They feel nauseating at first, but then it feels like something that stops your brain from wandering into the wrong place.

Even though sometimes I feel I should be anxious about something, it’s just too relaxing to really think about it.

I also feel sleepy. Better than not sleeping lol

I’ve been on an SNRI for a bit now, specifically a synthetic metabolite variant. Surprisingly, for me, it has both an emotional feeling and a perceived physical sensation.

For the emotional, it’s kinda like wearing a climbing harness with a trustworthy belayer. Sure, sometimes life throws a bit of a curveball, causing me to lose my emotional purchase but, most of the time, it keeps me from falling into depressive thinking patterns. More recently I had some pretty rough stuff happen in my life, to put it lightly, that took me to to some pretty places but, I my little chemical belayer caught me before I went splat on the rocks and helped me to get out of the funk.

For the perceived sensation, it’s a bit hard to describe. At times throughout the day, I feel a sensation that is kinda like a tingling on the inside of my skull. It’s a bit weird but much better than brain zaps.

On the right one, the sense of utter futility and doom gets out of the way. I’m able to feel normal, to do things that previously I’d put off through some sense of dread or other nonsense. Things that were hard for no good reason get reset to their normal values.

SSRI’s don’t feel like anything (if you are lucky about side effects). The depression that they replace is more of a feeling that I could describe endlessly because it’s a pit of despair that never ends.

Like putting a fence around the spiralling pit of doom.

Less anxiety. For a bit there I felt like “nothing” and then I realized that’s what it feels like when I’m not constantly ruminating on all the crap that brings me anxiety.