alright, here's my situation... I take 100 mg of Zoloft daily for severe depression. it worked at first, but now it seems to have lost it's effect.

I put in a call to my doctor, who is on vacation until friday, and i didn't want to talk to any of the other doctors in the office about this.

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

if so, what did you do? I dont know whether to up the zoloft on my own to 200 mg, then taper off and try another pill, or whether to ween myself off of the zoloft and see how i am, or whether to follow the doctor's orders on friday.

any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Stop taking the drugs, be happy with yourself, what ever your faults are. As soon as you can free those feeling you can be happy.

It is a mind set. I joke around and tell people they need to be on meds, I really dont feel this way. If you want to be happy your going to be.

it's not so much a question of my faults, its more of a frame of mind that i can't get out of.

it's not just a feeling, its an illness. I'm entirely happy with myself, but i'm always negative. mental illness runs in my family, which is where my doctor thinks my depression stems from.

Zoloft appears to be SSRI, or selective seratonin uptake inhibitor. My best guess is that your seratonin levels and reception are no longer the problem (if they ever were). Now, if you're feeling okay, don't take drugs. That's piece of advice number one. Piece of advice number two is seek alternate antidepressants, as well as therapy.

You could try TCA's (Tricyclic Antidepressants). 60% of people who don't respond to SSRIs respodn to them, apparently. I would ask your doctor about Elavil or Toframil if it's really that big of a problem.Last ditch, you can try Nardil. If that doens't work, you might have to augment your dosages with anticonvulsants, lithium, or other unpleasantness. I'd hate to see that happen. Best of luck, chummer.

DE

Why are you depressed?

Sol'n: Try affirmations...

Drugs are designed to loose their effect. Soon the doc will prescribe a more powerful drug or get you to take the zoloft in higher doses. In which case it is reasonable to assume that the drug has control of you, and the question of whether you can think for yourself becomes blurred.

It is not uncommon to plateau on an SSRI antidepressant after awhile of being on it. There are so many different antidepressants to try, including the trycylics, and many help some which don't help others, etc. Everyone's
brain chemistry is unique and sometimes several kinds of pills must be tried before you find the right one for you, or a combination of more than one pill.

I recommend you never alter the dose or cease taking a medicine without your doctor's knowledge and approval. Most drugs of this nature should be tapered off gradually, not abruptly stopped.

Is your diagnosis just depression? Not "manic depression" or other diagnosis in addition to that?

I really liked Prozac but found I kept plateauing on it, where it didn't help after awhile. Celexa is an excellent SSRI antidepressant but I was a little too hyped up on it (way too happy and people noticed). I've been on Zoloft for 1 1/2 years now, and recently my doc upped the dose from 50 to 100 mg., because I'm going through some challenging circumstances i.e. job loss, hand surgery tomorrow, etc.)

Elavil is supposed to be one of the newer, better drugs and works similar to Celexa. Other drugs as Buspar, Wellbutrim and Paxil have helped many people suffering from depression.

Do you exercise? Regular daily exercise is proven to increase the chemicals in your brain which actually make you feel good and less depressed.

Examine your diet. Is it all heavy meat and carbs that tire you out?
Try frequent snacks and lighter meals and drink plenty of water.
Avoid all alcohol and other substances which are depressants to the nervous system.

Do you have a sense of humor? If not, cultivate one. Watch only funny movies, buy some humorous books, go to funny plays.

Seek out upbeat people with positive attitudes. I agree--practice self-affirmations in front of a mirror. Shout to yourself "Stop!" whenever you catch yourself mentally self-talking in a negative way. Replace the negative thought with a positive counter-thought.

Do you meditate or pray? It can help lessen one's depression.

Do you have goals? Dreams? Plans for the future? If not, you need to create some to give yourself somethings to look forward to. Make a list of your goals and dreams and then plan out the steps to accomplish each one. Every time you accomplish a step, cross it out. Give yourself timeframes to accomplish your goals/dreams.

Do you have any positive friends or relatives to encourage you and help you laugh and be upbeat around you? That is so important. If not,
try to join a club or activities where you meet people like that.

Consider becoming a mentor to a child, if you can spare 2 hours 2 weekends a month--contact Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization in your city. There is a long list for men to mentor boys who have no fathers.
This would give you a sense of purpose, committment and be very rewarding.

