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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Luc on March 13, 2010, at 15:49:22
Ive taken a 5 month break from antidepressants because they all seemed to have pooped out. Is it possible that they will work again because ive taken a medication vacation?
I hope so because ive been agoraphobic for a few months now and had to quit CBT because of it..
If an ssri could work again and get me out of the house and get back to cbt I would be so greatful. My brain became so desensitized, do you think that after 5 months it will be receptive again to medication?
thnx
Posted by evenintherain on March 13, 2010, at 16:15:10
In reply to Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by Luc on March 13, 2010, at 15:49:22
Luc,
i would go into it assuming that they will work for you if they helped before. it is definitely possible, and maybe a vacation was all you needed.
it's true some people have trouble with an AD on the second try, but that doesn't mean it will definitely happen to you!
Posted by Phillipa on March 13, 2010, at 19:25:02
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by evenintherain on March 13, 2010, at 16:15:10
Luc I've had them work on the second trial now that was the first one ever took 10mg of paxil. Good luck. Love Phillipa
Posted by JayBTV2 on March 14, 2010, at 11:42:26
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by evenintherain on March 13, 2010, at 16:15:10
You may want to try starting two meds at the same time. For example an SSRI + an augment. There was a recent study that showed people who start two meds at the same time had better results than those who started one and augmented down the road.
Maybe something like:
SSRI + lithium(small dose)
SSRI + Lamictal
SSRI + WellbutrinKinda attack the depression. Just a suggestion.
Or you could go the TCA/MAOI route if you've never used those before....
Posted by manic666 on March 14, 2010, at 15:26:35
In reply to Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by Luc on March 13, 2010, at 15:49:22
you took a break why//sounds like you were in theropy //wasnt there a cross over you could have done// or had you taken the hole 6 ssri,s trials.
Posted by Luc on March 14, 2010, at 16:49:22
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by manic666 on March 14, 2010, at 15:26:35
> you took a break why//sounds like you were in theropy //wasnt there a cross over you could have done// or had you taken the hole 6 ssri,s trials.
I took a break because the meds werent working anymore. There wasnt enough benefit to keep taking them, just side effects. I felt there wasn't a crossover left to try, I had been on most everything, even nardil and parnate... Will my brain have re-adjusted itself and be sensitive again? Maybe an ssri would work again like they did the first time. I dont know if a med vacation is a viable option for poop-out?
I thought medication would never work anymore but now im thinking they might because of a break from them..
Posted by em_kath on March 14, 2010, at 23:55:43
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by Luc on March 14, 2010, at 16:49:22
> I took a break because the meds werent working anymore. There wasnt enough benefit to keep taking them, just side effects. I felt there wasn't a crossover left to try, I had been on most everything, even nardil and parnate... Will my brain have re-adjusted itself and be sensitive again? Maybe an ssri would work again like they did the first time. I dont know if a med vacation is a viable option for poop-out?
> I thought medication would never work anymore but now im thinking they might because of a break from them..
>
Thank you for asking this, I have the exact same question. I was moderately depression free for a couple years on Wellbutrin until about 18 months ago when it seemed to poop out. I had some success when adding Effexor, but not enough. I'm in the middle of an Emsam trial right now and I just miss my Wellbutrin. It's the only one out of the multitude of different drugs I've tried that's ever made me feel somewhat normal. But I am scared because I've heard so much about drugs not working the second time around so I don't know if it's worth the time to try it again. But these responses are encouraging. Maybe I will restart Wellbutrin and Effexor simultaneously, and a person in another post said Memantine might help give pooped-out medications a boost by increasing sensitivity in receptors. I guess the difference between us is you've taken a break from all antidepressants while I've just been on a different one, I wonder if that would hurt my chances of Wellbutrin working again? That's really unfortunate you had to stop taking any ADs at all, it must be a rough time for you :( Good luck, I hope you find something that works again.
Posted by manic666 on March 15, 2010, at 3:25:14
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted? » Luc, posted by em_kath on March 14, 2010, at 23:55:43
the difference when you have taken them long term an stop//you get withdrawls an you think,oh sh*t why have i done this.//like you say some side effects outway the benifit///i just swapped over sertraline to citalopram//seems ok ,a little weaker than sertraline, but going back to your question ///i tried to go back on prozac afer a couple of years //an it didnt want to no ,it kicked my *rs* as if to say dont come crawling back to me now, but it has changed to geniric so mabye that was the bummer.i dont no if your suppost to do this //but when i did the tapper with sert an cital//when in mind change over ,the 2 when together were really cool.stay safe
Posted by Luc on March 15, 2010, at 15:43:08
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted? » Luc, posted by em_kath on March 14, 2010, at 23:55:43
Well After 5 1/2 months of being med free I went into the doctors today and got a script for Prazac 20mg... Prozac and Luvox are the only ones I haven't tried. Im praying that it will work! If my brain has infact become respondent to medication again I will be sooo happy to get my life back. My main problem is generalized social anxiety which causes me to be paranoid (without dilusions) and agoraphobia..
