Are SSRIs good for one go only?

[MessedUp]

I had a look at this thread
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=26586
and it worried me a bit.. is this a general thing with SSRIs? Do they only work the first time - if you stop them they no longer work again?

That would be a worry I don't need right now!

[joy]

Every one is different so dont worry too much. Are you on meds at the moment.

Joy

[joannap]

hi messed up

i have heard this said by lots of people but personally think its quite rare. i have had several v short courses of antidepressants in the past and then was on them for 4 years - these did seem to stop working HOWEVER i was so overloaded with stress and stupidly thought - well the andtidepressants will protect me so i don;t need to change my life! so i feel the stress just broke through the benefit of them so maybe this is what people mean when they say they stop working. i have now restarted and feeling much better.

i do feel that they work better at different times but i feel that the nature of the illness changes. when i first took antidpressants i was so relieved to feel better - i never tackled what led me to get depressed in the first place - neither did i look at my thought patterns and the way i handle stress. i also had a lot of stress in my life to sort of focus on too.

now my life is very calm and the anti d's don;t seem to be as effective as last time. HOWEVER - this time i have no stress to hide behind or use as an excuse for the way i feel which is a good thing because i am now sorting out the actual anxiety but its taken 10 years for me to reach this point!

[MessedUp]

Thanks. I'm facing the prospect of taking Sertraline. I'm coping without pills at the moment but it's so borderline that I'm wondering how much longer I can put up with things as they are - I might need the help... but the pills scare me more than what I'm already facing!

thanks

[joy]

have you tried meds before?

Love joy

[MessedUp]

No... I took something briefly for a bit of a nervous breakdown when I was a teenager some 25 years ago, but nothing since. Can't remember what they were.

Apart from that, just Propranolol beta-blockers for specific anxious big events.

ta

[joy]

Then if you go on meds you should be fine

love joy