Thank you Adam for being so open about your mental health struggles recently on your podcast. My read of you, whether intended or not, has always been that you are living an example of healthy masculinity, and you try to be a role model to your predominantly male audience. I wish more content creators handled themselves like this. Know that your impact on millions has already been huge, and you deserve to care for yourself in whatever way you deem necessary.
Very well said - he is such a good role model for men of any age (I'm 40). Adam is also responseible for my relative new found Tomato growing obession 😀
Having over 2 million followers and having the strength to share something that is deeply personal takes incredible strength. Thank for bringing this up and taking away some of the stigma associated with mental illness, the difficulties with medicinal side effects, judgement of us that live with this and also a negative sense of your own body. You have brought all these topics up and still made it educational. You my man are a true legend. I have followed your channel for a couple of years and have thoroughly enjoyed watching. I hope you find balance soon
I'm struck by the stress this subject is visibly causing Adam, this is the the most frazzled I've seen him. Kudos for your courage to face this issue, my level of dysmorphia wouldn't allow me to be at all this open up about it. Hope you find your peace man, I know it's not fun to have your meds mess with your perception, core self interaction, and feelings.
without wanting to blow smoke too much, watching adam's video during my bouts of depression really help. Pure positive masculinity (and willingness to be vulnerable)and his interest in everything helps me. Thanks adam. And Dr Ragusea should come on more often too, much more interesting and informative than many mental health explainers. Ps. Just listened to the metallica episode, please do more on music you enjoy, would love a ragusea playlist🎉
Man, I can SO relate to Adam's jitteriness in this video! I recently came back on my SSRI's, and the first few weeks I felt perpetually high, or more precisely perpetually _getting_ high but just never quite arriving. Jittery, angsty, wild mood swings, happiness, grouchiness, every emotion in succession ... It wears off though, and for me at least leaves me in a better place. (Backstory: I've had depression all my life, which has impacted my ability to be social and form bonds. It was diagnosed only two years ago and I've had great results from medication. I am now 50 years old. My last half of my life looks to be a lot brighter than my first!)
i kinda sorta wonder if he dabbled in a little bit of the late-night college-cramming non-prescribed gym-bro-stimulant action himself. (that sentence was VERY hyphenated).
Agreed. I took ecstasy in college and I’ve had one or two very similar feeling episodes in the first couple of weeks of Sertraline. Luckily it seems to be settling down now.
The irony is that Adam’s videos have helped me through some rough times. When my cat of 17 years passed away a few years ago, Adam’s focused, calming, straightforward videos comforted me by giving me some solace from grief. It’s profound how the one who heals can suffer so much.
Lexapro, another SSRI, quite literally saved my life. It took a few tries to find the right medicine and dosage but it was so worth it. That being said, I'm hungry all the damn time now. My depression very much made me not eat, I would do days at a time without eating, so I've definitely put on some weight. I also want to add that for me, SSRIs don't make me numb at all, it more feels like it lets me separate the dark thoughts from my conscious thoughts in a way that let me recognize them and block them out.
I like the way you describe how lexapro makes you feel. For me, i don’t feel numb either, but I feel a numbing. The mental pain is reduced enough for me to experience literally anything else. I think of it like when I broke my leg as a kid. It was a nasty snap and I could not even think coherently for hours until my doctors controlled the pain. We’re not meant to experience pain for such a long time.
Hell yeah brother! Sertraline was what saved my life-it also took a few tries and some fiddling with the dosage. I also didn’t experience feeling numb at all. I felt numb before I was on it. I remember a few weeks into being on Sertraline, looking out my parents’ kitchen window in the morning, seeing the sunrise, and being like, “that’s beautiful. I actually feel something about how beautiful it is.” And I hadn’t experienced that in so long that I started crying. I had, up until that point, not cried in four years.
Well said- Lexapro 20 mg has been a life saver for me for almost 2 decades. I do not feel numb. Like you said- it allows me to take a step back and use what I learn about mindfulness to not think that a negative thought or mood is reality.
I have a question: How do you deal with the changing of medicines and dosages? I'm on my first day of Lexapro (generic though), my dosage is low 5mg, and I had some side effects this morning and I've been freaking out all day about having to go through it continually (I'm taking them more for anxiety control rather than depression).
SSRI's saved my life, but I have to say, I stopped pooping all together which lead to tons of uncomfortable symptoms. Thing is at first me or my doctor could not figure out why I was having joint pain, chest pains, anger outbursts, really bad acid reflux, exc. I was full of poop. So much poop. After a week of pooping and stool softeners twice a day, I felt like I was on top of the world again. Moral of the story, if your on SSRI's make sure your pooping!
Interesting how your personal experience in this regard is the opposite of Adam’s. Sounds like he had diarrhea. Just goes to show that we are still like Neanderthals when it comes to understanding the human body and how drugs will impact one person vs another.
Nothing but hugs for you, Adam. Lauren too, because living with someone who is going through this sort of thing (I've done it - so much empathy over here) is insanely challenging. I SO appreciate the science updates on the mechanics of SSRIs. When I was I university it stopped at the extra serotonin being mopped up was what worked. Good to understand the epigenetic update. And, a wee bit hypomanic sounding, Adam. I've seen that before. I do, however, have 200% confidence that your brother will help you sort that out. Peace. I'm pulling for you.
I’m also on Sertraline, have been for ten years. My first couple months on it I was kind of in a perpetual hypomanic state lol. I’m also a tad concerned for Adam but if he’s doing better than he was, that’s what matters. Better to be jittery than super depressed.
@@viralgayguy i'd be careful. If in hypomania and you aren't doing anything dangerous, fine. If you are doing self-harm and/or any dangerous stuff, then it might be better to be in the depressed state.
@@ibuprofen-noodles don’t really know apparently Adam had some kind of breakdown around the end of summer caused him to go to the doctor and he’s been on Zoloft and he’s been having adverse effects from the start up. I’ve been on cymbalta for 7+ years and I had an adjustment phase too but nothing severe. I hope he is okay!
@@ibuprofen-noodles He started taking Sertraline (Zoloft is the brand name) for anxiety. In many people it causes a lot of jitteriness as your body acclimates. I also started this week and have definitely been low key tweaking, but it is much more manageable after a few days for me at least. Went from being just like Adam is in this video to being a somewhat more chatty restless version of myself who has to remember to unclench his jaw once in a while.
Yeah, came to say the same thing, Adam. I respect your decision to step away or take a break, though. Have enjoyed your content and hope that you prioritize yourself and your family. 🙂
Adam we love you and hope you're doing well. I find it amazing that somebody who seems so smart, self aware, productive, and consistent is also struggling and we are here for you Adam. I would love Bonsai content.
Adam looks quite restless to me. I hope his brother or prescriber is able to assess him for ssri induced akathisia. Luckily, this is treatable, but also there are many other medication options he can explore.
And also adam, please get off of the cannabis. It can be negatively contributing to your mental health symptoms. Also, as far as I am in to the video, he hasn’t really stated what he is being treated for. Different ssris function better for different diagnosis/symptoms than others d/t their receptor profile.
well, i'd also wonder if it may be just one of those situations of "i've got a lot of things primed up that i need to get off my chest" energy. i know i've certainly had that sort of anxious energy when i knew i was approaching a conversation where i may have some stuff to unload, even when i was on ssri's. i don't at all mean to hand wave away any concern, cause concern's good, but one particular moment in someone's day isn't indicative of someone's overall state. and if he was still coming up on the meds and adjusting, i just know that i felt pretty wiggly with my affect during the first long period.
I'm only a third of the way through the video but I wanna say that I hope you're doing well. My experience with Zoloft was awful. Finding the right med for you is a journey/struggle. Be persistent. Don't give up. Therapy helps as well. Don't try to tough it out any longer than is necessary. If you've been on something for a while and decide it's bad for you move on to the next or take a medication break to give yourself a breather. It can take time and it's normal to struggle.
Same it's a really dangerous drug. It made me really skinny too. Food became uninteresting. Anyway I was also all weird and wired like Adam in this video. I stopped. Almost died because I didn't taper off. But 5htp is a great replacement.
2:00 the laugh of a brother at his brother for being his brother. It's nice seeing Adam and his bro chat. Also Adam seems to be ... jittery ... Not sure if the mood or just dealing with his bro brought out his more normal self vs the online persona? Either way. You're doing great Adam and wishing you well.
I noticed his jitteryness too. Something seems to be going on. It might also be partly do to lighting and camera angle that might highlight certain movements he makes. Who knows?
@@ajama1335 Yup basically too much serotonin. This happened to me for a while when I was on an ADHD med that interacted with my antidepressant at the time. But I've also had it just when getting acclimated to a new antidepressant.
