Antidepressants left me bedridden and suicidal; I would have committed suicide if I hadn’t gotten rid of it

A 48-year-old woman claims that antidepressants have left her bedridden, suicidal, and dependent on her parents to meet all her waking needs.

Lingling Wang, a banking consultant from Surrey, was prescribed three different types of medication by her GP for anxiety and insomnia in just a few months.

Within weeks of taking the first tablet, Ms Wang said her symptoms went from mild to severe she now believes she would have committed suicide if she had not come off drugs after a year.

Two of the antidepressants prescribed to her, sertraline and citalopram, were also taken by Thomas Kingston – husband of the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent – ​​who committed suicide in February last year.

Mr Kingston, 45, married to Lady Gabriella Kingston, a second cousin of the King, was first prescribed sertraline before being switched to citalopram after his symptoms failed to improve.

His death prompted a coroner to warn that there was a lack of communication about the “risks of suicide” associated with antidepressants.

Now Ms Wang has added her experience to the debate, claiming she was not adequately informed of the risks of the drugs after being prescribed them last January.

“My life is over – I’ve lost my job, almost all my friends, I’m bedridden, I depend on my family to feed me,” she said a year after being prescribed the medication.

Ms. Wang recalled her ordeal The independent her doctor had first prescribed her a drug called mirtazapine for insomnia and mild anxiety.

But after a few weeks she started to suffer from severe anxiety, a low mood and her insomnia did not improve.

Her doctor then advised her to taper off mirtazapine and instead start on a type of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) – the most commonly prescribed family of antidepressants – called citalopram.

But again, Ms. Wang suffered “huge waves of anxiety.” She added that the drug also made her feel as if her brain was “completely frozen.”

Ultimately, she was told to stop both medications and take another SSRI called sertraline, which she said only made her feel worse and “cry out for help.”

Her anxiety became so severe that she was forced to stay with her parents in China, where she visited a psychiatrist who helped her come off sertraline.

Ms Wang said she believes that if she had continued to use the drug, she would have committed suicide.

SSRIs, of which there are eight prescribed in Britain, are considered an important antidepressant drug in particular because they are thought to have fewer side effects than most other types of antidepressants.

However, the guidance for doctors, written by NHS watchdog NICE, recognizes the increased risk of suicide when starting an SSRI – although this is said to be most increased in people under 30.

‘Monitor people closely during the first weeks of SSRI treatment; be especially alert for signs of suicidal ideation, akathisia, and increased anxiety and agitation,” the guidance reads.

The body also warns against suddenly stopping antidepressants, due to the risk of withdrawal symptoms, including stomach problems, insomnia, increased anxiety and extremely low mood.

Instead, patients should taper off the medications gradually.

The NICE guidelines also state that treatment should be continued for at least four weeks before switching to antidepressants if these are not working.

Ms Wang made a formal complaint to her NHS trust following her experience.

Only one The investigation revealed that she was informed of the need to carefully discontinue antidepressants and was sent a link to information about sertraline.

It comes as an inquest into Mr Kingston’s death found he suffered from anxiety and had not long stopped taking antidepressants when he took his own life.

Despite his symptoms, the financier had ‘not expressed any thoughts of suicide’ and Gloucestershire coroner Katy Skerrett said his ‘intention remains unclear’ as he was suffering from ‘adverse effects from medications recently prescribed to him’.

Now Ms Skerrett, Gloucestershire’s senior coroner, has raised concerns about whether there is ‘adequate communication’ about the risks of suicide with such pills in a report on the prevention of future deaths.

She ruled on suicide and also questioned whether current guidelines to continue taking the drugs are “appropriate” in circumstances where the individual is experiencing “adverse side effects.”

NHS figures show that an estimated 89 million antidepressants were prescribed in the period 2023-2024, an increase of 3.3 percent since 2022-2023.

The UK medicines regulator, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), is currently reviewing 30 antidepressants, including citalopram, sertraline and mirtazapine, after families raised concerns about the loss of their loved ones.

Since 2014, the MRHA has received more than 71 alerts about fatalities linked to the antidepressant citalopram and 114 alerts about fatal side effects linked to sertraline.

But The Independent notes that the data does not conclude whether the drug was the direct cause of death.

The use of antidepressants has soared in Britain in recent years, despite growing unease among experts about the drugs’ effectiveness in treating depression.

It is believed that people with depression have low serotonin levels, although there is scientific debate about this, and SSRIs combat this by increasing these levels.

However, some experts suspect that the drugs may cause too much serotonin to be released, affecting people’s health.

Psychiatrists advise patients concerned about the side effects of antidepressants to talk to their medical professional about their options.

Doctors may sometimes offer an alternative dose, a different medication entirely, or prescribe a different medication to combat side effects.

They urge patients taking these medications not to stop without first speaking to the medical professional responsible for their care, to ensure they are adequately supported.