[PossessedBanana]

As the title says I would like to know (from your experiences) how long antidepressants are effective and needed.

Here's why :

It's been about a year I'm on Effexor/ Cyamemazine, it helped me at first but the effect recently started to drastically decrease.

Then I did what I shouldn't have done, which was to brutally stop it. I did this because I thought I now had to handle DP/ DR

and Depression without any drugs, otherwise I would have to increase the dose (which is already 75mg LP) and my situation

will never improve. Problem is now without it I'm feeling depressed, anxiety is increasing and I'm feeling more and more dissociate,

while I made great progress on that and could easely concentrate in class (nearly trippled my math grade)

and on my intellectual activities (reading, programming etc) as well.

So now it seems obvious that without drugs I'm just going to fall in an even deeper dissociative state accompagnied by some nicely

growing suicidal thoughts. So the question is, what should I do ? Drugs work well on the short term but if it's to see their effect

decrease and my mind collapsing anyway in the end it just isn't worth it. Any techniques or specefic activity to make my condition improve ?

Note : I can't do hypnosis or mindfulness anymore, and that started before I stopped taking meds, it just doesn't work anymore. If someone

has some tips for that as well I'd by glad.

Thanks in advance !

 

[106473]

The second whole section of your question is how to better DP for that I like the 'Holy Grail DP' thread think it covers most bases on naturally lowering it.

I've often asked / tried to find out how long you need to take an antidepressant for if it's working, after talking to many 'experts' and reading a lot about it, even if we are simply talking about depression, forget DP and complicating the subject NHS state t at least 12 months from being stable.

This however is more often the exception, the thing about depression and mental health that is hard to understand is most often you go into remission rather than cure the disorder, so come off the medication and give it time it will appear again, so often it is better to be on the medication long term and accept that it's just just like someone with diabetes taking insulin (i like that analogy).

I spent time and found you the research that explains this, it's bitter to accept, but once you have it's a lot easier (source taken from http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/expert.q.a/11/17/depression.recurrence.raison/index.html)

"Our best official data suggest that about 15 percent of American adults will experience a major depressive episode during their lifetimes. However, if you have one episode of depression, the chance of having a second episode increases to 50 percent. That is a 300 percent increase in risk, and it shows the tremendous effect that depression has on the brain and the body. If you've had two episodes of depression, your chances of having a third episode increase to 75 percent. Once you've had three or more episodes of depression, your chances of becoming depressed again approach 100 percent."

BUT, this isn't to be confused with the fact I know many who have cured DP with medications and then withdrawn from the medications successfully and never needed medication for DP since or likely will. Not all people with DP will even get depression. Which then opens the question was the medication working to eliminate your DP or just making it slightly easier.

 

[eddy1886]

Anti Depressants and Anti Psychotics work indefinitely in my experience...Sometimes they require a slight dosage increase when things are very bad but this can be reduced again when things settle down...

Over the years (nearly 30 years of DP and meds) I have found that on occassion Ive had to slightly increase my dosages but was then able to reduce them again...Nearly 30 years on and I am now back on exactly the same dose that gave me my life back me in the first place...This is coupled with a very stringent stress management regime and an overall healthier lifestyle....

Im a regular 6 out of 10 with meds (Which is a million times better than the zero out of 10 chronically suicidal DP hell ive experienced many times)

My suggestion to people who have found a med that helps and doesnt give constant side effects is to stick with it....

NOW!!! having said all this when it comes to BENZOS I would completely advise against considering them as a long term treatment for anxiety and DP....The risk of tolerance building is way too high in my opinion....In turn you end up having to take more of them more often to get the same effect....

Im sure there are people on here who take small doses of Benzos on an as needed basis in a very controlled manner but to me the risk is way too high...They can do much more harm long term than they are worth....The last thing any DP sufferer needs is to be dealing with withdrawals from Benzos on top of everything else....Theres a reason why doctors only prescribe them short term....

Anti depressants and Anti Psychotics dont have this tolerance building issue which in turn makes them safer long term....You find a dose that works and generally it remains that way...Like i said cassionally during very bad periods they require slight increases but this is usually temporary and can be reduced again when things setlle back down...

I must also say that with Anti Psychotics when it comes to treating DP and chronic anxiety etc low doses are always the norm....Higher doses of Anti Psychotics should not really be used to treat anxiety related conditions....They will cause nasty side effects in the larger doses that are used to treat things like Psychosis and Schizophrenia...Low baby doses are usually fine though....

 

[eddy1886]

Processed Banana you are one of a bunch of others like myself that have seen the combo of AntiPsychotic and Anti Depressant work for DP...

Ive long been an advocate for this combo simply because it has worked very well for me for many years and ive seen it work well for others too...

(Disclaimer) Again everybody is different....I just think that when all else has failed and you are in hell its worth a shot to get some kind of life back for yourself...