When first starting antidepressants, you may not feel like yourself. Though your depression symptoms might have improved, feelings of extreme sadness can sometimes be replaced by an emotional numbness in which you are neither able to cry nor enjoy a real belly laugh. If you feel this way, you are definitely not alone.
On antidepressant medication, it is possible that you might experience a sense of feeling numb and less like yourself. Though the symptoms of depression have decreased, there may be a sense that other emotional responses – laughing or crying, for example – are more difficult to experience.
These drugs target serotonin, a chemical that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and has been dubbed the 'pleasure chemical'. One of the widely-reported side effects of SSRIs is 'blunting', where patients report feeling emotionally dull and no longer finding things as pleasurable as they used to.
There also can be other reasons an antidepressant is no longer working for you, such as: Worsening depression. It's common for depression symptoms to return or worsen at some point, despite treatment. Called breakthrough depression, symptoms may be triggered by stress or appear with no apparent cause.
Taking antidepressants may help to lift your mood. This can help you feel more able to do things that don't feel possible while you're depressed. This may include using other types of support for your mental health. See our page on treatments for depression to find other options which may help.
These drugs — including Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, and Lexapro — alter the way the body handles the “feel-good” brain chemical serotonin — a hormone responsible for regulating mood and happiness. As a result, things that once provoked strong reactions may now leave the same individual unaffected or even apathetic.
What causes emotional blunting? The primary effect of SSRIs is reduced processing of negative stimuli rather than increased positive stimuli.
Bottom Line. Within the first one to two weeks, most people feel lower levels of anxiety, restlessness or tiredness with Prozac treatment. Your sleep, energy and appetite may improve over the first month and you may have a better focus on daily tasks. A depressed mood can take up to 8 weeks to fully respond.
Most antidepressants boost mood and reduce depression symptoms by elevating serotonin levels in the brain. Although this is beneficial for someone who's depressed, for someone who does not have depression, taking antidepressant medication can cause serotonin to build up in the body, resulting in serotonin syndrome.
For depression, Prozac may start to improve symptoms within 2 weeks. But it may take 4 to 8 weeks to have its full effect.
Social, psychological, and medical causes.
Antidepressants, depression, trauma, personality factors, social stigma, and certain medical conditions can all inhibit us from tearing up.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), commonly used to treat depression, are associated with loss of motivation, anergy, and lack of curiosity often referred collectively as apathy.
It's thought that serotonin may influence the threshold for tears. Serotonin is also found in emotional tears. Natural opioids (which used to be called endorphins) are shown to decrease crying, particularly separation-induced crying in young animals.
For some people living with emotional blunting, a simple switch of medications will do the trick. For others, it may be necessary to incorporate lifestyle changes, like talk therapy and limiting alcohol and drugs. It may be helpful to remember that you don't have to live this way forever.
Tolerance. When medication no longer works as well for someone as it did when they first started taking it, that person is said to have developed a tolerance for the drug. The medical term for decreased effectiveness of the medication is tachyphylaxis, although some people refer to it as "Prozac poop-out."
Sometimes, Hullett says, increasing the dose under supervision by your doctor may help. “If you've been taking 10 milligrams (mg) of Prozac (fluoxetine), for example, your physician may increase the dose to 20 mg,” he says. In other cases, trying a different medication or treatment is helpful.
Prozac is good for anxiety and depression because it is an SSRI antidepressant medication that works by blocking the reabsorption of serotonin by your brain's neurotransmitter receptors. Serotonin is a chemical in your brain responsible for sleep, appetite, and mood regulation.
The common occurrence of slow-rolling eye movements during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in patients taking Fluoxetine has led to this finding being referred to as “Prozac Eyes” [1]. The oculomotor movements in patients on Fluoxetine are accompanied by an increase in myoclonic activity[2].
Week 1: During the first week of taking Prozac, you may experience common side effects like nausea, headache, insomnia, drowsiness, dry mouth, and increased sweating.
What Are The Possible Side Effects Of Fluoxetine? Headache, nausea, diarrhea, dry mouth, increased sweating, feeling nervous, restless, fatigue, or having trouble sleeping (insomnia). These will often improve over the first week or two as you continue to take the medication.
They will help you feel like yourself again and return to your previous level of functioning. (If a person who isn't depressed takes antidepressants, they do not improve that person's mood or functioning - it's not a "happy pill.") Rarely, people experience apathy or loss of emotions while on certain antidepressants.
Other medications that help in controlling intrusive thoughts are: Paroxetine (Pexeva)—prescribed only for adults. Fluoxetine (Prozac)—for children above seven years and also for adults. Sertraline (Zoloft)—for children above six years and for adults.
The most common signs your antidepressant dose is too strong are symptoms of serotonin syndrome. If you become overly elated, tense with your loved ones, or irritated and have mood swings, this indicates that you are taking high antidepressant doses.