I wish it was possible to just reassure Adam that, there is a LOT of goodwill towards him. I am so thankful for all of his content and I respect and wish him nothing but the best. Hopefully he will be able to get off SSRIs at some point.
I had a rather rough patch in the early 2000's where I dreaded every day, wasn't coping well and asked my doc about options for help. They put me on Zoloft and after awhile, I was completely without emotions, whatsoever. It made me so uncomfortable to not feel anything that I got off of it and used weed whenever things felt unbearable (aside from trying to exercise and eat healthy as much as I could at the time). Eventually, the things that were contributing to my down state of mind got sorted out, and I generally only use weed once in awhile nowadays. It is interesting to me that the weed was a more palatable coping mechanism than zoloft for my personal situation. Thanks for sharing your personal journey regarding this topic, Adam.
I have a serious chronic mental condition which often causes severe insomnia. People with my condition are always told by doctors never get off medications, but the medications are also quite severe, have lots of side effects, and changes my personality and drive, so I don't take them. One of the medications I can get prescribed when necessary is Valium, which is a benzodiazepine that allows me to sleep, but it messes with my mood, is very addictive and even causes cognitive decline with long term use. Since learning all this the only medication I'm willing to use is weed, it helps stabilize me when I'm overstimulated, boosts my mood when I'm severely depressed and helps me sleep when I have severe insomnia. Even with all these new clinical drugs, it still seems weed is the safest. I now operate incredibly well, even compared to a "healthy" person, the depression still sucks but I don't experience severe symptoms anymore.
It’s so interesting to me how the same antidepressants affect people in such drastically different ways. I’ve been on Zoloft/Sertraline for a decade, it saved my life. But before I was on Zoloft, I was on Wellbutrin and then Prozac. Wellbutrin made me feel like I had bugs crawling under my skin 24/7. Then Prozac took me from suicidal to obsessively suicidal, and I landed in the psych ward for a long time. They put me on Zoloft in the psych ward and I suddenly realized I had feelings and I wanted to be alive. However, one of my best friends has had his life drastically changed for the better by Wellbutrin, and I have several friends who have been on Zoloft and felt worse on it than they ever had before.
Medication always helped with symptoms (depression & anxiety) but never solved the underlying problem (how I felt about myself). Getting off medication and going to weekly therapy has changed my life substantially.
I think this is the case for a good chunk of people who are on antidepressants. For me personally, I was really depressed from a pretty young age and had a direct linear family history of severe depression and/or suicide, and getting on Sertraline took me from catatonically depressed to a pretty normal guy who deals with intermittent, mild, but manageable depression. I do wish I wasn’t dependent on medication, but I am, and I’m mostly just grateful to be alive and present and able to feel things.
This is a great reminder that men struggle with weight, body image and eating disorders just as much as women do. Thank you Adam for being so open and sharing these personal difficult topics publicly. As a man who dealt with an eating disorder when I was younger a lot of these thoughts resonate with me. It's not easy to talk about it especially when it comes from a deeply rooted childhood upbringing and taunting from your brother.
As someone whos been suffering with severe depression and anxiety after months of taking prozac i can say it feels much better and was worth all the days of overcoming nausea and all those nasty side effects. Hope it helps you too just to feel "normal" glad youre getting help and being open about it makes people feel like we can relate and possibly make that leap from being on the fence about getting help.
10 mins in and I've learned more in this episode about medicines and my body than the past over 21 years with psych providers. Sincere thanks, I will watch till the end.
I'm rooting for you Adam. We're big fans of yours over here. I've always appreciated your thoughtful way of conveying information, but more than that I appreciate your positive demeanor. You seem like a good guy. Best of luck on your mental health journey 🙏🏼
Adam, I want to first and foremost say thank you for being so open about your adventures with antidepressants. Nothing I can say here can convey the gratitude I feel about this. Hopefully they are working well enough through the side effects I was also taking Zoloft/Sertraline for about a year before moving on to other antidepressants before finally resting on an NDRI, targeting norepinephrine and dopamine. It would be fascinating to hear your brother talk about this class of antidepressants as well, but I suspect many of the things about a rock in the gears would probably be applicable Personally the lack of understanding around many mental health topics such as autism and antidepressants is frustrating, but thats probably because I'm a software engineer
Hello Adam. My take on emotions is that they are also physical. We often think of emotions as something that only happens on the mind; but it goes both ways. Emotions affect the physical body and the physical body affects the mental experience. Specially us men tend to feel emotions more physically. Even the language we men use tends to be more physical. For example, to express that it hurt real bad we say "it is like being kicked in the balls". Or when we feel shame or embarrassment we use different words like "I am pathetic". Another example is if one puts a smile on the face even without thinking about anything happy. One can feel the slight effects of emotions as if one has become happier. I do think that there can be some cases in which they are separate. But often times, that is a sign that something has gone wrong. Disassociation is an example where what a person feels doesn't match their physical reactions. For example, a person is smiling but they are dying of sadness on the inside. This often happens for people who had past experiences where they had to smile even though they were sad inside. Like they don't want to worry others or they got punished for making noise while crying. And people who had to create such coping mechanism and repeat them so often to the point it got ingrained to their habits; they will at some point grow up and forget the reason why they did that. Then because it is so deeply buried that they don't remember, they feel like they are unhappy for no reason. We humans subconsciously yearn for closure. We like things to be finished and tidied up. Most of us hate having to be on the dying bed with that one regret. Unwinding those emotions with a therapist is partly to tie this knot. TLDR: Emotions and physical feelings are bidirectional. Certain things may affect one more than the other. But they both affect each other.
Absolutely. Imagine feeling fantastic physically, but having negative thoughts. Do those thoughts really matter if you physically feel great? Now imagine feeling physically bad, and having negative thoughts on top of that. Now those unpleasant physical sensations almost validate the negative thoughts - you start correlating them.
I'm on sertraline at the moment, and I'm just so grateful you made this video. My anti-anxiety med has, ironically, been making me more anxious because it's been doing weird tummy stuff! I'm glad that you have a curious mind and need answers to these kind of shenanigans :) From an anxious uni student in the UK, thank you so much for making this
ssri’s helped reduce my gut symptoms. my primary doctor prescribed them to me to help with unexplained diarrhea. I had been prescribed ssri’s before for mental health reasons, and I told him how I never had any bowel issues while on ssri’s. I had tried Anti diarrheal pills, medications to help with bowel and stomach pain, etc, -nothing else worked except ssri’s. I’ve been waiting for discussions like these to come around, it’s very interesting and very good to hear both of your thoughts. We are what we eat just as we are what we think
Effexor is my miracle drug. It's an SSNRI. I have had gastric problems my whole life. It finally got to the point where it felt like someone was grabbing my intestines and trying to wring them out like you would a dish rag. I had been to the gastroenterologist, I had fought my insurance to get a colonoscopy at 29, I had been diagnosed with alternating IBS. I got meds to make my guts not spasm, I got meds to make my guts move, I ended up in the ER 3 times over Thanksgiving week. So my dr offered me 1 last possible option, and wrote me a prescription for effexor. And it works, for the most part. I still have gastric problems and I will for the rest of my life. Found out last year it's a genetic disorder that messes up my collagen. But I'm not stuck in bed crying from a pain that no one can stop. And if it helps balance my emotions so I'm not flipping from one extreme to the other, cool.
I was on Zoloft for the better part of 4 years. I gained weight on it actually. Getting off of them, was absolutely the HARDEST thing I've ever done in my life. Brain zaps like lightning strikes. Psoriasis flare ups. Aches everywhere. Tired beyond tiredness you ever had. I want to thank my doctor and family for helping through that...wow
As someone who has both addressed mental health myself and whose loved ones have faced some of the medications and side effects mentioned here, this is so important.
I really appriciate you choosing this topic this episode since I have my own history struggling with my mental health related weight fluctuations and medication side effects. It is incredibly relevant for me personally. I am also waiting patiently as I can for my own psych. to help me get to the bottom of all this. ...It really is unfortunate how long it takes to get these kind of appointments, but I digress. While Im not glad your struggling with this as well, it does help me knowing I'm not alone in these experiances. Im glad to see you're on the road of figuring things out as well and I hope things work out the best they can!
As someone struggling with anxiety, I really got into fish and planted aquariums. So it's really interesting to see your developing interest in fishkeeping and hydroponics.
Adam, I found this highly relatable from the perspective of a human taking Zoloft, as well as a hospitality professional (line cook). I ended up on SSRI's, at least in part, due to the stressors of being a cook in high end restaurants. And then, while Zoloft did help me manage my anxiety a bit, the effect it had on my appetite made the acts of eating family meal (necessary to gear up for a long shift) and tasting food throughout service REVOLTING. The appetite and digestive side effects were severe. It eventually went away, though. I'm restarting Zoloft as of 2 days ago, and sure enough, all of the wonderful symptoms I experienced the first time around are back. Thank you for being so open and creating engaging, thoughtful content.
