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Re: JohnL...what say you..SLS, StJames

Posted by natg on January 8, 2001, at 1:14:20

In reply to Re: JohnL...what say you..SLS, StJames, posted by JohnL on January 7, 2001, at 17:47:20

> I'm no expert but based on my personal experience with AD's in the last 7 years I have to agree with John.

I had almost immediate relief with Paxil and then with Risperdal-- as in 5-7 days. I took Paxil for 3 years and it worked great.
Risperdal worked on the 2 nd day.
I felt awful on Wellbutrin, Effexor and Prozac and I took those drugs for as long as 7-8 months.
It was insane and inhumane.

This is just my personal experience and opinion. I'm not taking sides just wanted to share with all of you.
My Doctor says it takes 6 weeks to get the full AD effect.

Great posts, thanks!
Nat
> Hi all,
> A couple months ago I sat down for a morning and searched www.mentalhealth.com for any and all abstracts that indicated early response to medication. I take a lot of abuse here for believing in quick response times. Some people turn their noses up to me and even become downright hostile that I would have the gall to question the almighty psychiatric myths. So I wanted to see if I could gather evidence from the very same psychiatric pool that everyone else was basing their own opinions.
>
> Obviously hardly any clinical trials focus on the aspect of quick response times. They instead are looking for response rates at 6 weeks or whatever. So finding what I was looking for seemed like it was going to be hard. But as it turned out, there was tons of evidence showing quick responses. Many of these clinical trials had patients who responded anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. They weren't placebo or side effects, because the responses were still sound at the end of the trial. I was planning on saving the evidence I found to defend myself here. But as it turned out, it was too overwhelming. It would have taken a couple weeks, not one morning, to gather the amounts of evidence out there. The problem is, it's buried in fine print. Unless one is actively seeking it, one might overlook it. One might think it to be inconsequencial, since they were looking for something else. But it's there. The same clinical trials going back to the 1970s that many here use to form their beliefs also show that there is always a certain percentage of patients that respond quickly. I would venture a guess that if all clinical trials took note of it, it would occur in every single trial.
>
> My own response to Adrafinil and Amisulpride took a full two months to plateau. However, there were good early signs, even as early as day one, that these drugs might actually work. At two weeks there was no doubt they were working. Obviously not as much as I would like, but they were working. There was no doubt. So unlike many other meds that didn't seem to do anything at 2 weeks except make me numb or make me worse, I had good reason to hang in there. If there was no good sign by 2 weeks, I might have stopped. Not sure. At 4 weeks I definitely would have stopped.
>
> I was reading the labels on all these medications I have leftover. Lots of antidepressants. Just about any you can think of. The labels all say about the same thing, in different words. What they say is that "it may take a week before you feel the effects of the medication...it may take 4 weeks before the medication takes full effect...blah blah blah". Or, "It may take several weeks...blah blah blah". Generally when most people think of 'several', they probably think of 3, 4, or 5. Not 8. Not 6. Not 7. I think those labels indicate patients should feel better in 1 to 4 weeks for a reason...because that's what happens if it's the right medicine. Simple as that.
>
> Anyway, the debate goes on. All I know is that if you look for proof that only long response times are valid, you will have to ignore a lot of evidence that proves otherwise. 50 years of psychiatry is not as one sided as some read it to be, that is, unless they purposely or accidentally ignore contrary evidence. 50 years does not prove that medications should take a long time. The label right on the bottle, the local pharmacist, and the local doctor all agree. That is, if it's working somewhat at 4 weeks, stay with it. If it's not, the doctor should prescribe a different medicine. That's what they all say. I guess your mentors and your doctors feel differently. Personally I don't think someone should have to continue suffering if a medication isn't helping them at 4 weeks. That's insane, and rather cruel. Much better to start the patient on another medication.
> John


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poster:natg thread:50902
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