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I'm actually going to see a psychiatrist this time. [please give me your best advice]

A

a3therium

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 5, 2014
Messages
9
Alright, once upon a time when I was younger - about 12 or so I had to go to therapy because of my "major depression" that was described to me by my therapist at the time after one of those short little fill-me-out things. I'm not really sold that I have major depression as many mental illnesses run in my family. I'd actually say that I have manic depressive symptoms instead - not the typical down all of the time and can't get up feelings of severe depression. I'm a little rollercoaster - in paradise when I'm happy, yet when I get down I don't want to get out of bed. I'm not really sure what to look for in a psychiatrist, so I was wondering how any of you decided on the one you chose?

Other questions:
I believe I truly have ADD, which I have been told by friends and family, but whenever I talked to my GP he would give me SSRIs which made me feel like shit.
How would I get stims? I know not to mention that they work for me well in place of SSRIs because they make me feel so level and elated even on a non recreational dose. I don't really get a crash either.

What would your recommend as a stim if you have a preferred one?

What do you take if you have manic depression or severe depression?

What did you say?

I just don't want SSRIs because for whatever reason the three I tried all made me feel absolutely terrible over the course of months and I was aware that at first they may make you feel worse. One I was extremely allergic to as well, which I just don't want to hassle dealing with the SSRI prescription plans again..

Thanks so much and I apologize if this is misplaced.
 
yeah man stay away from the SSRI's and that other nonsense they prescribe for "depression." Honestly I would think a lil ganja smoke would make me feel better if i was depressed, maybe a benzo...?
 
Yeah - I do enjoy my fair share of puffing for depression and it really helps. I'm just really infatuated with stims, but do you have any advice on getting benzos and what's your benzo of choice?
 
Benzo addiction is a terrible thing... I would strongly reconsider trying to get benzos to help you. Benzos are for anxiety, they don't provide much of a high, and don't help with depression (as far as I know). And they are insidiously addictive, and withdrawal is horrible and long. I can't comment on how to find a good psychiatrist, but I think your best bet would be to find a good one whose ideas about you you feel good about and can agree with, and take their advice.
 
I've never had depression but I have read posts that exercise helps with depression. So if you like, before you try any medication, perhaps see if natural methods are going to work first.
 
One thing that you might want to do instead of your gp, talk with a psychiatrist. This way you can be properly diagnosed. If you are bipolar, then SSRI's may not be the best type of medication for you. Same with ADD, you would need to be assessed and let them decide a course of medicine.
 
Yeah they are right, a good run or exercise workout will get your natural endorphins (aka bodies natural OPIATES) flowing and will for sure help with depression.. When I said a benzo, i meant like for me if i was depressed maybe a onetime use of a benzo would help me relax and chill but not all the time or as a cure for depression!!...... so yeah, i loath stims, you'd have to pay me to take any kinda amphetamine lol..

Do u think maybe ur depression is just from a long stimulant binge u have recently been on?
 
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@xorkoth I had a borderline addiction to xanax for awhile actually. I suppose it would be considered a heavy dependence even though that's pretty much an addiction. It wasn't long term, but I do have anxiety issues - so, needless to say some xanny bars took care of my issues more than enough. @maya I'm actually really in tune with my body on a fitness and health level - hahah, I'm one of those Trader Joe's, Whole Foods going kind of people on the whole raw, organic, natural kick. I do juicing and everything to keep my body functioning well; exercise does really help with any mental illness because of the natural chemical releases in the brain as one exercises. I'm aware that not looking after your health worsens mental illnesses! Thank you though. :) This is all much appreciated. Do any of you have scripts for any stims, like I said, I'm quite sure that I do need something to combat my lack of focus as well as depression and those are what in my experience has given me the best results - I've read a lot about how people tend to favor both a stim and a benzo - I'm not really worried about becoming dependent as I've gotten older as when I was much younger dabbling I had my fair share of dependence and just learned to refrain from looking for "the light" in a substance - now I look for "the light" in myself, but pharmaceuticals would definitely improve my quality of life as when I'm completely clean - I can still see my symptoms surface and so does my family. **18 years old please don't hate for saying gotten older**
 
