The Way Meds Make You Feel

[baby vinny]

Hi, i have bipolar so they keep me on some strong stuff. i am also a doctors worst fear a antimed paitent who needs meds. the reason i say i am anti med is that when the meds are working i just stop taking them since i feel like every thing is fixed.

an example of the poweer of my meds. in april of 2006 my father died in an motorcycle acident. the first reaction i got was the flight responce witch is to run away. well my familly took my car keys and would not give them back, they new i was going to go try to wreck my car to go with my father. well i criede for like 10 mins and that was it cried a little at his funeral but that was it. i moved from the town we lived in to a whole other state. well to wrap this up about a year later i stoped taking the meds, and reallity struck my dad was dead. i was unconsolable for 2 weeks, and only started talking to my family about it when they said if i didn't they would commit me. still every year i go through a lot of trouble around april.

when ever i get really depressed i go looking at motorcycles to buy them but my family knows not to let me get one. but last week i was going through the stages of the bipolar i had started thinking about other ways to take my self out. (suicide) Every time i become suicidle i start thinking about who i think would care and who would be happy. i know i got off topic but i needed to put this stuff down

i have decided to start doing therapy again, how does that make you feel, like im a crazy idiot that will never be normal, and like i'm 2 inches tall

[beallucanb]

First off I'm not bipolar but I do take meds for pain, I do not like taking them because they make me a little crazy and non caring about others.

I don't want to take them but the alternative is outrageous pain which I can't stand.

I'm sorta like you caught in the middle I don't want to take them but I need to take them.

Good Luck to you sir....

[TDL]

:words:

I can't (and will not) judge you, based on a single post. Suicide is NOT the option, and it will NOT bring you back to your father. Never forget that there is always someone that loves you, no matter what. No suicidal thoughts, okay?

[drynot]

This is a really interesting topic. I really didn't want to go onto anything as I am not a 'take medication' type of person. However the problems just got worse and worse and I was to the point that I felt like I was going to explode. I was angry all the time and, worst of all, I would bring it home and then my wife would have to deal with me. I would go down into these deep funks where I couldn't see the positive in everything and all I wanted to do was stay home and have a pity party.

I had to do something. I got some counselling and finally talked to my doctor about it. The first rounds of meds really didn't do anything for me so I stopped taking them. I knew there must be something else triggering these feeling and I finally began to do some research on the internet and at my local library. That is when I discovered that having a low testosterone level can trigger all the symptoms I was experiencing. I got in for a blood test and, lo and behold, my testosterone level was REALLY low.

So now I take a suppliment and I feel much better. More positive and happy and ready to tackle what life has to throw at me. Hopefully I can continue feeling this way.

[curiositykilledthecat]

until I can get my hands on more androgel I'm going to be a bit off, however I picked up some herbs and they're helping. I'm discovering I might have more in common with DW than just being an AB.

[PArms]

Now, I'm wondering, what is it that makes testosterone levels drop so much?

[curiositykilledthecat]

for me it is a nonfunctioning hypothalamus.

[KittenAB]

"Anti-med" is not a bad thing, it's a very good thing actually. Medication is just another word for drug, the only difference is that they are legal. Drugs can be both good and bad, a double edged knife, so if you don't want them that's your choice. I have the same anti-med policy myself, if I don't feel I need it, I won't take it. I don't even like taking aspirin.

The problem is they treat mental differences as problems, when really they are differences in how we think, ultimately you can learn to live with almost any mental issue and even function within "normal" society, but it's a long hard road and takes a lot of dedication and work. I learned to live with depression, though still working out the ability to "function" within society, took me 20 years to get this far and much of that was contending with medication effects. The truly sad thing is that my depression is because of improper medication when I was younger, prescribed by idiotic docs who thought teens were not suppose to be rebellious and a mother who thought the same. To make a long story short (I know, late) I tried the meds for depression, failure, epic even. Instead of not caring about life I wanted to end it, not caring about living is a tiny bit easier to deal with than wanting to jump off the nearest ledge, so I gave up on those. Through all the people I have known with mental differences though, one common assistance to them is, oddly, video games. Medical professionals are discovering that this once feared "waste of time" is actually beneficial in many ways. For depression it gives me a goal, I have to wake up in the morning to get past one more level on that game! As for how it helps others, I don't really know but I do know they have discovered it's also great for people with ADHD, it's also a great anesthetic aid, etc.. Use to play Dungeons & Dragons, before video games were big enough to be of help, didn't realize it back then but that to was helping me find goals to keep me from falling into the pit. So if video games aren't your thing, maybe some form of game is.

