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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 20 of 20. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Phillipa on December 13, 2006, at 22:17:20
As we all know so many people are on ad's especially SSRI's. Tonight my neighbor on zoloft and his wife didn't believe that SSRI's don't relieve depression in me. As they work for them. So even the ad takers have a stigma. They think I don't take the right SSRI. I tried to explain that for not everyone they work. When will people understand that some people even on the right dose don't respond adequately. Or do we just need theraphy or forget about it. It's really confusing. Just cause they take zoloft and it worked in two weeks and their Daughter took lexapro and it worked in a week they think this is what happens with everyone. I say it wouldn't have worked that quickly. Anyone agree or disagree? If it worked that quickly for them boy are they lucky. Love Phillipa still searching
Posted by linkadge on December 13, 2006, at 23:52:01
In reply to Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by Phillipa on December 13, 2006, at 22:17:20
Well, your neigbours are idiots looking through rosey coloured glasses.
You could bring them some of the statistics.
Linkadge
Posted by stargazer on December 14, 2006, at 0:05:36
In reply to Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by Phillipa on December 13, 2006, at 22:17:20
I don't get it either when someone has a response to the first AD they try and they only have been depressed that one time. It doesn't seem fair. It seems like they really don't have depression, like you and I have. We have something else entirely, I guess that's why it's called TRD. I blame my mother's side of the family for the defective genetic link. Lots of pessismism and negativity.
But you know, the first time I was treated for depression, I was in my late 20's, had depression since my teens, ignored it, thinking I was just a bad person, etc., it would go away for awhile but always came back ( I have dysthymia) but I was functional, able to work, etc. Very little joy though, even when good things were happening.
I took Elavil first, nothing except huge pupils and a mouth like the Sahara. Felt like death. Second med tried, Nardil...could remember feeling something very early and then that was it...I felt normal for a couple of years and thought the depression is gone, I'm normal and I can get on with life. Too soon to celebrate, it stopped working about two years later.
Since then, it's been nothing but med trials with some periods of relief, but also many episodes of relapses, so who knows...
Back then I was never told that once you have depression, with each recurrence it can get worse, so even those that get a good response initially may have more surprises down the road. So lucky as they seem, they may face what we are facing, except we started alot sooner than they did.
It sucks all the way around. Hope you are doing OK.
SG
Posted by stargazer on December 14, 2006, at 0:05:46
In reply to Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by Phillipa on December 13, 2006, at 22:17:20
I don't get it either when someone has a response to the first AD they try and they only have been depressed that one time. It doesn't seem fair. It seems like they really don't have depression, like you and I have. We have something else entirely, I guess that's why it's called TRD. I blame my mother's side of the family for the defective genetic link. Lots of pessismism and negativity.
But you know, the first time I was treated for depression, I was in my late 20's, had depression since my teens, ignored it, thinking I was just a bad person, etc., it would go away for awhile but always came back ( I have dysthymia) but I was functional, able to work, etc. Very little joy though, even when good things were happening.
I took Elavil first, nothing except huge pupils and a mouth like the Sahara. Felt like death. Second med tried, Nardil...could remember feeling something very early and then that was it...I felt normal for a couple of years and thought the depression is gone, I'm normal and I can get on with life. Too soon to celebrate, it stopped working about two years later.
Since then, it's been nothing but med trials with some periods of relief, but also many episodes of relapses, so who knows...
Back then I was never told that once you have depression, with each recurrence it can get worse, so even those that get a good response initially may have more surprises down the road. So lucky as they seem, they may face what we are facing, except we started alot sooner than they did.
It sucks all the way around. Hope you are doing OK.
SG
Posted by med_empowered on December 14, 2006, at 0:46:25
In reply to Re: Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by stargazer on December 14, 2006, at 0:05:46
I think a lot of what your neighbors are experiencing is the placebo response...rapid, complete responses like that are the exception, not the rule. To me, it sounds like placebo, maybe plus a little AD action a little down the road.
