Interesting, thank you.
Don't suppose anyone knows how long you should keep trying before you bite the bullet and give up with an SSRI either because you continue feeling worse or because it's just not helping?? 3 months..... 6 months???
Interesting, thank you.
Don't suppose anyone knows how long you should keep trying before you bite the bullet and give up with an SSRI either because you continue feeling worse or because it's just not helping?? 3 months..... 6 months???
Hi
I have been on most SSRIs , and gave each of them between 4 to 6 months before accepting they weren't going to work.
I think by that time you should at least start to feel some benefit. I found I just got worse and worse the longer I was on SSRI's. Not a good place to be!
I am now on Pregabalin and Duloxetine, with good results.
Hope this helps.
Loreen x
Do not wait a month for an SSRI to work if you are chronically mentally ill. Especially if you have a job and responsibilities. January and February was a write off for me because I was have activation syndrome on my Zoloft. At the time I didn't know it was the Zoloft. My doc said the same thing above - 'you will initially get worse on dose increase', but she was wrong. I didn't start feeling better till I was off that drug.
The above theory is a nice one but it is pseudoscience. No scientist knows how SSRI's work. Not even the manufacturer - they even admit that in the drug information leaflet. There is currently no way to measure Serotonin levels in a living brain. Knowing this the theory becomes even more wobbly.
Why do some people feel worse when starting and others do not?? Maybe it is in part because of the Placebo effect.
There was another newer theory that trumps the chemical imbalance theory posted above - that is that the Antidepressants somehow stimulate brain growth (like jogging does) and that is the reason it may take weeks or a couple of months to work while it causes your brain to grow again and then it can cope with the depression. Who knows if that is even true also.
All the doctors know (and that the patient needs to know) is that in chronic depression and other mental illnesses SSRI's seem to be more effective than a placebo in treating bad depression and some other mental illness. Remember that the LONG TERM side effects of SSRI's are not known yet. But I am sure they will be known soon when someone does a follow up study because there would be people on the original Prozac-Fluoxitine that started taking it in the 80's and have never stopped. In my mind that makes Prozac currently the safest.
If you give a SSRI say 10-12 weeks and it has done nothing, I would switch.
for info about ssris's - please go to paxilprogress.org
I find all this fascinating. While I do think that the theories are all pretty much 'best guesses' I think they probably all have some truth in them.
One thing that is intriguing me is how SNRIs work, particularly for anxiety disorders? Surely having more noradrenaline would exacerbate them, not treat them (as they have been shown to do)?
A layman's guess would be it's to do with quality of neurotransmission, rather than sheer amount..? Having more transmitters sit around for longer might enable the 'message' to be transmitted more successfully from nerve cell to nerve cell, rather than being transmitted more often?
But I really don't know what I'm talking about here, wild stabs in the dark - That question of SNRIs/anxiety is curious though.
A really informative and helpful post. Thanks for posting!
I know this is an old post but it has really helped me understand possibly why I feel so absolutely dreadful after a month on my increase. Thank you to a certain member on this forum for directing me to this post!
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