# What happens in the brain on medication?



## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

I have been seriously considering going back on a low dose antidepressant just because my depression and anxiety are uncontrollable right now. What is keeping me from it is that I tried like 12 different medications last year and I ended up feeling worse on every single one of them. The weird thing though is that the first few days, I often felt great. I was on prozac the first time and I felt really positive and like I was going to recover for like the first couple of days. Then I felt nothing so my doc upped my dose and it made my symptoms much worse than they were to begin with. So I went off of it. I tried lots of other medications and then was put on Lamictal. Again, I felt great. Felt like recovery was right around the corner. But by the 5th day on it I started to get hyper aware and that just continued to the point where I was bed ridden and couldn't move. So I had to come off of that too. So I am curious what happens in the brain after like a week on medication? Because with those two I really did feel great and then right around a week, things started to go south.


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## nabber (Feb 13, 2009)

The meds you are reffering to take 3-8 weeks to work properly. You aren't giving the meds a chance...


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

nabber said:


> The meds you are reffering to take 3-8 weeks to work properly. You aren't giving the meds a chance...


You misread what I wrote. I was on the prozac for a month and the lamictal for 5 weeks.


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## codeblue213 (Feb 15, 2010)

I'm the same way with my Antidepressant. I have to give it a month or two and not expect quick results. They take time to get the full benefits. Plus it is hard to find the right one, unfortunately.


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

codeblue213 said:


> I'm the same way with my Antidepressant. I have to give it a month or two and not expect quick results. They take time to get the full benefits. Plus it is hard to find the right one, unfortunately.


Ok but the point of what I was saying is that I did get a result in the time I took them and it was a bad enough result for me to have to stop taking them and I just want to know why I felt well the first week and then it turned to horrible.


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## codeblue213 (Feb 15, 2010)

ustabetinyfairypeople said:


> Ok but the point of what I was saying is that I did get a result in the time I took them and it was a bad enough result for me to have to stop taking them and I just want to know why I felt well the first week and then it turned to horrible.


I'm sorry I can't answer that. I'm sure your doctor can and good luck to you!


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## Visual (Oct 13, 2010)

ustabetinyfairypeople said:


> Ok but the point of what I was saying is that I did get a result in the time I took them and it was a bad enough result for me to have to stop taking them and I just want to know why I felt well the first week and then it turned to horrible.


Lots of things happen.

For one, your brain starts to adjust and counter-react. And each part of the brain uses and responds to different kinds and amounts neurotransmitters.

Another thing is the amount of the medication continues to build in your blood stream and various body tissues - in can take weeks or months. So the net dosage will continue to rise for some time.

If it starts to help, then the opposite, as you describe - talk to your doctor about working with smaller doses and/or other medications to work with your reaction. For example, you may need more anti-seizure meds to calm 'the rippling' effect while you adjust. If the Lamictal makes you hyper-aware, then something somewhat sedating could be added. There are lots of possibilities. Everyone wants an easy answer, including the doctor, but sometimes it is complex.

The fact that you get a few days of good reaction to several of the meds you tried should help the doctor to better target what you need and the amount you need.

It is a pain, but we know you are suffering and it would be nice if you could find a better solution.


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## EverDream (Dec 15, 2006)

I took many meds in the past. Just tried them out. There was only one that really helped me (aside from Klonopin for anxiety, stress,etc) and made all of it worthwhile- Effexor. We are all uniqe (forgot how to spell it sorry) and meds affects everyone differently so you can't really know. What I've learned from my expereince with meds is that you have to give some time for the med to work. If the sides effects are not totally terrible you should keep trying. All meds have side effects, you just have to to examine if the positive effect is greater than the negative one, and if you can deal with it. If the side effects are unbearable (I had that too a few times) you then should quit the med as soon as possible.


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## ohwell (Oct 28, 2010)

You can take my argument for what it's worth. I don't think antidepressents will help you, you need a combination of dialectical behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy.


