After the report that said that antidepressants were only slightly better than placebos in the moderately depressed, CBC radio had an interview with the head of the mood disorder clinic in Hamilton, Ontario. He said 2 things that rang true with me.
1. That most people don't realize how much good antidepressants are doing until they stop taking them.
2. That they have found that in many cases with people who have stopped taking medications that same medication does not work when they go back on it.
This is exactly what happened with me. Two years ago, in a time of extreme family and work-related stress, I finally took a low dose (75 mg) of effexor offered by my family doctor. I was amazed at the results. I felt "normal" for the first time in a long time. I continued to take it for a year to make sure that the cure was effective, after reading all I could about it, then continued for a few months longer to pass the spring equinox and avoid SAD. Then I slowly weaned with no ill effects.
By September I was in a major suicidal depression. I went back on Effexor and even tried higher doses, but continued cycling through mild depression and suicidal depression. I tried this site and it helped a bit but the dips continued. I have just come out of a deep pit and to my amazement found my self happy last Thursday. Not deliriously jump up and win the lottery happy, but really happy, normal happy. I had kept taking the medication because i was afraid to stop.
So maybe, when you go back on, it takes 6 months, rather than 6 weeks to work.
Hang in there. Work towards content.
