Posted by JohnL on June 16, 2000, at 4:12:40
In reply to Prozac to Serzone/Ritalin to Celexa to Effexor XR, posted by Angela5 on June 15, 2000, at 17:33:35
Angela5,
Wow, that is deeply frustrating. I've been in your shoes exactly and I know what a nightmare it is.I would normally suggest continuing medication trials under a speeded up process of sampling this and sampling that for one to two weeks each. The purpose is to increase the odds of stumbling onto something that is perfect for one's own unique chemistry (noted by quick response, few side effects) or to gather clues needed to understand what chemistry we're dealing with in order to make more refined med choices in the future.
That's what I would normally do myself. BUT like I said, I've been in your shoes. And in that situation, I found personally the best thing for me to do was return to stability, regain some footing, and then try something new again with renewed vigor. In other words, in your shoes, I probably would start the Prozac again, maybe just for a couple weeks, just to get stable. We already know from your past experience that it isn't the ideal med, but at least it provides a temporary place to rest, regain strength, and then move on. When I've returned to a previous med just because I needed a rest and I needed functional stability, I never did it with the intention of staying with it indefinitely. It was always with the approach that it would be a stepping stone to something better. Sometimes returning to our functional depressed selves is a welcome relief from being in a state of being nonfunctional depressive. Yeah?
Effexor by the way can and has been combined with Prozac. It doesn't have to be a one or the other proposition. I know most doctors would say combining them doesn't make any sense, because they do the same thing. But that's not true. There is a girl named Racer who used to hang out here a lot. She was suicidally depressed for quite a while with Effexor ongoing. She added Prozac to it and improved dramatically in days. It was astonishing. Anyone that was here at the time can remember, there were posts like "Whew!". It was such a relief to see her get better so fast. It was the combination of Prozac and Effexor that did it. And in Dr Bob's 'Tips' there is a case of another patient who did the same thing while self medicating with leftover prescriptions.
I'm not suggesting directly that you try Effexor + Prozac. I am suggesting that once you return to Prozac just for stability and relief from the whole thing, then adding in Effexor might be something to try, because it has worked before. Or Desipramine, Nortriptyline, small dose Lithium, overseas Adrafinil, or a host of other things that target different chemistries. You could consider Prozac as your 'home base', from which you can venture out and try other things, always keeping one foot near the front door of home base, just in case. At least that way you might be able to remain stable and functional for long enough periods to explore other medications. I don't know, I guess there are a bunch of different ways to deal with your situation, and everybody has a way they prefer, and I'm just sharing what I would, and have, done in your shoes. I hope you might find something here helpful.
Whatever you do, I sure am wishing you a smooth day. Hang in there. If you were a boxer, I would be in your corner!
JohnL
poster:JohnL
thread:37438
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37489.html