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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Happyflower on April 14, 2008, at 20:45:01
How do you know when the Prozac is working as well as it ever will? How does it feel to be depressed on AD meds compared to not being depressed? Okay 2 dumb questions.
Posted by Phillipa on April 14, 2008, at 22:34:15
In reply to Okay, kinda a dumb question..........., posted by Happyflower on April 14, 2008, at 20:45:01
Happyflower I'd in my opinion think that you would enjoy things most of the time, be productive to the best of physical abilities, not think negatively all the time. Sure from time to time. Not sleep to little or too much, healthy appetite, some excercise depending on what you enjoy. Be rather comfortable within your own skin, associate with people not isolate. I'm sure others can add to this. I feel no one is always happy as things happen but you don't dwell on them for an unhealthy period of time. Well that's my list of what I can think of. Love Phillipa
Posted by Molybdenum on April 15, 2008, at 5:17:20
In reply to Okay, kinda a dumb question..........., posted by Happyflower on April 14, 2008, at 20:45:01
> How do you know when the Prozac is working as well as it ever will? How does it feel to be depressed on AD meds compared to not being depressed? Okay 2 dumb questions.
Heya Happyflower,
I know exactly what you mean. I started taking ADs several times when I was younger (23-ish) but gave up after a couple of weeks each time as I didn't feel they were doing anything. The side effects were noticeable though..!~
When I started having lots of morbid thoughts about how exactly to die, I tried them again. This time I stuck with them and I remember I was driving to work on the freeway and I had this odd thought. I remember thinking "I don't feel so much dread any more". I used to dread going to work / waking up - lots of things really. So I just noticed one day a couple of months after I started that my thoughts weren't so gloomy any more. I started wanting to listen to comedy in my car rather than dismal Bauhaus & Pink Floyd "The Wall". I remember laughing. These were my sure signs that I was being helped by the meds.
I think it's a bit like growing taller when you're a kid. If you keep measuring every night, you'll never see any change. If you just forget about it for a while, you'll eventually notice some unexpected growth..!
Of course, some meds are not going to work for your head, so you need to ask your Dr "when is long enough" for whatever your cocktail is. Be prepared for the possibility that you'll have to try a few different ones.
I still have bad days even though I'm the best I've been in years. My latest trick is waking up at 5am feeling awful. It "does go away" by about 7am. I don't mean to suggest that this will happen to you - just that you're meds are there to help not to necessarily solve.
The people here are very helpful too - lots of experience with just about everything & every combo. I'm sure the drug companies would love to either kill us all for buggering up their stats or else recruit us all for the results they could never hope to get from a controlled study.
Good Luck...!
Posted by seldomseen on April 15, 2008, at 7:17:51
In reply to Okay, kinda a dumb question..........., posted by Happyflower on April 14, 2008, at 20:45:01
Your question I thinks borders on one of the grand existential questions of our time. "what is happy". There is no objective measure of "as good as it gets" but a time trial of at least 8 weeks at a particular dose can help.
My experience is very much in line with molybdenums. A gradual lessening of symptoms. With improvement over time - but certainly nothing dramatic all at once.
Seldom
Seldom.
Posted by bleauberry on April 15, 2008, at 18:59:32
In reply to Okay, kinda a dumb question..........., posted by Happyflower on April 14, 2008, at 20:45:01
My experience is the same as already described. Slowly over 2 to 3 months things gradually changed, but I wasn't aware of them changing because they crept in very subtly. It became normal for me to really get into talk radio, visit nurseries and dream of the plants I wanted to grow, plan all kinds of projects, do very well at work, and such. But I wasn't outgoing, happy go lucky, bouncy, or anything like that. I had just inched back into life and didn't realize it until looking backwards.
While clinical studies usually go 6 to 8 weeks, sometimes 12, I really think the greatest benefits don't sink into until starting at 12 weeks. In other words, I think for someone who got a partial response by 12 weeks, many of them were on track for a full response by 24 weeks. That happened to me on Paxil. It took forever, but it worked. With other drugs I was too impatient and ended up augmenting with other things to try to speed it up or get specific desired effects (remeron/sleep; adrafinil/vigilance; zyprexa/sleep and overall augmentation...just some examples).
Clearly though if there is no benefit at all by 6 weeks, that is not a promising sign. If none by 8 weeks or 10 weeks, I think it is time to change. But if there is some noticeable improvement you can point your finger at, it is probably worth another month or three to see.
Posted by Happyflower on April 15, 2008, at 20:17:04
In reply to Re: Okay, kinda a dumb question..........., posted by bleauberry on April 15, 2008, at 18:59:32
Thanks everyone, I guess I will try to be more patient with it. There is some improvement, so I will keep hope that it will get better.
Posted by Shadowplayers721 on April 17, 2008, at 10:01:17
In reply to Okay, kinda a dumb question..........., posted by Happyflower on April 14, 2008, at 20:45:01
I was on Prozac once. I knew it was working, because I could see the world clearer. I could see details that I didn't see before. Depression made the world look literally overcast.
After several years, it stopped working for me. I noticed that I couldn't feel things that I should.
This is the end of the thread.
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