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Grand Member
Member Since Aug 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 985
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#1
I keep reading on the web about people against meds and how it messed their life up. and it scares me a lot. I can't just stop my meds or a med on my own, wouldn't be best thing to do.
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Anonymous57777, Fuzzybear, possum220, Shazerac, Shi m, still_crazy, Wild Coyote
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*Laurie*, Wild Coyote
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#2
There are so many medications that can cause dependence (once we start them, it is not easy to stop) which is a scary thing. On top of this, many of us have anxiety--so when we hear negative messages about what we are taking--we can focus solely on the danger and not the benefits. Of course, the drugs we take can have negative effects--it seems like people do not all react the same to their drugs. Right now, my doctor is lowering my antidepressant dose but she is carefully monitoring me while she does this. It turns out that my antidepressant was causing a lot of my insomnia. However, when I was first prescribed it--I was suicidal. At the time, the suicide risk was a greater concern than the negative effects of the drug.
This is why these drugs are only available by prescription. They have their place and some people must take them to function. Before they had their medications, things were worse for them than when they started taking them. So, keep an open mind while being informed and listen to your body. I think whenever you can manage your life without medications--that is the best way to go but some of us find that we really need them. I take mine, in part, so that I can be a better wife and mother--I have made some scary missteps without them. I don't want to put my family through anymore drama so I have decided it is worth it to take them..... |
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Grand Magnate
Member Since May 2015
Location: earth
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#3
The internet is a great place to find hysterical rants about everything under the sun. A lot of it is just recycled info from another source to create content for that website. Maybe Meds did actually ruin someone’s, life but who knows how their life would have gone without Meds. There is really no way of knowing.
people who have no problem with other Meds like for diabetes or heart problems seem to view psych Meds as a horrible thing. I think it’s part stigma and part denial that mental illness is “real”. Each person is different. I compare the me I was without my meds and the me I am now with the help of Meds. I much prefer the way I feel now. __________________ Eat a live frog for breakfast every morning and nothing worse can happen to you that day! "Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be left waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged Bipolar type 2 rapid cycling DX 2013 - Seroquel 100 Celexa 20 mg Xanax .5 mg prn Modafanil 100 mg |
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still_crazy
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*Laurie*, HowDoYouFeelMeow?, still_crazy
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Member
Member Since Apr 2018
Location: Earth weekdays, Pluto on weekends
Posts: 35
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#4
Making peace with your meds can be hard. Some see them as a constant physical reminder of who they are compared to who they used to be. A bit like getting a huge ugly scar on your face, then seeing it every morning when you brush your hair.
I gave my meds names, talk to them. "Come on Mary, in you go, I need to be stable today" etc. It helps. |
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*Laurie*, Shi m
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Poohbah
Member Since Sep 2016
Location: USA
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#5
I have made peace with my meds long ago. Would not be here writing this today if I didn't. My psychiatrist and I are completely in sync. My meds are truly a collaborative effort. He also does not do the "I am the doctor, so I know best" thing.
__________________ True happiness comes not when we get rid of all our problems, but when we change our relationship to them, when we see our problems as a potential source of awakening, opportunities to practice patience and learn.~Richard Carlson |
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Member
Member Since Mar 2018
Location: Atlanta, Ga
Posts: 34
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#6
Pscyh meds can react very differently to different people. I have some horrible past experiences due to the meds I was given. An alternative natural Bi-polar depression relief root is called Maca. Has helped my depression more than any prescription med ever given. But everyone reacts differently so have your family keep track of your behaviors. And regulate the dose if you are too anxietal dial it back. Too sad depressed take more. A tsp of powder is suggested to start per day. Piping Rock.com has it cheap good quality. Has been used for 2000 years in the Andes for Libido and emotional menopause issues.
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Jimi the rat
Member Since Dec 2008
Location: Northern Europe
Posts: 6,256
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#7
I feel like my meds are a part of me. As long as you are on meds that help and are right for you and side effects are not bothersome, I think you should be "happy". Quite a few people struggle for a long time to find the right meds. I wouldn't mess with what works, and I have nothing but gratitude when it comes to meds that actually help.
