Switching Antidepressants

Hi, everyone...I'm looking for some answers, and hopefully some peace of mind, on a subject about which I haven't been able to find much information so far.

I was prescribed Zoloft by my psychiatrist in August of last year. After a sufficient amount of time on the maximum dosage of 200 mg, I realized that it wasn't working the way that it was supposed to (I had been on it once before.) and was switched to 50 mg of Pristiq. I felt great on Pristiq, but I was losing my hair so much that I couldn't stand to stay on it. I just switched to Lexapro (I'm on 20 mg.) this week.

I took my first dose of Lexapro on Monday. Yesterday I noticed that I wasn't feeling as well as I have been, instead feeling anxious and depressed. My mood had changed dramatically overnight; I've lost interest in doing anything and just want to sleep all of the time. I almost feel like a completely different person than who I was just two days ago.

I will admit that I was not taking the Pristiq like I was supposed to. I would take it on some days, not take it on others, and had not taken it at all for at least a week before starting Lexapro. I am also on Wellbutrin and Yasmin, and I know that those have a large effect on your mood as well. I hadn't been taking those like I was supposed to either.

Does anyone know if the way that I'm feeling can be caused by the combination of switching medications and not taking them properly? Thank you for any insight you may have!

Your body is confused. Give it a break, and stop changing doses of medications. Take what you are supposed to take.

Think of it this way. You want to make a cake. When you leave out sugar, or eggs, or sugar AND eggs, or whatever, the cake is different than it is supposed to be and different each time. Now, sometimes (by sheer luck) it tastes okay. Other times, it's awful. If you want it to work the way it is supposed to, you need to follow the recipe.

Be well.

Take it from one who knows...not taking medications as prescribed is considered by the medical profession to be "abuse" or "non compliance". So, aside from not feeling well and the medications not being effective, it can cause you to be seen in a bad light in the future. Please get honest with your doctor and take the medications as prescribed.