I'm on Sertraline for my anxiety disorder and OCD-like symptoms, it's been a massive improvement. It's had a bit of an emotional dulling effect which in my case is fantastic because I was extremely prone to panic attacks that would render me completely non-functional for days at a time. They happened monthly, sometimes weekly during certain periods. Haven't had a major panic attack in years now. Still not employable but at least I can live now and take care of my own maintenance. Note that I still feel joy, sadness, excitement, fear, and so on. I still have a full emotional range, it's just less sharp and pointy now. It isn't so overwhelming that I'm unable to tend to my needs.
Thank you for articulating the phenomona of emotional regulation so well. Far too many describe it as horror stories and quite negatively, leading people to form incorrect opinions and not being able to seek the help they need.
Thank you for this comment. I’m someone who has very sharp point feelings about everything so getting them dulled out a little actually sounds relieving
I really appreciate Tony’s patience in this video, and his use of both clinical psychiatry techniques and his knowledge of his brother to keep up with Adam 😄
Thank you for sharing. I have seen family members struggle with these same side effects. Great to have a down to earth conversation about this topic. All the best.
SSRI is actually an initialism! An abbreviation is when a word is shortened, like “cont’d” or “abbr”, an initialism is a set of words shortened to just their first letters, like SSRI or ADHD.
That was a really deep video, probably deeper than intended. I hope you get better. You're always expecting too much from yourself. Your simple and natural videos are among the best.
I love your content. I'm so greatful that you're willing to broach this topic by talking about your personal struggles. It makes you more human and you've become a great role model for those who are dealing with mental illness. Keep up the good work, and don't wear yourself out! :)
@JorgTheElder I agree. I felt when I posted my comment that my words didn't quite align with my feelings, but I couldn't figure out how to word it more accurately. Your suggestion is indeed better.
I've been on Sertraline for about .. 4 months now? Previously, I had pure emotional apathy for about 5 years straight. I went onto Sertraline with the expectations that if anything, I'd maybe start feeling something around 4-6 weeks, but nothing happened until week 8, so I don't believe it was Placebo for me. It's actually had the complete opposite effect on my life, allowing me to feel my emotions properly again. I've never had so much love in my heart as I have had since staying on these meds. For me, someone who had symptoms for about 5 years straight, I feel angry at myself for not having tried them sooner. I did get diarrhoea which got less intense over time for about 4 weeks when I started them - also, for the first week, my body felt extremely warm, in the middle of winter. But my appetite has generally stayed as ravenous as it always has been. My personal experience with Sertraline has been incredibly positive, and it has made my life infinitely better. It's absolutely wild how much the effects of these medications can vary from person to person.
Thanks, Adam, for such an important conversation and for sharing your experience. It's great to have a man talking about this. It occurs to me that whatever is challenging you from a mental health perspective might also be exactly what makes you so successful in your creative work. There are some people who really benefit from antidepressants and other psych medications so I appreciate the acknowledgement that this is your personal experience. For some people, if they would go off their medication, the emotional imbalance and paranoia would be extremely detrimental for them.
This made me uncomfortable at times in the best possible way. Raw, seemingly unfiltered. I appreciate you both so much for this discourse. Go through your stuff! Make good choices!
Thank you for sharing. I sometimes feel like I am the only one struggling with my depression and the "antidepressants". It does take time, but it also gets better. Looking forward to seeing the crab tank and learning about the rice fish. Wishing you well!🤗
As someone for whom covid was like the anvil dropped on the (probably already stress fractured) camel's back of my mental health, it's consistently surprised me how cathartic it is hearing others' similar experiences spoken about frankly and unvarnished. I have at least a tiny sense of how vulnerable it must feel to speak on it publicly, big kudos.
Adam, this was great to see. Also seeing your jokes go over your brother's head was just so relatable lol. I've got my fingers crossed that you find some cocktail of medications or lifestyle changes that take you in the right direction. If you need to take a break from youtube, you do you my dude. The people will be here when you get back.
Never would I have imagined that you had any type of anxiety (or depression) struggles because it seems you have it all . I really admire you being so open and honest about something many often want to keep to themselves .
Hi Adam, I appreciate you taking the time for this episode, and I really enjoy the conversation! I have watched your show for a few years now, and I want to comment that I feel your dosage may be high or it may be the wrong med for you. Even the lowest dosages can be very high. I’d recommend taking partials or looking into changing to a different medication, especially if you’re not seeing the benefit you want and the side effects feel extreme.
Just started watching the video but I am reading the comments and they are so right in regards to it takes soooo long to find the right medicine and dosage. Tried for a whole year a long time ago and gave up but honestly… I need to try again. Wishing you the best of luck Adam.
I LIVE for the 100% angry Adam at the end of the video, passion seems to be his driving force and he's taken hit after hit in this reality of mid and irresponsible being celebrated. Maybe im projecting but I loved this video. Ive been on ssris for a while now (9 years) and Im currently on appetite suppresants (a year now on ozempic for insulin resistance and weight loss). Adam, it has immeasurably helped me to feel better about myself, not just by making me lose weight (ive had moderate weight loss, 12 kg in a year, nothing too drastic) but also by helping me find different ways to channel what caused me to overeat. Its a journey
There is nothing more powerful of a psychological medication - is will power. It makes you feel powerful and, then gives you power back over your life. THere is nothing more powerful than feeling capable. Will power is everything. Workout with your fav music every day, it helps build your will power.
Thank you for this. I have the same issue with binge eating and the fact that my antidepressant helped me see the other side and not worry THAT MUCH about the days that I can't control myself has just FREED mental space. Of course therapy and working on myself have been slowly helping, but it's interesting how this 'additional help' from the medication helps the core problem.
So I'm only 12 minutes in, but as someone with a lot of experience with antidepressants, I absolutely agree. SSRI's saved my life, but I have clinical, chronic depression- The kind of depression that caused me to nearly take my life. In my case, I was depressed since my preteens, and unmedicated it got to the point where it was causing me physical pain- Genuine aches in my chest from how awful I felt about myself, 24/7. Getting on antidepressants was a bit of a bumpy road at first because I'd feel okay and then they'd lose effectiveness but eventually I found a combination of medicines that works well for me. But I wouldn't recommend antidepressants to the vast majority of people, I think just therapy would be better-suited.
Thank you for sharing this Adam. I was bullied by my big brother during crucial years as a young boy. It severely had a negative effect on my body image, even though I'm healthy and fit today. I'm also on sertralin and tapering down because of the negative side effects (for me its mostly weight gain). If you see this comment I just want you to know that you're not alone. I hope that you find your way out of this, we are rooting for you. ❤
Thank you Adam. I suffer from GAD Generalize Anxiety Disorder and i can empathise in some way with you and others in the comments. I hope you get better soon. ❤
I’ve been on sertraline for a couple of years and gained a lot of weight. My GP (what we Brits call a PCP) hasn’t done a drug review with me - I feel that should change. Wishing you all the best, Adam.
Same, this year though. Went on it for 2 months and put on about 7kg (15lbs?) . I also felt sedated all day, which was different from feeling hopeless! But I took the attitude that antidepressants help you get over a difficult period, not a long term solution, and came off.
@@RG-sv4qb Glad to hear that things worked out for you :) did you taper off? I went without my pills for a few days once and felt like I was barely functioning (brain zaps are an awful thing).
lol, actually it was mirtazapine I was on 🤦 was on sertraline in the past. Crazy weight gain. I wanted to try mirtazapine as I'd heard it effects sex drive less, which was true for me, but other factors were making me unf***able anyway so 😅 wasn't worth it
Was on Zoloft for a number of years (and about to restart), and can relate to some of this. I didn't realize how much it was effecting my hunger until I had to go off them for a bit. But for me, it felt like my hunger had been cut in half when going off of it. Hope it's been effective and not too hectic to go on otherwise
Adam, thank you. I am currently trying to fight myself to start therapy concerning body image issues, have been on ssri's since my 11th birthday, and have seemingly no appetite at all, I just eat because my stomach is empty. So this video seems to be surprisingly accurate to me. I hope I will stop putting off getting help and actually get help, but the moment I stop actively thinking about it I return to automatic operations and ignore my need for help.
I can only agree with the others. It's awesome that you talk about your struggles openly. People talking about it helped me realize that I might need help. Some people still consider talking about mental health to be a "taboo" - that needs to change.
Also on Sertaline! Before I got on it, I was at about 195, I'm now around 140. Depression, anxiety, and the drug all seemed to have culminated in that weight loss but just over a year on them and I am the happiest and healthiest I've ever been. I have talked to my doctors about that crazy weight loss but I am all good! Drugs are weird, bodies are weird!