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

Visual Dude and Everdream, thank you for your replies.


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## Visual (Oct 13, 2010)

ohwell said:


> You can take my argument for what it's worth. I don't think antidepressents will help you, you need a combination of dialectical behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy.


Your point is well taken - need to retrain the mind.

But DP/DR is complex. And then there are comorbid conditions. Many get help with antidepressants - even SSRIs, which make me sick.

Much depends on the cause of DP/DR. If it is from trauma, meds may just help take the edge off but learning to process the trauma is what matters. If it is an injury, then meds to calm the neuroexiticity and meds to help reactive the 'stuck' neurons can be helpful - but still there is re-learning involved at least at the synaptic level. And in the end isn't it all at the synaptic level - either connections, strength of connections, and/or metabolic health?

In both cases, there is a balance between use of meds and recovery. Most of these medications sedate or depersonalize to take the edge off. Too much and you stay stuck. Too little and you may suffer too much and get stuck.

Having a good counselor is always good. And working to calm anxiety and experience positive things with people is vital.


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## S O L A R I S (Dec 24, 2009)

TFP, if things are un manageable them please seek out medication. medication either prescription or OTC does not need to be long term.

At my lowest point, and after flicking through various AD, i went on a low dose of zoloft and continued for a year. i upped the dosage once but it made me feel really zombified. at a low dose, i think it could help and it would be easier to stop taking it after a while. i went off zoloft cold turkey and for two weeks i was in sort of a bad mood. but i managed it.

i think that maybe if you take a certain medication for a while, few months to one year, it trains your brain to function in the right way even if you stop taking it.

the only thing which i think is wierd is the suicide idealization thoughts. i came off of zoloft as i said and am no longer cranky. i react to things and to life almost the same way as i have done while on it. i however get suicide idealizations sometimes, i am not sure if its the medication or the current stress and situations im facing. but then again i had suicidal thoughts while un medicated and going on an AD stopped them completely. its an important issue to keep aware off.


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

S O L A R I S said:


> TFP, if things are un manageable them please seek out medication. medication either prescription or OTC does not need to be long term.
> 
> At my lowest point, and after flicking through various AD, i went on a low dose of zoloft and continued for a year. i upped the dosage once but it made me feel really zombified. at a low dose, i think it could help and it would be easier to stop taking it after a while. i went off zoloft cold turkey and for two weeks i was in sort of a bad mood. but i managed it.
> 
> ...


I think I may have tried Zoloft pre dp. The weird thing is that I was off and on Prozac for like 11 years. I took it for panic attacks and depression and was in the habit of taking it for a few weeks and it would be enough to correct the chemical imbalance in my brain and I would stop taking it. So the weird part of it is that like a month before dp I started taking it again short term and was fine, stopped taking it, and then the night before I got dp, I took it because I was having panic again and I woke up the next morning with dp. I had taken like 40 mg and then took another 40 the next day and with the dp symptoms, I thought that I had seretonin syndrome instead of dp. So my dp went away after a week and like 3 more weeks go by and I'm really feeling like I need to try going back on it. So I took like 10 mg, which is the beginning dose and woke up with dp again the next morning and have had it for the past year and 4 months. Then, when I went back on it again after I got dp, I did ok at a lower dose, which quickly just fizzled out into feel no effect and when I tried to double my dose (to 20 mg) it made my dp go off the charts.

So it's interesting to me how I took it for so many years, right up to a month before I got dp and had no issues but in the end, it was the trigger for me getting dp twice and I have not tollerated it since. It really makes me wonder exactly why that happened. What was the difference in my brain chemistry that made it trigger dp?

Anyways, since medications are affecting me differently than they did pre-dp, which is understandable based on a pretty much overall imbalance of brain chemicals with dp, I wonder if revisiting a medication that did not work pre-dp would work now.


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## Visual (Oct 13, 2010)

*What was the difference in my brain chemistry that made it trigger dp?*

A grand mystery - in the end the brain has changed.

