Posted by Quintal on February 1, 2007, at 3:49:58
In reply to Re: Do you have to get a lot worse... - blueberry, posted by laima on February 1, 2007, at 0:12:38
SSRI/SNRI antidepressants are not instant mood brighteners like opiates/benzodiazepines. Most of the people posting here should be aware of that by now, so it surprises me to see people rejecting them because their depression and anxiety gets worse initially. Paradoxical worsening of depression and anxiety is a classic, well documented side effect of this type of medication and doctors sometimes prescribe a benzo to take alongside it during the first few weeks for this reason. It simply does not mean that the drug will never work and if people repeatedly give up trials after three days it seems unlikely they will ever find an acceptable treatment in this class of antidepressant. It's entirely possible that dramatic initial worsening may lead to dramatic improvement after the typical 2-4 week time 'lag' between starting an antidepressant and the onset of the antidepressant effect. It can then take a further month or two to feel the full benefit.
Has blueberry tried using Xanax to help him through this period?
Q
poster:Quintal
thread:728186
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070125/msgs/728674.html