The Dispensory

[DailyDi]

For several years I have been taking Lexapro and Xanax for my clinical depression. Recently I've gotten to the point where I just can't afford the Lexapro, which was risen from 80-something to $110 a month. When I started taking it I had insurance and it was my only prescription. Now I haven't got insurance and I have to fill drugs for blood pressure, Acid reflux and skin problems. It's just too much.

I called my Shrink and told him flat-out that I wasn't going to be able to fill the Lexapro anymore. He tells me "Well, you could take a double dose of the older version of the drug, Celexa" WTF???? Celexa is $12.99 for a three month supply. Why didn't he tell me this a year ago when it started to be a problem?

Anyway, the Celexa is working fine and I can afford it.

[TDL]

Hmm, another problem solved I guess... But what's up with the Xanax?! How much do you take of that stuff? I heard that it's REALLY nasty...

[DailyDi]

I'm prescribed 3 a day and my Doc has repeatedly said he could go up on that. I take 1 a day most days, and sometimes none at all.

[Bettypooh]

For my CD I was started on generic Prozac(Fluoxatine)- this after I told my doctor I didn't want to go on Prozac In the beginning it helped a lot- I felt really good; happy and hopeful. Then one day I came home after work and 'crashed'. I told my best friend to come over and when he saw me he said he was staying there until I got better. The next morning I felt a lot better but I saw the Doc anyway- he doubled the dose. I still didn't know I was on Prozac A couple weeks later it happened again. Working with my therapist who knows more about depression meds than most Docs do, they switched me to Zoloft and I got better. That's when I began researching depression and the Meds used to treat it- and I told my Doc he'd better not lie to me again when I found out what Fluoxatine was. He apologized and promised 100% truth from then on, and he's done that.

A few months go by and I mention to my therapist that I've been feeling a little "blue" lately- not "down" or depressed, there just seemed to be something missing. She told me to get my Doc to increase the meds. I knew that was the wrong answer. I never told my Doc- instead I just kept seeing both as I weaned myself slowly from the meds.After six months clean with no problems I told them the truth- and reminded my therapist that persons with an addiction-prone personality but had overcame that (I was speaking of me) would feel bad getting strung out on anything- even depression meds. She saw the light and said as long as I was doing OK to stay off them, but at the first sign of trouble to start taking them again since it takes a couple weeks for them to take hold. I promised that I would. 5 years later I haven't had to go there

I still get depressed, but now I know when it's happening and I know how to stop it in it's tracks until it goes away The episodes vary from a day to a month long. The key is to not let them become bigger than my methods can handle. If ever I find myself losing the battle I will go back to my therapist and my Doc pronto- they saved my hide once already I had to pay out of my pocket for all my meds and I still do. I have found a reliable source for quality meds overseas. I've used these people for 7+ years and know people who've used them twice that long. They don't have a large product line, but they have many common meds for extremely low prices. Anyone wanting info on them can IM me- I'm NOT going to post it. What they sell is exactly the same as the name brands you know of- the price difference is how much the big pharmas are ripping you off. The process is legal though customs may put your shipment on "hold" just to pi$$ you off In the UK the VAT and customs fees will eat much of the savings. Don't bother to flame me over this part- I have the experience and personal knowledge the naysayers lack- truth trumping rhetoric The naked truth is that just because it's made overseas doesn't mean a thing- in fact many of the name brand meds from US companies with US labels you're taking right now come from overseas plants in places where quality is generally rotten If you knew what you're taking now you might just punch your pharmacist!

Bettypooh

[DailyDi]

I considered getting my Lexapro from Canada where it does have a generic already, and my Doc even ok'd writing the scrip the way I would need it; we just decided to try the older generic first as it is even cheaper and available locally.

[curiositykilledthecat]

Docs get kick backs from pharmaceuticals. My biggest problem is that I need to take Androgel for the rest of my life. the product costs over $300.00 a month. the drug has a 400% mark up in price. I can't afford it right now, been off it since April and am just holding on by a thread. I'm now into my second attempt to solicit assistance from the manufacturer directly. Here's hoping they have a conscious at all.

