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Sadness while on meds
About 2 months ago I went through a 3 month bout with horrible depression and anxiety. My psych doc increased my duloxetine to 120mg (60mg 2x/day) and started me on buspar 30mg (15mg 2x/day). I have been feeling much better but for the last day and a half I have been feeling like a want to cry for no reason.
I don’t know if this is a side effect from the meds or because I haven’t been sleeping well or if I’m going backwards. It’s really worrying me and not sure what to do to stop myself from thinking to much about it and causing even more mental issues for myself.
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@mlpbob
I gave my antidepressants a month or two to see how I did. One made my brain zap (Prozac/fluoxetine) when the dosage was increased so I stopped taking it. I do better on Wellbutrin (150-300mg) combined with Zoloft/sertraline (50mg). Before I had this combination, they tried me on Aripiprazole (2mg then 5mg) with Wellbutrin/bupropion but it caused increased pain and difficulty walking when the dosage was increased (tried the medication about 3-4 weeks before stopping). They then tried low dose Mirtazapine with Wellbutrin/bupropion but I could tell I had dramatically increased appetite after only one day so I stopped.
My rule of thumb is if the side effects are significant on lower doses of a new medication, increasing the dose will only make it worse. Depending on the side effects, I want off those that have significant side effects asap and will give other medications 2-4 weeks to see if I feel better. If the side effects outweigh the improvement in my symptoms, I want off them. I could tell after 1-2 weeks that the Zoloft/sertraline combined with Wellbutrin/bupropion worked better for me. They call this combination of medications “well-oft” because people seem to do well on this combination.
If you are not feeling any better after 2-3 weeks and have bad side effects, it may not be a good medication for you.
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3 ReactionsThe crazy thing is I was better after increasing it. Only have 6 weeks did this happen. That is the scary part. Also duloxetine has worked great for me for years.
@yanks950
Most doctors won’t increase medication if the patient is not improving on the lower dose and has bad side effects that are intolerable. It sounds like they took a chance that you would improve based upon the type of medication you are taking. I don’t think I ever improved after increasing medication if I had bad side effects at low doses.
@yanks950 Well, our bodies sometimes take time to adjust, then perhaps we see a swing in things. And just as we get used to something, we get sick, or change something else that has an unseen interaction. A new-to-us over the counter thing, of change in diet, or change in the time of day we take something. There are many variables, it seems. I am just thinking out loud here [on the keyboard!]
As I mentioned before, get an opportunity to speak to your pharmacist to review things. They truly are very knowledgeable! I would really like to hear what they have to say.
Ginger