Yes several times. I have had Prozac, Effexor and many others. The meds stop being effective and the dose gets increased until even that stops working and then the meds are changed again. In the past 20 years of chemical depression I have been on 6 different meds.
They generally are effective for 2/3/4 years then I become resistant and we have to go through the protocol of wash out then starting trial and failure until we find one that is effective without side effects.
Currently on setraline with a mood enhancer. Twice in past eighteen months dose has been increased and mood enhancer added about six months ago.
For me it’s just part of putting up with the illness.
@ Peterd, yeah that has happened to me too, heaps of times. I've taken the following antidepressants: moclobemide, sertraline, fluoxetine, paroxetine, fluvoxamine, citalopram, escitalopram, nortriptylline, mirtazepine, venlafaxine, desvenlafaxine, nefazodone, duloxetine. Most of them, really. There is a large body of research to show that many patients fail to respond, or respond adequately to antidepressant monotherapy (taking a single antidepressant drug as therapy). I found the addition of a mood stabiliiser (lamotrigine) to be quite effective. Others have a good response from the addition of an atypical antipsychotic.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC28...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC33...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC35...
@A MyDepressionTeam Member I had the experience with Wellbutrin. It worked for years and then all of a sudden it stopped working. I know it's hard but try to be patient with the new med. Keep in touch with your doctor. He/she will know how long the new med takes to work. Hurry up and wait. Best of luck to you!
Yes. Actually, medicine is not really sure why, yet. ^
Talk to your psychiatrist. It's not uncommon, and needs to be addressed ASAP.
@A MyDepressionTeam Member Effexor (venlafaxine) is an SNRI. Only problem is, it's dependent on an enzyme in the liver (2D6) for conversion into it's active form. About 10% of Caucasians produce little to none of this enzyme, so there is therefore a large population for whom it will underperform. Nowadays, we have desvenlaxine (Pristiq), which is the active metabolite of venlafaxine.
Celexor (citalopram), is an SSRI, with a higher affinity for serotonin, than venlafaxine, but negligible effect of noradrenaline (norepinephrine).
Have you ever tried an antidepressant from a different class, like moclobemide, mirtazepine, bupropion, imipramine, etc.?