Questioning the medicine
It’s normal to have questions about a medicine you take. Keep taking it as prescribed, write the questions down, and bring them to your doctor.
Before anything else
Please read this part first, and come back to it if anything later on seems to say otherwise. Keep taking your antidepressant, or any other prescribed medicine, exactly as prescribed. Don’t stop it, skip a dose to see how the week goes, or change the amount on your own, whether you feel better, feel worse, or are just tired of taking it. Stopping or changing some medicines suddenly can make you ill, and it can bring the depression back. Any change should be decided with the doctor who prescribed it, and that doctor will tell you how to make a change safely if one is needed.
What you can do today is write. Get a piece of paper and note what you’re hoping for, what worries you, and what you’ve noticed about your sleep, your mornings, and your patience. Write down the question you feel shy about asking, in your own words. If a friend gave you an opinion, note that it’s their opinion. Bring the paper to your next appointment, and keep taking the medicine as prescribed while you wait.
Why questions about medicine come up
Questions about a medicine usually start with a small moment. You open the cabinet, see the orange bottle next to the vitamins, and try to count how many years it’s been. The pharmacy calls about a refill and the price has gone up again. A side effect you shrugged off at first, like a dry mouth, a few extra pounds, or a flat feeling on days that ought to be good, starts to bother you more than it did.
Sometimes the question comes from feeling better. You’ve had a run of decent weeks, and you wonder whether you still need the pill at all. Other times it comes from feeling no different, or from a comment at a family dinner, a news story, or a post you read at 2 a.m. Embarrassment can play a part as well, especially for anyone who grew up in a family where nobody talked about their mood.
Every one of those questions is reasonable, and every one of them belongs with the doctor who prescribed the medicine. Feeling better can be a sign the medicine is doing its job, which is one reason stopping on your own can backfire. A side effect is worth reporting even when it seems minor, because your doctor may have ways to help that you wouldn’t guess. Cost questions can go to your pharmacist as well, who can tell you whether a lower-cost version exists and talk it over with your doctor.
Why a new antidepressant can seem slow to work
The first weeks on a new medicine can be the hardest time to keep going. You swallow the pill each morning, the days look the same, and a small voice starts asking what the point is. The National Institute of Mental Health explains that antidepressants usually take 4 to 8 weeks to work, and that problems with sleep, appetite, and concentration often improve before the mood lifts.
That timeline is one reason doctors ask people to keep taking a new medicine as prescribed while they wait, and to report how they’re doing along the way. It also helps to watch for small signs rather than a sudden brighter day. You might notice that you fall asleep a little easier, that breakfast tastes like food again, or that you finished a chapter of a book for the first time in a month. Write those down with the date, because they’re easy to forget by the time of the next visit.
If several weeks go by and nothing seems different, or you feel worse, call the doctor who prescribed it rather than deciding on your own that it failed. The same institute notes that finding the right medicine can take more than one try, and doctors have several options to choose from. Bring your notes to that call, since they help the doctor decide what to do next.
Questions at any age
Maybe a medicine was offered to you recently and you’re unsure it’s right for you. Or you’ve taken the same pill for years and you wonder whether it still fits your life now, with a new heart pill in the cabinet and a different body than you had at 50. Both questions are reasonable, and both belong with your doctor, who knows your health history. Arcana Mentis can’t see your body or your records, so this site can’t give you a yes or a no.
If you take several medicines for different conditions, you can ask your doctor or pharmacist to go over all of them with you at once. Many people do this once a year. It gives one person the whole picture of how your pills work together, and it’s a calm, ordinary way to raise the question that’s been on your mind. Any change that comes out of it is the doctor’s call, made with you.
If you’re younger and have recently started an antidepressant or had the dose changed, pay close attention to how you feel. The National Institute of Mental Health notes that some people under 25 have more suicidal thoughts or behavior in the first weeks after starting an antidepressant or changing the dose. If you notice new or worse thoughts of suicide, unusual agitation, or a sudden change in how you feel, call your doctor right away, and call or text 988 if you’re in crisis. Keep taking the medicine as prescribed while you reach them, unless they tell you something different.
How to write your questions down
Written questions are easier to hold onto in an exam room, where many people forget half of what they meant to say. Take one sheet and give it three headings: what I’ve noticed, what worries me, and what I want to ask. Spend about 10 minutes on it, at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, on a morning when your head is clearest.
Under “what I’ve noticed,” put dates and plain details. You might write, “Since about June, I fall asleep fine but wake at 3 and can’t get back to sleep.” You might write, “My mouth is dry most of the day,” or “I feel steadier than last winter, but I don’t laugh much.” Include the good along with the bad, because both help your doctor see whether the medicine is doing what it’s meant to do.