My psych doctor had prescribed me so many different antidepressants I can't remember all their names. I was seeing this doctor for about eight years so meds were switched many times. Eventually he decided I was bipolar and needed Seroquel. One stimulant type he prescribed was Provigil but after a while it didn't seem to work so great.
 
a3therium said:
Alright, once upon a time when I was younger - about 12 or so I had to go to therapy because of my "major depression" that was described to me by my therapist at the time after one of those short little fill-me-out things. I'm not really sold that I have major depression as many mental illnesses run in my family. I'd actually say that I have manic depressive symptoms instead - not the typical down all of the time and can't get up feelings of severe depression. I'm a little rollercoaster - in paradise when I'm happy, yet when I get down I don't want to get out of bed. I'm not really sure what to look for in a psychiatrist, so I was wondering how any of you decided on the one you chose?

Other questions:
I believe I truly have ADD, which I have been told by friends and family, but whenever I talked to my GP he would give me SSRIs which made me feel like shit.
How would I get stims? I know not to mention that they work for me well in place of SSRIs because they make me feel so level and elated even on a non recreational dose. I don't really get a crash either.

What would your recommend as a stim if you have a preferred one?

What do you take if you have manic depression or severe depression?

What did you say?

I just don't want SSRIs because for whatever reason the three I tried all made me feel absolutely terrible over the course of months and I was aware that at first they may make you feel worse. One I was extremely allergic to as well, which I just don't want to hassle dealing with the SSRI prescription plans again..

Thanks so much and I apologize if this is misplaced.
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Concerta is the best stim out in the market right now, it gets you going for 12 hours and isn't as addictive as Adderall. Its also a pretty hard drug to abuse, unlike its close cousin Ritalin. If you're serious about getting better, I would suggest that.
 
How would any of you go about picking a psychiatrist?

@T. Calderone Yeah, GPs don't really listen at all their like, "what's up? why are you here?" "_____" "okay, try this" - so, yeah I already decided my next moved would be a psychiatrist. Thanks for your input too!
@ghostman No - I actually have had my symptomed labeled to me as "major depression" since I was 12 and in therapy before I knew what a stim even was. I don't really suffer from the dreaded stim crashes either which makes me think that they're a good option for me personally. I could binge for a couple days and then the day after - even if I come down the day during; I'm totally fine and I don't crave them.

on the topic of exercise though, I'm definitely fine on that frontier! I exercise daily to try to keep from getting too blue, but I do have my days/times of total feelings of being so elated and then my days/times of feeling like my world is coming to bits. It's refreshing surely to clear your head and get some surge of natural endorphins (spelling? it says it's wrong) I'm pretty fit honestly - like to the point where i'm going after getting into fashion modeling.
 
a3therium said:
How would any of you go about picking a psychiatrist?

@T. Calderone Yeah, GPs don't really listen at all their like, "what's up? why are you here?" "_____" "okay, try this" - so, yeah I already decided my next moved would be a psychiatrist. Thanks for your input too!
@ghostman No - I actually have had my symptomed labeled to me as "major depression" since I was 12 and in therapy before I knew what a stim even was. I don't really suffer from the dreaded stim crashes either which makes me think that they're a good option for me personally. I could binge for a couple days and then the day after - even if I come down the day during; I'm totally fine and I don't crave them.

on the topic of exercise though, I'm definitely fine on that frontier! I exercise daily to try to keep from getting too blue, but I do have my days/times of total feelings of being so elated and then my days/times of feeling like my world is coming to bits. It's refreshing surely to clear your head and get some surge of natural endorphins (spelling? it says it's wrong) I'm pretty fit honestly - like to the point where i'm going after getting into fashion modeling.
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You need to find a psychiatrist who especializes in drug addiction/chemical dependence. This is very important, I had 2 psychiatrists before my current one, and even though intelligent and well meaning professionals, they simply couldn't understand my situation or give me proper advice. It also needs to be someone you can trust implicitly, someone who you would be comfortable with sharing your darkest thoughts and desires, dont hold anything back and always be honest.
 
