File: 1661859043870.jpg (175.94 KB, 2000x1000, o-MEDICATIONS-facebook-2260652…)
No. 284484
>>284451I'd issues with anxiety and depression that popped up at like 12. It was basically just a reaction to the household I was living in but social workers were on my parents ass and I ended up being put on SSRIs at 12 whether I wanted them or not. That was my parents "see we're treating it" get out of jail card. The easiest solution to get them off their backs.
My depression worsened the whole 6/7 years that I was on them and I'll never know if that was truly 'my' depression or the meds side effects. Things got dark but only after starting them. I read a book years ago that went into detail on why developing brains and SSRIs don't mix well and how teens on them are at high risk of becoming more suicidal. Their own leaflets admit it too. My parents sure as hell never thought to research it. I'll never know whether my problems would've improved better without the meds or whether they caused more issues than they helped. I felt like a zombie on a high dose as this underweight lil 12 year old. I gave feedback the whole time that they made me feel worse and still was kept on the same shit til I could argue back at nearly 18.
A few years later my mom died and while I was grieving my partner put so much pressure on me to go get on meds… I'm freshly grieving. Let me have feelings.
No. 284513
>>284484Yeah, I don't think SSRIs/SNRIs/etc should be prescribed to anyone under 18 because of how they affect brain development. The only people I know who benefitted from them at all just took a low dose as an adult combined with a healthy lifestyle and therapy, which not everyone has access to. But my pediatrician said it was okay for a kid (me) to take them because I was suicidal…from being violently bullied. Why not just let me change schools instead of numbing my emotions and making me borderline asexual?
>>284489The fact people who don't have psychosis get prescribed these medications is crazy to me. Antipsychotics made me super fat too, but I'm not even schizophrenic or bipolar.
No. 284544
>>284516I've gone through several psychiatrists and ironically I knew more about medications than them, and I just have surface level knowledge. But they get mad that I "pretend I know more than a professional" when I question why I'm being prescribed a medication for a condition I'm not diagnosed with (ex. an antipsychotic when I'm not schizophrenic).
Benzos aren't even prescribed where I am unless in extreme circumstances, they restrict the amount of pills and you have to pay out of pocket. I used to Xanax
as needed, not every day. What the fuck.
No. 284570
>>284568I'm the same
nonny as
>>284513, I explained that it just made me fat and didn't even help for the off-label reason I was given it for. Luckily I changed psychiatrists and was taken off of it, but most doctors are so flippant about this it makes me not take most of them seriously.
No. 284571
>>284445I'm taking lexapro. I can't tell if its doing anything, I started it in May. There are times I feel like I should switch to a different medication but I want to wait it out, at least til six months to really see if the effects come. I started taking it for depression and anxiety.
As for my period it's always been irregular and heavy. First two days are the worst cause of the cramps so I usually take ibuprofen those two days. But since starting lexapro I haven't noticed any changes.
No. 284636
>>284544>implying you know more than a licensed professional that went through 11 years of schoolAnon you sound insufferable, I'm sorry. Psychs frequently prescribe meds interchangeably regardless of frequency of use for a disorder because of the drug treats the area of the brain causing your mental issues. A lot of people with bipolar are schizo affective and experience hallucinations which require an FGA/SGA even though they may not be diagnosed with full blown schizophrenia. Or, like
>>284568 and you have violent intrusive thoughts with non specific symptoms. Educating yourself on your mental disorder is one thing but you will never come close to knowing more than a board certified physician. If you can't trust their expertise go to therapy and figure out why or seek out another doctor.
No. 284701
>>284636>If you can't trust their expertise go to therapyNTA but this is fucking hilarious to me because the therapist that was helping me with medical related trauma kept honing on the fact that we as patients need to speak up, we need to demand answers and advocate for ourselves. And honestly mistrusting doctors is for the best, you need to take care of yourself as an individual since you're the one that has your best interest at heart, I don't give a fuck if I sound insufferable but I'm not going to meekly put my life and well being in the hands of a 'trained professional' that likely sees me as a statistic, patients need to be made part of the medical process, their diagnosis, treatments and they need to be respected and treated as persons with concerns, doubts and anxieties, not pieces of meat you dissect like in med school.
Maybe you're one of those burnt out healthcare professionals that ran out of empathy and that's why it bothers you that patients actually give a shit about their lives instead of bending over, and if that's the case please take the time to seek therapy for yourself.
