I have been taking anti-depressants for almost 4 months.
Am I supposed to notice any change? I havent noctied a change at all. Currently I am on 150 mg of effexor and still deeply depressed. Should I get a higher dosage, change meds, or give them more time??

If the medication isn't helping, then you should speak to your doctor about it. Are you also getting therapy to help deal with your issues?

It completely depresses me just thinking about how many people are taking antidepressants needlessly. There are some people with legitimate problems that need medication. I think it is very overused and misunderstood by most people.

I think in many cases, drugs such as this are nothing more than a band aid that prevents people from uncovering and working through the real source of their depression. It takes work. A drug doesn't.

If you don't feel this drug is helping you, get off of it. Talk to your doctor first. He/she may want to taper your dose down. Go to counseling. If you have to visit ten different ones to find one you think is right for you, do it. It's your life. Make something worthwhile of it. This takes work on your part. It's worth it.

Wildflower said exactly what I would have said!

Unless there is a chronic chemical imbalance, anti-depressants should be used as an aid, not a cure.

Therapy to work through the problem is the real answer. Also like Wildflower said, if one doctor doesn't help, try another!
The only therapist who really helped me was the first one I went to. A year later, insurance forced me to change. Pathetic reason, huh?

I've tried several different anti-depressants, on the highest dosages allowable, and they were NOT the answer!
I eventually learned from hard experience to let go of the past, among other things. But if I'd had the right doctor, it may have been a quicker, easier path.

Don't wait for things to NOT work out on their own. Find a doctor who will work with you -
You're worth it, Peach!

PS - Effexor made me too tense. If your doctor wants you to take meds, you may want to try a different one.

Godspeed! --Mitzi
Texan-In(Been there, done that!)Exile

Most doctors start a patient out on a low dose of medication to see how it is tolerated. If it doesn't seem to be effective, maybe the dose is too low. Go see the doctor again and see what he has to say.
Also, antidepressants may have more of an effect if used in conjunction with counciling. Of course each individual case is different. Good Luck!


twinhearts

There is some good advice here and some not-so-good. I just read in the paper the other day that the medical community is now doubting the efficacy of "talk" therapy. I take Effexor and it has been most helpful to me. You may need Prozac or Paxil or Wellbutrin or something else - there is no way to tell without trying them, unfortunately. Be sure also, that if you are suffering depression and not manic-depression, that they give you an actual antidepressant and not a mood stabilizer. I was in therapy for years but it didn't help, not until I found the right antidepressant was I helped. Effexor is certainly not a "bandaid" for me, it's the reason I'm still alive. Remember also that many drugs need several weeks to kick in. See your doctor again.

Catty (who would remind everyone again that there is a difference between situational and clinical depression)

I had been prescribed mood altering drugs myself and I hated taking them and others that they had me on for my ADD. I just quit taking mine and would advise that this is probably not the way to do it at least all at once. I did so against all medical advice. I know I should have taperd off of them but I was stubborn. Tho, I am still off of them now and do not want to go back on them I am trying a herbal drug now instead.

This is the way thak kind of med is supposed to work:
1- you go to a therapyst and he gives you a diagnose
2- He chooses what medication is best for you
3- you take the med while going you your therapyst AT LEAST once a week. During each session he checks up how your med is doing. If you are not improving he is supposed to increase the dosage or change your med.
4- The medication is supposed to take effect after two weeks (a month max).

Perfect Peach: Please let me know if you have been doing all of these steps. If you have any questions don´t hesitate to write me at my e mail.

Lucy

Yes, I do go to therapy, but my therapist doesnt prescribe my meds because he is only a psychologist.

In response to your last post - do go to the doctor who prescribed the meds and ask about a dosage change. Everyone is offering you their opinion on depression and medicine. But you just want to know about the effect of effexor. So to answer that, if the doseage is correct it can take up to 2 months to FULLY get in your system and cause a change.

Now to address the other comments about therapy. I used to be totally against treating depression with meds. To me it seemed like it was a way of masking a deeper problem - a mental problem. But then I started reading up the latest findings by doctors and scientists. And some (and I don't mean ALL) depression is actually a chemical embalance in the brain involving the neuro-transmitters. All the therapy and counseling in the world will not correct a phsyiological problem. So it is important to get a proper diagnosis before determing if meds will help out.

