![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jack Smith on January 20, 2003, at 19:18:46
I have been on Celexa (40) for quite a while and it worked brilliantly, now it clearly has "pooped out." My pdoc has augmented it with 300mg WB SR and am now moving to 400. I know there are several out there who have experienced ssri poop out, has anyone had success just switchint to a different ssri. I know they act the same chemically but they take different pathways through the brain. Just interested in some thoughts. I am either switching to zoloft or getting off everything and trying the "nuclear bomb"--nardil.
Posted by ace on January 20, 2003, at 22:52:05
In reply to SSRI POOP OUT, posted by Jack Smith on January 20, 2003, at 19:18:46
the "nuclear bomb"--nardil.
Why do you call it the 'nuclear bomb'? Have you been on it before? If you are referring to it's efficacy you are right -- like a bomb it destroys all anxiety and depression!
Posted by Jack Smith on January 21, 2003, at 11:52:32
In reply to Nardil the Nuclear bomb! » Jack Smith, posted by ace on January 20, 2003, at 22:52:05
> the "nuclear bomb"--nardil.
>
> Why do you call it the 'nuclear bomb'? Have you been on it before? If you are referring to it's efficacy you are right -- like a bomb it destroys all anxiety and depression!I've heard many people call it this because of its supposed awesome power to get rid of depression and anxiety. I have never been on it before, if you are on it, what were your symptoms and why did you decide to get on it??
Posted by JohnL on January 21, 2003, at 17:56:36
In reply to SSRI POOP OUT, posted by Jack Smith on January 20, 2003, at 19:18:46
Just an opinion, but in your case I would switch from Celexa to Prozac, and also take 2.5mg to 5mg of Zyprexa with dinner.
But a shorter easier thing to try would be to add the 2.5mg to 5mg of Zyprexa right now to the Celexa. It is highly likely to jumpstart the Celexa again, probably even better than it was.
Zyprexa is a wonderful med that can do a lot of things. Ask your doc if you can try it for a week or two (if it's going to help, it will do so fairly quickly).
John
Posted by Jack Smith on January 21, 2003, at 18:05:37
In reply to Re: SSRI POOP OUT, posted by JohnL on January 21, 2003, at 17:56:36
Isn't Zyprexa an anti-psychotic??? I am a little wary of going down that path, I mean, I am afraid, it will make me psychotic. I am depressed, with anxiety--not psychotic (not that one is worse than the other).
Posted by Jack Smith on January 21, 2003, at 19:37:33
In reply to Re: SSRI POOP OUT, posted by JohnL on January 21, 2003, at 17:56:36
> Just an opinion, but in your case I would switch from Celexa to Prozac,
Why prozac instead of zoloft. The reason I wasn't thinking prozac was because if another ssri doesn't work, I want to switch to nardil and with prozac I would have to wait a month with nothing to make that switch, with zoloft, it would only be a matter of 10 days.
Posted by xjs7 on January 21, 2003, at 19:42:42
In reply to ZYPREXA?? ANTI-Psychotic, posted by Jack Smith on January 21, 2003, at 18:05:37
Yes, Zyprexa is an antipsychotic. It most likely wouldn't make you psychotic, but it could conceivably do a lot of bad things to you, like cause a movement disorder. If you have depression and anxiety there are better options than Zyprexa. There are reasons why Zyprexa is not approved for the treatment of depression and anxiety. I hope this helps.
xjs7
Posted by Bill L on January 22, 2003, at 14:04:02
In reply to SSRI POOP OUT, posted by Jack Smith on January 20, 2003, at 19:18:46
Jack, when 40 mg Celexa poopoed out for me last year, I switched to 60 mg Celexa and it worked great. I recently switched to the new version of Celexa called Lexapro (20 mg). It's a more pure form of Celexa with less side effects.
If you switch to Lexapro (which is what I would recommend), start with 20 mg. A 20 mg dose is comparable to a Celexa dose of about 60 mg. If 20 seems to be more than you need after a month or so, go down to 15. Most people take 10 mg Lexapro.
