# Antidepressants=feeling worse before better?



## lost91 (Oct 18, 2011)

So my doc put me on Paroxetine 40mg substituted for Paxil about 1 yr ago and after about 3-4 days into medication I was feeling worse than before. My anxiety was 2x worse, I felt irritable and I had other uncomfortable feelings I hadn't had before. I was pretty much feeling bad. So I stopped them cold turkey. Well I decided to try them again a couple of months ago and I went through the same thing 3-4 days later. I researched online and found a couple of websites stating that people sometimes feel worse(usually 2 weeks or more) before they start to see good results. I want to try them again but am not too sure. 

Any similar experiences with SSRI'S?


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## Burnaby (Feb 13, 2013)

lost91 said:


> So my doc put me on Paroxetine 40mg substituted for Paxil about 1 yr ago and after about 3-4 days into medication I was feeling worse than before. My anxiety was 2x worse, I felt irritable and I had other uncomfortable feelings I hadn't had before. I was pretty much feeling bad. So I stopped them cold turkey. Well I decided to try them again a couple of months ago and I went through the same thing 3-4 days later. I researched online and found a couple of websites stating that people sometimes feel worse(usually 2 weeks or more) before they start to see good results. I want to try them again but am not too sure.
> 
> Any similar experiences with SSRI'S?


I would say most of the time that is the case, but this based on talking to or reading other peoples experience. It takes a while for these medications to work and they can throw you offf balance and thats where all the agitation comes from. In some cases however the agitation or heart palpitation is so much that you have to reduce the dosage and see if you can tolerate it better, if not maybe its best to switch to another antidepressant. I would also say for the older antidepressants it takes around 6-8 weeks to feel the effect (for some less) and for the newers ssri's i noticed an improvement around 3 or 4 weeks so if you can tolerate the side effects its best to stay on it because the side effects can go away and if not then you know for sure that antidepressant wasn't meant for you and cross it off your list for good.


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## langford77 (Jun 23, 2013)

I just started taking Zoloft for the 3rd time. 1st week they put me on efexor and it was fine till they upped the dose. So I asked if they could switch me to Zoloft. So all in all I have had a SSRI in my system for 12 days. I am having depresion and anxiety with it, more so than I did before I started it. Has anyone else had these side effects when starting and ssri? Its torture.


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## Billius (Aug 7, 2012)

You might just hate ssris, they ****ed me up bad. The dopamine suppression I think does it


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## RelinquishedHell (Apr 10, 2012)

Anti-depressants always made me feel much worse. Anxiety went through the roof and I felt hopelessly depressed. I've tried 4 different SSRIs and Remeron. I just gave up and stuck to benzos.


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## RecoveredWell (Jun 10, 2013)

Much worse than better, Adivan when taken for more than 2 weeks made life tough, I was barely hanging on and had to up the dose which cant be good in the long run


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## yourfavestoner (Jan 14, 2010)

FoundAndLost said:


> Anti-depressants always made me feel much worse. Anxiety went through the roof and I felt hopelessly depressed. I've tried 4 different SSRIs and Remeron. I just gave up and stuck to benzos.


Try an MAO Inhibitor such as Nardil or Parnate.


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## Chiko (May 16, 2013)

All antidepressant Sux!!!!!


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## Burnaby (Feb 13, 2013)

langford77 said:


> I just started taking Zoloft for the 3rd time. 1st week they put me on efexor and it was fine till they upped the dose. So I asked if they could switch me to Zoloft. So all in all I have had a SSRI in my system for 12 days. I am having depresion and anxiety with it, more so than I did before I started it. Has anyone else had these side effects when starting and ssri? Its torture.


have you tried other ssri's? if one ssri is not doing the job try another one. I believe its good to try at least 3 ssri's before ruling out that they don't work.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

Depends on your symptoms but something like

Paxil -> Zoloft -> Fluoxetine if anxiety is bad

or

Zoloft -> Prozac -> Paxil if depression is worse.

Either way, you are testing your enzymatic breakdown of the different classes of ssri's and thus ruling out the ones that do/dont work. After that if all have failed then try a MAOI


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## Divaamour (Jun 23, 2013)

Anybody experience negative symptoms with Cipralex? This is third time taking it. Wondering if this time would be bad. The first two were okay in my system.


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## Raphael200 (Aug 18, 2012)

My anti depressants aren't working : (


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## lost91 (Oct 18, 2011)

*I'm never taking this medication again*

I'm never going to take this medication again. I started my first dose of 40mg yesterday in the morning after having ate breakfast. I felt a little nauseous but it settled eventually. I felt drowsy and a very slight euphoric feeling 2-3 hours after. Today I woke up and felt very nauseous and decided to eat a banana before eating breakfast and taking the pill. 30 min later I threw up the banana. I then ate breakfast and decided to cut the pill in half so that it would be 20mgs and about 30 minutes later I threw everything up. I haven't thrown up in months and this is how I know its the pill. My body can't tolerate this. Im flushing all 80 something pills down the toilet.


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## Mel belle (Apr 17, 2016)

I get worse depression with antidepressants. I am 6 days into Nardil and same story, different verse. What is the deal? should I stick Nardil out and just see?


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

it happens all the time.


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## th14 (Jul 28, 2014)

yeah, more serotonin acting on the 5ht2a & c receptors before they eventually down-regulate (although that's only a part of it)


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## CaptainPeanuts (Oct 29, 2015)

lost91 said:


> So my doc put me on Paroxetine 40mg substituted for Paxil about 1 yr ago and after about 3-4 days into medication I was feeling worse than before. My anxiety was 2x worse, I felt irritable and I had other uncomfortable feelings I hadn't had before. I was pretty much feeling bad. So I stopped them cold turkey. Well I decided to try them again a couple of months ago and I went through the same thing 3-4 days later. I researched online and found a couple of websites stating that people sometimes feel worse(usually 2 weeks or more) before they start to see good results. I want to try them again but am not too sure.
> 
> Any similar experiences with SSRI'S?


If you were started at a high dose, get it lowered. Starting out slow then slowly going higher is the best approach. Don't mess up this opportunity, your on the best medication available for SA.

Everyone's experience with side effects is different. So, if you experience any, just give it time and they may go away. Follow the food guidelines, but most people don't experience food reactions.

Give N a year before you can say it is worth continuing or not, and review all your questions about it and ask your pdoc as much as possible.

Hope that helps


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