I had CD as a teen, never sought therapy and thus never took meds. I am not quite as good at carrying my cross so to speak as I was when I was younger, however I do not wish to take anti-depressants. I have seen far too many negative side effects from them. I believe that my spirituality has helped thus far and will do so down the road. I may need more help with varying issues as time goes on, however I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

[D_danny777]

mmmmm drugs, ya i actualy have a buddy and like thier hole family takes bars a bunch, like kids around were i live love that shit. me pills isn't my scene , but ya daily di how long have you been prescribed xanies? b/c some of the kids i see around here on them are like permatard but i think its due to them being on it since they were like 12 Also i think the meds that doctors give out can actualy help people, its just sometimes you cure one problem and cause a few more xD

[DailyDi]

Been taking them off an on for about a year now. I think the key is: I take the minimum dose available and only when I need it. I don't like feeling druged, so I don't take it 3 times a day as prescribed, but when I start schitzing out (as I call it) it settles me down.

[sarah_ab]

The problem is, i do not believe xanax is actually approved for use in children under the age of 18.. so when doctors prescribe these medicines to children they are doing soo off label and there is no good research showing how such strong medications will effect the child, who has a different metabolism, and also how these medications, when taken for a long period of time, starting in childhood, will affect the person ten, twenty, thirty etc... years down the road...

[babykeiff]

Pleas don't misunderstand this post.

Nobody really should be on medication on a long term basis. Long term is longer than 60 days. Medication is a short term 'stent' to help you get over / used to the problem, and then to solve the problem in the long term. In that way, the medication should slowly be reduced and either councelling and/or therapy should be employed to manage the problem. Relying on medication alone is, in my opinion, a quick fix, that over time, by its very nature, and our human physiology, has to fail.

[DailyDi]

I've got a chemical imbalance BabyKeiff, no amount of talking can fix that. My crazy pill will be a must for life, the Xanax can come and go as needed.

[sarah_ab]

besides the fact that it takes about 8 weeks to get to a fully therapeutic level for most psychiatric drugs.. so that whole 60 day thing wouldn't work, you'd just get to a therapeutic level and then would have to stop it... doesn't make sense...

sides for lots of people, medication is needed to allow the individual the ability to then work through certain underlying issues, or to allow the person to control the symptoms enough to being some form of CBT or other therapies. For me, no amount of talk therapy or CBT would help, as its purely neuropsychiatric.... so medication is my only option if i want to have some semblance of a normal life...

now for me i won't need to be on the medication for hte rest of my life, once certain stressors are gone i should be able to go back off of it... as i was off of meds for almost 10 years with no problems.... but for at least the next 1-3 years i willbe taking them.

[PArms]

affect the person ten, twenty, thirty etc... years down the road...

That's what I never understood when I was growing up. How could the FDA approve some new drug or treatment if it hasn't been tested for at least the average lifespan of a person? Now I know that it's all about the money.

[curiositykilledthecat]

Considering the FDA brought a "lawsuit' against Solvay Pharmaceuticals and their drug Androgel back in 2004 and has yet to settle makes me laugh. the lawsuit was because solvay was buying out smaller pharmacies that were trying to produce a generic equivalent. the law suit also focused on the 400% mark up on the medication. I'm stuck on the stuff for life, whether it be 60 more years or the end of this year if I can't get my hands on it/. I love corporate greed as much as I love government incompetence. I love going in circles, at least they're getting to know me on a first name basis there.

[aleyxsis]

I started with paxil it just made me want to sleep all the time but it did make me feel better .I then switched to prozac which for me i felt it made me more depressed Now i am on citalopram .I have mixed feelings on this one

[curiositykilledthecat]

I will not under any circumstance ever take an antidepressant. I just see way too many negtaive side effects from them. IUf you need em, take em, if you don't think you do, then don't. Talk out all options with your doctro. If your doctor has tissue boxes and wall charts and pens from a particular manufacturer then it may be time to reconsider their advice.

[sarah_ab]

I started with paxil it just made me want to sleep all the time but it did make me feel better .I then switched to prozac which for me i felt it made me more depressed Now i am on citalopram .I have mixed feelings on this one

I take citalopram, but not for depression. I'm on a pretty low dose of it, been on this dose for about 9 months and had no issues, except when i first increased my dosage to the therapeutic level, i had to pee like three times an ahour, but after about a month that passed.