We have survived with these differences as a species for centuries without medication, perhaps the excessive dependency on meds is why they are such a problem now. Just a thought.

[curiositykilledthecat]

I've done pretty well considering I have never spoken to a shrink or taken any meds.(nor will I take meds of that nature) I have discovered very recently I may be a plural, or I've just been off my androgel way too long. I've gone motnhs without it before and didn't have symptoms like this. Life is all sorts of fun when you just take the right perspective on it.

[baby vinny]

the sad thing is in august i will be starting on prescriptions against my will. the state i live in can prosocute me if i don't take them. but i will also see a feelings spec. fo therapy. hope fully it works

[curiositykilledthecat]

How exactly are they going to enforce you to take the medication?

[KittenAB]

Legally they can't force you to, really. If all else fails you can claim religious reasons and they can't touch you, if they push it, call the equal rights groups, they gotta be useful for something.

[sarah_ab]

the court CAN order someone to undergo pharmacological treatment... and can order someone to undergo psychological treatment, much like a court ordered rehab stint... if the person disobeys they can be placed under arrest and prosecuted.... this can happen if a person is a danger to themselves or others. an individuals family member can go to court to get power of attorney which would allow them to place the individual into psychiatric care, or the state can order it in the absence of any family member.

[sdsddlr]

the court CAN order someone to undergo pharmacological treatment... and can order someone to undergo psychological treatment, much like a court ordered rehab stint... if the person disobeys they can be placed under arrest and prosecuted.... this can happen if a person is a danger to themselves or others. an individuals family member can go to court to get power of attorney which would allow them to place the individual into psychiatric care, or the state can order it in the absence of any family member.

I went through a situation like this, as an adult, with my family earlier this year. I don't know know how often it happens, but there are many precedents and very little bureaucratic red tape involved. I was legally obligated to take medication before I had left the hospital on an 72-hour evaluation.

[KittenAB]

It is a messed up system, so I will concede that part of my statement, morality has not existed in our court systems, maybe we should push it. My area is likely more relaxed on the issue now since they closed every state mental hospital and our officials don't even seem to believe that there are psychological problems anyhow. Honestly I wish people would seek a middle ground more often in the bureaucracy of it all, but that's wishful. Unless a person is a serious threat I see no reason forcing them to take medications is beneficial in ANY way. I was forced to take (the wrong) medications when I was a teen, it messed me up for life, so honestly I see forcing anything as bad, period.

[dpfrichard]

This is one of the reasons why I NEVER talk about being depressed/suicidal to any doctor and tend to self medicate with Cymbalta for a 30 day stretch if it becomes REALLY bad since I can't do it yet due to my young kids and still need to be functional. My depression / suicidal tendencies always come back but I deal with it and have for the last 25 years and will for another 15. It is not good to have on medical record these types of things...

BTW, in my state, they also closed down most of the psych hospitals and emergency rooms are always full of mentally unstable people. Personally I think that being suicidal should not warrant a 72 hour hold since at most you are a danger to yourself -- in which case even an alcoholic qualifies...

[curiositykilledthecat]

This all is why I kept everything bottled up for so many years..you know, the healthy response. The system is very flawed, however there are people who do not have the ability to make their own decisions and need to be medicated, usually they aren't depressed, rather more on the psychotic side(advanced schizophrenia or similar). It seems to me that the solution in psychiatry is to simply numb the brain and icompacitate one's ability to think. how is that a cure?

[sarah_ab]

i take daily medication. it is not for depression, however, i feel i can at least weigh in on this question. Because of my symptoms, cognitive behavioral therapy would have little to no effect. CBT is another method used by psychiatry/psychology to help treat certain psychiatric disorders that effect behavior. I did not take medication for almost ten years, because i was able to manage my symptoms without pharmacological assistance, however it got to the point where i realized my work, social and academic life was suffering due to the symptoms, so i made the decision to use pharmacological aids. I have been on the medicaiton for almost a year and have had no side effects and am able to enjoy life much more.

