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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
From Lexapro to Effexor to Lexapro to Paxil and now throw in some Abilify
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
From Lexapro to Effexor to Lexapro to Paxil and now throw in some Abilify
by Help4Hubby1, Sep 16, 2009 02:08PM
My husband has been battling depression for almost 3 years now. We are newlyweds and are just looking for something that will finally do the trick so that we can enjoy being newlyweds before that phase has passed. He started out on 10mg of Lexapro in October of 2006. It was WONDERFUL for about 6 months until his body got used to it. When he went back to his doctor they switched him to a low does of Effexor. It made him very sick and nearly suicidal. After doing some research, we went back to the doctor and questioned why they did not just increase his does of Lexapro since we knew it seemed to work. His doctor agreed to switch him back to lexapro, but after 6 weeks she had still not gotten around to calling in his prescription. We switched doctors and got him on 20mg of Lexapro. It worked WONDERFUL and he was back to his happy self which was great. Then again...6 months later it seemed to stop working. In December of 2008, his doctor put him on Paxil. He is really tired all of the time, he is angry a lot, he has no interest in anything anymore, he wakes up multiple times a night drenched in sweat and it is all he can do just to go to work each day. He is never happy and feels like he never will be. We spoke to his doctor who added a small dose of Abilify to his daily Paxil routine. It had little or no effect and caused the anxiety to worsen. He took himself off the Abilify and is still trying to make do with Paxil. What should we do? Do we try another medicine? Do we go back to Lexapro since we know it works even though it only seems to help for about 6 months? Is it safe to switch medications every six months when his body gets used to it? Is it possible that going back to Lexapro and adding Abilify could do the trick long term? I'm at a loss and just want to see my husband happy and enjoying the wonderful life we have together.
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Sep 16, 2009 03:25PM
, Sep 16, 2009 03:25PMTo: Help4Hubby1
There are many medications to choose from. He should not be continuing a medication like Paxil that is causing these side effects. I assume that you have been going to a general doctor rather than a psychiatrist psychopharmacologist...that is what you need to do. Your husband can be helped by a specialist who knows how to prescribe and monitor these medicaitons.
I would also try adding in some psychotherapy. I don't know if you would get a whole lot of support or progress from a depression support group.
Sometimes there may also be another condition (either physical or mental) driving the depression.
Good luck for sorting this out and also for your future together. It's really nice to see a supportive family member.
J