Trying a med you've already tried, 20 years ago??

[Blahblah]

My pdoc suggested a trial of a med I tried 20+ years ago (Zoloft). It was the first med I was ever on.

I was only about 18 and I had bad start-up side effects early on (anxiety, distress, restlessness, insomnia, flashbacks from previous trauma, etc) So I went off quite quickly, before 4 weeks. Fast forward 20 years after about 30 different meds & combos (none of which made me feel that way). She wants to trial this med again. Have you (or would you) do this? I'm kind of willing to try anything at this point bc too scared of ECT.

Edited July 11, 2018 by Blahblah

[CrazyRedhead]

56 minutes ago, Blahblah said:

My pdoc suggested a trial of a med I tried 20+ years ago (Zoloft). It was the first med I was ever on.

Have you (or would you) do this? I'm kind of willing to try anything at this point bc too scared of ECT.

I think it's worth a try......I would certainly do it if I were you.

Depending on what your doc thinks, it might be a good idea to start low and go up slowly, then after you reach target dosage, stick with it for at least 6 weeks before making a judgement on how it's working.

[Ion]

I had a similar experience with citalopram as my first med 12 years ago. It was tried first again in the new round of meds without having the problems I had with it before. Having dealt with this for so long, I felt fairly prepared to handle start up effects if they happened, but I didn't have the same ones this time.

[Blahblah]

Yeah, @Ion I'm thinking the same thing....maybe we just get used to having start-up effects over time? Maybe they seem overwhelming when we've never taken a psych med before? I've even heard of people that get very different effects when they trial a med after several years, or take it by itself....Anyhow, I'll give it a shot.

[poqi]

I had a similar experience with my first med (citalopram) back when I was a teenager, and it scared me off SSRIs for decades. So my depression just went untreated.... So kudos for even trying other meds after that first shitty time. I just started up on escitalopram, an idea that terrified me when a doctor suggested it a few years ago, because escitalopram and citalopram are so similar (one's a purified isomer of the other), and I'm not having any psychological side effects this time (my first experience had me agoraphobic and kind of in a spastic yelly mood, plus sexual side effects, anhedonia, stuff like that).

There's probably also something about how a younger brain just out of adolescence responds vs a more mature brain.

[Iceberg]

11 hours ago, Blahblah said:

Yeah, @Ion I'm thinking the same thing....maybe we just get used to having start-up effects over time? Maybe they seem overwhelming when we've never taken a psych med before? I've even heard of people that get very different effects when they trial a med after several years, or take it by itself....Anyhow, I'll give it a shot.

I think you're on to something there...I feel like my meds cause shit that would make people go crazy, so I guess I'm either used to it or resigned to it 

[BrianOCD]

If you didn't like it the first time I'd say don't do it.  For me personally, I've tried that a couple times and each time the drug I originally didn't like, I didnt like it again...So I know once I cross something off, it's gone.

 

Not to create confusion, just how it has been for me.

[mikl_pls]

Have you tried any of the MAOIs? If so, have you tried them in combination with a TCA and/or stimulant?

[notloki]

As mental illness does not remain static over time, tending to get worse if left untreated, the illness you had 20 years ago is not the same today. Your reaction to drugs will change, too. My first try at Metformin did not get above 500 mg without GI distress. Years later I accidentally took 1,000 mg for several months before I realized it and had no problems. There is also something to be said for giving a med a long enough trial.