Posted by Racer on September 25, 2006, at 20:04:43
In reply to New To Depression/Anxiety Please HELP!, posted by bigpopper on September 25, 2006, at 18:06:19
(I'm sorry -- my first bit of advice is PARAGRAPHS! They make it so much easier to read...)> I am a 36 yr. old male with no depress or anxiety issues before. This started about 2 month ago while I was going through some medical issues that involved Luratab and medrol (steriods). I was on Luratab for 1 month and would take 3-4 day. Then The Dr gave me a 2X of medrol. The day after I quit the Medrol I had a complete breakdown.
Sounds like it is related to steroids. Hormones -- natural or artificial -- are powerful things. Trust me -- I've been taking various hormones for nearly a year now, and they make me CRAZY! I'd expect your doctor is right that they've had a lot to do with this.
And likely right, too, that there was something underlying it that they triggered. I suppose it's possible they actually caused this, but...
> Horrible anxiety and depression. I could take a Lortab and it would go away. Could not even get out of bed. Thought I was dying.
Yep, that's depression. With a side order of anxiety for good measure... I'm sorry you're experiencing this.
>The Dr. said That these medications triggered some slight depression I already Had?? I lost 30 pounds in these 2 months. He put me on 10mg of Lexapro and have been on it for 15 days. I have been having some bad SE's, but had the same SE's the day before I started (the day a broke down).
Well, if you were having the side effects before going on the medication, I doubt it's caused by the medication ;-) Depression does tend to bring along a lot of its own, special physical effects, you know.
>How long before the Lexapro makes me feel better or any opinions. I have also been take 1-1.5 mg of Xanax for anxiety as needed and ambien CR. Any advice appreciated!
Generally speaking, any of the SSRIs will show some effect within four weeks if they're going to. Side effects often show up sooner, of course -- another sick cosmic joke, eh? Most of the early side effects, though, do go away within a few weeks. If you haven't noticed any improvement at all after about 4 weeks, it's worth looking at another drug.
If, at four weeks, you're feeling a tiny bit better, but not well, then raising the dose makes sense. If raising the dose doesn't help, or it causes increased side effects that you can't handle, then augmenting it with another drug is also a possibility.
The good news is that there are a lot of great drugs out there and one is very likely to help you. The bad news is that it's frog-kissing time: you gotta try 'em to find out if they'll help.
Good luck.
poster:Racer
thread:689156
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060919/msgs/689200.html