Posted by Bob on January 7, 2001, at 21:53:56
I have taken AD meds for about ten years now, and gotten more or less no where. I am writing this particular post to see if there is anybody else out there who has experienced a similar response to the meds that I've observed. For everything I've tried, what usually happens is the first few weeks/months are marked by getting used to the drug and its side effects. Provided it is a drug that will help me at all, the next few months are my "therapeutic" months where I'm getting a moderate amount of help from the drug, while at the same time, am able to put up with what the side effects are doing to me. Inevitably, the side effects eventually outweigh the diminishing benefits, and I start to taper off the drug. This is where something interesting begins to happen. When I get down to levels of med where each reduction corresponds to significant reductions in blood level, it seems that briefly, while the level is actually falling in my blood, I feel great. Almost as if my norepinephrine receptors become sensitive during this time, until suddenly the levels become depleted or "stabilized" again, at which point I feel worse than ever. This phenomenon has occurred with almost all drugs I've dabbled in which I've reached therapeutic plateaus with, including: Anafranil, Effexor, Depakote, Celexa, Zoloft, etc... Of course, once blood levels actually reach zero, I experience very nasty withdrawl. Again, though, what I am wondering is whether anyone on this list ever experiences this brief period (usually a day or two) of doing well) while tapering down on meds)?
poster:Bob
thread:51109
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001231/msgs/51109.html