Will different medication ease my depression symptoms even further

[prollyadhd]

I'm taking risperdale but I find that depression symptoms are still there. I don't enjoy anything. Can't get up to class etc...
I was wondering if switching medication is a good idea or should I just increase the dosage.

PS: I'm posting this because my doctor isn't replying.

[bracknelson]

Yes, it can, you should take meds and keep doing medication.
Meds help in reducing symptoms of depression.
It works fast but temporary.

Medication will start working late if you are doing it regularly
Medication helps your mind to stay stable, increase your concentration.
This will be beneficial to fix your depression permanently

[Paxiled]

Uh, no.  Medication doesn't fix depression permanently.  We don't know what causes it biologically and so all the meds we have to treat it so far are not curative, they are just good for easing the symptoms.  If you want to fix it permanently, that takes more work in therapy and changing lifestyle and thinking.  It's hard.  Often meds are the best we can do.  Also, people have very different reactions to meds in general and to different meds.  One med might do nothing or even make it worse an another might help a lot.  I don't think they do anything to help concentration other than if they work the noise might be tamped down from the brain.  But for many the side effects and the effects might decrease concentration.  It's a much more individual thing.  Whether anyone should take meds or not is also a very individual thing and dependent on the severity of the problem.  Peace.

[specialmom]

Bracknelson, yes, I agree with you.  I think for many, medication is extremely beneficial.  And along with other things like talk therapy and lifestyle changes people often see the greatest benefit and are able to live a functional life.  For many, depression is a life long situation they must deal with.  While not the right choice for some, I agree that for many, it can improve their life tremendously and yes, hopefully permanently if they continue the medication.

[specialmom]

Hi there.  Yes, I agree that the SSRI's are rally the most popular class of medications overall and that they do help many.  Have you tried any of those thus far?  I imagine you have if you are on risperdal.  When someone is depressed, risperdal is often an add on medication but not THE medication they use to treat the depression.  When is the last time you checked in with your doctor?  I think you need to discuss the depression you still feel and come up with a plan to tackle that medically (with medication) and also what kind of therapy do you do?  Doing both usually nets the best results.  

[qmsmas]

This generation of antidepressants is now the most common class used for depression. Examples include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva), fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), and sertraline (Zoloft).

[Paxiled]

Is this really true?  The snri class is pretty popular as it's newer.  Wellbutrin is pretty widely used.  Just wondering if this is still true.  I personally have no idea.  I know it's the most widely used antidepressant for anxiety, but not sure about depression.  Lots more to choose from now.

[Paxiled]

First, are you seeing a psychiatrist or a general doc?  A psychiatrist may not reply, but does schedule regular appointments to discuss how you're doing.  That's because that's all they do and so to earn a living they have to keep seeing patients.  General docs are really really busy trying to handle everything and so don't ever have the time to get really good at anything.  This wasn't true in the past, but the profession evolved to make primary care physicians the sort of triage level who handle simpler things but refer to specialists for complicated things.  Mental illness is always complicated.  Basically, if you're on a med and it isn't working, then yes, either you need to increase the dose if you're not at the recommended therapeutic dose or if you are and it stopped working after having worked for a time or you need to try something else.  You have to do a proper taper off the med, you can't just quit, which is another reason to get a really good psychiatrist, as they do this all day every day and it's all they do and so hopefully they learn to do it well.  No guarantee, but you have a better chance of not being harmed.  Also, if you have a doctor who doesn't reply when you're having problems, your doc is probably too busy for your needs.  Again, if you live in any well-populated area, primary care physicians are incredibly busy and have very tight restrictions imposed on them as to how much time they're allowed to spend with any one patient unless you have a rare one how works for themselves in a concierge practice, but they usually don't take insurance.  The growing practice today is for PCP practices to be owned by large health care companies if you live in a well-populated area.  Don't know what your particular situation is, but the rule is, if at first you don't succeed, try try again.  And are you in therapy so you might in time not need medication anymore?  All the best.

[Paxiled]

By the way, the reason for this isn't that general docs like it this way.  So many have been forced by the way our health-care system has evolved to reluctantly leave their individual practices they form with other doctors who they knew and join these group practices that sell out to large organizations.  It's hard for PCPs to earn as much money as they want to earn or deserve to earn because of the heavy demands of the insurance industry and the large number of people who now use doctors.  It's not ideal, but for right now it is how we're going.  Now, in rural areas, it's still more like the olden days.