Symptoms: Brain zaps, Emotional blunting, Sexual dysfunction, Cognitive impairment, Insomnia, Depersonalization/Derealization, Suicidal ideation, Tinnitus, Neuropathy, Muscle/joint pain, Anhedonia, GI disturbances
When I was 7 years old, school teachers recommended to my parents that I see a doctor about ADHD. I was a 7 year old boy. I had a hard time sitting still in 1st grade, and I pestered the other kids. I was hiding sexual abuse and experiencing deceitful parents. I think my behavior stemmed from all that.
Well, my parents listened to the teacher. I was diagnosed, and doctors began prescribing me a host of medications: Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta, etc. We bounced between medications because there were behavioral and mental side effects with each, but I eventually used Concerta for around 10 years.
But, as I got older, anxiety and depression symptoms worsened, and doctors switched me over to another cocktail of medication trials: Lexapro (Escitalopram), Prozac (Fluoxetine), Sertraline (Zoloft). I had extreme, negative reactions to some of them, but continued others for about 5 years.
But I hated being on them. They didn't fix the problems, or help the mental experience. They just numbed and buried everything. Eventually, I got off the meds. Experienced all the symptoms I selected above. All the real problems finally got exposed, my life fell apart (though I felt whole for the first time in memory), and then psychiatrists once again prescribed another slew of medications, SSRIs, etc.
The results were bad. My mind and brain feel so broken, and I spent a few months nearly incapacitated getting back off those meds. I'm not some crazy person. I have a family to father and provide for. My kids are happy. But I am still not well.