I totally agree that you should be careful with meds and that messing with your brain is a big deal, but I'm not sure I agree with the slippery slope bit and just wanted to extend this a bit from personal experience in case anyone's reading this who might find it helpful.tzimize said:Personally...I wish you luck with the medicine, but be careful. Be very careful.
I was put on antidepressants by my doctor and the results were one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. I encourage everyone to let medication be your last resort. Try therapy, try exercise, try just talking about it a lot with a trusted friend. If you just cant shake it...the medication will always be there, but be careful about it.
The brain is a tender instrument. Messing with chemical mood modification is a slippery slope.
This is very, very true.tzimize said:Thank you for this. Its strange how important an internet show episode from two complete strangers can feel like.
Personally...I wish you luck with the medicine, but be careful. Be very careful.
I was put on antidepressants by my doctor and the results were one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. I encourage everyone to let medication be your last resort. Try therapy, try exercise, try just talking about it a lot with a trusted friend. If you just cant shake it...the medication will always be there, but be careful about it.
The brain is a tender instrument. Messing with chemical mood modification is a slippery slope.
True enough. However, I'd like to explain a bit of my own experience.Eamar said:I totally agree that you should be careful with meds and that messing with your brain is a big deal, but I'm not sure I agree with the slippery slope bit and just wanted to extend this a bit from personal experience in case anyone's reading this who might find it helpful.tzimize said:Personally...I wish you luck with the medicine, but be careful. Be very careful.
I was put on antidepressants by my doctor and the results were one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. I encourage everyone to let medication be your last resort. Try therapy, try exercise, try just talking about it a lot with a trusted friend. If you just cant shake it...the medication will always be there, but be careful about it.
The brain is a tender instrument. Messing with chemical mood modification is a slippery slope.
Not all psych meds work the same on everyone, and you shouldn't really write off all antidepressants because one type didn't work for you. Now believe me, I've been on all sorts of antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilisers over the last few years and have had some truly horrendous side effects, but I'd say all that was worth it to eventually find the meds that work for me.
We just don't know enough about the brain to know how individuals will react to any given drug. That's why I'm reluctant to name the drugs I've had my worst experiences with, because that was just my experience and I was unlucky, and those same drugs will work amazingly for other people and I don't want to put them off with internet horror stories.
So yeah, I'd say good luck with the meds, but be aware that it's likely to be a long period of trial and error before you find the right ones (or not, you might get lucky after all). Also try and get a prescription from a specialist (ie a psychiatrist) if at all possible. They just have way more knowledge of these things than a general doctor.
I have massive sympathy for you and your experience, and I'm glad things are looking better now. I too have had to come off meds abruptly because of unbearable side effects, so I really do sympathise. I guess the difference between us is that you decided to try other methods while I carried on trying different drugs. The reason I did that was because I knew that unmedicated bipolar disorder would be just as bad as any side effects, and eventually kill me, no question. That said, bipolar is a very different beast from depression (I was initially treated for depression before the bipolar diagnosis) and absolutely does require medication in an overwhelming majority of cases.tzimize said:True enough. However, I'd like to explain a bit of my own experience.
I had a pretty long, horrendous bout of depression last year. Over time my doctor wanted to get me on antidepressants, I did not want to, but at some point I realized that this probably wouldnt get better (at least it felt that way) and that either I tried everything, or I would lose everything.
The first medication I took made me filled with energy. I could not stop tapping my foot, and I didnt sleep very well. My mood was just a low hum in the back of my brain, but I felt a bit more angsty and panicky than before. My doctor added another medication to balance it out, and it made me drowsy. I slept like a dead person, but it didnt feel like I ever really woke up.
What I had left of my sex drive vanished, and I actually lost control of my Johnson. I remember at some point my girlfriend (bless her heart) was so devastated since she couldnt help me (or even give me sexual release) that she started crying.
My junk was literally junk and SHE was crying. I didnt really care. I realized I didnt care about that, and I didnt manage to care about her reaction or how she felt. It was partly wonderful, not having to feel anything, and it was partly...strangely horrifying. I didnt really feel horrified, but I KNEW in my head that I SHOULD be, and that I should feel empathy and sympathy towards the single most important person in my life. But I felt nothing.
It is absolutely impossible to describe accurately how that was. KNOWING I should be horrified at my situation and KNOWING I should feel awful (and I would be RIGHT to, for once) but feel nothing. And I was suddenly terrified I might kill myself since I might not even feel anything about that.
So, I stopped taking medication. It has been a long and fucking hard road back. Fortunately I've had a workplace interested in keeping me around and fitting work to me, so I can come back slowly, and I've had a girlfriend with some kind of superpower to keep on her feet. I'm not well. I still feel awful from time to time, and I'm very scared it will never go away. But I'd rather feel miserable, than be emotionally dead.
Its quite possible I might have found better meds, but its also possible I'd have found worse ones. And I honestly dont know if I'd still be around if I did. So be careful. Having a PHD or whatever its called is usually not enough to know someones mind.
SirBryghtside said:Thanks for making this - a lot of it resonated with me personally I've started coming to terms with the idea that I might be depressed thanks to people like you, and I'm starting to work out how to deal with it - a little less crippling social anxiety would help on the whole 'talking to people about it' front, but I'll get there
I'll return the sympathies and add some well-wishingEamar said:-snip-
I have massive sympathy for you and your experience, and I'm glad things are looking better now. I too have had to come off meds abruptly because of unbearable side effects, so I really do sympathise. I guess the difference between us is that you decided to try other methods while I carried on trying different drugs. The reason I did that was because I knew that unmedicated bipolar disorder would be just as bad as any side effects, and eventually kill me, no question. That said, bipolar is a very different beast from depression (I was initially treated for depression before the bipolar diagnosis) and absolutely does require medication in an overwhelming majority of cases.
I'm in no way trying to prove you wrong, I just always like to offer an alternative viewpoint to positions like yours because I remember using the internet a hell of a lot when I was figuring all this stuff out, and I want anyone in the same position who happens to stumble across this to see both sides.
It seems the best advice for anyone reading this is to be aware of yourself, your condition and your situation as much as possible. Ultimately you have to figure out what's best for you.