Mental Health Are Psych meds making everything worse

[kittyman96]

So Ive had problems in the past with depression and anxiety and have gone through many psychiatrists to try and help. Tried SSRIs (made me suicidal), tried latuda (thought i was going to die) Now they got me addicted to clonazepam, while the lamictal kicks in (which supposedly takes months) I am feeling so over this whole prescription drug thing and am thinking about trying to live without the meds. Has anyone ever found the psych "industry" to ever have actually helped them? I am losing some much faith in the system. What are your opinions? DO you think psych meds can make things worse? cause i sure as hell do not feel any better, even with all the drugs.

 

[GolemGolem]

Well me and psychiatry failed each other. I tried a bunch of different scripts through my younger years and all of them ended up with longer con lists than pro lists. So I bailed over ten years ago from that scene but I'm thinking about trying one again.
The people who make it work seem to be the people who are very persistent with their doctors and scripts, willing to keep trying even after multiple failures.. and just keep going till they find something that works better than nothing. Which sucks for the depressed.
Bad meds can sure as fuck hurt you, they kill people every year, but if you find the right meds and doses you got a shot at a better self.

 

[CfZrx]

So you're already tired of benzo-buzz lifestyle? Yeah the drugs eventually are toxic, a strong meditation practice starting upon awakening every morning is what i wish i had done rather than depend on pills to find sleep.

So Ive had problems in the past with depression and anxiety and have gone through many psychiatrists to try and help. Tried SSRIs (made me suicidal), tried latuda (thought i was going to die) Now they got me addicted to clonazepam, while the lamictal kicks in (which supposedly takes months) I am feeling so over this whole prescription drug thing and am thinking about trying to live without the meds. Has anyone ever found the psych "industry" to ever have actually helped them? I am losing some much faith in the system. What are your opinions? DO you think psych meds can make things worse? cause i sure as hell do not feel any better, even with all the drugs.

 

[silverwheel]

Some people can find adequate relief without medication. Some won't ever find relief without it. It depends on where you fall on the spectrum, and for most people it takes a long time to find that out. And for those that need medication, it often takes quite a lot of trial and error to find the right medicine(s) for them. I'm one of the people whose illness is severe enough that it's dangerous to leave it untreated, or only partially treated.

The best advice that I can give is to follow your doctor's recommendations and give the lamactil enough time to work. It's easy to get frustrated with meds, but if you quit too soon, it can make things harder on you. Most psych meds need plenty of time for the benefits to kick in, and most need to be gradually tapered up to a theraputic dose. If the side effects aren't worrisome, it's best to stick with it and give it enough time to see if it really works for you. I'm not a fan of benzos either, but they can be quite useful in the right context. If you keep your usage for the right reasons, you should be able to wean off of them okay when the time comes.

Don't swear off psych meds altogether because of bad experiences with a couple of them. I once had a life-threatening reaction to a particular antipsychotic (Geodon), but have had very good results with another in the same category (Seroquel).

Having a psychiatrist that's good for you is paramount. I don't know if you're happy with the one you have right now, but when you find one that you can be honest with, stick with them for the long-term. Continuity and personality are so important with this kind of treatment.

 

[Soulgasm]

They really only ever made shit worse for me. The only med that made a positive sustainable impact was a sleep aid. Other than that, exercise, cannabis, and positive habits & relationships has been far far more effective than any psychiatric cocktail. I've also found alternative and holistic medical advice to be pretty beneficial even though my life is fairly science driven. YMMV, but it's worth giving everything a shot.

 

[aihfl]

The people who make it work seem to be the people who are very persistent with their doctors and scripts, willing to keep trying even after multiple failures.. and just keep going till they find something that works better than nothing.

I'm one of those people. I'm on a list of psych meds a mile long, but I've never felt better, especially after the antidepressants scripted to me after my last detox stay. They're cyclic antidepressants though, and not SSRIs. I don't want to stay on them forever, but for right now it's way better than the hell of alcoholism.

 

[GolemGolem]

That's awesome, and what I always wanted to be - way better than the way I self medicate.
I just gave up after a couple cyclics, most of the SSRIs, bunch of benzos. Never could find one that would test me for ADD though, which I know I have, and I know I act more like a normal person on reasonable doses of stimulants. . .And a couple of the cocktails made me way more misrable, and so I decided to kill myself, but then I didn't, I just quit (docs, school, work, art, sex, wife) and slowly picked things back up over the years. These days I'm back to being about as good as I was the first time me and doctors failed each other..