I started taking sertraline around the beginning of December 23. I didn't get along with fluoxetine although it did quell the depression once it started doing its thing. The side effects up until that point were very challenging. I notice Adam's teeth are clenched in this video and this is something I've encountered with both fluoxetine and sertraline. I've found the sertraline a much milder journey thank fluoxetine but for me it's making me sleep an awful lot. I really hope you find something that works much better for you and i know its not easy trying to get there. I really appreciate your openness on this subject.
Having been on paxil (30mg) for almost 10 years, the segment on gut biome was quite facsinating to me since I had recently discovered this thanks to drs on youtube on digestive health, and the first line of defense in mental health I learned is in the diet. I started transition to the lchf/keto diet 2 years ago to see if can also help with my anxiety since it is correlated with convulsions that the diet was originally concieved for which I also suffered from years before my anxiety diagnosis at age 5. It has been a major (almost tear jerking) relief for me no longer suffering from this nightmare of a disorder. Before mediation and diet my anxiety was crippling. My mind was racing often times and my body constantly felt like it was in danger sense mode.
You are so right on Sharon!! People are consistently following the standard dosage schedules rather than gradually dosing up at smaller increments, or larger time intervals, and working out the right dose for them. And it’s harmful, because people take too high a dose, experience too many side effects, and then tell others the medication is bad…. I think it’s a broader issue with a lot of medication, actually - too little dosage experimentation.
Thanks Adam. Nice to meet your brother. Hang in there. I find that it helps me to get dressed enough to leave the house and walk around. I particularly enjoy chats with others. Just a thought since your work is home based. I am also thinking about getting a full spectrum light because the winter crash is about a month earlier than usual. Taking Lexapro
Effect size is where you divide the differences in two groups by the typical deviation (please Google standard deviation) - it can be a larger magnitude than ±1. It tries to tell you the magnitude of an intervention (eg taking a pharmaceutical) versus how much people generally vary. Some people are more (or less) depressed than others, the ES tells you how much an intervention changes things relative to the typical variability we'd expect from people.
With that said, how ‘small’ is 0.3? Certainly not nothing but I have no frame of reference of the effect size of a medication that, say, totally cures something
@@middlenameawesome0.1 is trivial effect, 0.3 is small effect, 0.3-0.5 is moderate effect, 0.5+ is large effect. That’s from Google, I was wondering the same thing so I looked it up for us. It has to do with standard deviation
I took antibiotics as a teen for acne. I was rail thin my entire life up until that point. My hunger levels exploded when I was on this medicine and I started filling out, which at first I was very happy about. But now that I'm in my late 40s and pushing 300lbs I feel like that medical intervention for a temporary skin condition has had a negative impact on my life ever since. I have no idea if this is medically supported but my feelings on this issue are pretty strong. I actually look at fecal transplant therapy with significant interest.
Big thanks for sharing your personal struggles. I am certain this will help people. Please, please put your own mental health above the need to keep to your publishing schedule. You owe us nothing. Maybe consider Patreon to take some of the pressure off. I would happily donate a buck or two per month regardless of posting schedule. Your health matters more than even if this whole RUclips thing should crumble. You're a talented guy with multiple avenues to pursue.
I’m on Seroquel and Lamictal and definitely noticed an appetite drop because my partner and I cooked yesterday for a late thanksgiving celebration and we spent the whole day cooking sat down and I could only take 3 bites before wanting to just go to sleep.
Something I researched while on my antidepressant is that you should never ever take it with St John’s Wort, which is a natural over the counter antidepressant, because they both do similar things in different ways and to take would together would possibly put me in a coma or even kill me.
These things are so complex and intertwined. I recently read an article about how people with ADHD are much more likely to be binge eaters, because not only is their impulse control impaired but their low dopamine levels also make them more likely to self-stimulate among other things through food.
For me, sertraline has had a great effect for me in limiting my chronic depression, and whenever i get out of the habit of taking them for more than a few days, my depression comes back swinging. Luckily for me, the side effects were temporary and not very severe. Mainly loss of appetite and diarrhea
Adam, I appreciate your frankness about what you are going through. I was one who gained weight, a lot more than 10 pounds, from a combination of ssris and xanax. Ive long since tapered off xanax, years ago, but am still on a small dose of citalopram, which I intend to taper off soon. For me, tapering these meds slowly is important if one has taken them for awhile. I'll wait until spring before getting fully off, due to my seasonal depression. My doctor knows about this and approves of the plan.
Hey Adam, great to listen to this. I started on sertraline early this year when going through a tough time. It didn't work so well for me even after increasing the dose, so I came back off it. Didn't cause me to gain weight however. But what absolutely HAS is what I replaced it with - Mirtazapine. That isn't an SSRI, but my god it's made me pile on the weight! 7kg in 6 months! Mirtazapine helps me sleep better, but for anxiety hasn't really made much difference. I've preferred it to sertraline though. Now thinking of reducing/coming off that too. My anxiety and depression has been with me my whole life. I think it's just my brain's hard-wired that way. Being open and honest about it is good, and it's great you are being so open about it too.
If your main issue is anxiety, escitalopram may be worth a shot, my best friend uses that for her anxiety (quite severe) and it stabilizes her very well.
@@dillonpeterson1658 Thanks for the advice 🙂 Here in the UK there's a big waiting list for therapy. It's that or pay for private. I'm 44 now, and all my money goes on the kids! I don't feel it's severe enough to go spending lots of money on it, particularly having basically felt the same since I was a toddler. It's great that helped you! 👍
Microdosing psilocybin (250mg twice weekly) replaced my SSRIs and SNRIs, and I've never felt more alive in my life. I'm actually starting to heal and change, fixing my Borderline, not just numbing myself to my poor feelings. Much easier on the body, as well.
How did you transition to getting off the SSRI tho? I'm now on SSRI's for a few years and I mixrodosed a few months ago and it was great but I'm not sure how I go from this to microdosing
I I hope you realize that this might just be special for you, this most certainly won't be the case for everyone, but if it really helps you, people should look into it!
@@Dude8718 I weened off of them for a month, spacing doses out a couple days at a time, stayed off for another couple weeks, then started microdosing. If you're on higher doses of SSRIs you really want to make sure they're out of your system before you start mushrooms just in case. For efficacy reasons, and on the worst end, Serotonin Syndrome.
@@steinkoloss7320 It generally seems that this is the case for most people, now. Mushrooms have shown to be far more effective in actually healing and progressing one's mental health, both in micro and macro doses, compared to the relative low success rate of SSRI/SNRIs. Do some reading. Liberating your healthcare and mental wellness.
Хобби
Thank you Adam for being so open about your mental health struggles recently on your podcast. My read of you, whether intended or not, has always been that you are living an example of healthy masculinity, and you try to be a role model to your predominantly male audience. I wish more content creators handled themselves like this. Know that your impact on millions has already been huge, and you deserve to care for yourself in whatever way you deem necessary.
Very well said - he is such a good role model for men of any age (I'm 40). Adam is also responseible for my relative new found Tomato growing obession 😀
+1
Having over 2 million followers and having the strength to share something that is deeply personal takes incredible strength. Thank for bringing this up and taking away some of the stigma associated with mental illness, the difficulties with medicinal side effects, judgement of us that live with this and also a negative sense of your own body. You have brought all these topics up and still made it educational. You my man are a true legend. I have followed your channel for a couple of years and have thoroughly enjoyed watching. I hope you find balance soon
Adam is old enough to be my dad
very well said. we need more masculine role models like adam.
I'm struck by the stress this subject is visibly causing Adam, this is the the most frazzled I've seen him. Kudos for your courage to face this issue, my level of dysmorphia wouldn't allow me to be at all this open up about it.
Hope you find your peace man, I know it's not fun to have your meds mess with your perception, core self interaction, and feelings.
He's uninhibited from the ssri. He put this out because of it quite literally.
without wanting to blow smoke too much, watching adam's video during my bouts of depression really help. Pure positive masculinity (and willingness to be vulnerable)and his interest in everything helps me. Thanks adam. And Dr Ragusea should come on more often too, much more interesting and informative than many mental health explainers. Ps. Just listened to the metallica episode, please do more on music you enjoy, would love a ragusea playlist🎉
Adam on Van Halen: 10 things Van Halen can teach us about food and cooking
I appreciate Adam's courage in facing his anxiety head on. Glad he has a supportive bro to help him understand what he's going through.
Man, I can SO relate to Adam's jitteriness in this video! I recently came back on my SSRI's, and the first few weeks I felt perpetually high, or more precisely perpetually _getting_ high but just never quite arriving. Jittery, angsty, wild mood swings, happiness, grouchiness, every emotion in succession ... It wears off though, and for me at least leaves me in a better place. (Backstory: I've had depression all my life, which has impacted my ability to be social and form bonds. It was diagnosed only two years ago and I've had great results from medication. I am now 50 years old. My last half of my life looks to be a lot brighter than my first!)
