Posted by KaraS on June 13, 2005, at 19:04:17
In reply to SSRI's - question, posted by Sarah T. on June 13, 2005, at 4:48:11
> I am one of those people who does poorly on SSRI's. The more selective they are, the more apathetic and immobile I become. I am interested in hearing from anyone who has actually improved on SSRI's. By improvement, I mean BOTH improvement in mood AS WELL AS improvement in the ability to move towards one's goals (increased motivation, drive, etc). Has anyone who takes SSRI's ever really seen this sort of improvement? I get the impression that many people who don't get worse on SSRI's, don't actually improve that much either. Rather, the improvement seems to be primarily a reduction of anxiety. The anxiolytic properties of SSRI's are not to be dismissed because, for many, anxiety is a significant component of their depression, and once anxiety is alleviated, depression may lift as well.
>
> So, my question is, does anyone actually improve on SSRI monotherapy? Improvement, to me, means improvement in mood/outlook/hopefulness, etc. AS WELL AS the ability to bring about obvious, "measurable" improvements in one's personal and professional life.
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> Again, I'm referring to SSRI monotherapy, without augmentation by stimulants or dopaminergic antidepressants.
>
Hi Sarah,
I have often wondered the same thing. I remember reading a post here not that long ago (wish I could remember who wrote it) in response to a similar question as yours. She said that for about a year and a half she had tons of energy and motivation on Effexor. She got her house all cleaned up and felt wonderful. (I'm including Effexor in here since it's mostly an SSRI and seems to fit the pattern we're discussing.) Then at about the 18 month mark, she developed the typical apathy and amotivation.Maybe the SSRIs can help with a full recovery but then there's a good chance that down the road they will poop-out. Does the poop-out at that point mean that the AD stops working and/or that dopamine is depressed and so the amotivation appears then?
I know that for me, I have never really had any motivation on an SSRI (possibly for a month on Prozac - not sure). I don't expect that any one of them alone could ever give me drive or complete sustained recovery from my anergic depression.
Kara
poster:KaraS
thread:511909
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050611/msgs/512231.html