Do antidepressants ever NOT work???

[Wills]

I'm on Efexor and every now and then I do actually manage to feel content but if its more than once a week as a small glimpse (weekend with kids) then I'm lucky. After dd1 was born I had PND and Efexor worked brilliantly. I've told my gp that its not working (I've been on it now for almost 8 weeks) but she says that given all my stresses I'm expecting miracles. V. briefly my dh has been diagnosed with cancer, having returned to work after maternity leave they are trying to make me redunant, and I have the mother from hell who is not talking to me but sending me awful emails because I hired a nanny.

Is the gp right? If so what's the point of the antidepressants? I'm feeling sooo black at the moment - the world feels so overwhelming!

Oh and I've skipped my period - please let this be down to stress pleeeease - absolutely no mistakes were made!

Sorry to hear that you're feeling so black at the moment. Depression is an awful place to be. If it's any consolation, I'm taking Citalopram which is now (most of the time) working well - but it took almost three months and doubling the dosage from 20mg to 40mg before it began to kick in. I think sometimes GPs don't realise how long ads sometimes take to begin to have an efect, and expect you to be bright and cheerful in a couple of weeks - in my experience that's not the case.

How would you feel about asking your GP to review the dose? If she won't, then you could ask to be referred to a psychiatrist - they know far more about ads than GPs do, and are often more happy to suggest types and dosages of ads that GPs wouldn't.

THinking of you and hoping things start to look up soon.

Wills, sorry you are having such a rough time atm. Yes, it is possible for antidepressants not to "work" - some medication just doesn't suit people, or they aren't taking a high enough dose. The not "working" might mean that they are not lifting somebody's mood sufficiently or not sufficiently to justify the side effects.

I think that your GP may be right - it may be that the medication is working in the sense that it is lifting your mood slightly, but, given the huge stress that you are under, in particularly with your husband, that even with an "improved" mood you are feeling pretty damn awful. which is I think, how just about anyone would with the combination of stresses you are facing. is increasing the medication an option? or having counselling?

re:skipping your period. it could of course be down to stress, but afraid that the only way you would know for sure would be to do a PG test i think it would be a good idea to do a test as that may impact on your GPs decisions re:taking Effexor; if you were PG and wished to continue with the PG, it may be advisable to take different meds/not to increase your dose.

wills, firstly massive sympathy for your situation, we've talked before about you r nightmare mother. I had no idea about all your other problems but they do sound particualarly hard and it is not surprising that you feel so black.

Apologies as I have never actually taken ads so no direct experience but I would say from a common sense angle that no ads can make your life 'happy' if the happiness is not there to start with. It may be that the efexor is lifting you just enough to get through the day.

I would say you need to talk, talk, talk - any chance of counselling, could you afford to go privately?
x E

Agree with enid- It's normal to feel depressed in your situation, there would be something wrong if you didn't. So maybe you meds are helping you to cope better than you would without them. I know that isn't really helpful to you. And yes you you do need to go back to you gp and ask about counselling. Take care-thinking of you.

yes, mine (fluxetine) do not work, am going to gp tomorrow to ask to change. am already on double dose and have had pnd since dd born(18 months. tried three different ones and others had nasty side effects but these make be shatterd during day, twitchy, my face sweats when am nervous(eurgh..i know, have unvoluntary leg movements and cant get to sleep on a night!

I would definitely agree with enid, there are loads of outside reasons for you feeling like this. There is also a great deal of evidence that different anti-depressants work for different people, almost certainly because of genetic make-up. Unfortunately it's a question of trial and error to get the right one for you, but you do have such a lot to deal with it may not do any more than help you cope. Have a big hug, at least

Message withdrawn

Thanks everyone. I'm off to see my gp tommorrow and wanted to have some understanding of other perspectives prior to going. She wants to sign me off sick (stress) and I'm close to saying yes. My concern is that I might simply sit at home and worry instead.

I do have a fantastic counsellor but we pay for her privately and its not cheap at £50.00 a session. She is helping so I'm going to see if my private health care will pay for it or if not if my gp will let me do it NHS as we are running out of money.

I have summoned up the courage and bought a pregnancy testing kit. Will test tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed.

Good luck with the doctor (and the test). I agree with the others - you really have such a lot to cope with at the moment. AD's may help to deal with situations but they wont take away the problems so think its v good that you are seeing a counsellor as well. Do you have any support from any other family members?
In my own experience AD's can definately take much much longer than the standard 2-4 weeks drs often talk about.
Hope it all starts to improve soon.
Kizziex

hi wills
i have had pnd for three years now, and have had so many different tablets i have lost track, i have now been on prozac for five months, and just like you still have my off days, i have also just been through a bad patch, due to leaving my violent partner, and when i went back to the doctors he said the same as yours im expecting a miracal and just to take each day as it comes. Well that is very easy for him to say when i have to wake up most morning just hoping for the world to end, do you feel the same?
im sorry to hear about your dh, that must of been such a shock to say the least, and my heart goes out to you,
i think you periods may be due to stress but if it is getting you down go and see your doctor then at least you will have one thing clear in your head.
i think your mother is being very childish, if she knows what you are going through rite now, why would she want to make you feel any worse? i hope this has helped you to realise you are not alone, and all the mums here are her to support you take care