Posted by badhaircut on September 3, 2003, at 19:46:29
In reply to 1st post: How can you tell if meds are working?? , posted by dazedandconfused on September 2, 2003, at 17:01:11
>How will I know when meds are working and I am getting well (or as well as I can get?)
That used to be my question, too!!
David Burns says the best way to know if you're improving is to take a depression test like the one at
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/d/c/dca114/school/BDI.html
I think he says to take it once a week while you're trying a new med.It's easy and it gives you *something* to judge by. I printed it out and changed some of the questions to reflect my own problems a little better.
Burns says, "If a drug does not have fairly substantial beneficial effects, as indicated by a clear and continuing improvement in your score on a depression test..., then it is usually appropriate to switch to another antidepressant medication." (In "Feeling Good" .)
Of course, that's after you've given it a fair trial -- a high enough dose for a long enough time.
Somewhere else, I'm sure I read that Burns pegged the minimum improvement for staying on a drug at a 50% lower score than before the meds. But Burns is openly skeptical about meds for depression, so that may be a high bar.
I know if I felt so much better that I could see even 30% reduction in my score (from 34 to 24?), *I* would stick with that drug, side effects & all.
Anyway, I no longer wonder if I'm getting better on any drugs. So far, I'm not. But I'm still trying.
-badhaircut
poster:badhaircut
thread:256395
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030902/msgs/256728.html