So glad for you.
i kinda sorta wonder if he dabbled in a little bit of the late-night college-cramming non-prescribed gym-bro-stimulant action himself. (that sentence was VERY hyphenated).
Agreed. I took ecstasy in college and I’ve had one or two very similar feeling episodes in the first couple of weeks of Sertraline. Luckily it seems to be settling down now.
actually no wait. it's probably all the trade coffee he drinks. i guess that stuffs legit 🤷
Better late than never! Glad things are getting better for you.
I love how obvious it is that Adam really respects his brother. Very wholesome!
The irony is that Adam’s videos have helped me through some rough times. When my cat of 17 years passed away a few years ago, Adam’s focused, calming, straightforward videos comforted me by giving me some solace from grief. It’s profound how the one who heals can suffer so much.
Lexapro, another SSRI, quite literally saved my life. It took a few tries to find the right medicine and dosage but it was so worth it. That being said, I'm hungry all the damn time now. My depression very much made me not eat, I would do days at a time without eating, so I've definitely put on some weight.
I also want to add that for me, SSRIs don't make me numb at all, it more feels like it lets me separate the dark thoughts from my conscious thoughts in a way that let me recognize them and block them out.
I like the way you describe how lexapro makes you feel. For me, i don’t feel numb either, but I feel a numbing. The mental pain is reduced enough for me to experience literally anything else. I think of it like when I broke my leg as a kid. It was a nasty snap and I could not even think coherently for hours until my doctors controlled the pain. We’re not meant to experience pain for such a long time.
Hell yeah brother! Sertraline was what saved my life-it also took a few tries and some fiddling with the dosage.
I also didn’t experience feeling numb at all. I felt numb before I was on it. I remember a few weeks into being on Sertraline, looking out my parents’ kitchen window in the morning, seeing the sunrise, and being like, “that’s beautiful. I actually feel something about how beautiful it is.” And I hadn’t experienced that in so long that I started crying. I had, up until that point, not cried in four years.
Lexapro saved my life too…my appetite was always massive tho so idk if anything changed there
Well said- Lexapro 20 mg has been a life saver for me for almost 2 decades. I do not feel numb. Like you said- it allows me to take a step back and use what I learn about mindfulness to not think that a negative thought or mood is reality.
I have a question: How do you deal with the changing of medicines and dosages? I'm on my first day of Lexapro (generic though), my dosage is low 5mg, and I had some side effects this morning and I've been freaking out all day about having to go through it continually (I'm taking them more for anxiety control rather than depression).
SSRI's saved my life, but I have to say, I stopped pooping all together which lead to tons of uncomfortable symptoms. Thing is at first me or my doctor could not figure out why I was having joint pain, chest pains, anger outbursts, really bad acid reflux, exc. I was full of poop. So much poop. After a week of pooping and stool softeners twice a day, I felt like I was on top of the world again. Moral of the story, if your on SSRI's make sure your pooping!
side effects include: BEING FULL OF POOP 😂
You: Doc I’m not feeling well. I’ve got joint pain, chest pain, anger outbursts, and acid reflux.
Doc: You’re full of shit.
😂
Interesting how your personal experience in this regard is the opposite of Adam’s. Sounds like he had diarrhea. Just goes to show that we are still like Neanderthals when it comes to understanding the human body and how drugs will impact one person vs another.
Nothing but hugs for you, Adam. Lauren too, because living with someone who is going through this sort of thing (I've done it - so much empathy over here) is insanely challenging.
I SO appreciate the science updates on the mechanics of SSRIs. When I was I university it stopped at the extra serotonin being mopped up was what worked. Good to understand the epigenetic update.
And, a wee bit hypomanic sounding, Adam. I've seen that before. I do, however, have 200% confidence that your brother will help you sort that out.
Peace. I'm pulling for you.
Adam’s nervous energy has me concerned, I really hope he gets better!
I’m also on Sertraline, have been for ten years. My first couple months on it I was kind of in a perpetual hypomanic state lol. I’m also a tad concerned for Adam but if he’s doing better than he was, that’s what matters. Better to be jittery than super depressed.
@@viralgayguy i'd be careful. If in hypomania and you aren't doing anything dangerous, fine. If you are doing self-harm and/or any dangerous stuff, then it might be better to be in the depressed state.
i'm out of the loop. what happened???
@@ibuprofen-noodles don’t really know apparently Adam had some kind of breakdown around the end of summer caused him to go to the doctor and he’s been on Zoloft and he’s been having adverse effects from the start up. I’ve been on cymbalta for 7+ years and I had an adjustment phase too but nothing severe. I hope he is okay!
@@ibuprofen-noodles He started taking Sertraline (Zoloft is the brand name) for anxiety. In many people it causes a lot of jitteriness as your body acclimates. I also started this week and have definitely been low key tweaking, but it is much more manageable after a few days for me at least. Went from being just like Adam is in this video to being a somewhat more chatty restless version of myself who has to remember to unclench his jaw once in a while.
As someone who has been taking an SSRI, this episode feels like biting down on the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Gotta leave Eden someday
Miss the weekly podcasts, really enjoyed them
Did he say he was stopping the podcast somewhere? I rly loved this pod I hope he continues this
@@taann7360I didn't hear him say that specifically but he typically did a podcast pretty much every week and it's now been 11 weeks without one.
Yeah, came to say the same thing, Adam. I respect your decision to step away or take a break, though. Have enjoyed your content and hope that you prioritize yourself and your family. 🙂
Adam we love you and hope you're doing well. I find it amazing that somebody who seems so smart, self aware, productive, and consistent is also struggling and we are here for you Adam.
I would love Bonsai content.
Adam, take care of yourself first, but I do miss your weekly podcast. Have a good day.
Adam looks quite restless to me. I hope his brother or prescriber is able to assess him for ssri induced akathisia. Luckily, this is treatable, but also there are many other medication options he can explore.
And also adam, please get off of the cannabis. It can be negatively contributing to your mental health symptoms. Also, as far as I am in to the video, he hasn’t really stated what he is being treated for. Different ssris function better for different diagnosis/symptoms than others d/t their receptor profile.
I thought I was the only one who noticed, Adam's a nervous wreck on this episode. I hope he will do OK
well, i'd also wonder if it may be just one of those situations of "i've got a lot of things primed up that i need to get off my chest" energy. i know i've certainly had that sort of anxious energy when i knew i was approaching a conversation where i may have some stuff to unload, even when i was on ssri's. i don't at all mean to hand wave away any concern, cause concern's good, but one particular moment in someone's day isn't indicative of someone's overall state. and if he was still coming up on the meds and adjusting, i just know that i felt pretty wiggly with my affect during the first long period.
I'm only a third of the way through the video but I wanna say that I hope you're doing well. My experience with Zoloft was awful. Finding the right med for you is a journey/struggle. Be persistent. Don't give up. Therapy helps as well. Don't try to tough it out any longer than is necessary. If you've been on something for a while and decide it's bad for you move on to the next or take a medication break to give yourself a breather. It can take time and it's normal to struggle.
Same it's a really dangerous drug. It made me really skinny too. Food became uninteresting. Anyway I was also all weird and wired like Adam in this video. I stopped. Almost died because I didn't taper off. But 5htp is a great replacement.
2:00 the laugh of a brother at his brother for being his brother. It's nice seeing Adam and his bro chat. Also Adam seems to be ... jittery ... Not sure if the mood or just dealing with his bro brought out his more normal self vs the online persona? Either way. You're doing great Adam and wishing you well.
It's typical sertraline symptoms:
Dilated pupils
Jitteriness
Increased movements
Clenching of the jaws
I noticed his jitteryness too. Something seems to be going on. It might also be partly do to lighting and camera angle that might highlight certain movements he makes. Who knows?
it seems to me that Adam respects his brother greatly and maybe nervous because of it
@@playfulpink1898 His bro seems like a chill dude to chat with. Their parents did well it seems.
@@ajama1335 Yup basically too much serotonin. This happened to me for a while when I was on an ADHD med that interacted with my antidepressant at the time. But I've also had it just when getting acclimated to a new antidepressant.
I wish it was possible to just reassure Adam that, there is a LOT of goodwill towards him. I am so thankful for all of his content and I respect and wish him nothing but the best. Hopefully he will be able to get off SSRIs at some point.
I had a rather rough patch in the early 2000's where I dreaded every day, wasn't coping well and asked my doc about options for help. They put me on Zoloft and after awhile, I was completely without emotions, whatsoever. It made me so uncomfortable to not feel anything that I got off of it and used weed whenever things felt unbearable (aside from trying to exercise and eat healthy as much as I could at the time). Eventually, the things that were contributing to my down state of mind got sorted out, and I generally only use weed once in awhile nowadays. It is interesting to me that the weed was a more palatable coping mechanism than zoloft for my personal situation.
