When do you determine that an SSRI is not working?

[nfowife]

My daughter (15) has anxiety and has been on multiple meds since she was 11. We started on Zoloft and it was great at first but the effect wore off and even increases didn’t help. Then we switched to something else I can’t quite recall and then we went to Effexor and now she is on cymbalta and it is helping. She also started an ADHD med this year- was diagnosed 2 years ago. If you don’t see a change make a change. It’s hard to find the right dose.

[StantonHyde]

We’re a Zoloft and lexapro family!

[daisyd]

It can take 1.5-2 months for these meds to kick in.

[Gracemom]

My son takes Wellbutrin, which is also supposed to help with adhd. We went through several ssri’s before finding that this helped. It’s a frustrating process. Does the psychiatrist have a messaging system? I can never get ours by phone but she is very responsive through the patient portal.

[marinkitty]

One thing to look into is genetic testing. It is just a cheek swab but it can be expensive if insurance won't cover it. For us, it was so worth doing. Our DD had tried Zoloft, Prozac and one other that I can't remember right now and then we did the testing and found that given her genetics, SSRIs were unlikely to work well for her and SSNIs would be a better fit. She went on Cymbalta right after that and it was like night and day. Game changer and now she's been on it for almost four years and we have never needed to adjust the dose. It just works for her. The Zoloft did nothing and the Prozac did something but not enough. We tried each for months and even added other drugs to act as boosters. Without the testing we could have gone down the path of trying every SSRI under the sun, adding and subtracting things or just deciding it was as good as it was going to get. I'll forever be grateful that the testing was suggested to us.

[legaleagle]

DS2 (10) has ADHD and a fair amount of anxiety. After tinkering over the summer he's now on zoloft, intuniv and metadate and it helps a lot, esp after splitting his metadate into morning and lunchtime dose. He's on a really low dose of all of these but again, he's only 10 and about 80lb.

[bisous]

Thank you for all your advice. It is really helpful! It will be about 1 month on the higher dose by the time we meet next with the psychiatrist and I just don't see ANY improvement. I'm inclined to try Zoloft as apparently this has been good for other members of our family (and apparently many of you here!). I'm intrigued with the idea of testing. I'll ask the psychiatrist but I'm doubtful that it will be approved or paid for. Honestly I'd pay a lot right now to alleviate his pain quicker.

[gatorsmom]

One thing to look into is genetic testing. It is just a cheek swab but it can be expensive if insurance won't cover it. For us, it was so worth doing. Our DD had tried Zoloft, Prozac and one other that I can't remember right now and then we did the testing and found that given her genetics, SSRIs were unlikely to work well for her and SSNIs would be a better fit. She went on Cymbalta right after that and it was like night and day. Game changer and now she's been on it for almost four years and we have never needed to adjust the dose. It just works for her. The Zoloft did nothing and the Prozac did something but not enough. We tried each for months and even added other drugs to act as boosters. Without the testing we could have gone down the path of trying every SSRI under the sun, adding and subtracting things or just deciding it was as good as it was going to get. I'll forever be grateful that the testing was suggested to us.

Im really glad you mentioned this. I remember asking about when Ds3 was diagnosed 5 years ago and it wasn’t available but maybe it is now. Ds3 and I both think his Concerta prescription needs to be increased but his pediatrician says we are approaching the higher limits. Which means we might be shooting for a new ADHD medication soon. I remember the last time like it was 5 yesterday. Not fun for either of us. The genetic testing could maybe make that process shorter. Hmm, definitely something to ask the doctor at our zoom appointment today.