Posted by OldSchool on February 7, 2002, at 19:16:22
In reply to Re: OldSchool Another Question for you, posted by johnj on February 7, 2002, at 16:29:20
> Thanks for the info. I have been hesitant to try it for the reasons of poop out. I am on a TCA with lithium because I had the same type of depression and agitation as you did. I felt better, but recently have had problems and am losing lots of sleep. You said you were on Remeron for a year? Have you thought of trying it again? What did your doc say about it pooping out? Did the doc explain the reason for it pooping out? Thanks again
No, I was on Remeron for about eight months. It shouldnt poop out on you. My psychiatrists at the time gave me no explanation whatsoever as to why the Remeron pooped out on me. Keep in mind that ALL antidepressants I tried at that time pooped out on me and I have never gotten a truly good response from ADs after I took low dose Risperdal. I have no idea why this happened to me, I have my own suspicions why it happened but I dont really know and couldnt give you an answer.Psychiatrists dont know the answer to many cases of antidepressant poop out. One of the few technical explanations Ive read about is that serotonergic antidepressants like SSRIs tend to deplete dopamine levels over time and this can lead to poop out, as well as apathy and a flattening of emotions effect. Another reason why antidepressants can poop out on you is thyroid problems (hypothyroidism).
Another thing that can make antidepressants not activate good is "playing games" with your meds. By this I mean repeatedly going on and off the same antidepressant in a relatively short period of time. Many find that when they go off an AD and return to it a short while later, it doesnt activate good like the first time. I always recommend to people to not go on and off an antidepressant repeatedly as this tends to do things which makes meds poop out and lose their punch.
But if you go off a antidepressant gradually and then wait a long time to return to it, it should activate good the second time. Its just this biz of going off an AD and trying it again like the next week or month or two where it wont work again.
The only thing that ever seemed to make my antidepressants activate better was getting on an exercise kick for a couple months. Like doing a lot of aerobic exercise everyday, after a few weeks of that my meds would activate some. I also found my meds seemed to work a little better after my rTMS sessions. But not much. Some people say if you add a dopaminergic med to your antidepressant that this will reactivate your antidepressant. Like Ritalin, amphetamines, Amantadine, Mirapex, etc.
Ive read of people who said their meds started working good again after they had bilateral ECT done.
Another thing I have found that seems to make my antidepressants work better for me is to take vitamin E daily. If I take 400 IU vitamin E with a selenium supplement daily, I notice some mild improvement in how my AD works. However I dont think this is typical and is very particular to just me.
poster:OldSchool
thread:92702
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020131/msgs/93234.html