Posted by Dunder on December 14, 2006, at 5:55:49
In reply to Re: Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by med_empowered on December 14, 2006, at 0:46:25
I guess I must be one of the lucky ones. When I have started SSRI's or effexor I have had a response within the first week. Not complete remission (that takes much longer) of course but a feeling of being energized. This feeling is unlike the calmer, dare I say, lethargic feeling you get from SSRIs after they are fully working after a month or so. It is a wired feeling like having drank far too much coffee or taken some speed. In fact it can make anxiety a lot worse in those first few days which I guess is why a few people are prone to suicide or violence at the start. However, this anxious energy can seem like a welcome relief from feeling so flat when in a deep depression. So I guess I am saying that I do not believe that it is necessarily a placebo effect for people to start feeling some response so early based on my experience.
I really feel for people who don't get any response. It must be the pits. Putting up with the nasty side effects with no benefit sounds terrible and then having to withdraw with the horrible withdrawal symptoms must leave you in a worse place than when you started on the SSRI.
I really hope you guys who are yet to find a drug that works for you will not give up hope and will keep searching.
Best wishes
Dunder
Posted by Quintal on December 14, 2006, at 5:58:11
In reply to Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by Phillipa on December 13, 2006, at 22:17:20
I once responded to Lexapro within the first week, but this is unusual for me. It pooped out soon after though. Some people need meds and therapy to make good progress beause they get a poor response from either alone. Maybe print off this thread and show your neighbours?
Q
Posted by SLS on December 14, 2006, at 6:52:56
In reply to Re: Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by linkadge on December 13, 2006, at 23:52:01
> Well, your neigbours are idiots looking through rosey coloured glasses.
>
> You could bring them some of the statistics.Why not just leave these "idiots" alone and allow them to live their reality?
Antidepressants seem to be held in low-esteem here. You would think that someone is with premeditation trying to shove sh*t down our throats against our will. Like it or not, these drugs are the results of the best efforts of medical science. They are the best tools we have to work with. Be thankful that any of these drugs exist at all. Yeah, 50 years from now, things will be different. There will be fewer cases of depression and bipolar disorder resistant to the treatments that will be available in the future. However, now is now. Creative combinations of the drugs that currently exist is probably the key to many cases that are difficult to treat. So, you can throw tantrums, trash the tools, and avoid working with them diligently, or remain positive and constructive, develop treatment strategies, and follow-through with drug trials, understanding that there might be quite a few failures before success is achieved.
- Scott
Posted by madeline on December 14, 2006, at 7:06:45
In reply to Re: Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by stargazer on December 14, 2006, at 0:05:36
I think that most of the posts are exactly right. The diagnosis of depression is often just completely wrong, and not only that, there are very very likely all different kinds of depression.
However, I will say that the SSRI's do provide help for some people that have a certain kind of depression. But that result can't be generalized to everyone.
I was depressed pretty much my whole life, and I just thought I was lazy, undisciplined, and too sensitive (I certainly heard that enough from my family). It would wax and wane but overall there was just badness. In my early twenties it really began to escalate and I lived with the recurring bouts of increasing severity until I was 30. I finally was just crying everyday.
I started prozac at a time when I just wasn't functional at all. I also started therapy at that time as well.
It was funny, but I carried the prozac prescription with me for two weeks without getting it filled. I was convinced it wouldn't work and that by taking it I would somehow be admitting "failure".
At the end of the first week on the drug, I had horrible anxiety (a full blown panic attack - a trip to the hospital, the whole nine yards), but I stayed on it and within two weeks that went away.
After about a month, I found myself singing "don't worry be happy" while I was cleaning my house. I'll also never forget eating a stupid blueberry muffin and thinking that "wow this is really good". I also began to see color again.
Since I've been on prozac I haven't had a single "bout" of depression in over 6 years. Now that's not to say I feel like a ray of sunshine everyday - I don't.
Life still feels like a fight sometimes. I still cry, but not for days at a time and over appropriate things to cry about and I'm not bedridden.
My psychiatrist and I also jockey the dose periodically and I will switch between 10 & 20 mgs.
I also think that a vital part of my recovery has been good old fashioned psychotherapy, learning coping skills, eating well and working as hard as I can to change my attitude. I am convinced that negative thinking promotes negative feeling.
maddie.
Posted by Dr. Bob on December 14, 2006, at 8:21:22
In reply to Re: Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by linkadge on December 13, 2006, at 23:52:01
> your neigbours are idiots
Please be sensitive to the feelings of others.