Posted by Luc on March 15, 2010, at 16:00:28
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted? » Luc, posted by em_kath on March 14, 2010, at 23:55:43
>>
> Thank you for asking this, I have the exact same question. I was moderately depression free for a couple years on Wellbutrin until about 18 months ago when it seemed to poop out. I had some success when adding Effexor, but not enough. I'm in the middle of an Emsam trial right now and I just miss my Wellbutrin. It's the only one out of the multitude of different drugs I've tried that's ever made me feel somewhat normal. But I am scared because I've heard so much about drugs not working the second time around so I don't know if it's worth the time to try it again. But these responses are encouraging. Maybe I will restart Wellbutrin and Effexor simultaneously, and a person in another post said Memantine might help give pooped-out medications a boost by increasing sensitivity in receptors. I guess the difference between us is you've taken a break from all antidepressants while I've just been on a different one, I wonder if that would hurt my chances of Wellbutrin working again? That's really unfortunate you had to stop taking any ADs at all, it must be a rough time for you :( Good luck, I hope you find something that works again.
>
>em_kath, 3 years ago I became tolerant to all the ssri's. I was swapping one for another in hopes that one would work again. Then I tried effexor, and it barely worked for a month but it did work. After that I was soo hopless that I turned to the MAOI's. Nardil had too many side effects so I tried Parnate. Parnate worked for about 6 months but had some crazy side effects at higher dosages. 5 months ago I knew that I was way over medicated and wasnt getting any benefit so I quit it all. I MUST say that of all the meds nothing ever worked as well as the very first ssri I was put on. So with my medication holliday im hoping that maybe this prozac will work like the first time I was ever on an ssri. The first one I was on was Paxil, I tried it 3 more times after it pooped out. I am trying Prozac now because maybe my receptors will be more sensitive to a med ive never taken.
Hopefully the mind is resilient enough for meds to work again..
Posted by Phillipa on March 15, 2010, at 19:33:22
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by Luc on March 15, 2010, at 16:00:28
Luc be sure to write and let us know how it's working and any side effects. So glad you got to the docs. Good for you!!!!!! Love Phillipa
Posted by manic666 on March 16, 2010, at 4:35:21
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted? » Luc, posted by Phillipa on March 15, 2010, at 19:33:22
prozac has a place in the heart most us older posters///it was the first ad we took //an what a life saver.//lying in bed wanting to die an bang after a few week you just wake up a different person an forget the years of sh*t instantly///no build up just wam///in england we dont experiment to much so 20mg was the norm ,i even stopped the ativan// but i got a bit obove myself an thought ,im ok now an stopped prozac after a year,big mistake that time as only real prozac then no sh*t generic //why did i stop i think i was putting on weight// any way after a few weeks i went down hill fast. an was put on another ad , an another an another.//till it was time my gp said i could try prozac// again.it was then near on all generic an it was not bonding with me // it kicked my *rs* so that was the end of my prozac dream//if i could get an english gp to give mt real prozac i would try again.
Posted by Luc on March 26, 2010, at 18:02:38
In reply to Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by Luc on March 13, 2010, at 15:49:22
Im on day 12 of Prozac 20mg/day..
I have virtually NO side effects. Maybe I yawn a little more and have a bit of a restless feeling but this might just be because Im thinking of possible side effects.
Having no side effects scares me because I fear the med wont work.
I recall the first time I took paxil an WOW there was a TON of side effects. But it also worked great. Once paxil pooped out, so did most of the side effects.
Does anyone think there is a correlation between side effects and efficacy?
With my minimal side effects it would be a mericle if this prozac starts to actually kick in soon.
Posted by manic666 on March 27, 2010, at 5:05:57
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by Luc on March 26, 2010, at 18:02:38
it takes a long time to kick in/// my case 12weeks ,side effects i dont recall many as i was completly nuked at the time//an in the under the blaket syndrome//have you tappered of another ssri if you have you wont feel much change
Posted by Luc on March 27, 2010, at 15:24:57
In reply to Re: Will AD's work again if stopped and restarted?, posted by manic666 on March 27, 2010, at 5:05:57
> it takes a long time to kick in/// my case 12weeks ,side effects i dont recall many as i was completly nuked at the time//an in the under the blaket syndrome//have you tappered of another ssri if you have you wont feel much change
I didnt taper off another ssri.. havent been on an ssri for a couple years. The last med I was on was Parnate, that was 6 months ago. I hope I feel a change soon.. at least enough to give me some motivation to help with CBT, which by itself isnt helping much at all, not to mention i cant even leave my house.
Part of me is excited that 'maybe prozac will work, at least for a bit and get me out of this slump'. and part of me is like: "this wont work, my brain doesnt respond to medication anymore and I shouldnt get my hopes up".. sucks
If it does actually work it will give hope to others that medication can work again, even if it seems so hopeless.. well just have to wait and see
This is the end of the thread.
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