Are you taking psychiatric medication?

[Droopy]

I have schizo affective disorder. It's an illness that has symptoms of both schizophrenia and manic-depression. I take Geodon, which is an anti-psychotic, and lithium, a mood stabilizer. I'll be taking these drugs for the rest of my life as the illness is not one that will simply run its course and be gone and there is no cure. For those of you who are taking an anti-psychotic and are not happy with it, I'd highly recommend Geodon. Many anti-psychotics have heavy duty side affects, but with Geodon mine are at a minimum. That drug is the only thing keeping me from drawing a social security disability check and living in government subsidized housing.

If you want to, please list the meds you are taking and the illness for which you are being treated.

[Itchinjim]

1. St. John's Wort long term,

Xanex on occasion. Both of them really take the edge off my more extreme moments.

[Droopy]

2. I have a friend who uses Xanax

But he uses them more often than you do. I hear it works wonders for anxiety related problems.

[Ladyhawk]

5. Klonopin for me.

I've been having to take more than usual during these penultimate weeks leading up to the election.

I don't believe in deities, but if there is someone up there who even gives a shit, please help us rein in these criminals so they stop hurting the world. And help us bitch-slap sense into the rest of the populace, whether they want it or not.

Oh god, PLEASE!!!!!

[LDS Jock]

23. uh oh...

You used a term which is a hot button for some people. When I was brand new on DU, I wrote "bitch slap" and people jumped all over me. Glad to see things have calmed down.

[Ladyhawk]

37. Hey, I'm a bitch...so slap me. :D eom

[Itchinjim]

8. Before Xanax I could not fly.

Now I actually enjoy and look forward to flying. It is a wonder drug.

[AntiCoup2K4]

14. If St John's Wort isn't doing the job, I would recommend 5-HTP

As a matter of fact, I'd reccommend that over any of the pharmecueticals. I'm not a doctor, I can only speak from personal experience. I guess the best way to compare the two would be to say if St John's Wort was Bud Light, 5-HTP would be a Belgian Trippel ale.

[Crunchy Frog]

32. What exactly is 5-HTP?

I'm wondering if it might be worth trying. Is it a medication or a supplement? Any side effects?

[AntiCoup2K4]

65. 5-hydroxytryptophan (long name)

It's the chemical precursor to serotonin which means it's easily converted and helps restore the serotonin levels in your brain (the lack of which is what causes depression).

It's a natural supplement extraced from seeds, and no harmful side effects have ever been reported, to my knowledge. Actually it probably has a lot of beneficial side effects, like weight loss, and (for all you Atkins/South Beach fans) less craving for carbs. It also helps you sleep better. Hell, I'm considering going back on it for a while just for that reason alone. I can honestly say the shit saved my life at a time when prescriptions and therapy just weren't financially possible.

You can find a lot of info on it on Google, though most pages happen to be selling it as well. It's common enough these days that your local drug store or health food store probably carries it.

[Ladyhawk]

3. I'm sorry about your condition. :(

I, too, am on psych meds for the long haul. I have severe, recurrent major depression; obsessive-compulsive disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; and some agoraphobia. Mostly, I get antsy when I'm out in public because this is a red county full of fundies and hearing their crap just sends me into a frenzy. I think I would be happier on the coast, but no $$$, you know? I'm also feeling really low because I have finally come to realize that there's nothing in my relationships with family / friends worth saving. I feel like we're not even members of the same species. I've evolved into Homo sapiens sapiens liberalis and they're stuck at Homo erectus a fascist theocratic dictatorshipus. No common ground...makes me very sad. :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Unfortunately, I also have diabetes, sleep apnea and herniated discs that cause great pain. Like many here, I've been royally corn-holed by the health system. I've been waiting a year for that MRI that will guide the hands of the surgeon.

[Droopy]

10. I hope you get to feeling better soon and that you get the care

you need. When I read about someone like you with a lot of health problems it makes me really wish we had universal health care.