[aleyxsis]

I take citalopram, but not for depression. I'm on a pretty low dose of it, been on this dose for about 9 months and had no issues, except when i first increased my dosage to the therapeutic level, i had to pee like three times an ahour, but after about a month that passed.

Hi sarah if you don't mind me asking what are you on the citalopram for ?.

[Darkfinn]

Gotta love the US Medical System...

"We've got drugs that will make a 90 year old man as randy as a high school senior... we'll have to get back to you on that cure for cancer."

Seriously. Our system isn't about making people better, it is about getting them hooked on pills so they can pay hundreds a month for the rest of their lives.

Have you seen the side effects of some of these new depression drugs? "It should make you feel better, but you could have dry mouth, irritability, insomnia, blurred vision or bowel leakage... oh, and it might just kill you."

Russian roulette with a pill bottle anyone?

[AutieAB]

Seriously. Our system isn't about making people better, it is about getting them hooked on pills so they can pay hundreds a month for the rest of their lives.

Well bully for you, clearly you've never needed anti-depressants. Lucky you. Anybody who's been 'down there' and been helped back up by them will tell you that you're talking bollocks. The pharmaceutical industry in the US is over-powerful but anti-depressants do help people. Not everybody who takes them, of course but most.

Have you seen the side effects of some of these new depression drugs? "It should make you feel better, but you could have dry mouth, irritability, insomnia, blurred vision or bowel leakage... oh, and it might just kill you."

Russian roulette with a pill bottle anyone?

Of course the same could be said of fast food burger, chicken, seafood, an apple, a peanut... Anybody could react (aka a side-effect) in just about any way to just about any thing that you can put in your body. Drugs aren't unique or unusual in that respect, it's just they're required to disclose all theirs. Would you still eat bread if it said on the side of the pack: "May cause bloating, diarrhoea, difficulty breathing, anaphylaxis...." If you're gluten intolerant (1 in 100 apparently), bread will give you a stomach upset. If you're allergic to the sesame seeds on top or the trace of peanuts then you may have an allergic reaction. The vast majority of course, need not be concerned.

I took citalopram for two stints of about 12 months each. It worked well for me with no real side-effects to speak of after the first week or so...

[curiositykilledthecat]

Depends on the person. I don't like altering my mind, thus i don't do illicit drugs.

[sarah_ab]

Hi sarah if you don't mind me asking what are you on the citalopram for ?.

I have severe OCD, but the majority of my major life impairing symptoms are the obsessive thoughts, for which cognitive behavior therapy has no effect. For almost 10 years I was able to go without medication, but last year the symptoms became so severe i was losing sleep, and my work and school was impacted. Since being on the citalopram i've been actually better than I can ever remember. Even before taking the medication i had the obsessive thoughts, just learned to live with them, its so weird, but in a good way to be like "so this is how it is to not have OCD" lol...

[LawrenceWaterhouse]

I was on Risperdal for almost a year. Probably won't go onto it again unless my tics (Tourette's) become worse. So far, they're manageable and not worth the cognitive dulling I experienced while on the prescription. I already have deficits, I don't need to be any worse than I already am.

[Guineapigged]

I have been on Citalopram and Sertraline in the past. Now I am on Escitalopram and Buspirone.

I hate it.

I wish I had never started on any kind of medication. I was only 17 when I agreed to go on anti-D's, and even though I was severely depressed, at least I still had a personality. These last few years on drugs have sapped my "life force". Sure, I don't feel so depressed anymore. But I don't feel happy, either. I don't feel ANYTHING. I am numb. And I still think about taking my life, for that reason. So am I really any better off than I was when I started?

[curiositykilledthecat]

I have been on Citalopram and Sertraline in the past. Now I am on Escitalopram and Buspirone.

I hate it.

I wish I had never started on any kind of medication. I was only 17 when I agreed to go on anti-D's, and even though I was severely depressed, at least I still had a personality. These last few years on drugs have sapped my "life force". Sure, I don't feel so depressed anymore. But I don't feel happy, either. I don't feel ANYTHING. I am numb. And I still think about taking my life, for that reason. So am I really any better off than I was when I started?

This is why I will not take psychiatric medication. I rather have BPD and have multiple personalities and still have a damn personality then be a walking zombie.(not that I do...) You are not being treated Guineapigged, you are simply being sedated. find an alternative treatment.