Posted by bleauberry on September 9, 2009, at 10:12:54
In reply to Who got very depressed while starting a drug?, posted by zzzz7 on September 8, 2009, at 21:04:31
I have heard of others who started out badly on a med but later on it kicked in nicely.
That never happened to me though. It never got better and usually got worse. The longest I was ever able to hang in there and keep going despite being made far worse on the drug was about 4 weeks. By that time, I was actually worse than a previous episode where I had been hospitalized. Returned back to baseline within 4 days of stopping.
Psych meds have indirect actions on the immune system. I have often wondered if the worsening of depression on an antidepressant is actually a Herxheimer reaction. That is, an enhanced immune system killing a lot of stuff too fast, creating a flood of neurotoxins. I got this hint the last time I tried to start Lexapro, because even though it made me incredibly depressed, longstanding skin infections started to clear up miraculously. There is some connection there I am convinced. Herxheimer reactions feel horrible, with increased depression being at the top of the list. They subside when the majority of the organisms have been killed off. Maybe, just maybe, in some people, that might just happen to be the same time their worsened depression gets better? The Herx is over? Makes me wonder.
But of course, in a simpler theory, if someone does not have a serotonin problem and they take an SSRI, it probably won't feel good. I mean, if it is a chemical imbalance and we throw that chemical imbalance even further out of whack than where it was, ya know?
poster:bleauberry
thread:916136
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090902/msgs/916186.html