I have a lot of experience with depression and I'm suffering from a low grade amount of it now. The lithium I take is really good at controlling mania but not so effective with depression. But I do not suffer from the severe depression that I used to, so I guess it has been somewhat effective. Depression can be a crippling mental illness. I remember times when it had me just so drained that it took great effort to move about and take care mundane tasks. Yet I couldn't sleep, so I was just in this perpetual exhausted state.

Best wishes to you and I hope you get all your health related issues taken care of.

[The Flaming Red Head]

46. How much are they paying you to push this drug? nt

[Droopy]

55. I'm not getting a dime to tell you how much better I feel

The purpose of this thread was for people to talk about mental illness and prescfription drugs. It helps to raise awareness about the issue. It can make all the difference in the world to somebody.

If I did not have Geodon, chances are that I would be either dead, in jail, or on permanent disability. If you were in my shoes I think you would be quick to point out the merits of a drug that has at the very least made you able to function like a normal person in society when you couldn't before or at the most saved your life.

[no name no slogan]

60. How insensitive.

There's a lot of us who, like it or not, have serious chemical imbalances that that can't be treated with talk therapy or behavioral modification. We have to address this chemical imbalance in order to be healthy.

For now, psychiatric medicines are the only way many of us can do this. So, as much as we hate the behaviour of drug companies, we have to take these meds to that we can live something close to a normal life.

Maybe you need to ask a cancer survivor how much s/he is getting paid to "push" their chemo drugs. It would be about as appropriate.

[Crunchy Frog]

11. It must be really horrible having to deal

with your family situation. I really feel for you.

God knows, my family is fucked up enough, but at least we're all non-religious liberal Democrats.

I hope at some point you will be able to find a new "family" that shares your values and beliefs and can help to give you the emotional support you need. In the meantime, I hope we at DU can play that role for you at least a little bit.:hug:

[sasquatch]

4. Didn't they have any problems with you getting a CDL?

[Droopy]

12. No

While a mental illness can disqualify you from being a trucker, It is up to the discretion of the doctor doing the physical whether you are fit to drive. My symptoms are under control and I'm receiving regular psychiatric care so they give me a pass.

[chuckrocks]

39. this is too late

but your hey michelle malkin sig just makes me think of who benefits!
BTW i am on zoloft.

[Crunchy Frog]

6. I suffer from severe depression and anxiety

since I was around four years old. It has led to severe impairment in my life. I have tried a wide variety of medications, none of which have really been effective. About 2 1/2 years ago, I tried going off of everything and did really well for awhile. Then Bush invaded Iraq and I literally fell apart. I guess I'm just over sensitive about some things.

I've just now come back off of everything again, except Klonopin which really helps with the anxiety. I tend to have such a high level of anxiety that it completely paralyzes me. The Klonopin often takes enough of an edge off of it that I can function somewhat.

So far, right now, I seem to be doing a bit better off of the other medication. I'm not sure that there actually is anything out there that can help me.:(

[Droopy]

17. I'm sorry nothing has worked for you

I know first hand how paralyzing depression can be. I guess I'm lucky in that regard in that I respond well to medication. But it was a bit of a struggle for me. It took a while before they got the right stuff. I spent maybe a year having horrible side affects and then relapsing before they got the right drug combo for me.

[Crunchy Frog]

18. I'm glad things have worked out for you.

I've been trying to find the right drug combo for close to two decades and no luck yet.

I'm making a little bit of progress in my life, I think mostly just from the maturation process, but it is excruciatingly slow and feels like I'll be dead before I really manage to get anywhere.:-(

[Ladyhawk]

40. Hang on, my friend.

9-11 and Bush's invasion of Iraq really cut into my heart, too. Some of us are just wired differently. We are highly sensitive and our current society does not value that. American society is too fast-paced and violent for us, but it needs for people like YOU to be its conscience.

I've been so depressed I've had shock treatments...seven in all. I value my intellect, so submitting to such a mind-numbing (literally) procedure, took all of my courage. The treatments helped, though they left me a little loopy for awhile and stole some of my memories.