No. 284770
>>284636NTA but my last psychiatrist kept writing me a prescription for a drug I didn't take every time I saw her for 5 years. For the first couple of years I handed it back to her and reminded her I wasn't taking that drug anymore. Eventually I just threw them away. One of the last times I saw her, she asked what colleges I was thinking about applying for. I was about to graduate with my bachelor's.
Always question your doctors, especially in bullshit specialties like psychiatry where most of them are just in it for the money.
No. 410938
File: 1719856761621.webp (73.88 KB, 300x300, melatonin.webp)
Maybe this isn't quite the right thread for it, but has anyone used melatonin? Some people report awful side effects while others say it does nothing, just curious if anyone here has any experience. I mean the over the counter stuff.
No. 411709
>>284571>>284650Update
Still on Lexapro. I think in the end it did help me with my depression/anxiety. I still deal with it but it's on a smaller scale now. But I was able to make some super big changes in my life and I think Lexapro helped. I'm talking about getting an adult job, flying across the country for the interview and even moving a few states away from home.
My period appears to be regular now. My sex drive is a bit different. I can still orgasm and can still feel aroused. But again it's on a smaller scale. My main concern was if I'd be able to orgasm when I first started lexapro and the first week or two it took me nearly an hour to reach climax which was super unusual for me. After some months it's never been a problem but I don't feel the need to masturbate nearly as often as I used too.
No. 433053
File: 1727317808063.jpg (47.33 KB, 540x484, 1725042273521.jpg)
This might be a little stupid. I have never had to use birth control pills before but now I am in a relationship and I am thinking of starting them. Are there any weird side effects any of you nonnies have experienced? Like weight gain for example
No. 433207
>>433053I've read that BC pills and other forms of hormonal contraception may
trigger autoimmune diseases and other illnesses, most of them related to gut health such as IBS
No. 433534
>>433053I started on a levonorgestrel-based BC when I was 20. I already had some problems with depression/anxiety, but on BC they rapidly got extremely bad. Before bc I was crying every 1-2 days and having a bad cry once or twice a week. After, I was crying at least 4 times a day, often in extremely inappropriate situations (in class, while grocery shopping, during study sessions, at work, while driving, you name it). I rarely went a day without crying to the point of sobbing. It threw me off balance and it took me many months to get back to my baseline after discontinuing it. I later tried a more typical one, and while my mood got worse, it didn't get so bad that I'm certain that it was the pill. Anyways, just keep in mind that the type of BC can matter a lot.
No. 435011
>>433053My mental health went into the toilet on bc. It took me years to realize no, there's nothing wrong with me and I'm not broken nor depressed by design, it's the pill. I had chronic BV, if you looked at my vagina wrong bam - BV. I had frequent UTIs as well. Sex eventually became very painful for me, I believe after doing research the reason was that my body wasn't producing enough natural hormones so my skin down there was thinning and sensitive. I would tear literally every time I had sex, and no amount of lube or "just make sure you're ready!" fixed it until I was off the pill. Even if my theory is incorrect on why, it's obvious to me something about the pill made sex unbearable.
And that's just the issues I had on low estrogen pills. I couldn't even take any birth control that wasn't low estrogen because I would experience such violent mood swings. I will never, ever do bc again, condoms are fine and won't run the risk of wrecking your mental health or your body.
No. 435295
>>435282SA but also another sleep side effect from buspar is paradoxical insomnia, where you’ll feel like you’ll lay awake for hours but then somehow be asleep during that time. I would even check my phone every hour to see the time and be “awake” so if I was sleeping then it was a very, very light sleep. It’s a really weird dichotomy because I didn’t think that I was sleeping the majority of the night but then I also felt not tired at all the day after. When you have the awakenings, you will be completely alert and unable to go back to sleep—this feeling of alertness persists throughout the day which can be “nice” if you’re usually someone who is exhausted or oversleeps I guess. Either way my sleep became terrible and I got the worst dark circles and deep 11 wrinkles (that I now have to botox) while on buspar. Thankfully my sleep is returning back to normal since stopping it, I was scared that this would give me permanent sleep side effects like Effexor did—I developed adult night terrors from Effexor, which still persisted months after stopping.
