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Re: college is horrible....

Posted by utopizen on October 30, 2004, at 17:29:31

In reply to college is horrible...., posted by Peddidle on October 28, 2004, at 19:07:10


> Today I am feeling kind of "down" and I don't really have much of an appetite, but I am eating. Is this a withdrawal symptom? Or possibly a side-effect of adding the straterra?
>

I think it's more simple than that. However much you might of thought the Zoloft wasn't "working," it may have been lifting you out of a more extreme depression than you would have entered had you not taken it at all.

Antidepressant "withdrawl" is more associated with physicial symptoms emerging, not a worsening of your mood (depression). It sounds like you're starting to feel a bit of your depession returning, which the Zoloft partially fought off a bit without you realizing it.

Straterra may help your ADD somewhat, but it's important to realize that it is NOT an anti-depressant. Lilly first tried it get it approved for depression, and was unable to prove it was effective for depression. Some notice some benign changes in their mood or anxiety, but realize that someone with Major Depressive Disorder aren't exactly going to get relief from the stuff.

It's too inadequate to treat any chronic depression, but treating someone's ADD might help someone feeling slightly down from feeling overwhelmed with completing their work. Don't confuse this with it being successful in people with major depression!!

If you are ever feeling down for more than just a couple of days, CALL YOUR DOCTOR immediately. This could represent a worsening of your mood as a result of not having an antidepressant.

Zoloft may have failed you, but it's important to realize you can fail every antidepressant out there and find the last one left to try works wonderfully. Cymbalta is promising to many who have failed SSRIs, and Effexor of course is a potent antidepressant as well.

Your psychiatrist needs to be treating your depression BEFORE attempting to treat your ADHD-- a recent journal article said it's inappropriate to treat ADHD before depression in patients with both problems. Depression often results in the same attention and other problems that ADHD alone presents, and controlling the depression first could resolve your concentration issues. That, and your mood needs to take a priority over your attention span, because it's a more immediate risk factor for the emergency of suicidial ideation.

That said, you can fail some antidepressant, but after a few weeks your doctor's likely to be inclined to give you some Strattera or a stimulant like Ritalin, Adderall or Desoxyn while he or she continues to adjust your antidepressant treatment.

You said you are failing. Please do not do what I do last school year, and believe somehow you'll coast through like superman and "recover" out of some med that will suddenly work half-way through the semester. How realistic is this to expect? Even if you became superman, do you realize how stressful it would be to try to compensate for the first half of the semester now in a way that would lead you to maybe, if you're lucky, getting a C- or better?

Withdrawing for medical reasons, with a note from your psychiatrist, is much wiser than trying to risk the possibility of getting no credits in your classes, and having these courses also degrade your GPA.

You may or may not find relief from your problems this semester, and I hope you do-- but if I've learned anything from being so messed up mentally, it's never trusting yourself or assuming you can take things on in the future because some circumstances will suddenly change so quickly you'll be able to overcome them very soon.

Strattera doesn't work for many, many people, and even if it does, it takes weeks and weeks to notice a difference. The semester's ending in about a month and a week. It'll take that long just to realize it hasn't worked, so I wouldn't rest your future on something that fails the majority of people who take it.

Keep trying with the Straterra, but you need to talk with a therapist and ask him or her if it's realistic to expect such a change and risk so much for something you can't predict will happen.

IMHO, it's not worth it, and you'll just get more depressed if you realize this after the fact rather than confronting what's relaistic now.

Also, seriously express your concerns about your mood to your doctor, and arrange for a therapist to also address your other issues. And let your psychiatrist know that your mood is affecting your concentration, and this won't go away with some ADD med alone. You require treatment for your depression as well.

If you imagine asking yourself, "what does putting off one semester mean for me 10 years from now if it could rescue me from having a terrible GPA that would affect my career?" I think you'll find the right answer.

But you likely will have to try various antidepressants, some meds to augment with them (Lithium, Lamictal, antipsychotics, and Klonopin are some useful ones) and a stimulant if Straterra fails to treat your concentration issues.

Your priority is your mood, and treating that will help reduce your attention issues to the point where ADD meds can manage them as well.


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Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:utopizen thread:408538
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041029/msgs/409312.html