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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jackster on January 19, 2001, at 16:21:42
Has anyone found any research on the phenomena of stopping an SSRI and it not working when you start it again. I unfortunately took the advice of my GP on weaning myself off Paxil, not realising that it might not work if I needed it again. None of the GPs that I have talked to have heard of this - it wasn't until I saw my PDoc that he told me it was quite common. I have looked on the net to see if I could find any more about this but can't seem to find anything.
Posted by Joy on January 19, 2001, at 17:08:50
In reply to Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by Jackster on January 19, 2001, at 16:21:42
Hi Jackster,
The same thing happened to me on Paxil. It did not work well the second time around. I tried numerous ADs after that until I tried Prozac which is working well for me. A lot of people [even on this Board]who were on Prozac and went off were dismayed to find it did not work well, or at all for them the 2nd time. I think we learn so much more from other people taking these meds than we do from drug company inserts. I think if an AD works well, we should all think twice before going off. I have not seen research anywhere on this but it could be out there somewhere. My own personal 'research' is this Board and all the great people who post here and from whom I've learned so much from.
Joy> Has anyone found any research on the phenomena of stopping an SSRI and it not working when you start it again. I unfortunately took the advice of my GP on weaning myself off Paxil, not realising that it might not work if I needed it again. None of the GPs that I have talked to have heard of this - it wasn't until I saw my PDoc that he told me it was quite common. I have looked on the net to see if I could find any more about this but can't seem to find anything.
Posted by SalArmy4me on January 19, 2001, at 23:39:04
In reply to Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by Jackster on January 19, 2001, at 16:21:42
Switch to Effexor and you will get the same antidepressant effect as you did on Paxil.
> Has anyone found any research on the phenomena of stopping an SSRI and it not working when you start it again. I unfortunately took the advice of my GP on weaning myself off Paxil, not realising that it might not work if I needed it again. None of the GPs that I have talked to have heard of this - it wasn't until I saw my PDoc that he told me it was quite common. I have looked on the net to see if I could find any more about this but can't seem to find anything.
Posted by Shell on January 20, 2001, at 1:06:20
In reply to Re: Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by Joy on January 19, 2001, at 17:08:50
> Hi Jackster,
> The same thing happened to me on Paxil. It did not work well the second time around. I tried numerous ADs after that until I tried Prozac which is working well for me. A lot of people [even on this Board]who were on Prozac and went off were dismayed to find it did not work well, or at all for them the 2nd time. I think we learn so much more from other people taking these meds than we do from drug company inserts. I think if an AD works well, we should all think twice before going off. I have not seen research anywhere on this but it could be out there somewhere. My own personal 'research' is this Board and all the great people who post here and from whom I've learned so much from.
> Joy
>I had this experience with Prozac. It worked quite well for me when I first took it. I discontinued it while I was pregnant and it didn't work for me nearly as well after the baby was born (though the side effects remained the same).
It actually worked out better for me that I didn't know this would happen. Since I was pregnant, I really didn't have the option to continue the Prozac. I'm glad that worrying about whether or not it would work after the baby came is something I didn't have to deal with while pregnant.
I'm now on Wellbutrin and pleased with the results so far. I have no plans to quit taking it because I don't want to take the chance that it won't work the second time around.
Shell
Posted by Jammyd on January 20, 2001, at 9:48:10
In reply to Re: Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by Shell on January 20, 2001, at 1:06:20
Shell: I had heard from my doc that it was okay to take prozac while pregnant as long as it was monitored carefully.
Is that not true? Or is it "physicians choice" kind of thing?
Posted by Jackster on January 20, 2001, at 16:19:35
In reply to Re: Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by SalArmy4me on January 19, 2001, at 23:39:04
I would love to do that - unfortunately the NZ Govt subsidises Paxil but not Effexor.
> Switch to Effexor and you will get the same antidepressant effect as you did on Paxil.
>
> > Has anyone found any research on the phenomena of stopping an SSRI and it not working when you start it again. I unfortunately took the advice of my GP on weaning myself off Paxil, not realising that it might not work if I needed it again. None of the GPs that I have talked to have heard of this - it wasn't until I saw my PDoc that he told me it was quite common. I have looked on the net to see if I could find any more about this but can't seem to find anything.
Posted by Shell on January 21, 2001, at 1:14:29
In reply to Re: Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by Jammyd on January 20, 2001, at 9:48:10
> Shell: I had heard from my doc that it was okay to take prozac while pregnant as long as it was monitored carefully.
>
> Is that not true? Or is it "physicians choice" kind of thing?
