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Jerrypharmstudent · Mar 06, 2011, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SingDanceRunLife

I have multiple anxiety disorders (OCD and GAD) and because of that I am taking meds.

I was on Prozac a couple of years ago for about a year or so, and I liked it for the most part but stopped, after discussion with my doctor, because I was doing much better and didn't want to be on meds.

Fast forward to now(ish), and I decided that I needed to go back on meds. I went to the doctor (a GP), and said that I wanted to go back on meds, but didn't want to go back on Prozac because although it helped with my anxiety a ton it made me sluggish and gave me headaches. He said fine, and gave me Celexa. I took that for two weeks, and it was awful, and I knew that it wasn't the right drug for me. All I wanted to do was sleep, I was irritable, I didn't eat etc etc. I contacted my doctor again, and he decided that we should try something else, so he started me on Zoloft.

I've been on the Zoloft for a month now, 2 weeks on 25mg, 2 weeks on 50mg. I'm doing better than I was before -- I'm sleeping well, have more energy, and have more motivation, but I'm not sure if it's quite right. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but I still have more ups and downs/mood swings than I would like (there are what seems like a lot!), don't have as much energy as I would like when I'm down and such. I'm thinking that maybe Zoloft isn't the right med for me, but at the same time, it's only been a month, so maybe I should wait more?

How do you know if your meds are right for you? Help! I'm thinking that this isn't right!

To give you a better picture and help you understand my situation a bit more...the week before last, I felt really happy and I was chipper and all that. Last week, I had a terrible week and was just not happy, didn't have energy etc. Over the weekend, I was feeling antisocial, wanted to sleep all the time etc. Monday I had a so-so day but was up late (about 1am, I usually like being in bed by 11:30pm). Yesterday, I woke up early, about 6:45am, and all day I was really super agitated and irritable. Then later on, I switched and was calm and chipper. Again, I was up late (about 2am), and this morning, I woke up at 9am. I'm kind of tired, but part of that is that I went to Zumba -- a great thing to do when you have tons of excess energy and can't sit still which is what I was like earlier today...so I don't know exactly what's up, but I know something is off.

Opinions?

SDRL-

You must remember some key things when taking an AD:

- The med is NOT going to cure everything
- You are going to still have good days and bad days - the med does not stop bad days from happening
- You are going to have times when you feel aggitated, irritable, etc - this is normal human stuff

You say this med may not be the right med for you - however in your third paragraph you say how much it's helped you more than any other med and that you are feeling so much better. Sounds like the right med to me. And you've been on it what for two weeks? You cannot evaluate whether or not a med is right for you for at least 8-12 weeks. No not 4-6 weeks - 8-12 weeks at least. Yes, it takes that long with many people to get a good steady blood plasma level.

If after 8 weeks you're still having some of your symptoms, talk to your doc. He may suggest adding an adjunct med to help cover those -or even supplements.

If the med is working well for you at 2 weeks, just imagine how well it may work at 8 -12 weeks and beyond? Let the universe unfold as it should and try to calm your obsessive thoughts about whether this med is the right med. In my opinion, it is. And remember: you're human, you're going to have regular emotions - ups and downs, good days and bad days even on medications.

Hope this helps!

Jerry