06/14/2026
Happy Sunday, friends. 💙
One thing I have learned over the years is that healing isn't always about adding something.
Sometimes it's about having the courage to let something go.
Over the past several weeks, I made one of the most difficult health decisions I have faced in a very long time. After decades on Prozac and months of ketamine therapy, I made the decision—with careful thought, research, and guidance—to discontinue both treatments.
Before anyone panics, let me reassure you:
This wasn't a reckless decision.
It wasn't made out of frustration.
And it certainly wasn't made overnight.
It was the result of paying attention to my mind, my body, and the signals they had been sending me for quite some time.
While both treatments served an important purpose during different seasons of my life, I had reached a point where I no longer felt like myself.
I wasn't deeply depressed.
I wasn't falling apart.
But I wasn't really living either.
I felt emotionally muted.
Flat.
Disconnected.
Like I was watching my life instead of participating in it.
What surprised me during my research is that emotional blunting is actually a recognized side effect of SSRI medications. Studies estimate that 40–60% of people taking antidepressants such as Prozac report feeling emotionally numb or less able to experience emotions fully.
For some people, the benefits outweigh those effects.
For me, it had become something I could no longer ignore.
What happened next taught me another important lesson:
You don't always realize how much a medication is doing until it's gone.
Within weeks of stopping treatment, my fibromyalgia pain increased significantly.
Research suggests serotonin affects not only mood but also the brain's pain-processing systems. This may explain why some people experience increased pain when discontinuing certain antidepressants.
My daily pain levels went from manageable to overwhelming.
Some days it felt like my entire body was inflamed.
My concentration suffered.
My energy disappeared.
Even simple tasks became difficult.
And when you're trying to care for eight dogs, a family, a home, and a business, "difficult" can feel impossible.
There were days I questioned everything.
There were days I wondered if I had made a mistake.
But here's what I know today:
My mind feels clearer.
I feel more present.
More connected.
More engaged with the people and things I love.
I laugh more.
I participate more.
I feel more like me.
Do I still have challenges? Absolutely.
My pain is still something I manage every day.
I still have difficult moments.
I still have days when I wish things were easier.
But I no longer feel like I'm disappearing inside myself.
And that matters.
A lot.
The truth is, personal growth isn't always pretty.
Sometimes growth looks like resting.
Sometimes growth looks like asking for help.
Sometimes growth looks like changing course even when you're terrified of what comes next.
And sometimes growth looks like trusting yourself enough to make a decision that others may not fully understand.
The last couple of weeks have been about adjustment, reflection, family time, puppy cuddles, and giving my mind and body the grace to find their new normal.
So if you've wondered where I've been, that's where.
I've been healing.
I've been recalibrating.
I've been learning how to be fully present in my own life again.
And honestly?
I think that's one of the most important journeys we can ever take.
If you're facing your own health challenges, mental health struggles, chronic illness, grief, relationship issues, financial stress, or simply trying to figure out who you are underneath all the responsibilities and expectations, please know this:
You are allowed to pause.
You are allowed to reevaluate.
You are allowed to choose yourself.
And you are allowed to take a different path if the one you're on no longer serves you.
Thank you for giving me the space to do exactly that. ❤️
XOXO,
Sondra
Life Unscripted Convergence™️
📚 Research & Resources
• Emotional blunting associated with SSRIs:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8712545/
• Cambridge University research on antidepressant-related emotional blunting:
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/scientists-explain-emotional-blunting-caused-by-common-antidepressants
• Research on serotonin and fibromyalgia pain pathways:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4755337/
• Cleveland Clinic overview of serotonin:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22572-serotonin
• Review of fibromyalgia pain processing and neurotransmitters:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12610248/