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Re: Dysthymia/Chronic Depression - Med Time-Scales

Posted by sweetmarie on September 20, 2001, at 4:05:54

In reply to Re: Dysthymia/Chronic Depression - Med Time-Scales , posted by JohnL on September 19, 2001, at 18:07:18

> I am of the opinion that the closer a drug is to targetinig whatever the true underlying brain chemical problem is, the quicker and more dramatic it will work. I've just witnessed it too many times to discount it. And, the farther away a drug is from targeting the real problem, the longer it takes to work, if ever, through a cascade of chain reactions that occur over time. With that in mind, then it would just seem that whatever meds have already been tried, well, look elsewhere. Like in the antipsychotic category (Zyprexa, Risperdal), and/or the stimulant category(Ritalin, Adderall). I've seen a lot of life-long sufferers experience dramatic improvement in anywhere from one day to one week, when they finally stumbled onto the right meds through systematic trial and error.
>
> I continue to favor Zyprexa + Prozac as a powerful double depression buster.

John,

I take your point, but my experience of meds that have worked is that they have taken a long time to work - as I`ve already mentioned with Dothiepin and Seroxat (although the Dothiepin was `instant` the first time I was on it - literally the day after).

My depression is so severe that changing medications is a nightmare - I invarably become suicidal. And the fact that I `crashed` so badly when I stopped taking the Seroxat shows me that it WAS working, and working effectively. However, as I`ve said, it took from August 94 to about March 95, before I was having more good than bad days. With my record of resistance (up to that point I had been on 9 different meds/combos), I have to say that I`m glad that I waited that long.

I know of other people with cases of chronic resistant depression who have had a similar experience. And we all have different `workings` (metabolic rates etc.), so wouldn`t it be the case that where some respond to meds early (within the first few days, or the first week), some will take `over` the official time-scale?

As I have mentioned in my post to Jane, the professor treating me told me that people with chronic (`resistant`) depression either recover dramatically or gradually over many months. And, by implication, any gradation between. He has been working with chronic cases for over ten years, so must be basing this on previous results.

I was talking with a bloke who, like me, suffered for many years with severe depression. And, like me, he stopped meds after 2 or 3 months if he wasn`t seeing results. He was started on his last combination and encouraged to give it more time that he had previously. He said that after 8 months he was really well, and glad that he`d stuck it out.

At the moment my main objective is not to be suicidal, and be able to function relatively effectively. If this med combination does that, THEN I can start thinking about `finishing the job`. Does this make sense?

I`ve tried so many different meds and combinations of meds (plus I`ve had 20 ECT sessions), that I would hate to miss out on one that could work through my impatience.

Anna.


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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010917/msgs/79137.html