ThunderPeel2001

Ah! Hurrah! Thanks for that. My bad for not hearing what you were saying. That makes me feel a lot better. Perhaps I will give them another go. I guess my body has changed, as I didn't have such a strong reaction to a larger dose 10 years ago. Anyway... If it's perfectly normal for me to have had such a reaction to the tablets, then there's nothing to worry about. (I get what you were saying about 25mg now, and why you quoted that text. Everything else I've seen said 50mg, including my doctor who assured me that I'd probably barely feel anything on that, and 25mg wouldn't be felt at all -- And lo! Thinking about it, that's where my concern started, because I did feel something. Doh.) Perhaps I could start with a quarter of a tablet, just to placate any remaining fears. Thanks again!

Thanks, doctor(s) Don't worry: I fully appreciate the limitations of your advice giving via the internet, and will take everything you say with that in mind. I can categorically state that the symptoms I had were not due to anxiety. As I said, mentally, emotionally, I felt good. Anxiety is a very common beast to me. That cold feeling in my stomach. I recognize it immediately. I felt largely calm and happy because I honestly felt I'd taken a step forwards (I even caught myself believing that they'd worked so quickly -- another impossibility, and undoubtedly a placebo). These side-effects were very recognisable to me, as I'm sure they would be to most people who have taken SSRIs. Not something necessarily to be worried about, but certainly a lot more than I was expecting. FWIW: Looking at the packaging, the tablets ARE film coated, and it does say "Do not crush or chew your tablet". You're probably right, though, and that's not it. (I've certainly halved SSRI's when I've been coming off them in the past, but it would have been a neat explanation.) Anyways, I remember looking through the booklet the following day and ticking off what I felt. It was: Dry mouth, shaky feeling, tingling, and reduced ability to react normally to every day situations. None of them were overwhelming, but they were pronounced. Let me ask you, point blank: Is there any way I could have gotten these symptoms from the tablets? At this point I'm more alarmed (although please be aware, I feel very calm right now, I'm not an anxiety ridden mess at all, in fact I'm about to go to the gym once I've finished typing this) that everyone is keen to explain the symptoms as psychological. If one doctor had said to me, "That's common, even for low doses", or something that rang true to what I felt, then I'd probably be on the tablets... But the fact that my experience is met with incredulity is the main thing that concerns -- I honestly thought there'd be an explanation. Open your mind for a minute to the idea that I may be right. That I know my body, my general state of being, and am familiar with SSRI side-effects. That my symptoms did come from the tablets... Under what circumstances could that possibly be true?

Yep, that's true, it's just that these side-effects were so pronounced... for such a miniscule dose. I wish someone could give me a reason why. My other concern is that I'm apparently fine for 90% of the week, and then I'll take a sudden horrible dive for a day (at worst, two), and then be fine again. What's that all about? It feels almost like a physical complaint, like something in my body is dipping, and then returning. But then, looking through my calendar, maybe it just coincides with upcoming stressful events...? Hmm.

I'll take the legs.

LETMEJUMPONINTHERE... Grab yourself a decent dictionary, look up the word race, and amaze yourself in the face with this factoid: Race means nationality. But it's all kind of irrelevant because *drum roll* race doesn't exist in the way that most people think it does! No scientist can look through your genes and tell you what your "race" is. In fact, that there's no agreed upon definitions of "race". Caucasian is a race as much as, European is a race, as much as Irish is a race, as much as "brown haired" is a race. So what do we mean by "race"? Why does the word exist? What is it supposed to mean? Simply this: Any shared genetic background. From national heritage (e.g. country) to freckles in your family. Get ready for the biggest wham to your brain: Neighbouring African nations have less in common with each other, genetically speaking, than a European nation and an African nation. That's right: The most common definition of race, skin colour, is amongst the most meaningless. ...THATISALL!

YES! Let's... OK, I'll skip straight to the part that's made three medical practitioners look at me in a weird way, and apparently dump me in the crank file. I took 25mg of Sertraline (that's half the therapeutic dose -- and shouldn't be enough to cheer up a fruit fly) and got a ton of SSRI side-effects. My plan was to build up to the normal dose in the softest possible way for my system... but I side-effects abounded: My skin felt weird, my lips tingled, I felt spaced out, and this all lasted for approx 36 hours. I don't know how that's possible, and the side-effects weren't unbearable (although I did have to explain to the person I was with that I wasn't feeling my usual self), but it certainly made me think twice about taking the normal dose! I have previous experience with the side-effects of SSRIs (including Sertraline) and they are what they are. Nothing horrendous (although Citalopram certainly didn't agree with me -- I got far fewer side effects from Escitalopram), but I recognized them immediately. I'd like to know why. Everyone seems to want to pin it on a nocebo effect, despite the fact that mentally I felt good -- in fact I totally gave myself a placebo effect: That wonderful feeling that you've taken care of a problem, and so can devote your brain to other things. I kept waiting for the SSRI side-effects to dissipate, but when I woke up in the morning and they were still there, I decided not to continue with my plan of building up to a normal dose... as I just couldn't understand why I should get so many side-effects from such a minuscule one. So Doctor Thumbs (any who care to take on this case), can you explain it? Is there a physical reason for this? Or, because it doesn't sound like anything you've ever heard before, did it not take place (other than in my mind)? One possible solution that nobody has suggested: By breaking the tablet in two I destroyed the coating and so made the tablet hit me "all at once". I'm a total layman, so I have no idea if this makes sense, but it's better than this most recent doctor's assertion that millions of people take SSRIs and she's never heard of anything like it -- so it can't be true.

