If AD's work for me - do they always work or will there still be fluctuations

Starz · ‎30-05-2014

I'm taking AD's and they have been working for me. Does that mean they'll always work for me or will I have times where things go haywire again. I know my mood etc won't be awesome all the time, natural fluctuations based on what's going on in my life will happen. But will the baseline stay stable?

Thanks for any advice

white knight · ‎30-05-2014

Hi again Starz

Best to ask your GP or google the medication and read.

I had 12 meds over 8 years before finally finding one that fitted for me. Some went 18 months then lost effect, others had no effect, now I've found the one spot on for me and life is great and somewhat stable.

🙂

geoff · ‎31-05-2014

dear Starz, I would like to welcome you to this site.

That's a very good question and the answer on this can vary from person to person, but can I ask you how long you have been on this AD for.

The other fact to consider is to the amount of mgs you are taking and whether this too is the max dose, if it's not the full dosage then your GP or psychiatrist can increase the amount but this will depend on whether you appear to be falling back into depression, hopefully not.

At the moment I am on the max dosage for my AD and if for any reason I fall on my sword again then he will have to change my antidepressant.

Can I say to you is that you may have a relapse, but by having a relapse may mean that it's only for a few days and then you get back onto your feet, like I did last year when I had to put my little dog to sleep, so I had a relapse, but I knew that I was going to get better in a few days, and because I thought to myself that this would happen I knew that it wouldn't last for very long.

So at the moment my 'baseline' is stable and I have been on the AD for 17 years, give or take.

When I did have this relapse my GP wanted to change AD's but I said 'let's wait for a few weeks', because personally I hate changing medication, going through any side-effects and whether it works or not, and normally I always get sick.

Let us know about your AD. Geoff.

Starz · ‎01-06-2014

Thanks for the welcome. I'm finding the forums such a reassuring place. It's so freeing to be able to ask all the questions that I want and get answers from people who have been there done that, or are going through the same.

Not on the max AD dose as yet Geoff. I started 7 weeks ago on AD 1(SSRI) and had side effects so the Dr changed me to a second (SNRI) but had the same issues, she just changed me 3 weeks ago to AD#3 (SNRI also) to see if it worked any better, the side effects vanished but the depression came back like a cricket bat after about 5-7 days on AD#3. We have just increased the dose 5 days ago and seems to be having good effects depression wise in the last couple of days finally.

Of course I want to get settle on a medication that works (with the least side effects possible) but I also don't want to settle for no sex drive. At the moment though I am kind of leaning towards one that works for the depression and dealing with the side effects as it happens. Most important thing first I think is to get the depression under control since I was spiraling out of control for so long.

geoff · ‎01-06-2014

dear Starz, thanks for getting back to us.

The most important side-effect is for the loss of sex drive, and really this is so important, could I ask how old you are.

If there is a choice between getting the depression under control and having no sex drive would depend on the age of the person, but I'm sure both are neither what anybody wants.

Hope to hear from you. Geoff.

Starz · ‎01-06-2014

I'd also like to say Geoff how sorry I am for you having to put your little dog down. We have 2 wonderful dogs who have literally saved my life some days. Their constant and unwavering love was all I felt like I had at times. I can't imagine how hard it was for you to have to do that. I hope the pain has lessened some and that you can remember the amazing happy times you no doubt gave each other.

Starz · ‎03-06-2014

I'm 37 Geoff, and yes it is very important. It's a funny one, before I didn't feel like sex because my head wasn't in the right place, now my head is in the right place and my body doesn't want to play ball.