Posted by JohnL on March 6, 2001, at 4:49:52
In reply to Just started taking Remeron and feel like crap!!!, posted by necro on March 4, 2001, at 15:22:06
> I was just prescribed Remeron after being taken to the ER for Valium and Oxycontin overdose.I am only into my 3rd week of therapy at 15mg/day and I feel lost all the time. I forget to do rutine things like let the dog out, bathe, who I talked to and what was said,etc. I find myself wanting to cry all the time and the tears just won't form. I actually feel like I'm a zombie and watching myself do all this rediculous shit in 3rd person. Is this normal for the inital phase of treatment or do I need some help? I cannot work, I lost my job because I could not drive to work one night while I was on call,I got divorced, lost my house, and had to file bankruptcy. Also, met a new girl threw a friend and she ended up leaving me because of the above symptoms. Help guys...In a bit of a predicament here...getting in fights at the drop of a dime and then fine the next second with no emotion at all...HELP!!!
Hi,
My thoughts on this type of situation are a bit different than mainstream. Normally we are instructed to stay with a medication for 6 weeks, no matter what, come hell or highwater. But when medicine causes overly troublesome side effects, or when it causes worsening of symptoms, then I disagree with staying with it. In similar sitations my pdoc always had me discontinue immediately and start something else. These days there are so many meds to choose from, it makes no sense at all to stay with one that is dud right from the get-go, with just a blind faith that it might somehow miraculously start working great if given more time.I absolutely do not like staying with an obvious dud med because there is too much at stake. Suicide is a real and serious risk. Not to mention lost jobs, lost marriages, impact on friends and family, on and on. It is difficult enough to be told to wait 6 weeks for a med to work. But when that med is an obvious troublemaker early on, that is a very risky 6 week wait. Sometimes a medicine will suddenly kick in after a long dedicated wait. That is just a sign it is not targeting the real problem, but is instead working through a series of chain reactions. A good response and a faster response is always awaiting with a different med choice. I disagree with the 6 week wait when a particular med obviously sucks for you.
I have been in your shoes. I never had a lousy medicine eventually turn good later on. I guess it happens, but never with me.
All medicines can actually cause you to get worse. If the med happens to be working on the wrong chemistry for the particular situation, intolerable side effects and/or worsening can occur. I've experienced a lot of antidepressants that made me more depressed, sometimes terrifyingly depressed.
So just because Remeron is a good antidepressant and it works for someone else doesn't at all mean it is right for you. Based on your 3 week reaction to it so far, I would say it is not a good match for your chemistry. In your shoes I would dump it immediately and start something else instead. In clinical trials most patients who responded to Remeron experienced improvement in the first week. Nonresponders generally did not.
Granted you have many environmental circumstances making the situation even worse. However, the right medication usually works fairly fast, has few side effects, and makes dealing with all life's problems quite manageable. What to try next? I don't know what you've already tried. There are clues though from other drugs you've tried that can help decide what to try next.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:30224
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010302/msgs/55686.html