Medication Questions

I posted part of this on my other thread but I posted it with a bunch of rambling so I thought I'd clean it up and just ask the questions I have. 

I'm wondering if any of you have ever made it through the initial couple of weeks of a new drug without feeling worse. I'd love to hear if that's at least a possibility. Also wondering if anyone has experience with Anafranil - I know Hibee mentioned being on it in the other post. How were the side effects? How was the drug as far as being helpful for anxiety/depression/OCD? How was the inital period after you started taking it? Haha I have a lot of questions I guess.

Also - my psychiatrist wants me to stay on the Xanax (0.25 mg 2x/day) for the 3 weeks until I see him again while I adjust to the Anafranil. That's 6 weeks total of being on it consistently. Will I have a huge problem getting off of it? 

Thanks for all the help and support and thanks in advance for your comments here:)

PS - I did start the Anafranil last night and today I'm a bit more anxious but I'm not sure if I'm more anxious as a side effect or more anxious because I know I've started it now and am just waiting to see what will happen.  Which leads me to another question... (of course)... Would I feel the side effects today already or is it possible to get more than what I have now in the coming days?  Can it get worse before it gets better?  Or is one day on it enough to get a feel for what it will be like (as far as side effects go)?

Thanks again :)

Post Edited (AnxiousMomma) : 4/18/2012 1:05:05 PM (GMT-6)

Hi AM

It can be difficult starting a new antidepressant as most of them do bring side effects although usually these lesson after a couple of weeks with it taking between 6-8 weeks before you will be able to feel the benefit. My advise is to usually stick with it and give the medication time and if the side effects outweigh the benefits then a trip to the doctor to discuss that is always the best thing to do.

With regards to the Anafranil I found it a good medication in regards to treating my anxiety and ocd but it made me feel quite drowsy so I decided to change meds apart from that the side effects for me were not to bad and started to ease quite quickly. It was also an easy medication to discontinue and I had no problems changing medication which is a plus. As far as I have heard it is one of the best AD to treat ocd so I hope it works well for you.

Regarding the Xanax it is best to reduce the dosage slowly over a period of time as you can get withdrawal effects but I am sure your doctor will advise on this and do keep in close contact with them. Let us know how you get on and take care.

Hibee