About Libby Bonner Expertise I am a member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. I can suggest publications, websites, and support groups, answer basic financial questions, answer general questions about meds. I can answer both practical and clinical questions. My 40 year-old daughter has bipolar illness, primarily depressive, and anxiety. She was diagnosed at age 21. I also have a library master`s degree and worked for many years as a clinical/hospital librarian answering reference questions from professionals and the public. My expertise concerns the serious mental illnesses: bipolar disorder; depression; and schizophrenia. I also know about what kinds of care to expect from different professionals/providers. I am not qualified to help families with patients under 18 I cannot answer questions about herbal remedies.
Experience Familiarity with the healthcare system. Working at a large hospital with a pscyh in-patient unit and an affiliated mental health center. Having a daughter with a chronic mental illness. Knowing many consumers, many diagnoses, when they were doing well and not-so-well. Taking, and now monitoring, the NAMI Family to Family class. Facilitating NAMI caring and sharing support group for family members.
Question My mother-in-law was prescribed Zoloft & is still having alot of problems with depression, she has stopped taking the Zoloft after only about 2-3 weeks. is this bad to just stop taking the medication ? she seems to be only getting more tired & depressed, however is refusing to get help for this or even other medical problems.
thanks,
June
Answer With this medication, in the circumstances you describe, stopping all at once will probably not have negative consequences. I am reading between the lines to assume that she was neither bed-bound nor suicidal.
Most antidepressants take 3-4 weeks, or longer, to begin working. Doc may have told her, but it's likely she either didn't take it in [illness causes decreased attention span and fact retention]- that, or that the depression just leaves her in a poor position to think problems through clearly [should I keep taking this, and why?] or even to care is her decisions are good or bad ones.
For all of the above reasons, she isn't at all motivated to get busy and solve other medical problems.
Was this prescribed by a family doc? The ideal situation would be one where family doc also treats her husband or other close relative [a sister?] so that the other person might be able to report the problem and/or go w/ Mom to her next appt. --- In any other circumstance, it is likely the doc will not discuss treatment w/ anyone but the patient. All you can do about that is to write a short note reporting it to the doc and noting also that things - be specific - are getting worse. [And see end of this email.] The doc's office might, or might not, initiate a call to Mom.
I'm afraid you really have few options here w/ an adult patient who is too sick to care about consequences [that she might lose her job or whatever; or that she might get sicker], who perhaps lacked initial interest in getting better [like, who set up the appt where the med was prescribed - or did doc just notice it during a routine visit?] and who perhaps resists the diagnosis or is unconvinced that she can be helped.
I would want to know, want you to find out, whether she agrees that she is depressed, 'has depression.'
You can't lead this horse to water, but you may be able to get the horse to drink: she has some Zoloft remaining and might be persuaded to resume taking it. See if the doc's office will give her, or give you, guidance on how to get back on it...it will depend on how recently she quit. Someone in the family needs to be sure, if she resumes, that she gets it refilled when needed - or that she calls the doc, when she runs out, to ask for a refill if no refills were originally ordered.
If she if able to take in info, or is interested in info, explain in short sentences, about antidepressants. Explain that there has to be a minimum amount in her blood all the time in order to feel better, and you can't get that in a short time: it builds up gradually and then stays at that level.
Be sure, too, that she doesn't think that antidepressants are 'uppers' or that they are habit-forming; many people who believe this will not take them. The meds simply change a low mood into a normal mood.
If she will resume, there is still the chance that the dose is not high enough OR that Zoloft is just not going to be the right medicine for her. That's bad news, because it means that she could well be living w/ the depression for several weeks without improvement. --- The way to speed this along as much as possible is to try to find out how many weeks this should take [w/ Zoloft.] Then you/she will know when to report that she is not responding, if that should be the case....and a new dose or new drug can be tried.
As you can see, it makes it much easier if the family can be in communication w/ the doc. My last piece of advice would be to see if she will let the doc know what family member/s can be kept up to date. That would even let you make appts for her......and perhaps she would be willing to go if someone will take her. Don't count on her doing much that requires any initiative.
For more ongoing help, look for a NAMI affiliate near you/her, and have some family member/s start attending. Find an affiliate at www.nami.org. You will get lots of practical help there, and encouragement.
