[sunnydisposition]

Im coming at 2 months this 25th of dec of Lexapro intake. and i dont think its helped my anxiety ( my primary concern) in any meaningful way. Is this when i should consider a switch?

[Rajjing]

Originally Posted by sunnydisposition

Im coming at 2 months this 25th of dec of Lexapro intake. and i dont think its helped my anxiety ( my primary concern) in any meaningful way. Is this when i should consider a switch?

Med inserts say 6 to 8 weeks for full effectiveness, take that as you will.

I've always either done a month before dosage or medication change unless there were immediate side effects.

[Nammu]

I usually give it 3 months unless there's bad side effects that are intolerable. Used to be in the early years the docs changed multiple drugs at the same time or quickly switched from one to another I no longer allow that. One drug at I time with a minimum of two weeks off before adding a new one.

[Nike007]

For me, I have switched medications when either side effects are bad, or the drug doesn’t work anymore. I haven’t experienced a time when a medication didn’t react with me in some way - good or bad.

Normally, if a med hasn’t been working that just started, my pdoc would increase the dose to see if that helps or if side effects were bad. And just kinda take it from here.

[kecanoe]

2 months

[Guiness187055]

3 months

Generally 3 months.

[marcoleap]

I think it depends on what kind of response you're seeing. If you are seeing some response to the drug within 2-3 months, then it might be worth staying with it a while longer. There is a difference between responding to a drug, experiencing a substantial remission of symptoms, and recovering from an episode of depression/anxiety. As an example, some studies of depression suggest that even with the combination of medication and therapy, it takes most people anywhere from 1.5 years to 3+ years to fully recover, where "recovery" is defined as 4 months of full remission of symptoms.

[sunnydisposition]

Originally Posted by marcoleap

I think it depends on what kind of response you're seeing. If you are seeing some response to the drug within 2-3 months, then it might be worth staying with it a while longer. There is a difference between responding to a drug, experiencing a substantial remission of symptoms, and recovering from an episode of depression/anxiety. As an example, some studies of depression suggest that even with the combination of medication and therapy, it takes most people anywhere from 1.5 years to 3+ years to fully recover, where "recovery" is defined as 4 months of full remission of symptoms.

Interesting information. Feels more realistic as well. none of that 6 week crap that internet keeps raving about. Thanks for sharing.

[tecomsin]

thank you to all the posters in this thread for useful information. Regarding relief from depression i've never been able to distinguish between mood cycling and any effect of medication.

Also about the 1.5 to 3+ years to recover from a bout of depression i would imagine that would be people with unipolar depression rather than bipolar...
(Please correct me if I am wrong marcoleap)

[marcoleap]

Originally Posted by tecomsin

thank you to all the posters in this thread for useful information. Regarding relief from depression i've never been able to distinguish between mood cycling and any effect of medication.

Also about the 1.5 to 3+ years to recover from a bout of depression i would imagine that would be people with unipolar depression rather than bipolar...
(Please correct me if I am wrong marcoleap)

Yes, the study that found 1.5 to 3+ years was for unipolar depression.

[Walkingwithspiders]

After being on so many different medications and combinations of medications, I was terrified of what my daughter's experience would be. She has social anxiety disorder with panic attacks. I was so grateful to find a doctor that started my doing a genetic test. It involved swabbing the inside of her mouth and a few weeks later we had a plan. Funny thing is that it covered a lot of non-psych meds and some over the counter things. She responded wonderfully right away. A few years later my sister (who has OCD) was in a partial program and wanted to talk about her fears regarding meds. She had tried a handful of medications, but not had much success. I mention the genetic testing and she asked her doctor. She is doing much better with less side effects. It is not perfect, but since there are a lot of mental health issues in our family I was really happy not to watch the people I love go through the endless tries and fails of medication attempts.

Maybe something to ask you doctor about. Also the test is offered on a sliding scale so the cost is variable depending on your income.

[sunnydisposition]

Originally Posted by Walkingwithspiders

After being on so many different medications and combinations of medications, I was terrified of what my daughter's experience would be. She has social anxiety disorder with panic attacks. I was so grateful to find a doctor that started my doing a genetic test. It involved swabbing the inside of her mouth and a few weeks later we had a plan. Funny thing is that it covered a lot of non-psych meds and some over the counter things. She responded wonderfully right away. A few years later my sister (who has OCD) was in a partial program and wanted to talk about her fears regarding meds. She had tried a handful of medications, but not had much success. I mention the genetic testing and she asked her doctor. She is doing much better with less side effects. It is not perfect, but since there are a lot of mental health issues in our family I was really happy not to watch the people I love go through the endless tries and fails of medication attempts.

Maybe something to ask you doctor about. Also the test is offered on a sliding scale so the cost is variable depending on your income.

I live in India and genetic testing is a rare thing to find. it's an excellent suggestion but im afraid id have to stick with trial and error method.