I have taken Lexapro, Anafranil which did nothing, and today i am weening off Prozac even though they have had no side effects like the others which is great, but unfortunately I have found that Prozac has made me more nervous and anxious.
2006-12-22 16:30:33 · 14 answers · asked by Jay B 1 in Health ➔ Mental Health
anti depressants can only work if your depression is caused by a chemical imbalance....
IF your depression is because you have suffered a great sadness, loss, tragic event etc.... then your depression is a normal human response to a depressive situation.
IF you are having a normal human response to a depressive situation and it is long term and difficult to shift you are better off seeing a psychologist than a psychiatrist. A psychologist can help you learn new skills and tactics to deal with sad and depressive situations and move on.
In Australia recent changes to Medicare laws now mean that if a GP refers you to a psychologist up to 12 sessions in a year can be bulk billed. (It is a about darn time,)
2006-12-23 09:17:38 · answer #1 · answered by wollemi_pine_writer 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You really haven't been on many if that is all you have been on in your question. Antidepressants work, if you get on the right one. I had the same result with Prozac, the other two I'm not familiar with. But I've been on Paxil, caused weight gain, and I've been Welbutrin, the best one so far. It helped lower my appetite. However, you have to work with an antidepressant, it isn't going to do all the work for you, to help you not feel depressed. You have to work with the medication. Get into a support group, get counseling; find out what is causing the depression! If you already know, and it is some kind of abuse that is either going on, or has in the past, get therapy and move on. Make your own lilfe better! Don't try to change others, change yourself! That is the only thing you can change is you! But taking an antidepressant won't work if you don't help it to work by working on whats causing the depression in the first place! I am bipolar, and all the medication in the world doesn't work if I don't do something to help myself besides medication. I am also a recovering alcoholic, and I use the 12-Step program every day of my life to help the bipolar improve. I'll never get over the bipolar, or ever any thing but a recovering alcoholic, but I can improve myself every day. (I have 8 yrs. of recovery time)
These changes only happen when you have decided "who you are" and "what you want out of life" ; or do you want to be depressed the rest of your life? Just because we have depression that doesn't mean the quality of our life goes down if we work on ourselves.
2006-12-22 16:48:55 · answer #2 · answered by Ikeg 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I had the same problem, so my doctor added Xanax along with the Prozac, and that has worked very well.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend Xanax because it is addictive. There are other medications that serve the same purpose but are not addictive. Talk to your doctor.
And I agree with "Chicken Man" (above) - first, get a COMPLETE physical with lab tests, then see a psychiatrist, not your primary care physician.
You might want to consider regular counseling as well. Antidepressants combined with counseling provide the best outcome.
2006-12-22 16:52:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately each of us reacts to each medication differently. I had to go through quite a few antidepressants as well as tweaking the amount taken until you get it right. Take control of your treatment by having as much knowledge as possible about depression and your treatment options, the different drugs available and how they work on the condition. Knowledge is power against depression. Try to have patience with each medication unless the side effects are unbearable because they do take some time to reach their full potential. Good luck!
2006-12-22 17:12:35 · answer #4 · answered by LeAnn C 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have to answer your question with a question: Does your Dr. do blood test before, during, and after prescribing these drugs?
If not, see a real "mental health" professional. Simply seeing your family/local doctor for meds is like looking for a needle in a haystack. He\she might get it right the first time...or maybe not.
This is not to take away from the family practitioner, it's (depression/anxiety) often something that they are not prepared to handle.
2006-12-22 16:46:38 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Everyone is different, and so everyone reacts differently to each and every medication, etc.
There are lots of different classes of antidepressants, and within each class there are a number of different meds.
Unfortunately, there is no magic answer for anyone. You will need to keep working with your doctors to find the right med or combination of meds for you and for now.
Good luck.
2006-12-22 16:36:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Depending on your symptoms...adding a mild sedative, if overly anxious is a good idea for a couple of months under Dr.'s care of course. It does take 6 weeks for anti-depressents to work...and the dose is gradully increased weekly until you feel better. See your Dr. weekly until you are feeling better.
2006-12-22 16:37:58 · answer #7 · answered by debhofsoy 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
None of those worked for me either. Now I take Effexor, which has worked wonders. Don't give up! Sometimes it takes 20 trials to find what works for u!
2006-12-22 17:30:41 · answer #8 · answered by XXXDirtyDirtyGirlXXX 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you are not chemically inbalanced which would explain why they are not working. Try looking at your depression and understand why you are depressed. Counselling helps a ton, and if you need to keep taking meds, I suggest try doing both, and trying lower doses of the meds you are taking. You could be over medicating yourself for no reason.
2006-12-22 16:34:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Don't give up! Luckily for us there are many different meds to try. One will eventually work for you.
In my case it turned out I was bi-polar & when I started getting meds for that the meds for my depression worked too.
2006-12-22 16:35:19 · answer #10 · answered by Judith 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