Lately, I got a bit of boost from Strattera, which is actually for ADHD. It affects nor-epinephrine rather than serotonin. I did a lot better over the summer, but when fall came, I faced a stressful move and the lake that had become my playground was drained. Also, election day is scaring the hell out of me. Some days I can't even get out of bed. I hope that Kerry wins the election and after his inauguration things calm down. Considering our foes, I doubt it will be that easy, but I will give what I can.

What I'm trying to say is that I had been on every medication. Only the desperate move of undergoing ECT (shock treatments) saved my life. If you have to do something similar, you can find the courage. Also, there are new drugs on the horizon that affect different chemical systems within the brain. Most anti-depressants are geared toward increasing the level of serotonin in a person's brain. In a severely depressed person's brain, more than one system is affected. Strattera might help you, or maybe one of the new classes that are being released.

Also, I've kept my eye on a device that stimulates the Vagus Nerve. I've had a lot of trouble getting my doctors to look into it, but it is now being approved for patients with severe depression. It is supposed to be as effective as ECT without the nasty side effects of memory loss.

Hope on the horizon for us depression sufferers...:)

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

7. Effexor

and, since the "war" backed up with Wellbutrin

[Crunchy Frog]

13. The Effexor just about did me in

when I came off it. The Wellbutrin did nothing but exacerbate my anxiety, making me even more paralyzed than usual.

I'm glad things are working out better for you, (hopefully).

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

21. Yeah, I am concerned about coming off effexor... I tried once

and it was baaaaad.

Wellbutrin seems to work well for me.

[no name no slogan]

61. On Effexor now, after catastrophe with Wellbutrin

I had to ditch Paxil after a couple years because it stopped working. First I went to Wellbutrin, which only made me sick. I had a severe crash and was off work for close to two months after I attempted to kill myself one night.

Wellbutrin did nothing for me but make me overly sensitive to smells. I got physically ill one day after my wife heated up leftovers. I felt like sh!t much of the month I was on it and was very glad to get off it.

Now I'm on a coctail of Effexor, lithium and Trazodone, which has done the job for the last seven years. :D

[LDS Jock]

24. about Wellbutrin.. anyone else have this side effect?

The desire for sex, lots of it? I don't mean this to be a sex post or turn into a sex thread, but when I took it I craved sex. Not that I'm complaining about it, but wondered if it was common. Anyone else noticed it?

[Crunchy Frog]

30. I lost that a long time ago.

The paralysis brought about by the depression and anxiety prevents me from having any real social life. I also kind of missed some critical periods of social development during childhood and adolescence.

At this point, my desire for sex is hypothetical at best. It does not seem to be effected much by medication.

God this thread is really starting to depress me.:-(

[Droopy]

33. Hang in there crunchyfrog

My whole point of this thread was to get people talking about mental illness. I think the more we talk about it the more people with mental illnes will come to be accepted. Just take baby steps. If you're going forward that's all that matters.

[Princess Turandot]

38. Not on Wellbutrin..which I've been taking on and off for awhile now..but..

Zoloft was a different matter. I wouldn't say that it exactly made me desire sex more, but I felt sort of 'aroused' more, almost like a physical response, not one related to a situational or emotional condition. Fortunately, I'm female, so it wasn't obvious to anyone else lol.(It also caused me to have a tremor, and wasn't doing me any good depression wise, so I stopped taking it, and both side effects went away.)

Wellbutrin just affects my GI system, and I find that I bite my nails
less, probably for some reason similar to why it helps some people stop smoking.

[miss_kitty]

54. I ended up in the hospital behind 'Well'butrin

Gack! :puke:

People told me my personality changed. Overnight. For the worse. I felt like I was on speed, more than I did when I WAS on speed. At two weeks, I got hives SO BAD, my gag reflex would not go away. After five days of no sleep and constant dry heaves (swallowing activated gagging), I went for emergency care. Even the first few salvos of sedation did not work. I was severely dehydrated (duh!) and close to dead, due to the electrolyte imbalance incurred. I do not consider myself depressed enough or ADHD enough to ever take a mind-fuck drug again.

