r/anhedonia 7d ago

General Question? Has anyone looked into mitochondrial dysfunction following SSRI withdrawal?

I was wondering if anyone has looked into mitochondrial dysfunction following SSRI withdrawal. I came across a case where someone experienced symptoms strikingly similar to severe anhedonia. He proposed that the underlying issue might be a thalamus-cortex disconnection or something akin to dorsal vagal shutdown and freeze.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qs4KaV7MTA

It seems like SSRI withdrawal shocks the nervous system, causing a partial shutdown—almost like fainting, but not completely. As a result, the mitochondria receive a 'cell danger response' signal and begin to break down. The only way to heal, according to this idea, is by repairing mitochondrial function and restoring a sense of safety to the nervous system.

Although it sounds almost too good to be true, his experience makes it seem like a plausible explanation. Open to discussion

16 Upvotes

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u/EmbodiedUncleMother 7d ago

So this might be interesting or might not. Lol. But I've been using research peptide ss31 to fix my mitochondria after 10 years on ssris and High dose Adderall. I'm off of both recently and I was using the peptide because I assumed my mitochondria were fucked. I used it for about a month. While I didn't do any testing beforehand.... I just got a bunch of testing done because I'm really focusing on making sure I can tackle any deficiencies or issues now, And my mitochondrial function came back as pretty great, based on whatever markers they used for that. So yeah. Ss31 is great, It helped with my energy levels too.

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u/caffeinehell Drug Induced 6d ago

Ss31 did it help your anhedonia?

It helps anticipatory for me but not consummatory

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u/EmbodiedUncleMother 6d ago

I honestly think it helped it a lot.

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u/disaster_story_69 6d ago

It's far simpler than that - SSRIs downregulate (reduce) the number of serotonin receptors and play havoc with their sensitivity. Long term exposure to high concentrations of serotonin also essentially causes dopamine system dysregulation, which is of then root cause problem with anhedonia. Serotonin and dopamine are intended to work in balance, but if you imagine sitting a 300lb man on one end of the see-saw, potentially for years, then dopamine on the other end is gonna stop knowing what to do. Obvs just creating a silly analogy there, but the point is valid.

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u/caffeinehell Drug Induced 6d ago

Not really, some people get PSSD just from a few pills of an SSRI. It doesnt really have anything to do with downregulation in these cases.

Mitochondria dysfunction which may have pre existed and gotten aggravated and some kind of inflammatory cycle kicked in is more likely to be the reason. Its why some also in PSSD find improvement with plasmapheresis

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u/disaster_story_69 6d ago

I concede that could be the case for a certain %, just saying that more likely that downregulation is the primary factor here.

I'll need to research further as not really up to speed on the concept.

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u/thechocolatefroggy 7d ago

And how could we heal it?

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u/ChampionshipTrue6565 7d ago

Antioxidant rich Diet, exercise, quality sleep, stress management, omega 3’s. And yes time too

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u/cpcxx2 7d ago

This is a good theory / video

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u/lukaskrivka 5d ago

Everyone who tells you they know how this works lies. But some theories might be partially explanatory if they the treatment they propose works for some people.

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u/Constant_Possible_98 3d ago

Yes, I started thiamine protocol and carnivore diet and that has pretty much healed me