Thanks for sharing your personal journey regarding this topic, Adam.
I have a serious chronic mental condition which often causes severe insomnia. People with my condition are always told by doctors never get off medications, but the medications are also quite severe, have lots of side effects, and changes my personality and drive, so I don't take them. One of the medications I can get prescribed when necessary is Valium, which is a benzodiazepine that allows me to sleep, but it messes with my mood, is very addictive and even causes cognitive decline with long term use. Since learning all this the only medication I'm willing to use is weed, it helps stabilize me when I'm overstimulated, boosts my mood when I'm severely depressed and helps me sleep when I have severe insomnia. Even with all these new clinical drugs, it still seems weed is the safest. I now operate incredibly well, even compared to a "healthy" person, the depression still sucks but I don't experience severe symptoms anymore.
If I have weed I get the opposite affect, I'm one of the people that doesn't get relaxed out it
It’s so interesting to me how the same antidepressants affect people in such drastically different ways. I’ve been on Zoloft/Sertraline for a decade, it saved my life. But before I was on Zoloft, I was on Wellbutrin and then Prozac. Wellbutrin made me feel like I had bugs crawling under my skin 24/7. Then Prozac took me from suicidal to obsessively suicidal, and I landed in the psych ward for a long time. They put me on Zoloft in the psych ward and I suddenly realized I had feelings and I wanted to be alive.
However, one of my best friends has had his life drastically changed for the better by Wellbutrin, and I have several friends who have been on Zoloft and felt worse on it than they ever had before.
Hey Adam, you definitely look restless. Check with your MD for SSRI induced akathisia. Wish you best of luck!
Medication always helped with symptoms (depression & anxiety) but never solved the underlying problem (how I felt about myself). Getting off medication and going to weekly therapy has changed my life substantially.
I think this is the case for a good chunk of people who are on antidepressants. For me personally, I was really depressed from a pretty young age and had a direct linear family history of severe depression and/or suicide, and getting on Sertraline took me from catatonically depressed to a pretty normal guy who deals with intermittent, mild, but manageable depression.
I do wish I wasn’t dependent on medication, but I am, and I’m mostly just grateful to be alive and present and able to feel things.
@@viralgayguy your comment has some contradictions. How can you feel things when you're on an SSRI?
This is a great reminder that men struggle with weight, body image and eating disorders just as much as women do. Thank you Adam for being so open and sharing these personal difficult topics publicly. As a man who dealt with an eating disorder when I was younger a lot of these thoughts resonate with me. It's not easy to talk about it especially when it comes from a deeply rooted childhood upbringing and taunting from your brother.
Adam, your videos are always great and everyone in this community recognizes how much you try to just help everyone you can
As someone whos been suffering with severe depression and anxiety after months of taking prozac i can say it feels much better and was worth all the days of overcoming nausea and all those nasty side effects. Hope it helps you too just to feel "normal" glad youre getting help and being open about it makes people feel like we can relate and possibly make that leap from being on the fence about getting help.
10 mins in and I've learned more in this episode about medicines and my body than the past over 21 years with psych providers. Sincere thanks, I will watch till the end.
I'm rooting for you Adam. We're big fans of yours over here. I've always appreciated your thoughtful way of conveying information, but more than that I appreciate your positive demeanor. You seem like a good guy. Best of luck on your mental health journey 🙏🏼
Adam, I want to first and foremost say thank you for being so open about your adventures with antidepressants. Nothing I can say here can convey the gratitude I feel about this. Hopefully they are working well enough through the side effects
I was also taking Zoloft/Sertraline for about a year before moving on to other antidepressants before finally resting on an NDRI, targeting norepinephrine and dopamine. It would be fascinating to hear your brother talk about this class of antidepressants as well, but I suspect many of the things about a rock in the gears would probably be applicable
Personally the lack of understanding around many mental health topics such as autism and antidepressants is frustrating, but thats probably because I'm a software engineer
Hello Adam. My take on emotions is that they are also physical. We often think of emotions as something that only happens on the mind; but it goes both ways. Emotions affect the physical body and the physical body affects the mental experience.
Specially us men tend to feel emotions more physically. Even the language we men use tends to be more physical. For example, to express that it hurt real bad we say "it is like being kicked in the balls". Or when we feel shame or embarrassment we use different words like "I am pathetic".
Another example is if one puts a smile on the face even without thinking about anything happy. One can feel the slight effects of emotions as if one has become happier. I do think that there can be some cases in which they are separate. But often times, that is a sign that something has gone wrong.
Disassociation is an example where what a person feels doesn't match their physical reactions. For example, a person is smiling but they are dying of sadness on the inside. This often happens for people who had past experiences where they had to smile even though they were sad inside. Like they don't want to worry others or they got punished for making noise while crying.
And people who had to create such coping mechanism and repeat them so often to the point it got ingrained to their habits; they will at some point grow up and forget the reason why they did that. Then because it is so deeply buried that they don't remember, they feel like they are unhappy for no reason.
We humans subconsciously yearn for closure. We like things to be finished and tidied up. Most of us hate having to be on the dying bed with that one regret. Unwinding those emotions with a therapist is partly to tie this knot.
TLDR: Emotions and physical feelings are bidirectional. Certain things may affect one more than the other. But they both affect each other.
Absolutely. Imagine feeling fantastic physically, but having negative thoughts. Do those thoughts really matter if you physically feel great? Now imagine feeling physically bad, and having negative thoughts on top of that. Now those unpleasant physical sensations almost validate the negative thoughts - you start correlating them.
I'm on sertraline at the moment, and I'm just so grateful you made this video. My anti-anxiety med has, ironically, been making me more anxious because it's been doing weird tummy stuff! I'm glad that you have a curious mind and need answers to these kind of shenanigans :) From an anxious uni student in the UK, thank you so much for making this
Love how open you are, not gonna spiel the same thing everyone else is, but thank you for your content and how you carry yourself. ❤️
ssri’s helped reduce my gut symptoms. my primary doctor prescribed them to me to help with unexplained diarrhea.
I had been prescribed ssri’s before for mental health reasons, and I told him how I never had any bowel issues while on ssri’s. I had tried Anti diarrheal pills, medications to help with bowel and stomach pain, etc,
-nothing else worked except ssri’s.
I’ve been waiting for discussions like these to come around, it’s very interesting and very good to hear both of your thoughts.
We are what we eat just as we are what we think
Yoooo that's wild
Could be that you’re very anxious and stressed which is why SSRIs corrected the issue. Anxiety can cause diarrhea
Effexor is my miracle drug. It's an SSNRI. I have had gastric problems my whole life. It finally got to the point where it felt like someone was grabbing my intestines and trying to wring them out like you would a dish rag. I had been to the gastroenterologist, I had fought my insurance to get a colonoscopy at 29, I had been diagnosed with alternating IBS. I got meds to make my guts not spasm, I got meds to make my guts move, I ended up in the ER 3 times over Thanksgiving week. So my dr offered me 1 last possible option, and wrote me a prescription for effexor.
And it works, for the most part. I still have gastric problems and I will for the rest of my life. Found out last year it's a genetic disorder that messes up my collagen.
But I'm not stuck in bed crying from a pain that no one can stop. And if it helps balance my emotions so I'm not flipping from one extreme to the other, cool.
Thanks for honest on RUclips. I can't think of higher praise than that. You and your brother rock.
I was on Zoloft for the better part of 4 years. I gained weight on it actually. Getting off of them, was absolutely the HARDEST thing I've ever done in my life. Brain zaps like lightning strikes. Psoriasis flare ups. Aches everywhere. Tired beyond tiredness you ever had.
I want to thank my doctor and family for helping through that...wow
As someone who has both addressed mental health myself and whose loved ones have faced some of the medications and side effects mentioned here, this is so important.
I really appriciate you choosing this topic this episode since I have my own history struggling with my mental health related weight fluctuations and medication side effects. It is incredibly relevant for me personally.
I am also waiting patiently as I can for my own psych. to help me get to the bottom of all this. ...It really is unfortunate how long it takes to get these kind of appointments, but I digress.
While Im not glad your struggling with this as well, it does help me knowing I'm not alone in these experiances. Im glad to see you're on the road of figuring things out as well and I hope things work out the best they can!
As someone struggling with anxiety, I really got into fish and planted aquariums. So it's really interesting to see your developing interest in fishkeeping and hydroponics.
Adam, I found this highly relatable from the perspective of a human taking Zoloft, as well as a hospitality professional (line cook). I ended up on SSRI's, at least in part, due to the stressors of being a cook in high end restaurants. And then, while Zoloft did help me manage my anxiety a bit, the effect it had on my appetite made the acts of eating family meal (necessary to gear up for a long shift) and tasting food throughout service REVOLTING. The appetite and digestive side effects were severe. It eventually went away, though. I'm restarting Zoloft as of 2 days ago, and sure enough, all of the wonderful symptoms I experienced the first time around are back. Thank you for being so open and creating engaging, thoughtful content.
