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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by monkeysmama on November 19, 2007, at 21:11:10
I just need to vent real quick. It took me almost 8 years to get up the nerve to go back to the psychiatrist, because I really wanted for my anxiety to go away on it's own. It didn't of course, and so I sought help. I find myself more depressed now than I was before. Is it possible for an anti-depressant to backfire?? I am taking Zoloft and risperdal if that's any help at all. I feel completely hopeless right now.
Posted by Justherself54 on November 19, 2007, at 21:57:15
In reply to I just need to vent, posted by monkeysmama on November 19, 2007, at 21:11:10
> I just need to vent real quick. It took me almost 8 years to get up the nerve to go back to the psychiatrist, because I really wanted for my anxiety to go away on it's own. It didn't of course, and so I sought help. I find myself more depressed now than I was before. Is it possible for an anti-depressant to backfire?? I am taking Zoloft and risperdal if that's any help at all. I feel completely hopeless right now.
Did you just start taking the Zoloft and risperdal..sometimes when you start a med you feel worse for a week or so until the med starts to work..
Posted by monkeysmama on November 19, 2007, at 22:33:24
In reply to Re: I just need to vent, posted by Justherself54 on November 19, 2007, at 21:57:15
No, it's been about a month now. Exactly a month actually. I had a bad reaction when I started taking it, but my Dr. told me to suck it up pretty much and that it would get better. It did I guess, but tonight I am feeling just awful. Hopeless.
Posted by Justherself54 on November 19, 2007, at 23:10:19
In reply to I just need to vent, posted by monkeysmama on November 19, 2007, at 21:11:10
Have you taken risperdal before..I couldn't tolerate it..some people do excellent on it..I wasn't one of them..so switched to serequel..Zoloft worked well for me but I suffer from "poop out" with all SSRI's..otherwise I still be on Zoloft..
If you started them both at the same time it's hard to tell which one may be making you feel worse..
Posted by stargazer2 on November 20, 2007, at 0:17:52
In reply to Re: I just need to vent, posted by Justherself54 on November 19, 2007, at 23:10:19
I was depressed when I took Zoloft but instead of making me feel better it made me suicidal. My pdoc said to increase the dose but I listened to my inner voice and insisted on stopping Zoloft before it was too late. The suicidal thoughts went away almost immediately as my dose was dropped.
All AD's have the potential to make your depression worse. My philosophy is your depression should not get worse on any AD. You may have some side effects that could give you some physical complaints, but your mood should not worsen to any extent.
Did Zoloft help at all when you started it? I would be careful if you are experiencing a relapse in your deprssion. Zoloft may not be the right AD for you. Stay in touch with your doctor if you continue to feel to feel poorly. At some point you may have to insist that you want to stop Zoloft. Luckily my pdoc trusted my judgement on that. I insisted it was not the depression worsening but the medication causing the mood to plunge. I was right since the suicidal thoughts went away immediately as the dose was dropped.
Good luck.
Stargazer
Posted by Phillipa on November 20, 2007, at 0:36:42
In reply to Re: I just need to vent/MonkeysMama, posted by stargazer2 on November 20, 2007, at 0:17:52
I also took zoloft and no side effects at all. Do you feel it's the resperidol or zoloft? Been on SSRI's before? Maybe you should call your pdoc as a month is long enough to feel something especially from the resperidol as it works rather quickly. Phillipa
Posted by monkeysmama on November 20, 2007, at 9:44:36
In reply to Re: I just need to vent/MonkeysMama, posted by Phillipa on November 20, 2007, at 0:36:42
I was on this combo as a teenager and it worked well, so she just put me back on it thinking that it would again. I had a 2 week follow up and told her that my anxiety had worsened, and she told me to keep taking it until it had settled in or whatever. My next appointment isn't until the 15th of December and she is out of town....
Posted by bleauberry on November 20, 2007, at 17:18:30
In reply to I just need to vent, posted by monkeysmama on November 19, 2007, at 21:11:10
It's hard to know whether it is the risperdal, zoloft, or the combo, that is causing you to feel so bad. Antidepressants do backfire. You never know in advance which one(s) will do that to you.
Since the theory of chemical imbalance is so widely accepted, well, if your serotonin is ok but something else is out of balance, and then you increase the serotonin a lot, guess what, now the original chemical imbalance is even way worse than it was to begin with.
Risperdal can cause or worsen depression too. It would be nice to start one med at a time to know for sure which is doing which.
I think it is dangerous for a pdoc to urge a patient to stick with it even though the patient says they feel a lot worse. What if the person actually does commit suicide? Or on a milder note, what if they lose their job, their career, or their marriage because of it? Not to say those things are mild though. Pretty serious stuff. And what if some seriously pissed off family members decided to sue the psychiatrist for ignoring the warnings? In this day and age of medical lawsuits, sky high malpractice insurance, and people looking to get rich quick, I'm surprised pdocs even take a gamble.
At the very least, it shows the pdoc has no compassion and no talent. It means he/she is expecting the patient to be one of the 60% or so in a clinical study that improved, but ignoring the fact that it might be one of the 40% who didn't, or one the smaller percentage that got worse.
I mean, it's nice to be optimistic. But come on, get real. If a person is feeling much worse, get the heck off that drug. Either wean off of it as fast as tolerable, or switch directly to another med.
Zoloft made me feel real bad. I couldn't even make the jump from 12.5mg to 25mg without feeling severely under the weather that I couldn't even function. I just wanted to die. I weaned off in just a few days and I tell you I felt so much better as the dose came down, and even better 2 days after the final dose. Unfortunately after that nice bounce, the original depression/anxiety does come back but at least you are at square one to start over and the horrible suicidal feelings are on the shelf.
Posted by monkeysmama on November 20, 2007, at 21:34:16
In reply to Re: I just need to vent, posted by bleauberry on November 20, 2007, at 17:18:30
Well, I didn't take my second dose tonight. I am on 50, but since I couldn't tolerate it, my doc had me take half in the morning and half whenever. So, I just took the 25.......we'll see if this helps. Thanks for all of the input.
This is the end of the thread.
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