Posted by Maxime on April 12, 2005, at 16:11:16
In reply to Re: are SSRI side effects really that bad?, posted by Racer on April 12, 2005, at 15:46:11
Hey Racer. Actually your last few sentences were spot on. Don't give up from side effects like GI upset, sedation or insomnia. I always waited 3 weeks at the same dosage to see if a side effect went away with the exceptions being: lactating; hives or rash; going psychotic; cardiac symptoms;or SEVERE GI upset like what poor "Alien" is going through with Tegretol ( but Alien, do look into the test re. your sodium level).
Even when I was fighting the puking from Lithium I tried various doses, increasing my sodium, drinking more water. In 3 weeks I threw up in more public places than I care to mention. I tried it again but gave up after 2 weeks.
Another thing is sometimes you need to be on a much higher dose than is what recommended in the PDR (in the U.S.). Sh*t, if my pdocs went by those I would never have found relief from Prozac (I needed 80-100mg) or Parnate (80-100 mg) when 60 mg is the max for both.
Maxime
> Everyone is different, both in how the meds affect them, and in how much they're willing to tolerate. I've been on several SSRIs, and my tolerance for adverse effects has dropped over the years.
>
> For the most part, if the meds work for you, then the side effects are generally mild enough to be worth it. Most SSRIs will "poop out" eventually, but there's some evidence that just rotating through various SSRIs will work pretty well if that happens. Even just taking something else for a year or so until the first med works again.
>
> As for side effects, one problem is that most of the side effects that are particularly bothersome occur right at first. So, you take a drug that causes nausea, insomnia, maybe some GI distress -- and you say, "FORGET IT!" Only problem is, those may all go away after two to four weeks, and the drug might have worked if you could have stuck it out. Some side effects are longer lasting, of course, such as sexual side effects, but even those can usually be mitigated.
>
> Guess my answer is, "it depends..." Helpful, huh?
poster:Maxime
thread:483362
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050408/msgs/483417.html