Are you dwelling on the past or living with lots of regret and guilt? Get rid of the excess baggage! Purge your life! Write a letter to that deceased father and tell him you forgive him. Then ceremoneously burn it up and toss the ashes on the ground. Let your grudges and past hurts die.
Life is too short, and you need to move on. Today is all we have, for yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not here yet.

Are you sleeping well? Getting to bed same hour every night and getting at least 7 hours of sleep is important. Lack of sleep or poor sleep can cause depression and fatigue.

Do you watch a lot of tv? That can be depressing! You might want to try to alter your habits and do things totally different, and see if it helps.
If you're an internet addict, or news addict, stop! Try other activities to replace them.

It's hard to be depressed when you're out in the sun and fresh air. Be sure to get some of both every day if possible.

Lastly, I recommend counseling in addition to your seeing a psychiatrist. An objective counselor might have valuable insight they can share with you to steer you in a positive direction to improve your life.

Also there are many groups on the internet for people with depression. Check out Yahoo groups, etc.

I don't have any concrete advice to offer. It's people like you who make me more appreciative of my own good health. The only medication I ever take is gravol for those occasionally long or bumpy travel trips.

When I was prescribe paxil I actually was made to believe by my doctor that I need it.

I only took one and never touch that thing again.

I bought some relaxation CD's and listen to them whenever I had time and they did fine to me.

In my eyes and in my opinion anything that alters your mind chemically is not natural

Originally posted by Questor
I don't have any concrete advice to offer. It's people like you who make me more appreciative of my own good health. The only medication I ever take is gravol for those occasionally long or bumpy travel trips.

people like me?

i'm the epitome of health, except for depression. so don't assume anything.

the doc switched me on to welbutrin...

i have to take my zoloft every other day for 2 weeks, then start the wellbutrin.

hope the zoloft withdrawal isnt bad...

Don't ask any questions, just eat one potato a day for the next two weeks.

Out of curiosity, do you know why the Atkins diet worked? It's because the lack of carbs sends you into a crippling, appetite reducing depression! For most people, depression can be a symptom of carbohydrate deficiency.

Bobbo, if it doesn't work for you, maybe it help jsut a bit.

DE

I have tapered off of one anti-depressant to go onto another and the side effects were minimal.
All the suggestions for helping depression, without the use of drugs are great, but I think it's a disservice to tell someone to discontinue meds w/o knowing his actual diagnosis. For example, clinical depression is a serious illness and must be treated with such. It's not the same as a bad day or the blues or just feeling blah.
Although I agree that our society is often too drug oriented, I also firmly believe that antidepressant medications etc. can be of great use for someone suffering from any number of disorders.
I take an antidepressant due to panic disorder. One of the side effects, of this drug, is to lessen panic. My quality of life has imroved 100% since beginning the drug.
Yes, I've plateaued several times and we just tweak the doseages a bit. However, I've found that I now take less of the med than I did in the beginning...so, it's not a neverending upward consumption of drugs.
I hope the new meds help. Depression sucks and I've been there!
joey

I have a friend who used to take Zoloft for his depressions. When it stopped helping him he started smoking weed instead. It worked for a while and then the problemns begain to reoccur. Soon after he started playing paintball with me and now plays on my tournament team. He is no longer depressed. Find a hobby that you like and are good at and deeply involve yourself in it. My friend found a new world of friendly people and brightened up.... something doctors said would never happen without medication.

if you believe in x, you'll be relievin your stress

Hey Bobbo, sorry that you have this illness. My sister has always had a pretty bad case of it as well, and was on Zoloft for the longest time, which like you worked for her at first and then stopped for some reason. Just doing a comparitive study between what you have said and my sisters problems, you both seem to have the same symptoms. Of course her's can get pretty bad at times.

However, if you are like her with Zoloft...she has been taking a new medication for over a year now and has returned to the happy sister that I once knew. Whatever it is she is taking has definitely worked. She is happier, more energetic, less stressful, etc. I will give her a call on the phone soon and see what the name is of the medication she is taking, and will get back to you.

Depression is not to be taken lightly as I'm well sure you know. Personally, I'm all for the "spiritual" method of healing if it works for you, but I don't practice it myself and would rather have a doctor tell me whats going on. Good luck and take care, and I will tell you the name of that medication once I find out!

Stop taking anti-depressants in general and find a proactive therapist who will help you gain control of your life and your feelings. It's got to be better than resigning yourself to drugs for the rest of your life. (I took them, they never worked, and eventually I decided that using them was a form of giving up on my ability to make my own choices in life - depression controls me, and it shouldn't be that way.)