I'm on Sertraline for my anxiety disorder and OCD-like symptoms, it's been a massive improvement. It's had a bit of an emotional dulling effect which in my case is fantastic because I was extremely prone to panic attacks that would render me completely non-functional for days at a time. They happened monthly, sometimes weekly during certain periods. Haven't had a major panic attack in years now. Still not employable but at least I can live now and take care of my own maintenance.
Note that I still feel joy, sadness, excitement, fear, and so on. I still have a full emotional range, it's just less sharp and pointy now. It isn't so overwhelming that I'm unable to tend to my needs.
Thank you for articulating the phenomona of emotional regulation so well.
Far too many describe it as horror stories and quite negatively, leading people to form incorrect opinions and not being able to seek the help they need.
Thank you for this comment. I’m someone who has very sharp point feelings about everything so getting them dulled out a little actually sounds relieving
I really appreciate Tony’s patience in this video, and his use of both clinical psychiatry techniques and his knowledge of his brother to keep up with Adam 😄
Thank you for sharing. I have seen family members struggle with these same side effects. Great to have a down to earth conversation about this topic. All the best.
SSRI is actually an initialism! An abbreviation is when a word is shortened, like “cont’d” or “abbr”, an initialism is a set of words shortened to just their first letters, like SSRI or ADHD.
That was a really deep video, probably deeper than intended. I hope you get better. You're always expecting too much from yourself. Your simple and natural videos are among the best.
I love your content. I'm so greatful that you're willing to broach this topic by talking about your personal struggles. It makes you more human and you've become a great role model for those who are dealing with mental illness. Keep up the good work, and don't wear yourself out! :)
I think he would be more comfortable as a peer than a role model. It is nice to know just how "not alone" we are.
@JorgTheElder I agree. I felt when I posted my comment that my words didn't quite align with my feelings, but I couldn't figure out how to word it more accurately. Your suggestion is indeed better.
This was really good. I would love to see more discussions between you two.
I've been on Sertraline for about .. 4 months now?
Previously, I had pure emotional apathy for about 5 years straight. I went onto Sertraline with the expectations that if anything, I'd maybe start feeling something around 4-6 weeks, but nothing happened until week 8, so I don't believe it was Placebo for me. It's actually had the complete opposite effect on my life, allowing me to feel my emotions properly again. I've never had so much love in my heart as I have had since staying on these meds. For me, someone who had symptoms for about 5 years straight, I feel angry at myself for not having tried them sooner.
I did get diarrhoea which got less intense over time for about 4 weeks when I started them - also, for the first week, my body felt extremely warm, in the middle of winter. But my appetite has generally stayed as ravenous as it always has been.
My personal experience with Sertraline has been incredibly positive, and it has made my life infinitely better. It's absolutely wild how much the effects of these medications can vary from person to person.
Thanks, Adam, for such an important conversation and for sharing your experience. It's great to have a man talking about this. It occurs to me that whatever is challenging you from a mental health perspective might also be exactly what makes you so successful in your creative work. There are some people who really benefit from antidepressants and other psych medications so I appreciate the acknowledgement that this is your personal experience. For some people, if they would go off their medication, the emotional imbalance and paranoia would be extremely detrimental for them.
This made me uncomfortable at times in the best possible way. Raw, seemingly unfiltered. I appreciate you both so much for this discourse.
Go through your stuff! Make good choices!
Thank you for sharing. I sometimes feel like I am the only one struggling with my depression and the "antidepressants". It does take time, but it also gets better. Looking forward to seeing the crab tank and learning about the rice fish. Wishing you well!🤗
As someone for whom covid was like the anvil dropped on the (probably already stress fractured) camel's back of my mental health, it's consistently surprised me how cathartic it is hearing others' similar experiences spoken about frankly and unvarnished. I have at least a tiny sense of how vulnerable it must feel to speak on it publicly, big kudos.
Adam, this was great to see. Also seeing your jokes go over your brother's head was just so relatable lol. I've got my fingers crossed that you find some cocktail of medications or lifestyle changes that take you in the right direction. If you need to take a break from youtube, you do you my dude. The people will be here when you get back.
Never would I have imagined that you had any type of anxiety (or depression) struggles because it seems you have it all . I really admire you being so open and honest about something many often want to keep to themselves .
Hi Adam, I appreciate you taking the time for this episode, and I really enjoy the conversation!
I have watched your show for a few years now, and I want to comment that I feel your dosage may be high or it may be the wrong med for you. Even the lowest dosages can be very high. I’d recommend taking partials or looking into changing to a different medication, especially if you’re not seeing the benefit you want and the side effects feel extreme.
love this so much! thank you for the interesting content as always!
so is this the last pod??
Thanks so much for sharing this part of your life.
Also, really looking forward to the Crabitat.
Listening to Adam talk with his brother is hilarious. Definitely more candid than most guests on the show.
Just started watching the video but I am reading the comments and they are so right in regards to it takes soooo long to find the right medicine and dosage. Tried for a whole year a long time ago and gave up but honestly… I need to try again. Wishing you the best of luck Adam.
I just started taking Lexapro. I haven’t noticed any changes with my digestion yet. But this information is extremely useful. Thank you.
I LIVE for the 100% angry Adam at the end of the video, passion seems to be his driving force and he's taken hit after hit in this reality of mid and irresponsible being celebrated. Maybe im projecting but I loved this video. Ive been on ssris for a while now (9 years) and Im currently on appetite suppresants (a year now on ozempic for insulin resistance and weight loss). Adam, it has immeasurably helped me to feel better about myself, not just by making me lose weight (ive had moderate weight loss, 12 kg in a year, nothing too drastic) but also by helping me find different ways to channel what caused me to overeat. Its a journey
There is nothing more powerful of a psychological medication - is will power. It makes you feel powerful and, then gives you power back over your life. THere is nothing more powerful than feeling capable. Will power is everything. Workout with your fav music every day, it helps build your will power.
Thank you for sharing your struggles we love you and appreciate your content!
Thank you for this. I have the same issue with binge eating and the fact that my antidepressant helped me see the other side and not worry THAT MUCH about the days that I can't control myself has just FREED mental space. Of course therapy and working on myself have been slowly helping, but it's interesting how this 'additional help' from the medication helps the core problem.
It's been a lifesave for my stomach ulcers and digestive disorders!
My name is Adam and I take Zoloft and it also has had a profound effect on my appetite. 2/2 Adams now.
So I'm only 12 minutes in, but as someone with a lot of experience with antidepressants, I absolutely agree. SSRI's saved my life, but I have clinical, chronic depression- The kind of depression that caused me to nearly take my life. In my case, I was depressed since my preteens, and unmedicated it got to the point where it was causing me physical pain- Genuine aches in my chest from how awful I felt about myself, 24/7. Getting on antidepressants was a bit of a bumpy road at first because I'd feel okay and then they'd lose effectiveness but eventually I found a combination of medicines that works well for me. But I wouldn't recommend antidepressants to the vast majority of people, I think just therapy would be better-suited.
Thank you for sharing this Adam. I was bullied by my big brother during crucial years as a young boy. It severely had a negative effect on my body image, even though I'm healthy and fit today. I'm also on sertralin and tapering down because of the negative side effects (for me its mostly weight gain). If you see this comment I just want you to know that you're not alone. I hope that you find your way out of this, we are rooting for you. ❤
This was fascinating. I'd love more deep dives into how the body functions.
Thank you Adam. I suffer from GAD Generalize Anxiety Disorder and i can empathise in some way with you and others in the comments. I hope you get better soon. ❤
I’ve been on sertraline for a couple of years and gained a lot of weight. My GP (what we Brits call a PCP) hasn’t done a drug review with me - I feel that should change. Wishing you all the best, Adam.
Same, this year though. Went on it for 2 months and put on about 7kg (15lbs?) . I also felt sedated all day, which was different from feeling hopeless! But I took the attitude that antidepressants help you get over a difficult period, not a long term solution, and came off.
Your GP is going to try to put you on Mirtazapine and that'll make you gain weight super fast.
@@RG-sv4qb Glad to hear that things worked out for you :) did you taper off? I went without my pills for a few days once and felt like I was barely functioning (brain zaps are an awful thing).
