I am taking antidepressants (Prozac, Wellbutrin) from my psychiatrist. I haven't been on it long enough, maybe 2 weeks, but it's making me number about life. It's not making me happier as much as it's making me considerably less emotional, and more aloof. Things that would normally bother me, don't really bother me.

My body dysphoria also went down a bit too... I am losing my desire to be beautiful, but just accepting what I am. I am still woman, but I am losing that desire of others caring about me being a male. If that makes sense, I don't care if people think I am a man. Or ugly, or anything, it's just doesn't bother me.

If you take those antidepressants, did you experience the same results?

For me the diysphoria got a lot worse. I think they made me transition

Quote from: stephaniec on July 01, 2017, 05:48:15 PM
For me the diysphoria got a lot worse. I think they made me transition

That makes sense, I read a lot people have different reactions to them.

I take antidepressants and they just make me happier and more energetic. 2 weeks is not long enough to judge an antidepressant. You need around 2 months. The ones I was taking before made me feel like you and the feeling never went away. I now Take Lorazepam and Duloxetine and like I said, I feel fine and more relaxed, I don't cry just out of the blue anymore and can maintain a positive attitude, but keep in mind that everybody reacts differently. 75% of my anxiety and depression went away AS SOON AS I CAME OUT TO EVERYONE AS TRANSGENDER. I FELT FREE!!!

Effexor daily, prescribed by psychiatrist,  for the last 2 years appears to have removed many of my inhibitions.  I'm M > F, 73 years old, transitioned in 2010 and SRS in 3 qt 2011, uses Estradiol weekly patch.  Profession: semi-retired engineer, Telecom & RF




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I personally became a calmer more catatonically rational dysphoric person. 

I was at the end of the road when I was taking antidepressants had no where else to turn

I can't answer the question exactly, but my psych offered me antidepressants a number of times and I refused. I wanted to fix my problems and was concerned drugs would confuse the issue.

Instead i went from low dose to full dose hrt and made some other decisions about my life and most of my problems just evaporated. And I know that's not meds because I never took any.

I've done everything the hard way. The only good thing about it is that I know I'm trans with absolute confidence, even if I'm not the stereotypical case.

I've never been suicidal. I'd have taken the antidepressants in that case.

I took one a decade before transition and it helped manage my depression. Dysphoria it did not affect that much, but post HRT things really got better. I still take that med today.

Quote from: Wild Flower on July 01, 2017, 05:02:15 PM
I am taking antidepressants (Prozac, Wellbutrin) from my psychiatrist. I haven't been on it long enough, maybe 2 weeks, but it's making me number about life. It's not making me happier as much as it's making me considerably less emotional, and more aloof. Things that would normally bother me, don't really bother me.

My body dysphoria also went down a bit too... I am losing my desire to be beautiful, but just accepting what I am. I am still woman, but I am losing that desire of others caring about me being a male. If that makes sense, I don't care if people think I am a man. Or ugly, or anything, it's just doesn't bother me.

If you take those antidepressants, did you experience the same results?

I was treated for depression back when I was in jr high/freshman year and I felt the same as you. I don't remember what it did to my dysphoria because I wasn't really aware of it at that time anyways. But I know I stopped taking it because it made me numb to everything. Really felt like I was just zombie'ing my way through the day.

Quote from: VickieBlue on July 01, 2017, 10:44:51 PM
I was treated for depression back when I was in jr high/freshman year and I felt the same as you. I don't remember what it did to my dysphoria because I wasn't really aware of it at that time anyways. But I know I stopped taking it because it made me numb to everything. Really felt like I was just zombie'ing my way through the day.

I told my co-worker, I need to feel like a zombie to get through the day. And he recommended to see a psychiatrist. It was really tough for me to go to a psychiatrist, but it was needed so I can do my job with a "fake" smile at the end.

Quote from: Wild Flower on July 01, 2017, 09:29:11 PM
Anony,

You mention suicide, I'm like anti-suicide (I'm an advocate for all life-extension paths... and there is a lot in that area). I believe there's a strong chance that there is nothing after this.... but the Virgin Mary is a saint that really makes me believe in heaven/hell (or whatever is after this).

I only mention it because I refused to take antidepressants, and that's not the right/safe course for everyone.

I'm not sure if I was overly clear, but the reason I refused is because I was afraid they would work, and I'd not be able to work in my underlying problems. I wanted to be absolutely clear on what the correct path forwards was.

I didn't really understand the rest of your post, but I watched a documentary once that sounds like it touches on what you are saying. I think it was the BBC Horizon documentary, To Infinity and Beyond.

Anony, deleted my post. It's not comprehendible for this forum lol. (That really made sense to me at that moment in time....).

I think as long as your happy at the current moment, that's all that matters.

Head meds are a funny thing. One of my psychiatrists finally admitted to me one session that there is no definitive reason why any of them work or don't work, it's all trial and error.

The two pills both act on the brain differently. Prozac is an SSRI and it is most likely the culprit regarding the numbing. I had that for a few years as they worked through the various pills in the SSRI group. I would tell the doctors that "my give a damn is busted" so they would up the dose or switch to a different one. I finally began my own research and found the docs call it "blunting". When I used that term I was given the option of going on Wellbutrin. The happy sex drug😉

One of the challenges is trying to fix too many things for a trans person. I dealt with anger issues, anxiety and depression. If you want to work on all three then they go directly to an SSRI. Any two and they can switch to a different combination. I was dealing better with anxiety so I went for anger and depression.

The Wellbutrin has been great for depression for the most part but really can't put a dent in dysphoria on a bad day. I went through many options on anger issues and a Hail Mary pass with an anti seizure med worked great. It's an off label use and really a side effect they can't explain but it does the trick, and I never have seizures 😉.

Others are right that two weeks isn't enough time. It would be if you were having a bad experience with the drug but not enough to see if it's helping. I would highly recommend making notes each day regarding your mental health and what was and was not an issue that day. Easier to answer questions about effectiveness when you have something to look at and remember by.

for me it calmed it down for 3 months and than came back 10 times harded than upped my dose and again went away for a bit than came back harder.Tried different pills and same thing would happen

Quote from: AnonyMs on July 02, 2017, 12:45:47 AM
I only mention it because I refused to take antidepressants, and that's not the right/safe course for everyone.

I'm not sure if I was overly clear, but the reason I refused is because I was afraid they would work, and I'd not be able to work in my underlying problems. I wanted to be absolutely clear on what the correct path forwards was.

I didn't really understand the rest of your post, but I watched a documentary once that sounds like it touches on what you are saying. I think it was the BBC Horizon documentary, To Infinity and Beyond.

I never seen that before, I got to watch now. That was random rambling, but I guess I got the same mindset as grad-school-scientific people. In a very short summary of last night: We are atoms, everything is atoms, multiple universes (something even bigger that), and everything is like a mirrors going on forever. Death is inevitable, and once we're gone, we're gone, BUT life/atoms keep on going, and like multiple universes OUR LIVES repeat (just not connected to this life; once we're gone we're gone. Time is an illusion. There is nothing special about us, you are the same as the stars in the sky (just different elements) (end summary)