It probably is. At the time, I was taking it for only OCD (didn't have depression then) and I figured I could deal with the OCD symptoms for those months. I'd dealt with them without medication for years before I was diagnosed, so it wasn't a big deal.Shell
Posted by SLS on January 22, 2001, at 10:28:19
In reply to Re: Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by Shell on January 21, 2001, at 1:14:29
> > Shell: I had heard from my doc that it was okay to take prozac while pregnant as long as it was monitored carefully.
> >
> > Is that not true? Or is it "physicians choice" kind of thing?
>
>
> It probably is. At the time, I was taking it for only OCD (didn't have depression then) and I figured I could deal with the OCD symptoms for those months. I'd dealt with them without medication for years before I was diagnosed, so it wasn't a big deal.
>
> Shell
Hi.Prozac (fluoxetine) has been studied extensively for any potential risk it may have in pregnancy. Results have demonstrated a lack of significant negative effects. There is some thought that it might be desirable to stop taking medications like Prozac during the first trimester and then resume it. Of course the risk of losing efficacy is there for stopping it, but perhaps 3 months allows for a better chance of recapturing the antidepressant effect compared to 9 months.
I am not nearly read up enough to make any kind of recommendation. Neither am I a prospective mother. If I recall, the only event that might occur with the taking of Prozac during pregnance is a statistical risk of slightly premature births. Don't remember. Also, there is the issue of having these drugs appear in breast milk. They do. However, the levels are supposedly very low and does not seem to affect the development of the infant.
There are many different perspectives and professional opinions regarding the use of antidepressants during pregnancy and lactation. I would want as perfectly healthy a child as is possible. However, severe depression of the mother would affect her ability to take care of the child and foster its health and welfare. This may offset by a wide margin the apparantly miniscule risk of Prozac administration. I guess there is sort of balance-scale that you must work with.
Tricyclic antidepressants have been around for over 40 years. They have proven themselves safe. Prozac has been marketed in the U.S. for 12 years and seems to be safe so far.
I wish I could have provided more detail and some sort of consensus of opinion. I can't. I wouldn't know what to do if I were you.
- Scott
Posted by Shell on January 22, 2001, at 22:16:11
In reply to Re: Research on stopping and starting SSRIs, posted by SLS on January 22, 2001, at 10:28:19
> > > Shell: I had heard from my doc that it was okay to take prozac while pregnant as long as it was monitored carefully.
> > >
> > > Is that not true? Or is it "physicians choice" kind of thing?
> >
> >
> > It probably is. At the time, I was taking it for only OCD (didn't have depression then) and I figured I could deal with the OCD symptoms for those months. I'd dealt with them without medication for years before I was diagnosed, so it wasn't a big deal.
> >
> > Shell
>
>
> Hi.
>
> Prozac (fluoxetine) has been studied extensively for any potential risk it may have in pregnancy. Results have demonstrated a lack of significant negative effects. There is some thought that it might be desirable to stop taking medications like Prozac during the first trimester and then resume it. Of course the risk of losing efficacy is there for stopping it, but perhaps 3 months allows for a better chance of recapturing the antidepressant effect compared to 9 months.Perhaps that explains why Prozac didn't work for me when I started taking it again. I discontinued it for a nearly 14 months (3 before getting pregnant to make sure there was none in my system, 7.5 months of pregnancy - baby was a little early - and 3 months of nursing).
Had I known of the risk of loss of efficacy, I still would have discontinued it. With all of the different medications out there, I can't see that the possilibity of one drug losing effectiveness would be worth taking any risk with the baby. However, it would have been nice to have been warned that it might happen.
>
> I am not nearly read up enough to make any kind of recommendation. Neither am I a prospective mother. If I recall, the only event that might occur with the taking of Prozac during pregnance is a statistical risk of slightly premature births. Don't remember. Also, there is the issue of having these drugs appear in breast milk. They do. However, the levels are supposedly very low and does not seem to affect the development of the infant.
>
> There are many different perspectives and professional opinions regarding the use of antidepressants during pregnancy and lactation. I would want as perfectly healthy a child as is possible. However, severe depression of the mother would affect her ability to take care of the child and foster its health and welfare.
This may offset by a wide margin the apparantly miniscule risk of Prozac administration. I guess there is sort of balance-scale that you must work with.I agree totally. At the time, the risk of taking Prozac, however small, was larger than the risk of being unmedicated. Were I to become pregnant now, I am not sure if that would still be the case.
>
>
>Tricyclic antidepressants have been around for >over 40 years. They have proven themselves safe. >Prozac has been marketed in the U.S. for 12 >years and seems to be safe so far.
>
> I wish I could have provided more detail and >some sort of consensus of opinion. I can't. I >wouldn't know what to do if I were you.
>
>
> - Scott
This is the end of the thread.
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