Posted by SLS on October 27, 2009, at 5:12:49
In reply to Re: Is Becoming Med Free a Reality?, posted by Buckeye Fan on October 26, 2009, at 6:50:09
Hi.
> I feel as though I received alot of valuable information from this discussion. In fact...an unintended "side-benefit" for me personally was that after actually writing out a bit about my history, and receiving the responses...I feel better than any counseling session with a professional that I have ever been to!!!
Sometimes, it just takes asking the right questions and listening to the answers with an open mind.
If this were the first time that I was to be on antidepressants, I think I would want to try to discontinue them at least once. From everything I can gather, in a case like yours, you should be on antidepressants for a minimum of 12-14 months after full remission is attained before making an attempt. If you taper off the drugs gradually, you will probably avoid a rebound depression, which is more of a withdrawal phenomenon than a true relapse. Therefore, if you do feel the return of depression during a gradual taper, it is likely to be a true relapse. In this case, I would return to the therapeutic dosage of the antidepressants quickly to avoid a desensitization to their therapeutic effects, and thereby recapture the antidepressant response.
I think you are on the borderline of being able to qualify you as a chronic or recurrent depressive. If I remember your answers to my questions well enough, you have not yet demonstrated a rate of recurrence of once every two years. Likewise, your longest episode of depression has not exceeded two years. I don't think you are clearly eligible for either drug discontinuation or continued maintenance. However, three previous episodes is the criterion by which many doctors determine that continued treatment is indicated. Also, bipolar depression is more likely to require maintenance treatment.
You have a difficult decision to make, especially when the consequences of guessing wrong might be to develop a resistance to further treatment. I am not prepared to recommend a course of treatment that you should take. I just know that with my personality, I would try at least once to discontinue drug treatment.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:921662
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091021/msgs/922828.html