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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by fuzzymind on December 15, 2002, at 3:11:28
I wonder if I didn't take them long enough . I htough they were supposed to kick in semi-immediately. Wondering if medication can really help.
I wonder if any independent studies have been done on whether CBT works. All the self-help books say so and have plenty of success stories, but they don't point out the failures. Makes you wonder if severe cases can be treated at all...4am, nothing to do, except perhaps wathc Lord of THe Rings on cable....still don't know how I will survive
Posted by linkadge on December 15, 2002, at 8:26:25
In reply to DO medications help for depression long term?, posted by fuzzymind on December 15, 2002, at 3:11:28
They do make long term changes in the
brain, new connections, hippocampus expansions, etc I assume the largest modifications made
are in the first few weeks (that is if you respond) but I personnaly have been constatly improving over the course of two years on celexa.
The immediate changes are quick, but it takes a longer time to unlearn all be bad ways you were approaching a situation.If, after discontinuation, you brain cannot sustain the higher levels of neurotransmitters, I suppose you could lapse back. Remember, every external action occurs simultainiusly with a neurological one.
Good Luck
Linkadge
Posted by oracle on December 15, 2002, at 12:36:47
In reply to DO medications help for depression long term?, posted by fuzzymind on December 15, 2002, at 3:11:28
> I wonder if I didn't take them long enough . I htough they were supposed to kick in semi-immediately. Wondering if medication can really help.
No there do not kick in semi-immediately, more like 6-8 weeks. In terms of long term, I have been on AD's for 20 years and they still work.
Posted by Simcha on December 16, 2002, at 1:22:28
In reply to Re: DO medications help for depression long term?, posted by oracle on December 15, 2002, at 12:36:47
I'm approaching two years on anti-depressants. I'm really glad that I have chosen to stay the course. I remember what life was like before medication. I woke up daily (that is when I woke up) with a feeling of wanting to be dead. That was during the mild depression. When my major attacks would hit I would not be able to function at all in any situation. I was not eating. It was a living Hell.
I have been told by 2 different pdocs now that I will never be able to be off of medication. In fact the current pdoc said it would be unethical for any doctor to suggest that I stop medication given my case history and my genetics.
I would assume that being on meds for 2 years makes me a long-term user. I'm assuming that I will need to be on them for the balance of my life, that is unless they come up with something better.
I was in therapy for ten years, resisting meds. The only thing that really took care of the base depression was the meds. Therapy helps me to relearn how to live life in ways that won't bring on depressive episodes. It helps me to live as a functioning human being. The medication allows me the prayer of a chance of using all that I'm learning in therapy in my life. For me CBT has been a wonderful adjunct to my treatment. Even with CBT I was not better without medication.
For some of us meds are absolutely necessary. And, yes, I have come to an acceptance that life was really terrible without medication. Also I've come to the acceptance that my depression is so severe that I require medication in order to be balanced.
Simcha
Posted by linkadge on December 16, 2002, at 14:22:10
In reply to Re: DO medications help for depression long term?, posted by Simcha on December 16, 2002, at 1:22:28
Sounds all too familiar,
I am approaching 2 years now as well.
Life is so much better now. The best
thing is that I can actually have hopes
and dreams for the future. I have back
my ability to dream.Linkadge
Linkadge
Posted by Golf4 on December 16, 2002, at 16:14:07
In reply to Re: DO medications help for depression long term?, posted by linkadge on December 16, 2002, at 14:22:10
I see no specific problem to take some meds for not only 2 years,but for a whole life ; a person suffering with hypertension,or with diabetes
isn't worried about it and I see no reason for us being affected just because of such a whole life meds.administration ;
The real problem is that even today(almost year 2003)mental (bilogical)illness is still considered as being a "peculiarity"and "judged"differently from other chronic maladies,though,generally talking the ENDOGENE ones should be considered and treated as such : for a very long time and mostly for a whole life.
So what?
Paul
Posted by Ricardo on December 16, 2002, at 18:33:36
In reply to DO medications help for depression long term?, posted by fuzzymind on December 15, 2002, at 3:11:28
I have to say that I feel great after having read all these positive accounts. I've just started and I already regret not having done it before. Even though my doc diagnosed my depression as "moderate", I guess I've had some pretty bad moments in my life when I really had no hope at all. I wonder why nobody suggested that I did it before! I don't know about there, but here, in Brazil, there's still a lot of prejudice regarding the use of AD's. People still look at you as if you were seriously ill, or completely crazy. Ever since I started, there have been wonderful people who have supported me, but lots of others who still try to convince me to stop. Considering how long I felt the way I did, how many episodes of depression I had before I decided to see a psychiastrist, it's is my intention to stay on medication for as long as I have to - or forever, it that's the way it has to be!
This is the end of the thread.
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