A placcebo effect

[deepreason]

I've suffered from anxiety and depression for 10+ years now and have tried pretty much every med under the sun from SSRI's all the way up to MAOI's.

Having just experienced a "crash" I saw my pDoc as an emergency appointment and his latest diagnosis says: "the very strong initial response, demonstrated with a number of medications, followed by a subsequent failure of response indicates a placebo effect."

He then goes on to say I'm not faking it, I truly am ill but there is no point in medication, just therapy.

This letter has left me really confused emotionally. I don't know whether to read between the lines and think I'm a fraud, whether to just think I'm weak willed and could pull myself out of this if I tried harder or whether to just feel like a failure that I let myself get to this state of being unwell.

I usually only post to try and give advice to others but I guess I'm looking for some advice myself now. I don't really know how to view this situation in a way that isn't deeply upsetting. :weep:

[disco2195]

First thing to say is don't feel down; the Doc has said you are ill and he is willing to help you out with but just in a different way. It is unusual for a person not to respond to medication but it is not unheard off. Have you tried any other forms of medication such as herbal remedies; or other forms of complementary medicine such as aromatherapy or reflexology?

[deepreason]

I've tried aromatherapy and take a few supplements but they don't really have the oomph to deal with the depressions I get: I've been in hospital with them a couple of times for a month plus each time.

I'm leaning towards saying "sod it" and coming off all of my various meds as there are so many that I don't really know how much of my illness is me and how much is side effects. Currently taking:

nardil 90 mg - MAOI
Sodium Valproate 1200 mg - mood stabiliser
diazepam 15 mg - benzo
zolpidem 10 mg - z drug sleeping tablet

[Ingenious]

I think what your doctor is saying is interesting, and in fact quite encouraging. He thinks that medications are not working for you, the initial response is placebo (you feel better because you think you're taking something that makes you feel better). The reason I think this is good news is for two reasons. One is that you might well have all the power and potential already in you to beat this. Two is that you could perhaps change powerful medications with something more natural - natural products or medication, exercise, CBT, therapy, meditation etc - and experience the same recovery without the nasty side effects.

You are definitely not a fraud and they are not saying you are either. They are just pointing out that facts from your repeated crashes on any medication confirm the type of illness you have is not going to be fixed by changing the chemical make up of your brain. Please take this as good news.

I appreciate that sometimes therapy and other solutions feel as if they lack the power of drugs to help you, but consider that medications are making you worse - that's the crash you get. The initial improvement has nothing to do with the actual effects of the drugs, it's a placebo effect.

Clearly this is all going to be a bit upsetting, especially if you feel that the medical professionals are telling you there is no further help they can give in terms of other drugs. Hopefully they will still give you plenty of support and help with alternative treatments.

[deepreason]

Thanks for the thoughtful post Ingenious. You make some very good points. I will try to view this all as potential positives and options for progression.

[Bill]

I agree with Ingenious's comments. I know meds can be of help especially for depression but I do have my doubts about the modern ad's actual effectiveness to treat anxiety.

Just like you I was prescribed every modern ad available but I found none of them had any lasting effect. The only ones I've found to work are the old ones such as diazepam and stemetil. However, I did get addicted to diazepam and taken daily they did also lose their effect. I found that diazepam works best when taken as and when needed. It was pure chance that I found out that stemetil worked because I was prescribed it for an inner ear infection but when my anxiety lessened I checked the leaflet and it was only then that I realised it worked for anxiety symptoms as well.

Regarding the modern ad's I can't help feeling that they're prescribed because there is no other alternative to the old addictive meds. Also though, as their title says, they're "anti-Depressants" and I did find they lifted my mood but I'm still left wondering how a modern ad can cure us of feeling afraid of our fears.

It's rather as Ingenious and the doctor said, that sometimes when we're given a med we feel better because they make us feel more secure which then lessens our fears without the meds actually doing anything other than lifting our mood which is why when something else happens in our lives that triggers our fears, we "feel ill" again but it's nothing to do with the meds working or not working in the first place.

Having said that I know they do work for some people and that others really do need to take them to keep well. I just feel when it comes to treating anxiety in some cases they're like using a plaster to lift our mood to help us feel happier which then that helps to ease symptoms but can mask the real causes that need to be treated through therapy.:hugs: