Symptoms: Emotional blunting, muscle/joint pain, GI disturbances, did not have a period for an entire year
I was dealing with depression which I now understand was related to unprocessed childhood trauma. When I shared with my Doctor that I was struggling with classic depressive symptoms she put me on an SSRI and shared that most people feel like “it helps put color back into their world.” After that I spent 6 years trying out various medications with the list increasing every time I expressed that I was still experiencing symptoms. Long story short at one point in this journey I was taking 4 different medications and ended up on Anti-psychotics along with an SSRI and Lithium.
When I finally started to feel better (thanks to talk therapy and environmental changes) I was terrified of getting off of these medications given the many horror stories I had heard about withdrawal. After not having a period for almost 6 months I consulted my doctor asking if it was potentially any of the various psych medications I was on and he said “no, you just need to lose weight.” When I finally got off of the antipsychotics my period came back within a month.
I scoured the internet for any research I could find and at the very bottom of the medication’s warnings it said rarely women who take it for over 3 years can have issues with their menstrual cycle. I was gaslit into thinking it was a weight issue when no one even warned me about the risks of this medication. I was 21 when it was prescribed to me.