Posted by Cam W. on April 29, 2000, at 10:26:15
In reply to Not Trying To Start World War III, posted by anonymous on April 29, 2000, at 9:36:56
Anon - Your question is very valid. Most of the "older Babblelanders" do give their meds the 6 to 8 week trials, unless they experience almost debilitating, unmanageable side effects. If the side effects are tolerable most psych meds should be tried for this period. The one's that don't, I just shake my head and say, "You do know better, but...". There are cases, such as Scott's experience with Reboxetine, where he may have been able to adjust to the drug eventually, but it made him feel so crappy and despondent, that the cure was worse than the disease. I guess it is just that with the experience many of us have had with different meds, and how they all have a similar (or different) "feel", we are able to tell how a drug is similar to something else that we have tried in the past.The literature has shown that most antidepressant "drug failures" are a result of not giving the drug time to changes neuroreceptor function. A common scenario is that a person is started on Zoloft and stays on it for 2 to 3 weeks; doesn't feel any better any goes back to the doc saying that they are not taking this useless drug any more. The doc gives the Celexa and the patient is back in 2 to 3 weeks saying that this drug is no better. So the doc then give him/her Paxil and within 2 weeks the Paxil is working like a charm. Why didn't the doc give them that AD in the first place? All of these ADs are SSRIs and work by a very similar mechanism of action. The person in question has been taking an SSRI for about 8 weeks and now sees an effect. It has taken this long for the person's body to adjust, so that the chemoelectrical flow in the nuerons is now "normalized".
Zoloft and Paxil were not treatment failures; they were working to downregulate ß-adrenoceptors, upregulate glucocorticoid receptors, etc. Body chemistry is finicky, it does what it wants (or can) and not what we tell it to. I really think that we are unable, at two weeks, to really be able to tell if an AD (or mood modifier) is actually working for us. In some people, some improvement can be seen in a week or two. I chalk this up to the actions of some of the side effects (eg reducing anxiety) or to placebo effect (eg I am finally doing something about my condition and someone is actually listening to me and explaining why I feel so crappy. Therefore I feel better because I understand more of what is going on and I know that I am not alone). Attitude has a lot to do with treatment efficacy. The ADs are only a bandage, you have to fix the s*** that caused the depression in the first place, for recovery.
In OCD, it may take 26 weeks or more to notice an effect when using SSRI. This is how long it takes the drug to adjust your body's chemical (neurotransmitter) flows to approximately "normal" levels.
What has all this to do with Pokemon? I don't know. I guess Pikachu and Psyduck just scare me.
Hope this helps - Cam W.
poster:Cam W.
thread:31659
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000429/msgs/31664.html