How do you know when they WORK?

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This may be stupid, but how did you know when your meds worked?
If you have been depressed for a long time and been living like that, do you get "happy" .... or just gradual changes?

How did you know you found the right med??

How do you know when meds can't fix things?

Keep a mood log because it is hard to remember how you have been doing and to even guage it one day to the next. For me I start slowly coming out of it over two weeks and then one day just snap out of it like a switch went off. That has more to do with my cycles then meds though. With meds it is more gradual.

Every morning in my mood log I type how I slept, how rested I feel, how my mood is, how I did the day before. How did I eat and how was my appetite. How much did I sleep. Did I get out of the house...etc. you can look back over your log and see if you are improving.

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If you have been depressed and living like that for a long time what are your symptoms? Are you able to work? How much do you shower? Etc etc. for me when I am in a severe depression I just sleep. I don't shower. I don't leave the house. So it is kind of easy to tell when I snap out of it because all of my behavior totally changes. If you are in moderate depression and can function pretty good it is harder to tell. Keep a detailed mood log. Include what meds you are taking in it. Then if you switch meds you can go back and compare.

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Usually, for me it has been gradual changes, sometimes I haven't even noticed much difference but people around have noticed a change in my body language, so I look at people instead of the floor, also I will start to smile at people. One drug I was on I did just wake up "happy" about 3 weeks after starting to take it. That was wierd, but amazing too. Sadly the drug stopped working, not sure why, and after that all I got was side effects - I hadn't minded the side effects while the drug worked but once it stopped working I loathed the drug and the side effects.

As depression usually presents as a range of symptoms all with differing intensities, meds rarely offer a complete "fix", so they might help a lot with mood, but do nothing for poor sleep or they may be great for anxiety but cause emotional numbing. Given that, it is hard to know when a drug has worked, but I've found that most symptoms will subside (just some are slower than others) if the drug is going to work.

Generally, if none of your symptoms have improved after 8 to 12 weeks then it is fair to say the drug is probably not going to work. I'd also say that if your symptoms continue to get worse after about 4 to 6 weeks then the drug might be the wrong choice (although upping the dose could help).

One thing I've noticed is that the drugs are slower to work than the drug companies claim but also your doc will probably be on the slow side when saying that a med isn't doing it for you.

There are an awful lot of meds out there and even though I'm having huge problems finding the right one, I hope that meds will fix things eventually.

Some people get a lift straight after the first pill, but that.s nothing to do with the med. If you have been ill for quiet some time and been thinking and worrying about taking meds ,the first pill you take is relief to some. It means they finally made a decision and a doctor is on board But the rest is down to luck and the right med, good luck

For me and the antidepressants that worked, after maybe 4-6 weeks I could feel something happening, a sort of new feeling. Almost like I was a dark room and someone let a little light in. So for me it was very clear. After a few more weeks I had the full effect and life just felt different to me. Something that had seemed like an impossible chore became quite easy. Now I have never been completely nondepressed on meds, but big difference, yea. I noticed it most on my energy levels.

When I was on a different type of med, lamictal, I felt a huge difference the second day of treatment. I don't know if I would have had further bettering because I had to stop because a med allergy. But I know the med had an almost instant effect on me that was amazing. Instead of my head being filled with many and quite tedious and negative thoughts, my thought process sort of cleared up. Was like my head was a nice empty space that someone had cleaned and taken the garbage out, LOL.

When a med didn't work for me, I didn't really question my experience. I never asked anyone else if they saw a difference. Maybe I should have, but I didn't think that far.

For me, I started feeling better within about a week of starting my Lexapro. I was less nervous around people, and less irritated a lot of the time. I overall had a better outlook on life. When I started adding Lamotrigine to that, I felt even better. I would always have waves of just pure irritation and aggravation at the smallest things. Since I started taking Lamotrigine, I feel much more laid back.

I was on Lexapro for approximately one year and never felt it worked -
I switched to Cymbalta, but was on a low dose, and now that I have had an increase
in dosage, I will wait to see if this medication works better. If not, I will request another change

I don't know . . . I'm on my third AD now - - first viibryd, then Prozac now wellbutrin for a couple of weeks (but I think I was on wellbutrin in the recent past from a different doctor too). So far, the wellbutrin is not helping at all. I'm starting to wonder if anything ever will. I'm coming up on 8 months in this bipolar depressive episode. It really sucks. Too scared to try ECT.

I know almost right away, the depression lifts, the anxiety is less and I feel like I'm ready to live again. There is a big difference in how my body feels when I'm depressed.