I am very aware of the dangers of medication but I made my deal. For as long my meds actually help me I am more than willing to risk certain things. For instance, I am a benzo user, and in my particular case I gladly sold a few IQ points to totally raise the quality of my life. I'm still smart, just maybe not over the top clever. Which is fine because with severe anxiety I could just use that smart sometimes anyway, most of the time not. With my SSRI it still helps after over a decade (keeping the dosage low helped that for me since my body chemistry is to have SSRIs poop out), and I have no doubts about keeping on it, because even if I have a deeply rooted aversion against how SSRIs work, I had to just accept that this is my life now. I don't feel torn even if I hold different opinions about that class of meds at the same time. I just made peace about being on the stuff, I have split opinions about many things and I just accept that it is fine not to think just one thing about something. The concern I have is not with being on meds, it is more how some doctors are swayed into prescribing what I feel is the wrong stuff, like in my country psychiatry relies very deeply on a Thorazine like med that they seem to give to everyone, I feel that it is bad psychiatry. I know people who I feel should be on meds, that are actually almost impossible to mix with unmedicated, or they suffered for such long time, still they are anti med. I feel that people who basically have no life and still want to do things off meds are stubborn and annoying. Like what they have to lose now? __________________ |
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Grand Poohbah
Member Since Oct 2016
Location: United States of America
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#8
meds, meds, meds. I don't know, honestly.
I became anti-meds after a horrible hospitalization. It was a private, for profit facility. They "taught me a lesson" alright. Hell on earth. I'm now...selective, about my treatment providers and the psych drugs. I also take tons of supplements (Orthomolecular). There's a lot of abuse going on in psychiatry. Always has been, always will be, especially when you come in low status and/or stigmatized. In my own life, I've seen that having my now higher status, more "comfortable" parents solidly behind me has made a world of difference in how I'm treated. They don't "roll out the red carpet" or anything, but...I get some compassion, some much needed -space-, etc. I don't have a solid, real answer. Maybe one day the world will move past psychiatry, on to a better way of dealing with human beings with problems. |
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Grand Member
Member Since Aug 2012
Location: USA
Posts: 985
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#9
Quote:
Not with all my symptoms. there has to be something wrong with my brain chemistry.. |
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Account Suspended
Member Since Jan 2015
Location: California Uber Alles
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#10
Quote:
"You're taking medication, does that mean I'm crazy and might need medication, too? 'Cause deep inside I think I might be crazy......" And then you get people like my husband, who has a dread terror of All Things Medical and justifies never going to the doctor by blaming "big pharma" for creating diseases to make money from (especially mental illness). Ignorance reigns supreme, folks. |
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Shazerac, Wild Coyote
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rwwff, Shazerac, Wild Coyote
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Member Since Jun 2016
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#11
I’m against meds that cause weight gain. But just for me and that’s just because of my own personal experiences.
The only one med I had an actual reaction to was Klonpin. |
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Veteran Member
Member Since Jul 2009
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#12
Whilst fear & ignorance are probably behind some of the anti med thinking, the thing is that with a lot of ADs, the boffins still have only a rudimentary understanding of why the meds work for some & not others. Quite a few meds were originally designed to treat other things & their effacy for use with MI was a secondary, or accidental consideration.
It is also a little disconcerting when you think that you're taking something that essentially alters the way your mind works. However, in my case, the way it was working became untenable, so the meds were preferable. |
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Grand Member
Member Since Aug 2012
Location: USA
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#13
can you explain more?
how it was working before med. |
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Veteran Member
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#14
If you're asking me - a succession of events/stressors eventually overwhelmed a lifetime's worth of coping strategies & I simply broke. At that point my mind had become incapable of doing anything terrifically useful, beyond sort of existing. I credit the meds with creating a sufficiently calm space that I could begin to move forward.
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Fuzzybear
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#15
Years ago I was put on the psychotropic medication gauntlet, trying this one or that one to gauge whether they would be helpful.
After one of the medications turned me from mild-mannered to so violently psychotic that I had to be locked in a room away from others, I swore I wouldn't touch any of them again, and I haven't. I never want to experience that kind of thing again. I'm not anti-medication in that I say nobody should be on them, but I won't revisit them for myself. |
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still_crazy
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Grand Magnate
Member Since May 2015
Location: earth
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#16
If it wasn’t for big pharma I’d be dead.
__________________ Eat a live frog for breakfast every morning and nothing worse can happen to you that day! "Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be left waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged Bipolar type 2 rapid cycling DX 2013 - Seroquel 100 Celexa 20 mg Xanax .5 mg prn Modafanil 100 mg |
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Wisest Elder Ever
Member Since Nov 2002
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#17
Quote:
I’m not “against meds” - my body simply won’t tolerate them. I wish I could find that calm space (Sorry to the op, I’m not in a calm space today ) __________________ |
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Wisest Elder Ever
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#18
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Wisest Elder Ever
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#19
I did actually stop my meds.. long story. When I tried to start meds again.. long story, I don’t want to discourage you, they did actually help me for quite some time. And I’m “atypical” (aka “weird”)
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Rohag
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#20
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Fuzzybear
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Fuzzybear
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