Can the effects of your Anti Depressents change over time, and what are the effects of mixing Meds and alcohol

Question

I take Lexapro, and it's not working. Right now I'm even more depressed then I've been in years, and I've been horrible and violent to my friends steaming from a fight we had anyway. I feel like my meds should help my depression since i take them daily but right now even on them my depression is horrible. I don't know what to do right now I need sites or something that can help me figure out what's wrong, I mean I tried to be responsible when drinking and skip dosses to keep it from mixing and for some reason the meds aren't effecting me. I don't know if my bodies adapted to the medication and it doesn't get the effects, I don't know if the dose is wrong I really just need some clue what to do right now.

Answer 1

Sure it can. Like other drugs, an antidepressent is a combination of different type of drugs, to be more specific (is a psychiatric medication taken to alleviate clinical depression or dysthymia) (NOT FOR CRAZY PEOPLE, JUST FOR SOMEONE WHO NEED HELP) that is formulated to stimulate your brain to relax, by releasing a certain amount of drug anfetamines (not cocain or heroin) but that have similar effects to calm you body and mind. They are usually taken as a course over several weeks, months or years, and have a delayed onset of therapeutic action. Drugs used for an immediate euphoric effect only are not generally considered antidepressants.

Most antidepressants, including the SSRIs and tricyclics, are known to produce tolerance (i.e. a patient receiving antidepressant therapy for some years will often have to increase the dose over time, or add other drugs, to receive the same therapeutic effect), and withdrawal (particularly if abrupt) may produce adverse effects, which can range from mild to extremely severe.

Antidepressants can often cause side effects, and an inability to tolerate these is the most common cause of discontinuing an otherwise working medication.

IF YOU THINK YOU MEDICATION IS NOT HELPING ANYMORE, SEE YOU DOCTOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BECAUSE YOU CAN HAVE OTHER SERIOUS PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR HEALTH IF YOU CONTINUE.

Take a look at this for more info it might be of some help. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antidepress...

GOOD LUCK and my Best regards to you.

PS: Remember that you are not addicted, you just need to chang madication (See you doctore before doing so)

Answer 2

depression is as much a state of mind as it is a biochemical condition.  Most physicians want to treat everything with a chemical substance.  Well, Lexapro is like a narcotic, and the body gets used to having it in its system and readjusts its bodily chemistry to compensate for it.  Its a natural function of this thing called our body, so wonderfully and fearfully made.

moreover depression is little understood.  I suffered from it and took the drugs the doctor prescribed, but they just made me feel odd and not myself, like I was there, beside myself watching myself going through the days and I wound up over compensating and actually became someone I wasn't.  I finally reconciled that if I was going to get "normal" again, Id have to toughen up and not be so self indulgent about my feelings and not take all the bad stuff that happened to ma on a daily basis, personally...it was just how live dealt with me.  Okay, so I determined not to react in the same way I used to to adversity.  I weaned myself off the drugs and went without them.

Then I kept a diary for 3 months of everything I thout, that people said to me that affected me, and what my reactions were.  I sat down and read it and re-read it and looked at those things that made me a victim and made me want to pull in and turn the bad feelings in on myself.  I started experimenting with ways of dealing with similar circumstances and not allowing them to turn inward, to be more assertive and tell people when things hurt my feelings.  I was amazed how positively people reacted to me.  

Yes, there were those who were butt-heads that told me to gro up and tried to be even meaner; but I learned how to just ignore them and eventually reconciled that they were the ones who were the really emotionally handicapped people.  They were trying to justify themselves by making others feel bad about themselves!  I discovered that if I let someone else negatively affect me, I was letting them take charge of my feelings and my life.  I decided NOT to volunteer to allow anyone else to dictate my life to me any more.  I was on my way to depression libberation!

What I discovered was that I would still have bad days, but that they didnt have to become bad weeks, months or years.  I discovered that life was really worth living.  I lost weight, started getting more exercise, and even took up cycling and met great people and turned myself totally around.

If I continued to listen to the doctor, he'd still be making his Lexapro stock go up and up and up, using me as his personal money machine.

Its up to you...but I believe we all have the power to take charge of our lives and make them better and not have to deal with depression.

Good luck...I'm pulling for you.

Answer 3

*Call your doctor.* We can't give medical advise here.

But, yes, your body can get used to your current doseage, and as a result, the effects are not as strong. Anti-depressants must be monitored by your doctor.

NEVER mix your meds with alcohol. Anyone knows that - you don't need websites, its common knowledge and is probably on the paperwork/warnings that came with your meds.

Answer 4

You need to get back to your doctor asap!  Tell him/her what you've written here, be open, put your cards on the table!  Doctors cannot help if they don't know the full picture!  Inform your family and friends how you feel, half of your problem will be solved as they will help carry you through this. Good luck. Don't delay see your practioner soon. It is said that anti depressants can have serious side effects, you need to be monitored!

Answer 5

You're in a depression for whatever reason, you're tired of coping, and you want out. Getting back on track can often appear impossible, but with the right attitude, it rarely is, so long as you know how.

Steps

Have the will to get out. Many depressed people remain so simply out of a lack of the will to want to get out. Attaining this will may require focus. If so, focus. You need to have the confidence that you're capable of changing, and the motivation to buckle down and change. Otherwise you won't get anywhere.

Establish a clear understanding of what made you depressed. Was it the break up? Are you unsure about your career? Self-worth? Many people remain unhappy because they attribute their unhappiness to the wrong things, or to nothing at all. Social pressure can often keep you from even questioning your happiness about certain things. Be honest with yourself, or you wont even know what to move on from.

Change your state of affairs. If you're unhappy, and want to become happy, something about your life clearly needs to change. For many people, this means their surroundings. Are you still living in the small town that caused your feeling's of rural inadequacy? Move. Are you still working at the company that gives you no sense of meaning whatsoever? Quit. Are you still in the relationship that is making you feel manipulated? Break up. This may seem trivial, but it's often the most overlooked obstacle between you and you're satisfaction.

Gain some perspective. You have access to the internet, that places you well above the social circumstances of the majority of the world. There's a point at which you simply have to accept that your happiness is your own responsibility, and it's comprised of the decisions you make. Everything in your life capable of breaking is going to at some point. You've got hands. Fix them.

Tips

Wake up earlier, or later. Your problem may just be the way you're managing your day. Waking up earlier may make you feel more productive and lucent. Waking up later may make you feel freer and more alive. Figure out which one you need and adjust (or buy) your alarm.

Get a pet. Having something alive depend on you can make you feel needed, and consequently valuable. It also provides you with something to love, which, though not a surrogate, can do a lot for you if loneliness or rejection is the cause of your depression.

Improve some aspect of yourself. One obvious way to improve your sense of self worth is to improve your self worth. Learn more about a field of knowledge, language or instrument, go to the gym, help out in the community, go to (or back to) school. Even if these things don't work you'll at the very least become a better person for it.

Don't take yourself too seriously. All in all, there may be more important (and interesting) things in the world than yourself, especially if you're young, and aren't supporting a family. Chill out. You might be missing a good joke in all of this.

Warnings

Let a doctor decide if your depression is clinical. And don't lie to him or her so you can get anti-depressants. If you aren't clinically depressed and you take medication for it you may run the risk of permanently damaging yourself.