try Wellbutrin, but I am already quite skinny (BMI 19) and I cannot afford to loose some more weight...

Effexor is an snri I have heard good stuff about it.

its binding profile says otherwise...
It's a very weak NRI.

There is no research for this basis. Often repeatable narratives and catchphrases passed through a doctor through drug reps. That has been exposed a lot. Akathasia leads to what they term 'induced suicidal ideation' on the leaflets. Basically they got sued because they covered it up. Then the drug regulators (who are there to back up drug companies, not protect the public) worked on a new 'term' to help not harm the drug companies profits, agreeing on 'increased suicidal ideation'. This is what drug regulators do for the drug companies. That is why there is a revolving door, on creating 'favourable terms' on leaflets for drug companies. That is our drug regulators. They jump from drug company to 'drug regulator'. And so on.

Destabilizing a vulnerable persons mood can lead to higher suicides, Akathasia is unbearable and often leads to suicides, Sexual Dysfunction from drug can lead to suicide. All different reasons, other than just the favoured doctor recycled drug rep one.

The fact remains the same, and no care is taken.

I am on a cocktail of drugs that should probably make me numb. They don't. I still feel too much and am highly sensitive. Among these drugs are Prozac and Wellbutrin with Ritalin thrown in. I would welcome the numbness for awhile just to catch a break. What absolutely drives me up the wall though is the total lack of motivation these drugs cause. Before my illness I was an overachiever and now I have zero motivation. Very frustrating!

Anyway, I hope you can find a medication that works for you without making you feel numb. Best wishes.