Posted by Lia Mason on January 22, 2003, at 17:36:35
In reply to Re: SSRI POOP OUT, posted by Bill L on January 22, 2003, at 14:04:02
A couple things... Prozac pooped out on me over and over again until we added depakote. Can't explain why this worked, but it did.
Nardil baled me out once when nothing else would. It is indeed the heavy artillery. But I found the side effects really bad. Sexual dysfunction, of course, I'd expected that. But I had other stuff... sudden blood pressure changes that made me black out for a second and weight gain in strange ways... more like swelling. My feet swelled. Just my 2 cents. I know others take it with no problem.
Lia
Posted by Jack Smith on January 22, 2003, at 17:54:24
In reply to Re: SSRI POOP OUT, posted by Lia Mason on January 22, 2003, at 17:36:35
What are you taking now? Are you BiPolar? Curious because I would think Depakote would only be used to control mania.
How long were you on nardil? Did you have a history of high blood pressure?
Posted by cybercafe on January 22, 2003, at 21:12:42
In reply to Re: ZYPREXA?? ANTI-Psychotic » Jack Smith, posted by xjs7 on January 21, 2003, at 19:42:42
> Yes, Zyprexa is an antipsychotic. It most likely wouldn't make you psychotic, but it could conceivably do a lot of bad things to you, like cause a movement disorder. If you have depression and anxiety there are better options than Zyprexa. There are reasons why Zyprexa is not approved for the treatment of depression and anxiety. I hope this helps.
>
> xjs7hmmmm... i don't worry too much about movement disorders.... (mine passed after 3 weeks)
i think the worst side effect to be afraid of is numbness...
numb tongue, numb teeth, .... i would immediately discontinue (when used for non psychotic depression or anxiety etc)
Posted by Lia Mason on January 22, 2003, at 22:22:01
In reply to Re: SSRI POOP OUT--Lia, posted by Jack Smith on January 22, 2003, at 17:54:24
Hi. Right now I'm taking Sam-e and imipramine. The thinking with the depakote was that I might be bipolar II. I've never been manic, only depressed, but my pdoc thought I had some cycling I didn't realize. Years later, another pdoc suggested that I might have some kind of sleep disorder (poor quality of sleep) and the depakote fixed my sleep. I've never had a sleep study, so I don't know if there's truth to this.
The truth about me and nardil... I had chronic fatigue syndrome at the time. I was physically weak and miserable. The nardil pulled me out of the depths but the relief didn't last. I quit it after a couple months. Ultimately I got better with prozac, but... it's a strange story. I was profoundly fatigued for about 2 and a half years and no antidepressant worked. I wound up in the hospital and they gave me prozac and slowly I got better. I can't really chalk the whole episode up to depression, though. I was a zombie for a good couple years and nothing--prozac included--helped. Go figure.
Lia
Posted by denise528 on January 25, 2003, at 13:22:45
In reply to Re: SSRI POOP OUT--Lia, posted by Lia Mason on January 22, 2003, at 22:22:01
Hi Lia,
It's really strange that nothing (including prozac) worked for you and then years later it did. Did they do something else to make it work.
Denise
Posted by Lia Mason on January 25, 2003, at 13:51:58
In reply to To Lia, posted by denise528 on January 25, 2003, at 13:22:45
Hi,
Nope--just prozac. My theory is this. I had high Epstein Barr virus titers when my fatigue hit. (I was actually on Paxil at the time so our first guess was that my fatigue was drug poop-out.) I think I was physically ill and it took me a couple years to recover. I think I became depressed about being sick and the depression sort of locked in my fatigue state so that recovering from the virus was not enough. I think my success with Prozac was somewhat due to timing. My body was recovered and i just needed to kick the depression. I think in those first 2 years of fatigue depression was not the dominant issue. I think we went through a number of drugs and proclaimed them failures because they didn't lift a fatigue that I now believe was viral. I should also note that I was taking moclobemide (spelling?) for a while that last year and I think it was a bad drug for me--idn't treat my depression at all. It's very mysterious--all of it. I also believe that--as someone who has been on and off Prozac for YEARS--that prozac poops out and if you're off it a long time and go back to it it works well again--for a while.
Lia
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.