I feel deeply for everyone who HAS to take these drugs to stay on an even keel. I am not that ill.

[no name no slogan]

62. I had a bit of that, but I attributed it to getting off Paxil

I had a similar situation with Wellbutrin, but I was going onto that after taking Paxil for a couple of years. Paxil (like many SSRIs) has a number of sexual side effects for men and women, and I just attributed my new "interest" in sex to the Paxil wearing off.

[politicat]

71. Yes, it's a common side effect.

I've gotten it when I'm on Zyban, too.

A far better side effect in my opinion than Paxil's or Prozac's shut down of the sex drive.

Not to get too graphic.... but was it harder for you to finish up, too?

Pcat

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

72. That, and once doing it, inability to climax without severe

stimulation.

[madrchsod]

9. wow is that geodon expensive!!!!

but more to the point..several members of my family were on lithium and had horrible experiences with that drug. later we found out the doctor prescribed lithium mis diagnosed them and lithium was wrong . i kinda know what you are talking about and i hope everyday you stay the same as the day before..i think ya know what i mean. it`s been really tough to live with loved ones that i really had no "control" or could help....

[Droopy]

15. Yep, but it's worth every penny to me

My drugs cost $300 a month before health insurance. I end up paying $60.

Best wishes to your family. Was it ever determined what their illness was?

[LDS Jock]

16. Yes, I am Bipolar and take medication

I take Depakote, which is a mood stabilizer, and Lexapro, an antidepressant. Like you, I will be taking these or other drugs for the rest of my life. Am I happy about it? No, but taking the drugs and living with the side effects are much more tolerable than living with full blown manic-depression. I used to be embarrassed about it and hide it from everyone but no more. If it comes up, I share it. It is a chemical problem and nothing to be ashamed of. I think its important to raise awareness by being open about it. People will understand mental illnesses better when they see it first hand, meeting people who have them and see just what it does, and doesn't mean. I'm not crazy, I'm not strung out on drugs. You would most likely never know I have bipolar disorder unless I told you. But it is a serious medical issue. I'm lucky. I am being treated both with medication and therapy and have had excellent results. Many are not so lucky.

[Droopy]

20. I'm glad things are going well for you

And you're right. There are so many who just don't respond to medication or who don't get the help they need and wind up wrecking their lives due to mental illness.

And I also think you're right in that it's important to discuss mental illness. I know some people would rather it not be known that they have an illness, but I think it's good to talk about it. There is no better way to blow away the social stigma of mental illness than to show that people who have the illnesses can also function in society at a level that people who don't have them can.

[Ellen Forradalom]

50. What you said

I take Paxil + depakote. Not perfect, but a huge improvement.

[AlienGirl]

19. Paxil and Klonopin

I have major depression, and will need anti-depressants for the rest of my life. I also have general anxiety disorder, and the Klonopin is good for interrupting the panic attacks if I get "locked into" them.

Tucker

[MrSandman]

22. I have seen Geodon precribed ...

to several of my clients since it was approved for bipolar mania.

It works.

[Droopy]

25. It's an excellent drug as far as I'm concerned

It's pricey, but I think it's worth every penny. All of my symptoms have disapeared since I've started taking it and I have very minimal side affects from it. The only side affect that I have is that I need more sleep than I used to. I no longer think that I'm the messiah, that I can communicate telepathically, and I don't have any of those discorporate voices that I used to carry on conversations with. Geodon is a wonder drug as far as I'm concerned.

[MrSandman]

28. The sleep thing is really helpful...

For the bipolar patients. I am glad to hear it is working so well for you. I don't see much Lithium prescribed anymore. It seems the Docs prefer to stabilize mood with anti-convulsants like Depakote.