Good luck and let me know what the doc says!

Totally agree with you!

Peach, you must also have regular visits to the doctor that is prescribing the drugs. Have you told your therapyst that you think you need more med?

These things may take a lot more time than we think they should. Go and ask your doctor for advice on this one. He can help you the best.

I have to disagree with the comments made about over abuse of anti-depressants. I think that could be the case in some instances but when I was dealing with my depression my doctor put me on Celexa at first. I like you didn't notice any thing. He then put me on Prozac. I took this one for a year and I was a walking zombe. I would get up and get my oldest on the school bus and go back to bed until the baby woke up. I would nap with him each time. I could hardly function. I now ask my self WHY did I do this for a year. My doctor says that when you are depressed you have a hard time seeking help. If you feel your drug is not doing any thing then call your doctor. My doctor did not want to try any thing else he wanted me to go to a shrink. Mean while I got off the Prozac. I felt better then winter came and I got sick again (bronchitis) I have asthma and every time my kids got sick I got it and it would go straight to my chest. Needless to say when spring came I could not take it any more, I was tired all the time and so I found a doctor and they started me on Wellbutrin. I feel great. It took about 2 -3 months for the actually best effect. She told me that some drugs work well for some and don't work at all for others. So please call your doctor. If they are not willing to help call your OBGYN and ask them for help. My OB is the one that suggested the Wellbutrin and that is what the shrink put me on. I was told that depression can come when a person gets sick. Something triggers in their brain and it occurs. I would not be better today by just talking like Wildflower and Tex suggested. I was a slug I was so tired I could hardly function of coarse I also had a cold all the time. My doctor also told me that when you are depressed you are sick more often because depression suppresses the imune system. Maybe effexor is not the right drug or the right dose. We had to increase my Wellbutrin from 150mg to 450mg. But I tell you I feel better than I have in years. I wish you luck. Let me know what happens.

Straightening out your life is more important than straightening out a drug that is not effective. I haven't found talk therapy incredibly effective either. What I have found effective is knowing myself and doing what needs to be done in order to reduce stress and find a better way of living. It doesn't necessarily take a medication to do that. As a matter of fact, the medications can make you so complacent that you are satisfied with status quo and never get off you butt to do a thing to make positive change occur.

I agree with Wildflower in straightening out your life also. Some people need medication to help them. All the therapy in the world was not going to help me by it self I needed DRUGS. So my best advice it to call your doctor and talk with him/her and see what they say. If they are not willing to help like in my case find a shrink. Call your insurance and find out who you can see and go from their. If the drug you are on is not helping I would call my doctor. I took one of mine for a long time and it just made me a slug. I asked my Doctor why I would do that for so long and she said that when you are depressed it is so hard to have the energy to seek help. In some people suggestions that you need to change your way of life if you are truely depressed and a chemical thing is happening in your brain you CAN'T get off your butt and change your life. So please talk to some one and find out what might be right for you. I know a couple of nurses that tried 2 or 3 anti-depressants before they found one that was right for them. They are also talking to someone. My friends shrink told her it sometimes take a year to get medications straighten out to where they beneifit you the patient for the best. Good Luck again let us know.

Well, here are my two cents. The effectiveness of taking medication and/or undergoing talk therapy should be measured on an individual basis. You have to find what is right for you. It isn't right to make blanket statements insinuating that taking meds is some sort of a cop out. Some of us are stronger than others, can endure more discomfort. Some of us are blessed with a little more hope, and have it in ourselves to work a little bit harder at getting well. Some have horrific pasts that make it harder for them to cope. In addition, while we may have all the same parts, our individual systems sometimes need a little help to remain balanced.

That said, a year ago I was experiencing panic attacks. I used breathing exercises to deal with them, but they didn't always work. I started talk therapy (no meds), and began reading important books. I learned a lot about myself and why I felt so crazy. Within months, the panic attacks disappeared. I feel fortunate that it was that simple. And I continue to work on my behaviors so that I don't fall into the traps that I once did.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Wildflower63:
It completely depresses me just thinking about how many people are taking antidepressants needlessly.

---

I doubt you meant it this way, but I find this statement incredibly funny