Celexa at high dose not working!

Can't believe at 120mg of Celexa every day that my depression hasn't lifted yet. I still feel depressed and have bad thoughts I shouldn't be having. Theres no fun in my life any more no joy its all black and down hill. I even have problems writing this cause it takes energy to do it. I've been depressed all of my adult life and most of my childhood and wonder what it would be like to be normal for more than a week. It must be grand not to feel like its the end of the world consistantly and to have the energy to do things you like to do. Sigh! In my dreams.

Lin-Lin

That is nothing unusual, do not despair, SSRI's are not always the right meds, and for many people they poop out after awhile, I had that happen then was put on a new med, it has been the best so far, it is a mood stabilizer posessing anti-depressant qualities, I had been on mood stabilizers before with anti-depressants at the same time, the AD's pooped out so I the pdoc changed my meds, I no longer have to take AD's just my one med.
Sorry, I got carried away, I guess what I am trying to say is, do not give up, talk to a pdoc about the options.
Lots of luck with this all, I am cheering for you

DE

In giving advice seek to help, not please your friend
SOLON

I will be praying for you, I have had boughts with depression for the last several years but nothing compared to the last 6 months, so when you say that youve had it all your life and dont know how it is to feel normal that makes me feel really bad for you. I will double up my praying that something will work for you soon. Bless you and keep your chin up.
Love Tonya

Tonya Nicole

I think you meant this for the original poster, but thanks anyway

In giving advice seek to help, not please your friend
SOLON

hi amicyco2

i'm sorry if i missed this information posted elsewhere, but can i ask how long you have been taking the celexa? has your doctor tried any other depression medications? are you in therapy?

I'm asking because some people don't realize that it can take several weeks before a depression medication takes effect, and it takes about 6 weeks for most of them to have their full effect. so you have to be taking it for several weeks before you or the doctor can judge whether it is working for you or not.

There are also many many medications available nowadays for depression. if it turns out that celexa is not working for you, there are many medications to try, so there is a lot of hope. each med reacts differently in every person, so something that is a "miracle cure" for one person might have no effect on another. the tough part is that it required a lot of patience, since you have to give each med a good try of at least several weeks before deciding if it is working or if it is time to try something different. Just keep talking to your doctor about it and let him know what is going on.

Therapy will help a lot for improving things while you are waiting for the meds to do their stuff. therapy also teaches coping skills: ways to deal with occasional depression and how to recognize triggers for depression and avoid them in the future. in fact meds alone are often not enough to "cure" depression, the meds only adjust the chemical imbalance in the brain that makes recovery difficult or impossible. With the meds it is possible to work with your therapist and with other things toward a better life.

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--http://www.idexter.com

Dexter,
Thanks for your post. I've been on 10 different AD's w/o success and have been in therapy for 7yrs which is helping somewhat except now I have a problem with my new therapist.I've been on Celexa for 1yr at a low dose 60mg then the pharmacy made an error and I was on a super high dose of 180mg for 5mos which I saw dramatic results. I notified my doctors & nurse and in the 6th month it went back to 60mg which made me very depressed so I got permission to take it at a higher dose of 120mg only but its only been 2wks so maybe I need more time on it. I was a lot happier at 180mg but that was way over the federal guidlines so that won't be happening again. I still have suicidal thoughts and that scares me as well as cutting issues daily so its not just depression I'm dealing with. Hope this fills in some of your ? asked.

Lin-Lin

I would definitely give the 120 a chance for a few more weeks. You know that you do respond well to it at the higher dose so hopefully once it gets to a higher level in your system it will have good effects.

It seems like you are doing all the right things: staying in touch with your doctors, having therapy, etc. If things don't "warm up" with your new therapist will you able to try to find another?

Good luck with this. I hope you are also speaking with your doc or therapist about the bad thoughts and cutting.

Keep posting here for support and understanding as well. This is a very helpful community.

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--http://www.idexter.com

Yeeee-IKES! And I thought I was at a high dosage with 40 mgs! I didn't know you could take such high doses.

Lin, do you get headaches with your Celexa? Ever since I started on 40 mgs, I've been having headaches that won't go away with Tylenol.





<font color=blue>"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt" --Shakespeare</font color=blue>

How long have you been on Celexa?

Also if you have been on it for some time and find no change in your mood maybe you should try a different medication? It's best to talk to your doctor about this, tell her/him that you don't see a change and what to do, what the next step would be.

<font color=red>~Sundance~</font color=red>

<font color=blue>"Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business."</font color=blue>

<font color=black>Norman Vincent Peale</font color=black>