I have a family member with severe depression. She was on Prozac for two weeks, then was switched to Lexapro. After about 4 weeks on the Lexapro we had not seen much improvement (she in fact said she felt the depression was getting worse), so the doctor added Wellbutrin. At the same time, she reduced the Lexapro dosage at my family member's request.
After about a week on the Wellbutrin, we started noticing improvement. Is it possible for an antidepressant to work so well for someone that it starts working so quickly? Or is this more likely the effects of the Lexapro finally kicking in?
2006-08-18 17:13:39 · 19 answers · asked by Faith7 2 in Health ➔ Mental Health
Wellbutrin added to another antidepressant has an augmenting effect - helps the other antidepressant to work better. However, caution here. Everybody is different and responds to medications in different ways. It should always be done under competant medical supervision. The good news is that there are a lot more choices for physicians yo use and it is quite common in resistant cases of depression yo combine drugs. The response rate varies which is why doctors wait several weeks between reviews. Rule of thumb antidepressants take up to six weeks to have their full effect and sometimes the docyor has to try different classes of drugs if the patient does not respond well. Prozac for example is the first SSRI with a very long half life. The washour period is therefore longer if it doesn't work. There is a chance then that another drug in this class might not work either. Always talk to the doctor about symptoms and of course side effects
2006-08-18 18:09:45 · answer #1 · answered by mjdp 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Usually for an anti depressant to work effectively it may take up to 6 weeks. I don't think the medicine would have done anything that fast, it could be a possibility that your family member could be doing it theirselves. Like, the mind is thinking that the wellbutrin is working however it is not. Its kind of how painkillers work as well, we want the pain to go away and as soon as we take something we automatically think it is better. Don't assume things so fast, take it slow and let things progress no matter how they are feeling. Healing depression takes a whole lot of time, and medicine is not the only thing that will help, maybe getting the family member to go to some sort of councelling to help the healing process even faster, because the medicine can only do so much after that its up to the person. Hope it gets better, am sure it well since I know what its like to be in that situation...things do get better :)
2006-08-25 08:42:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I took lexapro and it took a couple of weeks to kick in. I would think that the old medication was still in her system and when she started taking the lexapro, it just sortof blended in and that's why it worked so quickly. If she had no other antidepressant in her system, it probably would not have work so fast.
2006-08-18 19:30:59 · answer #3 · answered by mystery_lvr 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good for you for looking it up! Stop the diet pill and get another doctor who listens to you and doesn't make mistakes like that. Make sure you get a doctor that fully explains the risks and benefits. Run by all prescriptions with your pharmacist as an extra check on your doctor. Be careful when you stop taking some medications. Some medicines can not be stopped immediately they need to be reduced slowly. Ask you doctor about this for your celexa, if you decide to stop taking it also.
2016-03-16 23:51:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was on Zoloft for about a month and all it did was make me cry when it did not have me sleeping. I stopped taking it on my own, about 2 months later I was put on Prozac which I would not take because of all the negative things I've heard so now I've been on Wellbutrin for about 6 month and have had no problems, and yes it did start to work in the first month.
2006-08-25 09:34:31 · answer #5 · answered by grownlady 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Prozac and the other drugs you mentioned ususally take up to two months to regulate....wellibutrin is a different form of antidepressant ofteen to given to people trying to quit smoking, as it is very fast acting...it could also be that the ohter drugs were finally start to regulate more evenly over time
2006-08-18 17:19:19 · answer #6 · answered by moluvsmark 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes it is very possible it take's a week to notice the change then it just keeps getting better at the second week she will stay the same (meaning she's not going to get any better or worse).. it's most likely that she finally found the one that works really good for her...
2006-08-18 17:22:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
lexapro is not for just depression it surpresses nightmares, wellbutrin will help but they need to not give her prozac try something like remeron or the new pill celenesta that should help the names may not be spelled correctly but if you mentiont these medications maybe the doctor can help with ones that work better than what she's on
just remember every depression medications plato's so it needs to be switched atleast every 6 months
2006-08-25 09:50:39 · answer #8 · answered by robs_princess2 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's probably the lexapro starting to kick in. It could be the combination starting to work. It generally takes longer to ttake effect.
2006-08-24 20:36:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I could be either one. It does take Lexapro a while to kick in. I hope you have a good physician for your family member. Give him or her all the support you can. A family makes all the difference in the world in depression.
2006-08-22 08:03:21 · answer #10 · answered by Patti C 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