Posted by tenuous on November 3, 2000, at 5:23:21
In reply to Re: SUCCESS WITH MEDICATION, posted by coral on November 3, 2000, at 3:35:40
15 years ago I tried several medications: lithium which gave me no relief and had nasty side effects, 2 antidepressants (whose names I don't remember), which I was on for about 2 months a piece, never worked, and then trazadone. I felt minimal improvement in about 2 weeks on the trazadone, but didn't feel normal until about a month after starting the med. Although the side effects diminished over the next 6 months, they never completely went away. I got tired of doing the chit-chat therapy which was required to continue getting the drugs at that time, so I quit them both after 8 months since I felt better. My depression returned within 6 months.
When I found out that you can now get medication without being required to repeat your childhood with a therapist, I went to a general practitioner. (GPs don't get any money for saying you need therapy.) I'm now on Effexor and trazadone (50mg for sleep). I felt a difference the first day, but thought it was a placebo effect. I was wrong. The improvement continued to the point that I actually can deal with life without yelling, bursting into tears, hiding from the world, or wishing I was dead. I had some rough up and down times over the first 4 weeks while my body adjusted to the medication in general, the dosage increases, and the switching around of dosing time trying to find the optimal relief and still get some sleep. However, even during the transition time my lows were nowhere near as severe as they had been. I'm thrilled with the result.
Every AD that has worked for me has shown some effect within a week. Every AD that has made no difference within a week also failed to produce an improvement after 2 months. I will never again waste my time with a drug that does not produce a response within 2 weeks.
poster:tenuous
thread:48019
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001102/msgs/48091.html