Posted by SLS on July 2, 2005, at 10:04:15
In reply to RE: Withdrawal or relapse? PLEASE HELP » SLS, posted by sedona on July 1, 2005, at 11:28:09
Hi.
> Thank you for your response. I actually have no intention on going back on Cymbalta. Like all the other antidepressants I have tried it made me tired, apathetic, and caused weight gain.Good reasons!
> Wellbutrin made me very suicidal.
Wellbutrin makes my depression worse. I become very dysphoric and almost melancholic. I can see how it could make someone suicidal if anger and anxiety creep in - things that this drug is known to do.
> My psychiatrist finally called me after I wrote him an angry email. He also affirmed my suspicion that it could take a month or more for my receptors to return to their pre-antidepressant state or baseline.
This is true. Hopefully, much of what you have experience as depression currently is in large part rebound.
> So, there is a chance that I will relapse, but I also think it would be a good idea to know what it is like to be off AD's.
I agree with you.
> Antidepressants have never brought me out of depression, only lessened it a little.
Do you think a large part of your depression might be better treated using psychotherapy?
> I'm just not sure if I think the side-effects are worth the mild response I get.
I think you will be better able to evaluate your need for a biological intervention once you are better able to assess your baseline. If you become horrendously depressed and feel the need for medication, there are might be others you have yet to try that do not produce the side effects you are so averse to. You might have to make a trade off, though. The most effective drugs might carry with them one or more physical side effects like dry mouth, elevated heart rate, sweating, blurred vision, or constipation. Personally, I prefer the physical side effects of the tricyclics to the changes in congnition, apathy, and amotivation that the SRIs produce. MAOIs have their problems, but still, I prefer them to the SRIs. After being on these drugs for awhile, most of these side effects lessen to the point where they become mild and of little import. Even the anorgasmia produced by Nardil often resolves on its own within a few months. Unfortunately, psychopharmacology currently offers us drugs that are rather crude in their actions. They are working feverishly on trying to better understand the brain and producing drugs that are better directed toward increased efficacy and fewer side effects. We were probably born a bit to early.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:521567
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050611/msgs/522484.html