Meds worked but then they stopped. Is this unusual?

[cntrymom08466]

(moderator moved from this thread)

@bellbird I just went up this morning to 300 mg. I was on 150 mg. for over a year, but I hadn't seen a psychiatrist or a therapist in that time either. I saw new T last week thought I was doing pretty good. The new psychiatrist about a month before new T and she had upped my Effexor to 225 mg. I thought I was doing pretty good. But last week after T and some other changes in my life..I just went down. I don't ever remember doing that. I've been on meds for about 18 years now, different ones. It worried me. I called my psychiatrist office and they got me in this morning and she upped it again to 300 and said come back in a month, if not better she may have to add something else to it. I'm trying to read the blogs, is it not unusual to all of a sudden, go down after being on the meds and think you are doing good? I thought maybe hormones may play a part, not sure. But I am under more stress, had to take guardianship of our granddaughter and my youngest is graduating high school. So, I am wondering if those are the trigger? Or am I just crazy.

 

[bellbird]

But last week after T and some other changes in my life..I just went down

I'm trying to read the blogs, is it not unusual to all of a sudden, go down after being on the meds and think you are doing good?

It sounds like you've had a lot of (good and bad) stress in your life recently!

They all top up our stress cup, and one day it can just take a single event to tip us over the edge. Who knows what exactly that was for you, but the important thing is that you reached out to your pdoc so they could make med adjustments.
I would definitely put it down to stress; you aren't crazy :)

Hopefully the med uppage will help you re-regulate swiftly.
I still have ups and downs and I've been on max dosage venlafaxine for probably 10 months now. But it does help me to re-regulate quicker than before I started on it.

Can you up your self-care for the next little while to help you get through this bumpy patch?
Best to you.

 

[SeekingAfrica]

@bellbird I'm trying to read the blogs, is it not unusual to all of a sudden, go down after being on the meds and think you are doing good? I thought maybe hormones may play a part, not sure. But I am under more stress, had to take guardianship of our granddaughter and my youngest is graduating high school. So, I am wondering if those are the trigger? Or am I just crazy.

All of these are factors, hormones, stress. It's normal that a really hard period in life can set you back. When I started on 75mg in the fall, until I was used to it, and by recommendation by T went to 150 3 weeks later. I did really well actually for few months. Then I found myself without work in February and everything just crashed. I was did every self care thing I knew and I handled everything as best as I knew, but it was a lot of stress and after 2 months of that I crashed to a really dark place. I am still in really tough situation, but I am seeing my T weekly and I am now on 300mg. It's not a magic solution, of course, but it has helped me get back in space of mind where I can have the energy to take action instead of freeze because of the situation I'm in. Life changes, we change, so I guess it's normal to sometimes need to re-adapt what medication you take or how much of it.

 

[cntrymom08466]

I was thinking this morning, maybe I jumped the gun and should have tried more self care as you call it waiting it out as I usually do first before adding more medication. I don't usually jumped to adding more medication. I hadn't seen an pdoc in over a year this time and it had been longer than that the last time. I would just like to start feeling better you know. I've been at this for 18 years not actively so to speak, ie therapy the whole time or anything, just surviving as such most of the time. It gets old. I wonder if i will ever be able to get completely off the meds or if I'm too old for that to happen now.

 

[FauxLiz]

Have any of you adjusted to new medication while doing their work full time?

Yes, many times I am currently adjusting to the addition of Wellbutrin as an adjunct to Trintellix and have been referred by my Pdoc for Ketamine therapy. I have worked full-time for the last 15 years other than my medical leave for inpatient in early 2018.

I just started the Wellbutrin over the weekend and was supposed to be on vacation all of this week but that has gone by the wayside, I am putting in a full day today, will be going in for a couple of hours tomorrow and probably most of the day on Friday. I have also been filling my time with work while at home so my vacation did not turn out to be much of a vacation and it is hard to adjust I was warned I could get jittery and it has happened so please don't be hard on yourself. Be thankful you have a flexible job and remember that very few people do not need time to adjust to med changes. You are not lazy, you are doing what you need to do in order to improve your life and life always has some challenges even for those without ptsd.

 

[cntrymom08466]

Well, I think I'm feeling better mostly. Now this week is the week of graduation for my youngest from high school. I was getting kind of weepy about it before, but now I hate this but I don't feel anything. I'm not sure I like that right now. I should feel something. I was feeling pretty good earlier this week, now it's just like nothing. I don't know if it's because I am stressed and it's just keeping me level I don't know. I had thought maybe I was finally being kind of "normal" so to speak for the first time in years. Not angry all the time and no feelings. I don't get this. Has anyone else had this experience.