@@copy.4123 Well that’s something to look forward to..!
lol, actually it was mirtazapine I was on 🤦 was on sertraline in the past. Crazy weight gain. I wanted to try mirtazapine as I'd heard it effects sex drive less, which was true for me, but other factors were making me unf***able anyway so 😅 wasn't worth it
Was on Zoloft for a number of years (and about to restart), and can relate to some of this. I didn't realize how much it was effecting my hunger until I had to go off them for a bit. But for me, it felt like my hunger had been cut in half when going off of it. Hope it's been effective and not too hectic to go on otherwise
Adam, thank you. I am currently trying to fight myself to start therapy concerning body image issues, have been on ssri's since my 11th birthday, and have seemingly no appetite at all, I just eat because my stomach is empty. So this video seems to be surprisingly accurate to me. I hope I will stop putting off getting help and actually get help, but the moment I stop actively thinking about it I return to automatic operations and ignore my need for help.
I can only agree with the others. It's awesome that you talk about your struggles openly. People talking about it helped me realize that I might need help. Some people still consider talking about mental health to be a "taboo" - that needs to change.
Also on Sertaline! Before I got on it, I was at about 195, I'm now around 140. Depression, anxiety, and the drug all seemed to have culminated in that weight loss but just over a year on them and I am the happiest and healthiest I've ever been.
I have talked to my doctors about that crazy weight loss but I am all good! Drugs are weird, bodies are weird!
I appreciate you and thank you for making content.
21:50 "Appetite plummeted" Wow. I got the opposite reaction. Gained about 2 pounds a month. I've always been big, but my SSRI made me huge.
Just goes to show how little we understand about how individuals respond to drugs. We are still Neanderthals in our understanding of the human body.
Currently going through the psychiatry journey myself and this was a great episode
I started taking sertraline around the beginning of December 23. I didn't get along with fluoxetine although it did quell the depression once it started doing its thing. The side effects up until that point were very challenging. I notice Adam's teeth are clenched in this video and this is something I've encountered with both fluoxetine and sertraline. I've found the sertraline a much milder journey thank fluoxetine but for me it's making me sleep an awful lot. I really hope you find something that works much better for you and i know its not easy trying to get there. I really appreciate your openness on this subject.
Having been on paxil (30mg) for almost 10 years, the segment on gut biome was quite facsinating to me since I had recently discovered this thanks to drs on youtube on digestive health, and the first line of defense in mental health I learned is in the diet.
I started transition to the lchf/keto diet 2 years ago to see if can also help with my anxiety since it is correlated with convulsions that the diet was originally concieved for which I also suffered from years before my anxiety diagnosis at age 5.
It has been a major (almost tear jerking) relief for me no longer suffering from this nightmare of a disorder. Before mediation and diet my anxiety was crippling. My mind was racing often times and my body constantly felt like it was in danger sense mode.
As someone who's very scared of getting medicated (but probably should be medicated), I really appreciate the openness 💙
It sounds scary but eventually it becomes normal
great episode as always, I'd love to see more of the aquaculture stuff too! :)
You are so right on Sharon!! People are consistently following the standard dosage schedules rather than gradually dosing up at smaller increments, or larger time intervals, and working out the right dose for them. And it’s harmful, because people take too high a dose, experience too many side effects, and then tell others the medication is bad…. I think it’s a broader issue with a lot of medication, actually - too little dosage experimentation.
Thanks Adam. Nice to meet your brother. Hang in there. I find that it helps me to get dressed enough to leave the house and walk around. I particularly enjoy chats with others. Just a thought since your work is home based. I am also thinking about getting a full spectrum light because the winter crash is about a month earlier than usual. Taking Lexapro
Re: stomach as second brain. Evolution is done by adaptation, which results in connections between body parts we might think of as separate.
Effect size is where you divide the differences in two groups by the typical deviation (please Google standard deviation) - it can be a larger magnitude than ±1. It tries to tell you the magnitude of an intervention (eg taking a pharmaceutical) versus how much people generally vary. Some people are more (or less) depressed than others, the ES tells you how much an intervention changes things relative to the typical variability we'd expect from people.
With that said, how ‘small’ is 0.3? Certainly not nothing but I have no frame of reference of the effect size of a medication that, say, totally cures something
@@middlenameawesome0.1 is trivial effect, 0.3 is small effect, 0.3-0.5 is moderate effect, 0.5+ is large effect. That’s from Google, I was wondering the same thing so I looked it up for us. It has to do with standard deviation
I have watched you for so long and I have never noticed your body changes. Hope you’re going toward the right direction for you and your family.
I took antibiotics as a teen for acne. I was rail thin my entire life up until that point. My hunger levels exploded when I was on this medicine and I started filling out, which at first I was very happy about. But now that I'm in my late 40s and pushing 300lbs I feel like that medical intervention for a temporary skin condition has had a negative impact on my life ever since. I have no idea if this is medically supported but my feelings on this issue are pretty strong. I actually look at fecal transplant therapy with significant interest.
Big thanks for sharing your personal struggles. I am certain this will help people.
Please, please put your own mental health above the need to keep to your publishing schedule. You owe us nothing. Maybe consider Patreon to take some of the pressure off. I would happily donate a buck or two per month regardless of posting schedule.
Your health matters more than even if this whole RUclips thing should crumble. You're a talented guy with multiple avenues to pursue.
I’m on Seroquel and Lamictal and definitely noticed an appetite drop because my partner and I cooked yesterday for a late thanksgiving celebration and we spent the whole day cooking sat down and I could only take 3 bites before wanting to just go to sleep.
Something I researched while on my antidepressant is that you should never ever take it with St John’s Wort, which is a natural over the counter antidepressant, because they both do similar things in different ways and to take would together would possibly put me in a coma or even kill me.
These things are so complex and intertwined. I recently read an article about how people with ADHD are much more likely to be binge eaters, because not only is their impulse control impaired but their low dopamine levels also make them more likely to self-stimulate among other things through food.
For me, sertraline has had a great effect for me in limiting my chronic depression, and whenever i get out of the habit of taking them for more than a few days, my depression comes back swinging. Luckily for me, the side effects were temporary and not very severe. Mainly loss of appetite and diarrhea
Adam, I appreciate your frankness about what you are going through.
I was one who gained weight, a lot more than 10 pounds, from a combination of ssris and xanax. Ive long since tapered off xanax, years ago, but am still on a small dose of citalopram, which I intend to taper off soon. For me, tapering these meds slowly is important if one has taken them for awhile. I'll wait until spring before getting fully off, due to my seasonal depression. My doctor knows about this and approves of the plan.
Thank you so much for this video.
Dang, Raguseas out here getting it done. Appreciate you both for doing this.
Hello fellow F.o.Ds
Hey Adam, great to listen to this. I started on sertraline early this year when going through a tough time. It didn't work so well for me even after increasing the dose, so I came back off it. Didn't cause me to gain weight however.
But what absolutely HAS is what I replaced it with - Mirtazapine. That isn't an SSRI, but my god it's made me pile on the weight! 7kg in 6 months!
Mirtazapine helps me sleep better, but for anxiety hasn't really made much difference. I've preferred it to sertraline though.
Now thinking of reducing/coming off that too.
My anxiety and depression has been with me my whole life. I think it's just my brain's hard-wired that way. Being open and honest about it is good, and it's great you are being so open about it too.
Have you ever gone to a therapist that specializes in exposure response prevention therapy? Has helped me a lot with anxiety.
If your main issue is anxiety, escitalopram may be worth a shot, my best friend uses that for her anxiety (quite severe) and it stabilizes her very well.
@@dillonpeterson1658 Thanks for the advice 🙂 Here in the UK there's a big waiting list for therapy. It's that or pay for private. I'm 44 now, and all my money goes on the kids! I don't feel it's severe enough to go spending lots of money on it, particularly having basically felt the same since I was a toddler. It's great that helped you! 👍
Microdosing psilocybin (250mg twice weekly) replaced my SSRIs and SNRIs, and I've never felt more alive in my life. I'm actually starting to heal and change, fixing my Borderline, not just numbing myself to my poor feelings. Much easier on the body, as well.
How did you transition to getting off the SSRI tho? I'm now on SSRI's for a few years and I mixrodosed a few months ago and it was great but I'm not sure how I go from this to microdosing
I I hope you realize that this might just be special for you, this most certainly won't be the case for everyone, but if it really helps you, people should look into it!
@@Dude8718 I weened off of them for a month, spacing doses out a couple days at a time, stayed off for another couple weeks, then started microdosing. If you're on higher doses of SSRIs you really want to make sure they're out of your system before you start mushrooms just in case. For efficacy reasons, and on the worst end, Serotonin Syndrome.
@@steinkoloss7320 It generally seems that this is the case for most people, now. Mushrooms have shown to be far more effective in actually healing and progressing one's mental health, both in micro and macro doses, compared to the relative low success rate of SSRI/SNRIs. Do some reading. Liberating your healthcare and mental wellness.
Psilocybin is illegal in most of the world.
I had a very good time with my antidepressant, it helped me a lot.
thats great to hear! i’m happy you have had a good experience
this was a great episode
Wish you all the best, Adam ❤