More Apathetic and Less Emotional

[RedheadWhovian]

Has anyone ever heard of HRT making you more apathetic and less emotional? It doesn't make much sense to me, but that's how I've been feeling the past couple weeks, when I'm not having a good time with friends at least. That's the last thing I want. I always considered myself a pretty caring and highly passionate person. Can hormones really be doing that to me? There is another possibility. I quit my zoloft cold turkey three weeks ago (Yes, I know it was very stupid to do) and I am told that can cause bad withdrawal symptoms such as this. But that was three weeks ago, and when I'm having a good time with people I don't seem to feel the side effects nearly as much. Hope it's not hormones, but I guess that's possible? They are different for everyone. :/

[Dena]

I found a good document about zoloft withdraw but I can't link it because of dosage information. It suggest it takes about 3 months to come off zoloft if you quite it cold turkey and this was one of the many things you might feel

Depersonalization: It is common to feel unlike yourself and/or depersonalized. You may wonder if you are ever going to feel like your "normal" self again. Depersonalization may make you feel numb, like a zombie, or like an alien has taken over your body. This is just your brain chemistry trying to adapt itself to the withdrawal.

[Lilian J]

Hey , Pm'd you some more rambling comments but just wanted to post here for others benefit.

I took lexapro for around 8 months for anxiety and depression that was GD related but couldn't admit that to myself. I tapered off over 2 months but felt weird and robot like for around 4 months. My doc recommend consistent sleep and exercise to help re-balance serotonin which did help a bit. Ultimately my doc said anti depressants can be good to circuit break un-resolvable thoughts and feelings and give you a chance to work on them without as much turmoil but eventually you need to come off and that can be a struggle in itself.

One of the best things I am experiencing on HRT is being more emotional but not feeling that it is a loss of control like I used to. Most guys I know are terrified of the ups and downs of strong emotion but it is so liberating to just feel sad and cry or be happy for no reason. Anti-depressants (during and after) on the other hand dulled everything and gave me more control but just made it easier to suppress long term feelings.

[RedheadWhovian]

I found a good document about zoloft withdraw but I can't link it because of dosage information. It suggest it takes about 3 months to come off zoloft if you quite it cold turkey and this was one of the many things you might feel

It means a lot to me that you would go through the time to look this up for me. Thank you so much! I have read the same thing, and I want to believe that's what it is at the moment. Cause I feel almost nothing. What worries me is that presenting as male is at least less stressful at the moment, only cause it is familiar, and makes me think about negative side effects of hrt less.