[Droopy]

29. I was originally prescribed Depakote and Risperdal

But I relapsed and wound up back in the hospital. That's when they decided to try lithium and Geodon. I'm using one cutting edge drug and one oldie. It has worked very well for me for the past 1.5 years.

[MrSandman]

31. Good Luck

[NuttyFluffers]

26. only if i had a stable supplier and a good lawyer!

no, wait, that's painkillers.

nevermind....

[Droopy]

27. I noticed from another thread that you are drinking tonight

Don't go mixing those pain killers and alcohol. ;)

[NuttyFluffers]

34. true, very true.... alcohol is always bad to mix.

but touch o' vicadine and pint o' beer had me feelin' spiffy like. probably done my liver a years worth of damage, but the effect was mighty sweet. one of the best. DON'T DO THIS AT HOME KIDS!!!! leave it to 'professional chemists'

;)

[foxy]

35. This is what I am on right now.

Zoloft Triliptal Geodone and Triazodone all mood stabalizers. except the geodone which is a anti-psychotic

[Mojambo]

36. Took Paxil for over a year and a half

Got nothing out of it and getting off it was absolutely awful. It was like having the flu for 6 months.

I really should be on something now, but without a job or health insurance it's not happening. So to compensate I just don't leave the house anymore.

[tibbir]

41. I'm bipolar and am on a drug cocktail.

Recently I added geodon, which seems to be working pretty well. I also take wellbutrin for depression, depakote and neurontin for mood stabilization and buspar for general anxiety (my psychiatrist won't prescribe anything that is addictive since addictive disorders run in my family). I also take synthroid because the lithium I took originally blasted my thyroid gland.

I'm on SSD because any sort of stress scrambles everything and I go back into rapid cycling and mixed episodes where you feel like you're having the worst anxiety attack in your life along with the most god-awful, suicidal depression you've ever felt - both at the same time.

Since I'm on SSD my insurance is medicare, which doesn't cover prescriptions (don't even talk to me about those stupid discount cards). Counting both my psychotropic and non-psychotropic my monthly prescription cost would be $1,000. There's no way I could afford that, I'd have to go into the county mental health program. Luckily I qualify based upon income for the various drug companies' patient assistance progams.

I'm just thankful that if I have to have sever manic depression that I live now and not 100 years ago when the treatments were barbaric at best.

[jdots]

43. M.A.O. inhibitor

Nardil,used to take Marplan......Mayonase inhibitors as i call them have very few side side effects,the down side and why they are not popular is the huge list of foods and red wine that you can't do or you could have a stroke.......It's not bad because the M,A.O.s don't affect you like an equalizer scrubbing off the highs & lows to the point where you can't feel creative which is a natural high & low. beware of effersor and lexapro after a few years.Wellbutrin has the least sexual shut down of the newer drugs but some people hate it. ASK your doc if they have taken any of these things or read more than the drug company's hype about them.If your doc writes your script with a gold pen engraved with prozac on it find another doc fast. Finding a good phycopharmacologist is harder than fining a good honest mechanic. = there is NO happy pill

[The Flaming Red Head]

48. Look forward to chronic liver disease

that's next with all those medications in your system.

[jdots]

51. Liver desease ah what fun !

Thier plan is to sell tons of liver meds in a few years. The nice thing about M.A.O.s is you can't eat alot of great food or destroy your liver with booze worst side effect= being the designated driver all the time.

[Tabasco_Dave]

42. Risperdal & Wellbutrin XL

I have a mild case of schysophrenia. I have the negetive form of the illness so i hear voices very rarely. The meds i take work well.

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Crunchy Frog]

58. How do you know that?

Is that the effect it had on you when you took it? If so, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but different people react very differently to the same medications.

A certain medication may completely debilitate one person, while in a different person it may make them able to function for the first time in their lives.

You seem to have some real issues with psychotropic medications. I'm sorry your experience must have been so negative. I hope you are managing to find some effective way of dealing with your issues that does not involve medication.

