Does Antidepressants effectiveness wear off with time ?

Hello everyone,

I would like to have some feedback on this one :

Does antidepressants effectiveness wear off with time ?

I took Paxil for 18 months, then the effectiveness was not so good. (He also told me people on Paxil tended to develop physiological dependace).

So he switched me to the antidepressant Effexor 3 years ago, 150 Mg. daily.

Then, 2 years also, having those feelings of emptiness again, he augmented the dose to 225 Mg.

I've no side effects, except when I miss my daily dose.

Now do you think I've been caught in a pharmacological spider's web ?

Thank You for your feedback,

Wondering Starbuck



Born in 1963 of French mom and Canadian dad. Studied a lot (Majors in History, Theology, M.A. in Sociology). Jobless for now. Just been diagnosed Borderline.

I wonder where it will go from here... But I'll try nonetheless.

Some people do, not everyone. Some people can take a med effectively for many years and then all of a sudden it doesn't work anymore and they have to switch to something else.

So yes, it is a possibility, so it is important to keep your doc informed if you feel anything is "off."

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-- http://www.idexter.com

Hi Dexter,

Thank you for your reply.

Ok, I'll try to have a follow-up, I think it might be time to change, I'm so used to feeling sad that I dunno the difference...

I forgot how those meds. put me back up and standing in 1999.

Take care,

Starbuck

Born in 1963 of French mom and Canadian dad. Studied a lot (Majors in History, Theology, M.A. in Sociology). Jobless for now. Just been diagnosed Borderline.

I wonder where it will go from here... But I'll try nonetheless.

hi Starbuck, welcome btw..........

I've had to try many different antidepressants because they would work for awhile and then just seem to quit.

Anytime you feel slightly "off", call your doctor.

Mary Alice

Starbuck, same thing has happened to me in the 20 yrs that I've had anxiety/depression. It happens sometimes.

I was on Paxil for quite some time and I never got addicted to it. But then I never got addicted to Xanax, either, and they say that is a really bad one for addiction. It's not that I'm not an addictive personality, either, because I've smoked since I was 13. I'm a grandma now. LOL

The best thing to do is not worry about it until and IF it happens.





<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>

Thanks PlanningtoExist and SeptemberMorn !

My med. is getting its effectiveness back. Two weeks ago, it was'nt so good. I also have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and the winter is sooooooooo long here in Canada...

It's nice to see longer days coming back again !

Take care both of you,

Sincerely,

Starbuck

Born in 1963 of French mom and Canadian dad. Studied a lot (Majors in History, Theology, M.A. in Sociology). Jobless for now. Just been diagnosed Borderline.

I wonder where it will go from here... But I'll try nonetheless.

<font color=blue>I have to say yes, maybe not with all anti depressant but it did with me and Zoloft... I was on it for 7 yrs.... so that is a long time, and one day it just stopped working.. but it can happen... </font color=blue>

<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>

Ty sundance !

Born in 1963 of French mom and Canadian dad. Studied a lot (Majors in History, Theology, M.A. in Sociology). Just been diagnosed Borderline.

Morning Starbuck,

I realy think this depends on the person, their physiology, and the med. For instance, when I was going thru my trial trying to find the right med(s) for my bipolar, I tried several that worked for a short time, and then pooped out (a technical industry term). One that comes to mind was Wellbutrin. It made me feel great. We worked me up to my target dose (300 mgs I think), it worked well for about 2 weeks, and suddenly, nothing. I had other meds do the same, but I'm not sure which ones. I think Prozac was one. Then I found Zyprexa and Topamax, and they haven't failed me in three years. I haven't got a clue why. My doc is switching me from the Zy to Abilify, and I'm very worried about that. But he hasn't let me down yet, so I'll give it a shot.

This probably didn't help much, but I wanted to give you some feedback.

Greg

I noticed that some antidepressants do lose their effectiveness after a while. I noticed it with Zoloft, Wellbutrin, and Prozac. I'm now on Abilify and that seems to work pretty well so far. Don't give your hopes up. I think it does depend on the person, too.

Just remember, all meds affect people differently.

yeah I've had that happen too, I am on Effexor now as well and it works better than anything else i've tried but I have noticed it seems not to be doing as much as when i first started it.

For seasonal affective disorder I have heard that MAO inhibitors are quite effective. I don't have that myself but a friend of mine had it very severe. She tried ssris, as well as ECT, neither of which helped for more than a few months. then she finally went on an MAOI about a year ago, I forget which one -- she had avoided them before because there are a lot of tricky side effects, but it is still working and she is really doing great.

best of luck
cthonica

Hi cthonica, nice to meet you.

I've wrote the information down, Thank You very much !

Born in 1963 of French mom and Canadian dad. Studied a lot (Majors in History, Theology, M.A. in Sociology).

Hi,
Yes absolutely anti-depressents and anti-anxiety medications can start to feel not as effective as they once were. Your body gets used to them-and starts needing more of them to feel effective-be careful with paxil-it can in some cases worsen depression. good luck
ashley