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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Owen on February 16, 2003, at 14:02:31
Hi everyone,
I thought depression was finally behind me. I haven't had any significant mood problems for the last few months and my Zoloft dose is down to 50mg. I was thinking of gradually getting off the medication and declaring victory.
This weekend I got stuck without my medication. Within 48 hours everything came back. The first signs were delusions of being able to single-handedly revolutionize psychiatric medicine. The next day everything felt too difficult to handle, negative thoughts racing, feelings of hopelessness. The whole fireworks show.
Then I took a pill, napped for two hours and my mind was crystal clear again.
If someone else had told me this story I know I would be a bit incredulous. Can it really work so quickly? When I first started it took weeks to get the first results. Has anyone here experienced anything similar?
BTW, I have recently been diagnosed with ADD which seems to account for most of the remaining problems that didn't quite fit the 'depression' label. With a correct diagnosis at last, things are starting to look really bright (in spite of the latest hiccup).
Posted by daizy on February 16, 2003, at 14:15:38
In reply to Reaction to missed doses, posted by Owen on February 16, 2003, at 14:02:31
> Hi everyone,
>
> I thought depression was finally behind me. I haven't had any significant mood problems for the last few months and my Zoloft dose is down to 50mg. I was thinking of gradually getting off the medication and declaring victory.
>
> This weekend I got stuck without my medication. Within 48 hours everything came back. The first signs were delusions of being able to single-handedly revolutionize psychiatric medicine. The next day everything felt too difficult to handle, negative thoughts racing, feelings of hopelessness. The whole fireworks show.
>
> Then I took a pill, napped for two hours and my mind was crystal clear again.
>
> If someone else had told me this story I know I would be a bit incredulous. Can it really work so quickly? When I first started it took weeks to get the first results. Has anyone here experienced anything similar?
>
> BTW, I have recently been diagnosed with ADD which seems to account for most of the remaining problems that didn't quite fit the 'depression' label. With a correct diagnosis at last, things are starting to look really bright (in spite of the latest hiccup).
>Could it be that you arent supposed to just stop your meds straight away? It could just be a withdrawal effect, this happens when you stop straight away. If you are thinking of coming off the meds, you should reduse your dose slowly, to minimise these effects, they are normal when discontinuing and should go away gradually.
Posted by linkadge on February 17, 2003, at 12:09:03
In reply to Re: Reaction to missed doses » Owen, posted by daizy on February 16, 2003, at 14:15:38
The brain gets used to these meds weather you need them or not. If a non depressed person took
an ssri for long enough they would expereience some withdrawl from abrupt discontinuation. You need to taper as much as possible.What I'm concerned about is the reaction that
you did have. Having grandiose delusions, and thought racing are symptoms of bipolar.Whatever you do, do it slowly, and when you're feeling good, be extremely hesitent about making changes.
Linkadge
Posted by Owen on February 17, 2003, at 15:09:33
In reply to Re: Reaction to missed doses, posted by linkadge on February 17, 2003, at 12:09:03
> The brain gets used to these meds weather you need them or not. If a non depressed person took
> an ssri for long enough they would expereience some withdrawl from abrupt discontinuation.Thanks, that's good to know. So my depression might actually be gone for real, not just held in check by the SSRI?
> You need to taper as much as possible.
I did say I was going to get off the medication gradually. The abrupt discontinuation was not intentional.
> What I'm concerned about is the reaction that
> you did have. Having grandiose delusions, and thought racing are symptoms of bipolar.During the course of my illness I was never really manic. I did have mood upswings, but they seemed quite appropriate. My therapist decided not to consider it bipolar. I heard that racing thoughts are quite typical when a person with ADD develops a depression-like mood disorder.
Were these really delusions and not in touch with reality? Hard to tell. I know that I am unusually talented in many fields, I just can't bring it to practice most of the time because of chronic procrastination (I now know it's ADD). When I do manage to focus and finish things they can be quite extraordinary.
I have only recently been diagnosed with ADD. I am not taking any stimulants yet. Anyone has any recommendations?
O.
This is the end of the thread.
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