@SaciPerere I have several friends on Concerta and I've "sampled" it, but I don't really like it honestly - it makes me grind my teeth and get too anxious; the most unappealing part is all of my friends on it said it really messed with their teeth and yellowed / dulled them as well as they began grinding their teeth on top of it. It makes me feel pretty crumby, one of the ones I actually do get a crash from and it makes my appetite go away completely where as most stims i can manage to eat normally just have to have smaller meals instead of the average three large meals.

I don't really have a struggle for dependence though..? I had a dependence when I was younger - but, that's of course when times were harder and much different. I don't really have anything going on comparable to back then either - I'd think that one who didn't specialize in dependence would be better as I don't want them to think I'm going to abuse them and keep me totally under tab with everything.
 
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a3therium said:
@SaciPerere I have several friends on Concerta and I've "sampled" it, but I don't really like it honestly - it makes me grind my teeth and get too anxious; the most unappealing part is all of my friends on it said it really messed with their teeth and yellowed / dulled them as well as they began grinding their teeth on top of it. It makes me feel pretty crumby, one of the ones I actually do get a crash from and it makes my appetite go away completely where as most stims i can manage to eat normally just have to have smaller meals instead of the average three large meals.
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The crash can be easily taken care of with 2mg Xanax. How many mgs are your friends on? I take 36mg and even though it messes with my appetite, it doesnt make me anxious or grind my teeth , but then again, I'm a cokehead, and my dopamine circuits are pretty fucked up. Still, Concerta is widely regarded as the safest stim, you can ask your shrink about it, all stims will give you this side effect or the other, so its really a matter of personal choice. Benzos are usually a must though, unless you feel like rolling on your bed for hours before catching on sleep.
 
Yeah, I just didn't like the feeling I got from concerta compared to other stims - and I'm not too worried about abusing a script for any stims since I'm a weekend warrior pretty much. I wouldn't plan on using them on a daily basis either - plus i'm trying to quit touching glass as that really is something I'm not trying to get into and SWIM doesn't mind sharing without me paying a pretty penny. I'd just like something comparable to that feeling without the horrid things that could spawn from getting into it.
 
I think I was lucky to have a good relationship with my psych doctor. Though he was really there to prescribe medications, when he didn't have other patients waiting we would talk the whole hour. I was supposed to be seeing a therapist too but never got around to that. Try someone who's not too far away and takes your insurance plan. Tell them what your symptoms are and you're struggling and see what he suggests.
 
@T Calderone
Thanks! I'll definitely actually pursue getting a psychiatrist this time. I'm surprised with how willing to help people on here are. : )
 
It's interesting to read through the posts here, although in the UK the whole process of getting 'treatment' is very different.

I've been struggling with what was diagnosed as Clinical Depression and GAD for a number of years and like others here have been through a truck load of ADs, most of which have had more negative than positive effects.

I've recently been seeing a substance abuse counsellor who strongly advised me to go back to my doctor and seek further treatment for my mental health problems, there seemed to be a suggestion of Bipolar, but I find that unlikely as I'm unaware of any periods of mania.

I'm unable to tolerate SSRIs, had some limited success with SNRIs but currently take a TCA, it gives little side effects but doesnt seem very effective. Stimulants are rarely prescribed in the UK, I could claim my personal abuse of them is partly therapeutic but I'll leave my personal BS to one side;)

Self diagnosis is fraught with pitfalls, look for a doctor / psychiatrist you feel you have some faith and trust in, be honest in consultations and try not to dismiss their conclusions without giving them considered thought.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.
 
^^ Guys let be honest with ourselves here.. EVERY HUMAN BEING ON EARTH gets "Major Depression" or "Anxiety" at sometimes in our lives... Is it like for you guys that you are feeling depressed like 100% of the day or something? I'm just trying to understand... I know manic people go from like one extreme to the other really quick right?
 
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