Dear Anna
Welcome to the forum. This is a great place to talk about depression and what it does to us. Not very nice. But there are compensations one of which is how ready we are to help others going through the same stuff. I have found that helpful to me as well (hopefully) as the person I write to.
Not being a doctor of any sort I cannot comments on the medical side of antidepressants. I can give my understanding and experiences. It can take up to six weeks for the full effect of an AD to kick in though there should be smaller effects increasing during that time. I have heard several people say the same as you, the meds start off well then totally fade. The why and the how I don't know other than to say the first medication we try does not always give us long lasting relief.
Mostly people are given an AD from the SSRI group these days. There are heaps of different meds in this group all with different actions/side effects/depth of relief. It depends on your body chemistry as well as the way the meds work to make a good match. It sounds as though your particular AD may not be suitable for you which needs discussing with the doctor who prescribed it.
In many ways the choice is a lucky dip. While a doctor may know how this or that AD tends to work it's not a science. I tried many AD initially before settling with one that has side effects that were dreadful. The doctor had to give me another AD, this time from the SNRI group, to combat the side effects. Not a happy time. See your prescribing doctor and talk about what has happened. It may be this AD usually works in the way it has for you and then comes back. I'm sorry I cannot help with that.
However if you feel worse than when you started then please go back to the doctor and ask for a review. I know it's a nuisance and once persuaded to try medication it seems hard for it not to work. The thought of trialling different meds is horrendous I know but it is really the only way to get a good fit.
In the end i stopped taking meds from both groups and tried one from the original group of AD. To my astonishment it was great and really helped me. I am still taking it and have only one minor side effect. So all is not lost with meds, they can come to your aid. It's finding the right one is the difficult bit.
Please persevere and see your doctor soon.
Mary