Now a question for nonas—I am thinking about dropping my psychiatrist because after I told her that my sleep problems were caused by the buspar, she’s now trying to put me on antipsychotics since “anxiety medications don’t work for [me]”. Keep in mind that I am actually feeling good despite my anxiety and bpd. I feel like I have been managing well since coming off of all medications. Now I have taken antipsychotics before as I am a bpdfag who was misdiagnosed with bipolar in the past. My bpd-caused mood instability obviously had no improvements on antipsychotics. For those who don’t know, antipsychotics have probably the worst long-term side effects of all medications and the worst cognitive decline, it’s basically a chemical lobotomy. So basically I told my psychiatrist that I was feeling good and doing well without the medications and then she suggests fucking antipsychotics. I feel like this woman is negligently trying to chemically lobotomize me and the suggestion makes me actually sickened. I know I sound crazy ranting like this and probably not like a credible narrator but I want to emphasize that things in my life are going well and I feel actually well-adjusted without medication even though I have anxiety & bpd. But it seems like this psychiatrist appears to need me to be on some medication and of all medications, she’s negligently/casually suggesting antipsychotics to me (at a time in my life where I actually feel good wtf). I’m thinking of writing a review online and cancelling all future appointments.
No. 435305
>>433053It really depends on the pill itself and your reason for taking it. I took one brand a few years ago that just made me lethargic and mildly depressed so I stopped and refused to take them again.
Until I stopped getting my period a year ago. My hormones were normal, ultrasound was normal, weight and thyroid normal but no period whatsoever. Nobody knew why so they put me on a newer brand of the pill which fixed it, and now I have to stay on it in order to actually be able to shed uterine lining and, you know, not get cancer. This new one doesn’t affect my mood or weight but period cramps are worse than before. Then there’s the mini pill which some of my friends take and like. Sadly you have to give it a try to see how it feels, but if you don’t have to I wouldn’t personally bother.
No. 435373
>>434989I'm only 15mg twice a day.
>>435017This sounds so nice. I think I'll try to stay on buspirone for at least 2 months, but I'm definitely gonna ask about prozac if it doesn't work for me.
No. 436040
File: 1728435325326.png (44.63 KB, 736x391, Ketamine-structure-Ketamine-2-…)
Has anybody tried Ketamine for treatment resistant depression? I've had severe depression that is immune to medication, therapy, exercise, etc, since I was a preteen and now at 25 I'm looking at the rest of my life and seriously wondering how much longer I can do this for. Ketamine therapy was suggested to me by someone, and I'm hesitant to look into it because I've heard it's addictive and makes your bladder not work, or something. But I watched a seemingly trustworthy youtube deep dive into it that painted it in much rosier colors than I expected. So I guess I'm looking for real experiences.
No. 467419
>>465759I have tried SO many medications and went through various depressive episodes/suicide attempts for what was almost 12 years, 1/2 of my life. I had given up over and over because I hated the weight gain, the zombie feeling, or the fact that it didn’t help or made me worse.
I have been on lamictal for 6 months now and it is the only medication that has taken away my suicidal thoughts and forced me to be more mindful. Granted, I do not have bipolar and I am on a very low dose, but I have tried every SSRI SNRI etc. since I was a little girl. I had to run back to medication and therapy when the episodes worsened/the PMDD did, too. I had multiple suicide attempts, turned to drugs, etc. I had to make that decision, and it worried me because I had times I felt so normal, too. I didn’t want to become somebody completely different, but I had to make the choice of either a solid suicide plan or trying one more time, not just for myself but the people who deserved love around me, even animals or nature.
I did a lot of research on lamictal beforehand. I can’t speak for you or for the other medication, but the only downside I have encountered from lamictal has been a slight word recall issue which has improved over time. I have had no weight gain issues or lack of emotions, my depressive episodes are not nearly as strong and I do not get suicidal. Lamictal is unanimously agreed upon as one of the least risky things you can take (not speaking for SJS, but you can notice this and take action right away and its very rare that it happens).
This is my experience of course but I hope it helps. Mental illness is scary because it can destroy our brains over time, and medication can be scary for the same reasons, so I get it. Best of luck
nonnie.
No. 469324
File: 1736724338770.jpg (74.05 KB, 500x684, download (19).jpg)
For other anons that are on fluoxetine, have you experienced any sleeping issues? I've been on 40mg for about a month and these past few weeks I've been almost constantly tired but only able to fall asleep at 3am. Brain meds are annoying because you have to suffer all the negative side effects before you notice getting even slightly better.
No. 469333
>>432443same
nonnie, glad I stopped taking Wellbutrin, started taking Vyvanse again
>>432636I'm on 20mg and have been for about two or three years now coming up? The first month was wacky - crying for no reason, ruminating, but it quickly balanced out. I used to be a bulimic mess. I don't binge and purge anymore. I waited long enough that even when I started binging again after taking it I didn't purge, and then continued to take it, stopped binge-eating, stopped purging. No complaints, except for no libido