Why aren't any antidepressants working?

Question

I've been on many different antidepressants for the past 3-4 years for major depression and OCD. This is what happens with each one. For the first few months, I feel great. Then it stops working and I feel like **** again and have to go on another. This is ridiculous. Not even the most powerful medications can make me permanently feel better. My doctor suggested ECT if all else fails, but I fear the dreaded memory loss effects. Then again, most of my memories over the past 3 years are ones I wouldn't mind forgetting...What is your opinion of the situation? Should I just keep trying different medications over and over for the rest of my life (I don't see any end in sight to the depression), give up and do ECT and lose memories, or is there another alternative?

Answer 1

could be your not on the right ones yet. not sure, but my meds have been changed so many times since i was first diagnosed, like in 5th grade that i've often thought the same as you, about giving up on the meds and trying ECT. Just hang in there, something will help, it has too

Answer 2

You know with all the medication out there in the fielf I would like to think that you can find one that suits you just fine in deed I would and you by the way things sound you need something that does work. I'm going to try to give you some oppinions here. The dopomine levels in your brain seem to take well to the medication at first but, then it seems that your brain starts to have a higher need for more Dopomine levels or something else. Maybe you have been on anti deprssants for so long that your body is rejecting them, who knows. You probally need a lot of Dopamine levels in your brain to feel half way ok and that is not your fault. You also, are probally in some pain as well. OK here is where this pain factor comes in with the depression. I think you need to try to talk to your Family Doctor and ask him to place you on a anti depressant called "Cymbalta" this type medication is good for depression and also it helps pain for some reason. Maybe due to the Dopopmine levels again. Some people say it is the drug sent from God, while other people say it almost killed them when taking this medication. Just be safe about the medicine when you are prescribed it. Your Doctor might not tell you that it might work for you or it might not. Be smart about it. When you take this medication. If you start to feel bad and your heart is racing then get off of it. And if it really helps you then , you can honestly say that it is a good drug. Which ever. I really hope this helps you some. I hope you start to feel better soon. God Bless you!

Answer 3

I was first diagnosed with depression in 2001. It was a mild case. It worsened in 2003, and got really bad in 2006 (suicidal thoughts). I have tried many different medications during this time. When you tell your doctor that the medication isn't working after 3-4 months, does he/she give you a higher dosage, or does he/she just switch the medication?

From my experience, the doctor started me on a low dosage, and then slowly raised it. When I switched from Prozac to Lexapro, she had me take the Lexapro (20mg) daily, and the Prozac (40mg) every other day. I did this for the first week, and then continued with the Lexapro. She did it this way so I wouldn't have a drop in Serotonin levels (which could be dangerous).

In my opinion, I would use ECT as a last resort. Treatment for depression doesn't involve medications alone. Therapy goes hand in hand with the medication.

It's your body, and your choice...but my opinion is that I would try to avoid ECT for as long as possible.

Answer 4

I have one VERY important question. The doctor you are seeing... is this a primary care doctor or a psychiatrist? I know i will get a lot of hate with this, but if it is not a psychiatrist then there is your first problem. Unfortunately the primary care docs do not really know what they are doing in the mental health realm.

My second question is if you have actually been diagnosed with the disorders you mentioned above by a mental health professional?

You cannot rely on medications alone to take care of all your symptoms. At best they will simply make them not as over-whelming for you. The rest you have to figure out other tricks to deal with them, and hope they fade away with age. I would suggest setting up an appt. to see a therapist before you do anything else. ECT is VERY serious business... and should be used as a last resort.

Answer 5

I have two things for you to consider: (let me preface with saying that I also suffer your same trials) You have only been trying for 3-4 years so you might give it more time but be very aggressive with getting your meds right. I have found the right combinations of meds 3 times and if I feel some part of me slipping then I do my own research and talk with my doctor about the new possibilities. They may have even misdiagnosed you. Go online and check out the different symptoms and see which ones feel like the way you feel. You may have a combination of disorders which respond to different meds.Also: if you decide to do the ECT I have seen other people have wonderful results from it.God Bless

Answer 6

The drugs dont work because they are simply a mask for the real problem. Like alcohol, they work for a brief time and then the body fights them and you need stronger or different medication to achieve the same results. Unfortunately for you, you have been lied to. Depression is not a chemical imbalance in the brain to start with. Check out www.cchr.org for the truth about those drugs you are taking and ECT. Nasty stuff, barbaric and murderous.
I do suggest that you have a complete set of tests done and find out if your body is lacking vitamins or minerals etc, before going to anything else.

Answer 7

The issue is not that the antidepressants aren't working. I'm assuming you are on some sort of SSRI, SNRI or SSNRI medication like Prozac, Effexor, Paxil, Luvox, Remeron etc. The problem with these drugs is that they actually cause permanent brain damage. Your doctor will flat out deny this because he or she does not want to get sued.

However, take a look at the situation this way. What does SSRI stand for? It stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. The name of the class of the drug implies brain damage. When you artificially try to prevent the reuptake of serotonin in trillions of synapse in your brain, your brain will try and fight off the medication, but will ultimately fail. Your brain becomes chemically imbalanced and damage is done to multiple areas of the brain.

You can develop permanent sexual dysfunction after discontinuation called Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, as well as other iatrogenic problems like memory loss, dizziness, apathy, mania, psychosis etc.

It is important to know that you should never discontinue any psychiatric medication in a cold turkey fashion. You need to talk to your doctor about discontinuing at a rate of no faster than 10% of the dose you are on now per week. For example , if you are taking 20mg of Prozac daily, you must not drop down to any dose lower than 18mg of Prozac and then drop down 2mg more each week until you are all done. You have to use a compound pharmacy in order to get this precise dose. I do not recommend liquid titration or pill cutting, so make sure you see a compound pharmacist.

You will experience withdrawal symptoms which your doctor will probably call part of your illness, but trust me, everything you are experiencing is because your brain has been "scrambled" by the drugs.

As for ECT, that is probably your worst option. The brain damage that ECT causes is far worse than that of any psychiatric medication. Permanent, severe memory loss is common with ECT. Again, doctors don't like to admit that this causes brain damage, but think about ECT way. Would you like to be hit by a bolt of lightning? Probably not. Ok, so if you don't want to be electricuted, why would you want to get ECT? They are shocking your brain causing an "electrical lobotomy" so to speak, which is usually worse than the "chemical lobotomy" caused by psychiatric drugs.

Answer 8

I can understand how you feel it took me a long time to find some medication that worked. I have two questions that you should think about. Has your doctor changed doses or does he just change medications? Has he ever tried to give you more than one medication at the same time? Besides the medication that I take for the things like pain and high blood pressure I take three things for depression and for sleep and one for anxiety. It has helped me focus and to basically stop the anxiety unless something really bad happens in the family.

Answer 9

This is happening due to you having a very healthy body. Get AIDS or get beat up really bad and then you will be less healthy.

Your body is supposed to fight off the effects of any drugs and that is what it is doing. It is called homeostasis but when I did a search for this word, I did not see this definition. Your body wants to control it, not some drug.

See site below to help depression naturally and see that those anti-depressants are not approved of by FDA to be used for more than 6 months.

Answer 10

It's normal for anti-depressants to stop working, it happens in a majority of cases. If you're sticking with the same doctor, maybe you can work out a rotation of meds, so you take one for 3-4 months, then switch, on a regular schedule. Unless you are severely psychotic, ECT should not be an option.