Sick of the Status Quo

[Shpammy]

Hi all! My first post here. Sorry so lengthy. Just a little backstory ... I have been in therapy and on a variety of medication most of my 52 years. I have pretty severe depression, anxiety, ADHD and have been diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar disorder. I have been inpatient and PHP a few times within the past 6 years. I am questioning my bipolar diagnosis and the host of meds that have been prescribed in the past. The antipsychotics and Benzos have made me gain weight and frankly, I believe, have made me stupid, along with a ton of memory loss. A couple months ago, I had a kind of epiphany. What led to it was severe anxiety symptoms that sent me to the ER. As a result, my psychiatrist then wanted to put me on yet ANOTHER antidepressant, in addition to the 2 antipsychotics and the very high dose of antidepressant I was already on. I was like, okay enough is enough. Obviously, the medications are not working ... and then you just want to ADD ANOTHER ONE to the mix??! After years and years of trying new medications and different cocktails, I had enough. So, I decided to go off everything (No, not cold turkey and not all at once and yes, I did inform my psychiatrist. Let me be very clear - I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE GOING OFF THEIR MEDS WITHOUT CONSULTING THEIR PSYCHIATRIST!!!) and I basically feel the same as I did when I was taking the handful of meds every day! Throughout the last 25+ years of taking psych meds, I have not been “happy”. I have not been enjoying life. Not looking forward to anything. I am existing. I thought that feeling “even” - not good, but not really, really bad, was ... well, good. The best I could hope for. But is that really living? I want to believe, I’m desperate to believe, that there is something more. There HAS to be another way, some alternative, other than ingesting handfuls of pills that, for me, do not seem to make a positive difference and have a markedly negative affect on my health. So now I am trying different things, like meditation and yoga, and I am researching different diets to see if inflammation and nutrition play a role in my mental well-being. I am questioning the status quo of mental health treatment today and resisting blindly following the crowd. My question to the community is, is there anyone out there who is successfully managing their mental health through alternative means? Through diet and nutrition? Eskatemine therapy (Ketanest, Spravato ...)? Eastern medicine? Would love to connect with like-minded individuals and share experiences.

[Hidden]

I have a psych pa who had me only all sorts if medicines. I have been in most ssris, benzo, antipsychotics, etc. Gained too much weight from something, suffer memory loss, fatigue. Slowly weened myself off all except for a small sleep aid. I am exercising, try to absorb self-help videos on YouTube. I feel the same as when I was on meds. The one time I felt great was decades ago when I first tried prozac

[Shpammy in reply to Hidden]

Hi Peacefulzen! Funny you say that about Prozac. That was the first antidepressant I was ever on (over 30 years ago) and I also felt great at first! I’ve never gotten that same effect again ... except when I accidentally OD’d on Wellbutrin (which was terrible and landed me in the hospital), but the next day I felt great!! Lol. I think I metabolize meds too fast, so I can’t get enough to make me feel better, even on the highest dosage and not time released.

[CCRae13]

Hey there I’m sorry you’re going through it but I can relate. I tried medication and the first week or so felt amazing and then nothing and I also quit taking meds and felt no different. I have been determined to deal without the meds. Maybe it’s not possible for everyone. Maybe some people really do need the medication but I’ve come pretty far without them. It’s not always easy and some days are better than others but when I look back I know I have made progress. I watch videos, read books, I’ve done therapy, tried to be more active. All of these things help but it takes time and sometimes great commitment to overcome. I believe and have read many times that the brain can be “rewired” it just takes time and effort. I feel like as long as I keep heading in that direction it will get better.

[Kandinskycoffee]

I'm trying to figure that out to as I've tried yet another medicine that doesn't seem to be working.