Posted by Conundrum on February 12, 2011, at 11:36:59
In reply to Re: What should I be aiming for? Medications...., posted by morgan miller on February 11, 2011, at 23:55:24
> > Laney,
> > What are the negative side effects you are still suffering from? Pessimism, crying and stuff like that? or like a zombie feeling?
> >
> > You probably have tried this, but what about increasing the dose and seeing if a higher dose is more effective.
> >
> > I wish we were informed about how bad stopping these drugs could be before we started taking them. :(
>
> Or, maybe we could be more informed and experienced so that we knew if we stopped taking something that was working well without side effects that impaired normal function, our lives may be miserable and finding a medication that works may be more difficult. There's always a trade off. What were we going to do in this world of needing to function better and feel better without the medication in the first place? Continue to suffer until we maybe get better several years later? Go on disability? I think the lesson to be learned is, if you find a medication that works, and it's been working for a long time, don't stop! A real good sign for not stopping medication is if you find yourself say, "I feel good and normal on this medication without side effects, but I just don't want to have to rely on medication." I did this, and it is one of a few reasons why my life has been such a complete nightmare the last 3 years.
>
> Conundrum, I think there is a way to heal with time, supplements, diet, exercise, and YES, medication. There is hopefully a medication out there that will help us again if our old medication no longer does. We may need to be patient and take good care of ourselves in the meantime, but it will happen for many of us. Some of us unfortunately may have a very very difficult time finding relief from medication for a painfully long time. I have experienced a taste of what this must be like so I feel very badly for those of us that are imprisoned by this long term suffering.Obviously we aren't as bright as we need to be to realize that we must stay on these meds indefinitely. Now had my pdoc said to me, "Many people feel worse after stopping the drug and in fact suffer irreversible changes when discontinuing a drug, especially abruptly, so don't stop it if it is working," I would have either a) decided not to take it, and I was 16 at the time, so I may have gotten better on my own or b) made damn sure I got my script refilled. Instead I was told it has a long half life so there are no discontinuation symptoms. Now does that mean I should have stopped it on my own? No, but even when I went back on and then stopped it later under my doctor's supervision I still suffered massive cognitive problems afterwords for 7 years until this very day.
The problem I have with psychiatry is that no one is admitting that there are long term effects of SSRIs. There is some evidence of post ssri sexual dysfunction but nothing about emotional blunting or cognitive problems when stopping the drug. I know doctors are probably worried about being sued. That is why I've been thinking that patients should have to sign a waiver before taking psychotropic meds. The gist of the waiver would be. "This drug won't stop your heart, or your breathing or kill you, but since the brain is possibly the most complex system in the universe, there is no knowing what side effects it can cause, nor has this drug been studied for longer than 6 months (or year) so the long term effect on the brain are not known" This way everyone would know the true risks, and pdocs could be honest about what happens to patients and their cognitive/neurological/sexual complaints and actually report them to the FDA so we have a more comprehensive collection of side effects. It would also help us see that there is still a long way to go in understanding the brain.
On the pharmaceutical company side more could be done. Like when they give a rat an SSRI and it stops wanting to mate they should report that. They should also see what the rats do after long term use and after stopping the drug and let the patient know all of these things.
I think that would allow us to make more informed decisions. Now you might say, that would scare people away from psych meds altogether. It would certainly make some think twice and try other avenues first, but some who need the drugs will still take them. I'm not against psychiatry, but if they're gonna tell us some side effects of the drug, they should tell all of them, and let the patients know that some things could happen that are unpredictable.
Complaints: post-SSRI problems: anhedonia, memory and concentration problems, sexual anhedonia. )
Country:USA
Currently taking 2.5 mg prozac, Multi B vitamin
poster:Conundrum
thread:978941
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110130/msgs/979143.html