Under “what worries me,” be blunt with yourself. Maybe you worry about taking it for the rest of your life, about how it mixes with a new blood pressure pill, or about what your children would think. Under “what I want to ask,” turn each worry into a question you could say out loud. Put a star next to the one you most want answered, and ask that one first, before the visit runs short.
Add a list of everything you take: every prescription, every over-the-counter pill, and every vitamin, herbal remedy, or supplement, with the dose from the label. Some supplements can interact with antidepressants, and St. John’s wort is a well-known example, so your doctor needs the full list. If it’s easier, put all the bottles in a bag and bring them along.
Questions you might ask your doctor
You can use your own words, and you don’t need to ask all of these. Pick the few that fit your week.
- “What is this medicine meant to do for me, and how will we know it’s working?”
- “Which side effects should I call you about, and which ones tend to fade?”
- “Is it safe with my other medicines and supplements, and with a glass of wine at dinner?”
- “How long do people usually stay on a medicine like this?”
- “If we ever decide together to change it, how would we do that safely?”
- “Could talk therapy or another kind of help go alongside it?”
- “Who should I call if a question comes up between visits?”
If an answer goes by too fast, it’s fine to say, “Could you say that again more slowly? I’d like to write it down.” Doctors hear that request all the time, and it helps you both make sure the answer was clear.
When friends, family, or the internet have opinions
Friends mean well. One might tell you to throw the pills away, and another might say you shouldn’t ask questions at all. If a post you read late at night has left you sure you should stop, hold off and take that feeling to your doctor instead. If you’ve been afraid to mention a side effect or a worry, mention it. Asking about your medicine is a normal part of your care, and asking never commits you to a change.
It can help to have a sentence ready for the people around you. “I’m talking it over with my doctor, and I’m keeping my medicine as it is until then” ends most of those conversations politely. A grown child or a close friend who is worried about you can come to an appointment if you’d like the company, and your doctor can answer their questions with you in the room.
Feelings about medicine often get tangled up with loneliness, too. Long evenings and friends who’ve drifted away can make any worry louder, and feeling lonely is never a reason to start or stop a medicine on your own. Medicine and loneliness looks at that mix, and younger readers will find the same advice on younger, and lonely.
What to say at the appointment
When you see your doctor, you might start with: “I have some questions about my medicine, and I’m not changing anything until we decide together.” That sentence keeps your questions on the table and your medicine steady. If your doctor has already told you to make a change, follow your doctor’s instructions.
If you leave feeling rushed, or an answer didn’t make sense, you can call the office and ask for a follow-up visit or a call from the nurse. Your pharmacist is another good person to ask about side effects and how one medicine mixes with another, often without an appointment. If you’d like a second opinion, you can ask for one, and keep taking the medicine as prescribed while you wait for it. There’s more on getting ready for the visit in talk with your clinician.
You won’t find stories on this site about someone who stopped a medicine and felt great, or someone who stopped and got worse, because Arcana Mentis doesn’t publish recovery stories. The steps are simple. Write your questions, take them to your doctor, and keep taking the medicine as prescribed until the two of you have decided together.
If something feels wrong between visits
Call your doctor’s office the same day if you notice a new or troubling side effect, if your mood drops sharply, or if you feel worse in a way that scares you. Many offices have an after-hours line, and the number is often on the recorded message. Tell them what you take, when you noticed the change, and what it feels like. Keep taking the medicine as prescribed while you wait to hear back, unless the doctor or pharmacist tells you to do something different.
If you have thoughts of suicide or you don’t feel safe, call or text 988 now. If you have trouble breathing, swelling in your face or throat, chest pain, or a seizure, call 911.
If you’ve already missed doses or stopped on your own, you’re not in trouble, and you’re far from the first person this has happened to. Call your doctor or pharmacist today, tell them exactly what happened and when, and ask how to get back on track. Follow what they say rather than doubling up on doses or guessing.
Learn more from trusted sources
These public health agencies explain depression and its treatment, including medicine, in more detail than this site does.
- Depression from the National Institute of Mental Health covers the signs, the causes, and the treatments that help.
- Older adults and mental health from the National Institute of Mental Health explains how to find care later in life.
- Depression and older adults from the National Institute on Aging describes what depression can look like after 50 and how it is treated.
If you need care
If you’re in crisis in the United States, call or text 988 now, before you read any further or make any decision about a medicine. You don’t need a good reason or the right words. If you’re outside the United States, call your local emergency number or a local crisis line. A real person can stay on the line with you.
If you’re not in crisis, keep every prescribed medicine as prescribed until your doctor changes the plan with you, and bring the questions you wrote. There’s more in the depression room, short definitions in the glossary (including depression and adjunct to care), and answers about medicine in the depression FAQ and the Site FAQ. This page is not yet medically reviewed.