*I wonder if revisiting a medication that did not work pre-dp would work now.*

Might not hurt, especially if it has been a while. I know that my response to meds has changed over time.


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

Visual Dude said:


> *What was the difference in my brain chemistry that made it trigger dp?*
> 
> A grand mystery - in the end the brain has changed.


I think that this might be where dp researchers need to focus. There are people who have episodic dp, so it might be reasonable to assume that their brain lives on the borderline. If they could take a normal brain, a borderline brain, and a dp brain, and compare neurotransmitter levels and brain function via fmri or pet scans, they may get a clearer picture and maybe a better idea of exactly what goes wrong and how to fix it. Maybe they've already looked into all of this. Who knows but it couldn't hurt to study it anyways.


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## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

ustabetinyfairypeople said:


> I think that this might be where dp researchers need to focus. There are people who have episodic dp, so it might be reasonable to assume that their brain lives on the borderline. If they could take a normal brain, a borderline brain, and a dp brain, and compare neurotransmitter levels and brain function via fmri or pet scans, they may get a clearer picture and maybe a better idea of exactly what goes wrong and how to fix it. Maybe they've already looked into all of this. Who knows but it couldn't hurt to study it anyways.


This is the exact reason why I want to get an fMRI so bad!!! I want to see what's going on in my brain, so that it'll alleviate some of my anxiety and I could be like, ''oh okay, so my DR is really bad right now b/c part A and part B of the brain are not functioning correctly or there may be some deficiencies." Too bad it is so expensive though- $1,200.


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## ohwell (Oct 28, 2010)

insaticiable said:


> This is the exact reason why I want to get an fMRI so bad!!! I want to see what's going on in my brain, so that it'll alleviate some of my anxiety and I could be like, ''oh okay, so my DR is really bad right now b/c part A and part B of the brain are not functioning correctly or there may be some deficiencies." Too bad it is so expensive though- $1,200.


Why do you assume that it must be directly a brain disorder? Alzheimer patients do not get it, until they're pretty much advanced in their disease, when we see something is wrong even with a low resolution CAT scan. At that stage, a simple EEG shows generalised slowing, MRI generalized atrophy from the occipital lobes to half of the frontals.

Having the results of a fMRI won't give you relief, because it is known that environment can modify brain activity. Go get a simple fEEG, if your problem is neurological it will give enough information.


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

insaticiable said:


> This is the exact reason why I want to get an fMRI so bad!!! I want to see what's going on in my brain, so that it'll alleviate some of my anxiety and I could be like, ''oh okay, so my DR is really bad right now b/c part A and part B of the brain are not functioning correctly or there may be some deficiencies." Too bad it is so expensive though- $1,200.


I understand what you mean. With something like this, it feels validating to see a brain scan that shows physical evidence of what you are feeling. It's kind of like proof to yourself and the world that there is a valid medical cause for you feeling this way and could also guide in possibly zoning in on a treatment, depending on what parts of the brain are being effected.


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## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

ustabetinyfairypeople said:


> I understand what you mean. With something like this, it feels validating to see a brain scan that shows physical evidence of what you are feeling. It's kind of like proof to yourself and the world that there is a valid medical cause for you feeling this way and could also guide in possibly zoning in on a treatment, depending on what parts of the brain are being effected.


EXACTLY!! You understand me well, Sarah.


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

insaticiable said:


> EXACTLY!! You understand me well, Sarah.


Yay! Glad to hear that.


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## Patrick Petitjean (Mar 11, 2011)

If the antidepressants did help with the anxiety, you should consider taking natural supplements which work the same way. St.Johns Wort should be given a chance along with 5-HTP, but with a low dosage. It would take a bit longer to see any results as your body is accustom to the role antidepressants played. Also, it is much cheaper and safer. You can test out the St.John's Wort alone for a duration of roughly 2 months before deciding to include the 5-HTP.


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