Lossleader took 4.5 years to recover, he said that at that point he felt things getting better on a deeper level, I spoke to him and this is what he said to me
As regards being healed - yeah, I think I am, although that doesn't mean I'm a bundle of joy. The point is, I'm back to being me, with all my own issues and problems, rather than a load of artificial SSRI-induced ones, and this is definitely better. I do have more anxiety than I used to (though much, MUCH less than in withdrawal - I mean, it's not even remotely in the same league as four years ago or whatever, never mind the first year off). Possibly that's a long-term effect of being on antidepressants so long, but having come through so much I'm strong enough to deal with that thought now... I mean, how I feel now is so much better than how I felt before, it's like being on a different planet. I don't really get free-floating anxiety any more, either - it's more about actual stuff in my life. This is better, obviously, because at least I can respond to it constructively, by trying to fix the stuff...
I'd say the main lingering thing from w/d is mental exhaustion from years of that crap - I still get stressed out very easily, I need a lot of sleep, I feel a bit gloomy about having lost a few years, things like that. There's no point pretending that's not the case. But my God, I'm just a completely different person from the gibbering wreck I was after coming off SSRIs. Issues like this are just NOTHING compared to what you're putting up with right now. But if you put up with them long enough, they'll go away. They really will. It's just a matter of holding your nerve and waiting for the next improvement, until eventually you turn the corner and you know you're finally on the mend.
Hope you feel better soon.
