Posted by Gracie2 on November 17, 2002, at 2:48:32
In reply to feel like I'm drowning, posted by likelife on November 14, 2002, at 21:58:23
I have been in your place exactly and I feel your pain. Well, actually, I was worse. In the last three years I've been hospitalized three times, twice after an overdose, one intentional and one not. The third time, the police brought me to the hospital. So, you know, that's pretty bad.
I'm much better now, & would like to tell you how I got from there to here. Maybe it will bring you some hope.
First of all, despite all their training, doctors
are still people, prone to all the human weaknesses that the rest of us have. Like people in every other profession, some doctors are not really, really good at their work. This can be for any reason from inexperience to job burn-out;
the bottom line is, not every doctor is the right one for you personally. When you're severely depressed, you blame treatment failure on yourself. You start to believe that you're "beyond help", when in reality you're suffering from misdiagnosis and/or the wrong medication, or misuse of that medication.You are not beyond help, and you're not untreatable. Psychiatric medications do work. However, the indiscriminate use of psychiatric medications, which are powerful drugs that direct the neurotransmitters in your brain, are fucking up a lot of people. Because many psychiatric drugs don't have a quick, mood-altering effect like narcotics, most patients and many doctors don't really appreciate the long-term effects of these drugs, and the danger of not taking them seriously.
Unfortunately, there are many variables on the road to wellness. It's easy to get discouraged and distracted. I'm something of a veteran in this area, and I've learned some things. I'll try to put down what I wish I had read somewhere three years ago, and taken to heart. I don't have references-this is from personal experience. Prehaps the best source.
1.)Even if your family doctor is willing to prescibe psychiatric drugs like Prozac or Paxil, do not take them. The long-term effects of these drugs need to be monitered by an experienced psychiatrist.
2.) It's a serious mistake to believe that you are
so depressed or deranged that any medication prescribed under any circumstances can only help.
The wrong medication, or the right medication used
in the wrong manner, can make you slide from depression to psychosis.
3.) You might destroy yourself by not being totally honest with your psychiatrist. Like a computer, his output (diagnosis/prescription) relies on the information he recieves. For maximum benefit, he must recieve as much information as possible from you, the patient.
He's not a priest, he's not a friend, although he does care about your improvement and is certainly concerned about the effect of the treatment he's prescribed. Being evasive or coy or too ashamed to admit your actions only delays diagnosis and treatment.
4.) One psychiatric drug should be prescribed by a psychiatrist for long-term treatment after you
have honestly described all symptoms. This drug
should be taken strictly as prescribed. Don't allow yourself to run out of medication. Don't take 1 or 3 pills if you're supposed to take 2.
Don't mix your daily medication with other drugs or alcohol. Don't taper and certainly don't quit
your medication all at once, which throws your brain's transmitters into turmoil.
5.) Benzos like Xanax are for short-term relief.
If you're prone to addiction, I suggest you avoid.
6.) Personally, my depression and psychosis were relieved by a young doctor who immediately took me off the high dosage of Depakote that had me doing the "thorazine-shuffle". I was still functioning on some reptile level that prevented
suicide, but I was not a whole person. Over many months I eventually stabalized on a regimen of Seroquel that somehow corrected my chronic insomnia. A regular sleeping pattern relieved a great deal of tension. Once I was "stabalized",
the addition of Paxil helped relieve depression.
However, the combination of Seroquel and Paxil is magic for only myself.The success of your treatment relies on total honesty with your psychiatrist and strict adherance to the medication guidelines. If you're serious about getting well, you can do it.
-Gracie
poster:Gracie2
thread:1549
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20021109/msgs/1569.html