Posted by Joy on December 30, 2000, at 17:30:39
In reply to Re: Zoloft: Not working after over 5-1/2 weeks?Help!, posted by JohnL on December 30, 2000, at 16:45:24
Thanks John, I totally agree with you.
Joy
> > Hi. I'm on Zoloft for 5 and a half weeks. I've increased my dose up to 125 mg and I don't think it's helping much. At least I'm not crying all the time like I was on Serzone. I see my family doc next week. Should I ask him for Prozac? I'm so frustratd with the Zoloft. I won't have a pdoc for about a month [insurance change]. I need to look for a job and I don't have the motivation or confidence in me. Anybody help? thanks.
> > Joy
>
> Hi Joy,
> Some will disagree with me, but I think 5 1/2 weeks is plenty of time to tell if a med is going to work or not. There should be at least a hint of hope by now. So often I have noticed that when someone does really well with a med, it usually gives pretty good hints real early, like in 1 to 3 weeks. Not always, but often enough to be meaningful. It certainly will work better given more time--that is, if it is going to work at all--but the negligible progress so far is not a good sign as I see it.
>
> You're not crying all the time. That's good. But I suspect that because Zoloft isn't helping much other than that, it is instead numbing your emotional range, both lows and highs. If a serotonin med is the wrong one for someone, that's usually what they experience. If someone completely normal, undepressed, no serotonin problems, started taking Zoloft, they would also experience that same emotional numbing. No crying, but not much laughter either.
>
> Prozac could be a good next choice. Personally though I wouldn't fool around with any med that doesn't show a good hint of working within 2 or 3 weeks at the most. If it's not, no sense in wasting time, there is always another medication that will work better and faster, and the sooner you find it the better. Drop the dogs fast, move onto another choice. When you stumble onto the right choice, there will be no doubt.
>
> If you try Prozac for a couple weeks and that too isn't very helpful, then perhaps a trial of Effexor would be a good next choice. After that, the serotonin thing has pretty much ruled out, and you can then focus on meds that affect dopamine and noradrenaline instead of serotonin.
>
> Just rambling. Just thinking out loud. Hope something here is helpful.
> John
poster:Joy
thread:50552
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001130/msgs/50588.html