When i have a headache i take tylenol.

When i have a cold i take cough syrup.

When i have joint aches and pain i take aleve.

when i have trouble managing my symptoms of an illness, i take medication to help.

A 'psychiatric' medication is just the same as taking something for pain, or cold. Its a tool to aid a person in improving their quality of life.

[KittenAB]

i take daily medication. it is not for depression, however, i feel i can at least weigh in on this question. Because of my symptoms, cognitive behavioral therapy would have little to no effect. CBT is another method used by psychiatry/psychology to help treat certain psychiatric disorders that effect behavior. I did not take medication for almost ten years, because i was able to manage my symptoms without pharmacological assistance, however it got to the point where i realized my work, social and academic life was suffering due to the symptoms, so i made the decision to use pharmacological aids. I have been on the medicaiton for almost a year and have had no side effects and am able to enjoy life much more.

When i have a headache i take tylenol.

When i have a cold i take cough syrup.

When i have joint aches and pain i take aleve.

when i have trouble managing my symptoms of an illness, i take medication to help.

A 'psychiatric' medication is just the same as taking something for pain, or cold. Its a tool to aid a person in improving their quality of life.

Not trying to tell you how to live, but here's some advice. Please don't take this as being critical of your choices.

Cough syrup is dangerous, and not because of the chemicals and such. Something I learned because of surgery actually verified this. Suppressing a cough too much can make matters worse, though it's nice when you need sleep and the coughing is not letting you. After surgery the nurses encourage you to cough, and won't let you leave the hospital if you don't (at least the good ones). We all get gunk in our lungs with every breath, even without pollutants the dust, spores, pollen, etc. will build up, and coughing is how your body naturally gets rid of this. If you don't cough enough your chances of getting lung illnesses increases a lot.

As for psych meds, if it helps, sure. But be careful of those to, the brain isn't like the other organs, we don't understand much about it no matter what they say. They have admitted as much without really admitting it by showing that people with the same symptoms will have different brain chemistries, thus we don't know why they have these symptoms really. As for improving your life, there are many ways to do so without medication, but those who have different ways of functioning can't rely on the same things for the "average" person, we have to look for different methods.

[sarah_ab]

actually there are cough supressants and cough expectorants... depends on which one you take! i do understand you point, and it is better out than in in the case of colds i think.. i'd rather cough it all out, then keep it in.... but yep sometimes you just need some nyquil.. sides if couch syrup were dangerous why would all college kids be robo trippin while sick? you can have crazy hallucinations AND get cured of your cold... whats better than that !!!

but this is a forum for depression support, so i will refrain from any more off topic comments, i apologize.

[curiositykilledthecat]

I'd love to take my meds however I can't get them. I'm being firced to be sick and being denied any access to help repeatedly. I am so exhausted from all this and can hardly think straight anymore.

[KittenAB]

I'd love to take my meds however I can't get them. I'm being firced to be sick and being denied any access to help repeatedly. I am so exhausted from all this and can hardly think straight anymore.

o.O The hospitals in your state can deny you care?

[curiositykilledthecat]

hospitals don't typically dispense prescriptions. I could at least take a gander

[curiositykilledthecat]

I see no point of going through same ordeal with hospital if I'm just going to be told to deal with pharmacy

[KittenAB]

I see no point of going through same ordeal with hospital if I'm just going to be told to deal with pharmacy

I can't say for all hospitals, but most I know of have pharmacies right in the hospital. though they do charge a bit more. However being denied access to help can mean so many things. Every state has low income health insurance, which covers everything, as long as you are disabled or work but earn less than the poverty line you are eligible. Mine has a $60 a year spend down ... I cover that with my diapers since the brand I like can't take my state's insurance ... but the "help" is there. There are many national organizations and a few rather large companies that will help with needed prescriptions based on certain criteria, and mental health is generally covered. However there are some medications that are just impossible to get for very good reasons. So again, it matters what you mean by "help".