Go on youtube and you will find tons of stories about families who suspect their loved ones committed suicide after taking an antidepressant.

My reaction to cetalopram after only 3 days was so severe there was no way I was going to "wait and see" for 3 more days, 3 more weeks, or 3 more months. Maybe if there was an absolute guarantee that the drug would take affect, maybe. But there is no guarantee. It is a "shotgun" approach of just shooting out a bunch of different AD's and hoping one will work. My doctor did not give me a benzo prescription when I called her almost hysterical, which is recommended for AD induced agitation, I don't know. I wasn't going to put up with symptoms of suicidal ideation while not even knowing if they drug was going to be helpful. People here on Psych Central recite all of this on and on, as if we have not heard it before. The whole thing about "wait and see" etc. This really does not address the fact that many medications stop working (what used to be known as the Prozac poop-out) and need to be switched, or dosage played with. For some of this, this is not medicine but akin to a voodoo witch doctor playing around with our mental health...so much smoke and mirrors.

There is something to be said about self-management when possible. If one antidepressant is making things worse I see absolutely no reason to wait and see or try another drug in the same family. That just strikes me as bad medicine.