[scarlet_owl]

44. Yup. Very long term (as in the rest of my life).

I'm on Abilify (anti-psychotic), Lexapro (anti-depressant), and Lorazepam (tranquilizer).

[The Flaming Red Head]

45. How are you able to write that well and take that shit?

It must be new because with older ones you wouldn't be able to be that articulate and manage to push the keys one by one on the keyboard. Hope it doesn't have all the systemic affects that the other new ones have. Don't ever take Haladol (or anything like it) cause you wouldn't be able to type and think if you did. Your tongue would be so busy moving in worm like motions that you'd be ready cut out your mouth even with he Parkinson's meds. Ever heard of the Thorazine shuffle?

[Droopy]

57. The reason why I'm able to function at the level that I do

is because the medication works very well with minimal side affects. You can see why I would be talking it up. For people who experience psychosis it is a live saver. I can't begin to tell you all of the problems that I had before taking these meds. They have literaly saved my life.

For most people there is no way out of the symptoms of mental illness without drug therapy. Some people who are depressed respond well to talk therapy, but for people like me who get totally disconnected from reality there is no other option beyond drugs.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

49. I did for two years 1989-1990

One of the older antidpressants, Imapramine. It stopped the slide into deeper depression, but I gained weight that I have never been able to lose, and the whole time, I had a metallic taste in my mouth.

I gradually tapered off at the end of 1990, and the only funny side effect I had was that for about a week, I was hypersensitive to caffeine.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

52. Prozac doesn't make you gain weight

n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

59. My doctor told me that Prozac was best for the

type of depression where you want to sleep all the time. Since one of the most conspicuous features of my depression (aside from feeling hopeless and unutterably sad all the time) was chronic insomnia (being constantly tired but never sleepy), he thought that I'd do better with Imapramine, and he was right. The first step in my recovery was getting my sleep schedule back on track.

[no name no slogan]

63. They said that about Paxil, too, but I gained 80 lbs

They didn't know it at the time (1995), but there was a severe weight gain side effect for 5% of long-term Paxil users. I was on it for 2+ years, and went from 140lbs to 220lbs. I have not been able to lose the weight, either, after trying to for seven years.

Different meds have different effects on people's chemistry. Even if a drug isn't supposed to have a certain side effect, it still can in a small percentage of users.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

53. Lithium sucked for me. I take Neurontin for my bipolar disorder.

They also have a new one called Lamictal tha I'm going to try. Both of those are actually medications for epilepsy but they are working for bipolar disorder. They have fewer side effects, don't cause you to gain weight and you don't have to have a "lithium level" taken.

[SarahB]

56. No, never have.

I have gone through bouts of depression in my life that was more from sitautionally based problems (or grief) than organically based. It's hurts to put it mildly.

I'm glad you found something that works for you. Mental illness is an illness of the brain and it needs to be treated as any other illness. Our society often has so much stigma, it prevents prevent from getting the help in which they need.

[no name no slogan]

64. Chronic major depressive disorder -- 3 drugs

300mg Effexor ER, 600mg lithium (to enhance the Effexor), and 100mg Trazodone as a sleep aid. Plus fair amounts of caffiene to offset the drowsiness side effects from the Effexor.

I've been on this mix for almost eight years, and it seems to work okay. However, I may have to switch again in a few months, as it seems to be wearing off...

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

66. Wellbutrin and Xanax. I also take Topomax to help with weight loss (I

had tried Prozac, Effexor and Lexapro and all made me gain weight). The combo seems to be working.

[rumguy]

67. .

[Lizzie Borden]

68. So Go!

What are you waiting for???

[IconoclastIlene]

70. Sounds like u could use some, too.

Ignorant thing!

[peacebuzzard]

69. Thanks for the post and inputs. My disabled sister is on Risperdal

and has psychotic episodes as well as other challenges. It has been a very difficult learning curve for me since I am her caretaker and try to lead my life as well. It has not been easy and I appreciated all comments and insights. My sister has a severe communication impediment which compounds the problems.

[ofrfxsk]

73. Sorry. Too much. :(