Anyone have an antidepressant work better the second time around?

Nearly 30 years ago I was first diagnosed bipolar. I'm now 73 yrs old. The first medication I was prescribed was Zoloft (sertraline), along with anti-anxiety meds--no longer being prescribed by the VA , where I get my primary health care due to location and unavailability of most of the healthcare providers I need. Anyway, sertraline worked well for about 2-3 years until I was prescribed more and different antidepressants until less than a year ago at which time the nurse practitioner I'm seeing switched me back to sertraline which helped get me out of the major depression I've been going through. I'm feeling a lot less depressed, and along with the mood stabilizer I'm on (depakote), am doing as well as possible that someone with mid-stage Parkinson's Disease can be: declining cognitive skills, tremors, body rigidity and loss of balance and coordination, insomnia, dyskinesia, and other symptoms. Then again, I'm not the same person I was when I first began taking sertraline. It may be worth a try--going back to an antidepressant that worked for you in the past. My feeling is that the med's I'm taking will eventually wear me down physically and/or mentally in the long run. They're great for Big Pharma and the investors, but as patients, most of us will suffer from long term effects of drug use. I don't take any med's for my PD and haven't noticed a difference--I'm resigned to believing I'm simply in a later stage of life; my strict diet and daily exercise routine have bought me more quality of life time (can't surf or play tennis anymore) but I use my martial arts training to play tai chi chuan at a high level, although it gets embarrassing when I start trembling or lose my balance when teaching groups of learners; but I studied under some great masters over the years and while most of my students think they're doing tai chi chuan, they're merely following me along and don't even seem to care about all the training, history, and work I put in to be able to use the internal Chinese art form as the defense techniques for which it was designed.

Horowitz71,
Your body and brain are being very disrespectful to you. I know we all get old and our bodies and brains get worn out... BUT wow‼️you are so very talented. You have physically and mentally, diet, exercise etc achieved so much. I am in awe of you. I am 65, among all the things wrong with my body/brain, my balance is awful... but my gym teacher in high school told me I had the worst balance of any student she ever had. Gee, thanx teach. 🥇🫂 give yourself a big hug, go get out a medal, you probably have many, and put it on, look in the mirror and see for yourself what an amazingly successful person you have always been. Ps. Losing your balance in front of your class is embarrassing, I'm sure. Maybe tell your students that this, loss of balance, is the next step in their training. Maybe deck out a cane to meet tai chi Chuan standards, maybe even integrate it into a move or two.
🙇‍♀️🙏 ShelleyW

My poor father’s body was rigid “and fighting against all movement” Eldopa (sp???) helped my Dad enormously. i seek out the best trained practioners to prescribe for me. My body is too complex for a “lightly trained” medical generalist

I see a neurologist at Stanford University through what's referred to by the VA as community care. They are excellent; only problem is I no longer am able to drive and Stanford is about a 2-hour drive each way for me. After a thorough evaluation, the chief neurologist suggested I wear full-leg compression tights and compression socks in addition to wearing a back brace. I'm getting more protein in my diet--will be switching from vegan to eating eggs, some dairy (half cup of yogurt), and even adding meat to my diet: I'm having baked salmon tonight and I will be making chicken liver this weekend. As I stated, I'm just trying to maintain my mind and body. I use weighted utensils when eating--helps to keep me from splattering food all over the place due to tremors and dyskinesia. I attend a beginning tai chi chuan class which I use to focus on grounding/rooting techniques--confident movement begins with your feet. There's a formal dance class after tai chi chuan, and the teacher has a strong foundation in what I'm trying to focus on. So, for me, diet and exercise, and plenty of sleep--began using a CPAP machine for sleep apnea, but it also helped with my sleep hygiene. Good neurologists are rare and often quite expensive (had to pay $350/session with a highly respected local neurologist, but Agent Orange exposure and drinking toxic water a Camp Lejeune is most likely how I contracted PD, so the government owes me decent medical attention. And although I've been back in the U.S. for nearly five years, I've been denied my claim for PD; guess the government is waiting for me to die first. I've read about recent scandals regarding the VA, and may end up just another statistic. As far as rigidity and body coordination go, I had to learn how to walk and move better which took several years of physical therapy. I can now walk naturally, tai chi helped with my posture, and strengthening exercises gave me back the ability to get in and out of cars and bed; even had to build up my body to get out of a chair. There are many online support groups such as SPEAK OUT Therapy Program--They'll send you free books for your father to follow along with the online group < ParkinsonVoiceProject.org>. They helped me to build up my esophagus to keep me from choking on food and speaking clearly--boosted my confidence. I practiced Speaking Out with Having difficulty talking was keeping me from attending social activities such as the water aerobic class I take twice a week at a local spa (free, thanks to a Multiple Sclerosis/PD non-profit group where I live in Monterey, CA. It's been a challenge, but I trust the physical therapists more than I do all the doctors I've seen. I hope your dad's condition improves, but it's going to take a lot of work and outside support. He's fortunate to have you in his corner. My wife is the one who keeps me going even when major depression sets in.

I was on 750 mg daily of Depakote. I suddenly started falling and couldn't get up. I started needing a walker. They thought I might have Parkinsons. After MRI it was ruled out. The neurologist said it might be the Depakote side effects. I weaned myself off the Depakote and it all went away. The neurologist said it was all from taking Depakote. You might greatly improve if you get off of it and try something else if the Parkinsons started after you started Depakote. My original doctor never warned me.