But please don't take this personally, this doesn't mean I don't like you or think you're a bad person.
If you or others have questions about this or about posting policies in general, or are interested in alternative ways of expressing yourself, please first see the FAQ:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faq.html#civil
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faq.html#enforceFollow-ups regarding these issues should be redirected to Psycho-Babble Administration. They, as well as replies to the above post, should of course themselves be civil.
Thanks,
Bob
Posted by SLS on December 14, 2006, at 8:28:19
In reply to My experience with SSRIs, posted by madeline on December 14, 2006, at 7:06:45
> After about a month, I found myself singing "don't worry be happy" while I was cleaning my house. I'll also never forget eating a stupid blueberry muffin and thinking that "wow this is really good". I also began to see color again.
That's the real thing.
- Scott
Posted by Phillipa on December 14, 2006, at 11:14:04
In reply to Re: My experience with SSRIs, posted by SLS on December 14, 2006, at 8:28:19
I think they worked for them. They are in their 70's and of the old school so if a doc gives you a med it has to work. The Daughter another story as she's an alcholic and drug seeking and shakes all the time. So I think guess that their chemistry responds. Lucky them. But it makes me feel like a failure and I'm making it all up. Love Phillipa
Posted by Maxime on December 14, 2006, at 16:20:57
In reply to Even People On Ad's Don't Believe They Don't Work, posted by Phillipa on December 13, 2006, at 22:17:20
Many people DO respond to SSRIs. The rest of us end up on Psycho Babble. Seriously, I know many people who have been helped by SSRIs.
We are just the unfortunate. No need to get upset over your neighbours. Educate them in a constructive way. You aren't the only who still searching Phillipa. We all are.
Maxime
Posted by Phillipa on December 14, 2006, at 19:21:10
In reply to My experience with SSRIs, posted by madeline on December 14, 2006, at 7:06:45
Maddie oh I envy you. So glad they worked for you. I'd love to see the colors and taste again. Love Phillipa
Posted by linkadge on December 14, 2006, at 21:19:10
In reply to Re: please be civil » linkadge, posted by Dr. Bob on December 14, 2006, at 8:21:22
Sorry, it came out the wrong way.
Linkadge
Posted by Simcha on December 15, 2006, at 1:39:17
In reply to My experience with SSRIs, posted by madeline on December 14, 2006, at 7:06:45
Wow, your depression experience is so close to mine. I held out until I was 31 until I finally consented to take meds. Then it was Effexor XR. I remember that after about 4 weeks I woke up one morning and it was like a veil had lifted. I felt like I wanted to be alive and to do stuff. I even liked being awake. I don't ever remember feeling that way before then.
Of course, Effexor XR made me numb from the waist down. And now the current mix of Celexa, Wellbutrin, and Neurontin that has kept me mostly euthymic for 5 years or so is pooping out apparently. I'm in the beginning stages of a med change. I'm angry about it. I don't like having to take meds.
As Scott said somewhere above, these are the tools we have now. I choose to use the tools because it's better than doing nothing. People in my family who suffered from depression committed suicide before there were medicines available to treat it. I'm somewhat grateful that at least I live in a time where there is something that works for most people, and even for me for a while.
Simcha
Posted by SLS on December 15, 2006, at 5:36:11
In reply to Re: My experience with SSRIs » madeline, posted by Simcha on December 15, 2006, at 1:39:17
I hope everything works out for you, Simcha. I'll be keeping an eye on you.
:-)
- Scott
Posted by madeline on December 15, 2006, at 12:23:35
In reply to Re: My experience with SSRIs » madeline, posted by Simcha on December 15, 2006, at 1:39:17
Why do you take neurontin?
Posted by Simcha on December 15, 2006, at 13:41:09
In reply to Re: My experience with SSRIs » Simcha, posted by madeline on December 15, 2006, at 12:23:35
I take Neurontin for Bruxism (teeth grinding while sleeping), anxiety, and now it's being increased because of the fibromyalgia. It works for my anxiety and bruxism. We'll see if the increase helps for the fibromyalgia.
Simcha
Posted by Dr. Bob on December 16, 2006, at 15:35:07
In reply to Re: please be civil » Dr. Bob, posted by linkadge on December 14, 2006, at 21:19:10
This is the end of the thread.
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