![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by hattree on November 3, 2008, at 9:46:54
Has anyone had the experience of a new AD making you feel more depressed at first, stuck with it, and then had it work?
Posted by Phillipa on November 3, 2008, at 10:00:57
In reply to Do you ever feel more depressed at first?, posted by hattree on November 3, 2008, at 9:46:54
Anxiety usually causes me to abort a med except did stick on cymbalta 60mg for three months and paxil and luvox but was also using benzos. Phillipa
Posted by manic666 on November 3, 2008, at 12:33:18
In reply to Re: Do you ever feel more depressed at first? » hattree, posted by Phillipa on November 3, 2008, at 10:00:57
most make you worse before working , thats why lot,s stop takeing them . the old saying you feel worse before you get better is usually true. you are going to get side effects as well as your illness at the start, if people take that on board they would not abort the meds to soon. manic666
Posted by JadeKelly on November 3, 2008, at 15:07:44
In reply to Re: Do you ever feel more depressed at first? » hattree, posted by Phillipa on November 3, 2008, at 10:00:57
Hi hattree (hi Phillipa!)
like Phillipa, side effects usually cause me abort a med pretty early on. But I think its the nature of the side effects. I stuck it out on Prozac once for a month, many bad side effects, no result. When the sides are anxiety and paranoia, I abort within a few days. I know its a seratonin thing which I don't happen to need.
On MAOI's (emsam/parnate), I had sides like insomnia, couple of minor stomaches/headaches. These were tolerable to me so I stayed on. Lucky I did because I responded to both with amazing results. Jury is still out as to whether Parnate will poopout. I hope not!
Have heard of people who, when they stick to AD thru side effects, they may get tremendous results after 4-8 weeks! I'd take a hard look at what you think you need, seratonin, dopamine, etc.,then give that med a full trial. Especially if you've never tried one before.
Hope that helps!
Jade
Posted by bleauberry on November 3, 2008, at 20:04:07
In reply to Do you ever feel more depressed at first?, posted by hattree on November 3, 2008, at 9:46:54
When side effects were really bad, I aborted early, if going with a tiny dose still wasn't tolerable.
But when a med makes me more depressed? I abort it without question. Why? Because I have stuck it out for 4 to 10 weeks on meds that did make me feel more depressed, in the faith they would eventually have me feeling better, except they never did, I stayed worse. After experiencing that on 4 different meds, I now know that the odds of improving do exist but are slim. I will stick with something that has better odds, which is something that is either neutral or has a slight goodness to it early on.
There are clinical studies at pubmed that have looked at this topic. Basically what they have found is that if someone feels worse on a new med, it is indicative of a no-response, a slow-response, or an incomplete response, given more time. It does not guarantee the med will not work. Sometimes it does. It's just that the odds of it working are very low. Heck, the odds are already low enough to begin with, so I don't know why anyone would accept a situation where their odds are even worse.
The best responses in a longer time frame occured when patients had some sort of hint of response within the first 10 days.
Posted by JadeKelly on November 3, 2008, at 21:34:17
In reply to Re: Do you ever feel more depressed at first?, posted by bleauberry on November 3, 2008, at 20:04:07
Gosh I hope you're right Bleauberry,
I've felt like crap on every A/D I've tried, and did the 4 week deal on Prozac, feeling awful. When I started MAOI's (Emsam /Parnate), I had a few early s/e's, tolerable, but in 4-6 days on BOTH had amazing results. Jury's still out on if it will last, but I'm liking your early response theory!!!
I have a theory: when you've been on a drug for 4-8 weeks that makes you hate life, your so happy to get off the stuff, no more depression!
Jade
Posted by manic666 on November 4, 2008, at 12:38:53
In reply to Re: Do you ever feel more depressed at first? » Phillipa, posted by JadeKelly on November 3, 2008, at 15:07:44
> Hi hattree (hi Phillipa!)
>
> like Phillipa, side effects usually cause me abort a med pretty early on. But I think its the nature of the side effects. I stuck it out on Prozac once for a month, many bad side effects, no result. When the sides are anxiety and paranoia, I abort within a few days. I know its a seratonin thing which I don't happen to need.
>
> On MAOI's (emsam/parnate), I had sides like insomnia, couple of minor stomaches/headaches. These were tolerable to me so I stayed on. Lucky I did because I responded to both with amazing results. Jury is still out as to whether Parnate will poopout. I hope not!
>
> Have heard of people who, when they stick to AD thru side effects, they may get tremendous results after 4-8 weeks! I'd take a hard look at what you think you need, seratonin, dopamine, etc.,then give that med a full trial. Especially if you've never tried one before.
>
> Hope that helps!
>
> JadeTHATS WHAT I MEAN IT TOOK PROZAC 3 MONTHS TO WORK ON ME, AN I PUT UP WITH SOME RIGHT /HIT THEN I WAS WELL FOR 2 YEARS FAT BUT WELL.MANIC666
Posted by JadeKelly on November 4, 2008, at 18:06:50
In reply to Re: Do you ever feel more depressed at first?, posted by manic666 on November 4, 2008, at 12:38:53
Didn't understand all of your post, but you took Prozac for 3 months w/o a single response? You are one patient guy. Let me ask tho, any intolerable s/e's? I felt paranoid, and that's a deal breaker for me. I can take insomnia, short term fatigue, etc. I think point being made was that if s/e's are that bad, its unlikely you'll get good response. So why suffer. What were yours, for all 3 months? Just geussing, but I'd bet pretty mild, no?
Cheers-Jade
Posted by Phillipa on November 4, 2008, at 18:57:20
In reply to Re: That sounds right to me! » bleauberry, posted by JadeKelly on November 3, 2008, at 21:34:17
Jade that's my theory also. Seriously. Love Phillipa
Posted by manic666 on November 9, 2008, at 10:20:57
In reply to Re: That sounds right to me! » JadeKelly, posted by Phillipa on November 4, 2008, at 18:57:20
i actually felt like sh*t for the 3 months , but it was years ago an i had before refused all a.ds it was the first i had tried after my doc told me i would never be well if i didnt listen to his advice.i didnt get any worse because i was already at that point there was no futher to go only the same or better, manic666
Posted by JadeKelly on November 9, 2008, at 11:23:22
In reply to Re: That sounds right to me!, posted by manic666 on November 9, 2008, at 10:20:57
Hi Manic, so you didn't really notice s/e's as already felt like s**t? Sounds too, like you weren't thrilled with taking meds anyway. So did you take it everday, not notice s/e if there were any, and then SURPRISE...response? You must have been really low on seratonin and had to re-train your brain to accept seratonin?
Just a theory. What did it feel like when it kicked in? Was it sudden?
Hope to hear back
~Jade
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.