Say what now?

Nicely put, Nach. There's nothing like being really emotionally close to a wonderful, intelligent woman. Once you've been there it's impossible to go back to any sort of ignorant male mindset. I looked over my own post and realised I missed one important detail: When I'm "crossing the line" with my trusted and close friends, it's not just that nobody is offended, it's that we also know that none of us is harboring anything close to sincerity. I just wanted to make it clear that even in my most secret and private moments I don't have a home for those feelings - it's not just fear of offending someone that keeps them "private", or anything like that.

You are on form today, Ms. Subbes! That made me laugh hard All I can say is; I hadn't considered it.

One last one.

You make good points, Rodi. Your comment was obviously absurd, but then things started snowballing, and then it got serious. I believe toblix and subbes were making half-ironic/half-serious statements on how they don't really think it's a fitting subject for humour. The problem with this sort of "I went there!" humour is that this isn't a private community, it's completely open to the public. Some of us have known each other for years. Some are completely new. But even those of us who have been here for years won't know our history, and I hate to being everyone down, but... You can be pretty sure that there are people reading this thread who have experience with rape. Edit: And there you go!

Sorry, but I wasn't about to watch my primary online community descend into "rape jokes are funny" territory without putting up a fight first. The same goes for "racism is funny" or "homophobia is funny" or "child pornography is kool!". I'm a guy. I know what we can be like when we're with our close friends. You cross plenty of lines, but only because you KNOW that nobody is going to be offended. (And, to be honest, I'm sure women are the same.) This is a public forum, and there are plenty of people here who would sooner leave this community than even let people know they've been offended. Which is a sad thing to me. If this community is turning into "Unilads", then I'll leave, but I've been here long enough to put up a fight for what I believe in first. Thompson's post was one of epic fail. Let's not forget that he literally made the argument that racists jokes aren't racist because they're jokes. As I say, if that's a belief that's becoming acceptable to this community, then I'll soon be on my merry way. On a side note: I am having a pretty awful day, and while I feel like I stand by what I write, it is coming from an unhappy chappy. I went to see my doctor (or rather "a" doctor) and found myself not being taken seriously. It's true what they say: There are doctors who look for easy answers, and when they can't find them, they blame the patient. And there are doctors who take the lack of easy answers and turn them into a challenge they want to solve. I need to find a doctor who believes me, rather than dismisses me. *sigh*

You mean something other than "Adventure Game"? Also, "Welcome!".

Of course. I'm on my phone. I'll try to remember next time I'm on my computer.

Thompson you are very wrong and should be quiet. Here's why: 1. Your father is not part of this community. Those who are here must co-exist. 2. Death is not avoidable. Murder is. Jokes about murder are distasteful. Jokes about death to the recently bereaved are also distasteful. See point 1. 3. Rape "jokes" are misogynist. They're nearly always made by men to other men. The subtext is that rape (nearly always targeted at women) is funny. The fact that this one was about Kroms does not excuse this. Consider Speedy's offensive "joke" to his female friend that he just couldn't help but say... I wonder how many scary men he's made "jokes" like that to? Something tells me he somehow manages not to threaten murder and rape to people he feels physically inferior to. 4. There is no difference between hate speech and humour. It's not exactly surprisingly that it's the one Australian member of the forum who doesn't get that, though. (Did you see what I did there? I made a joke... so it's not offensive, right?) 5. Don't bring "freedom of speech" into a conversation like this. It isn't remotely relevant. Try posting images of hardcore porn here and see how far your "artistic freedom" gets you.

I concur. I guess I'm in that teeny minority who doesn't find human suffering "comical".

I would guess the Team Bondi debacle would have been covered.

Yes, but what would happen if I sent cat turds?

Fixed!

This. I had this exact same experience recently with an episode of another show. It's absurd that "their" solution is SOPA. Just let us buy episodes of your shows, you idiots!

I was here before people even knew what a podcast was!

Genius... but that's the thing. I still don't feel totally protected. He could still claim I never returned the item, no matter what I send

I think it's because of that blogpost that they've changed their policy... I'm not sure I prefer this one.

Is Smash TV an RPG? Hmm.

Yeah, since eBay don't care, I don't see why I should. I offered to keep the DVDs if they guy refunds me part of the price I paid. I know, I know. But I've tried to make "justice" happen, and justice isn't remotely interested. Ridicules!