Woudering if any of u have got thou it without mediaction?

[donaf]

Has any of u started or got thou it without mediaction of any sort? I have read things on the net and books that say people have. I'm not thinking of coming off mine at all, I'm just woudering.

[Bramwell]

I've never taken any medication in twenty years of Health Anxiety and GAD aside from herbal and homeopathic remedies.

[Hidden]

Hi. donaf. It does depend on the person. Your attitude to drugs and how you react to them. To some they are poison to others they allow a welcome respite from the terrible anxiety this illness can bring. But why do we try and get by without them? I think it may be the fear of getting hooked, or not wanting to 'poison' our body with foreign substances. My attitude s that if they are properly managed then they can be very useful. It is when they are given indiscriminately that a problem arises. Without them I would not have recovered so quickly. I needed time to look at my situation and the tranquilisers gave me that. It is how YOU feel about it that matters. Good wishes. johnathan.

[Hidden]

Hi. Hope. We know the pharmaceutical companies are laughing all the way to the bank, but, and it's a big but, we do benefit from their research and a lot of people have been cured of various diseases and a lot prevented from getting them. Flu jabs are a good example. So we can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. In the USA, as I understand it, Prozac has become a 'cosmetic' drug; you take it when you are going to a party or a job interview! This, to me, is when it all goes wrong But why prolong the agony when you can get relief. Taking drugs over a long period is not to be encouraged, but in the short term they can be very useful. Best wishes. jonathan.

[thunderacer]

As has been said, it depends on the person and their experiences with certain meds. When I first started having depression I would take tablets and they would make me feel worse in a few different ways so after a coule of months I would just stop taking them would feel an improvement and work from that, think alot of it was that I didn't want to be on them and the stigma attatched to having a mental illness but as I have had more episodes I have got over that and talk openly about my illness and if people don't like it that is their problem and have found medication that helps with no adverse side affects to me ( have been taking them over 10 years now) but I still do get depressed now and again but have ended up having ECT THE LAST 3 TIMES, another treatment that there is alot of debate on!! All I can say on that is that I had a head injury and went into depression, 18 months later and many different drugs later I was offered ECT AND BY THIS TIME I WOULD HAVE TRIED ANYTHING!

For me it worked, I was able to start back to work 8 weeks later so from my point of view it saved my life and any one who wants to ban it obviously havn't been as low as to try anything!

[Hidden]

Well I don't know I have a phobia about meds but I was kind of scared into taking Ativan so here I am on them for about 7 months on them 2mg a day thinking my God am I addicted to this drug because they are very addicting I've heard ! Dr says I can wean myself off of them so does this mean I will start having major panic attacks again plus thinking should I go into rehab my thought is they all need help an were normal plus I live in the states I pay 150.00 US dollars for 15 days worth of the tabs so soon I will have no choice but to quit!!!!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi. mim. If you punch up" Professor Ashton" on the Web you will find some very useful explanations about coming off tablets. She specialised in addiction problems and gives 'tapering' tables that I found most useful. I had no problem coming off them over a period of time but to 'cold turkey' is definitely not advisable! Very best wishes. jonathan.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi. mim. A lot of people knock the NHS but I have had four operations over the years and no end of tablets and it has not cost me a penny! I am over 65 so that helps. Yes, we pay in all our working life, but I added up what the ops and medication would have cost under private medicine and it came to a staggering £32.000.That is without the tabs. When on a basic pension the NHS is invaluable. Hope you stay well. Love jonathan.

[thunderacer]

Us British don't know how lucky we are to HAve a NHS serviceand moan at paying £7:50 for a months supply, lol. Do you feel the meds are doing anything for you? Some meds have made me feel that bad that stoping taking them in itself has given me the lift to get better! I am not saying this is the right thing to do though!!!

I for one was guilty also of thinking that the doctor has given me tablets, I must take them as they know what they are doing and then play the waiting game, thinking every new day that I will wake up better!

Doesn't work like that! Every patient is different so in essence every new patient is a guinea pig, they have various tools(meds) in their tool box but they have to find the one or combination that best suits the patient. So we have to tell them exactly how we feel, whether we think they are having any affect, good or bad and after so long if they are really doing nothing for us tell them we are not prepared to take them anymore!

Only we know how we feel!

[donaf]

My tablets have helped me, I went from having bad daily panic attacks to very rarly having them. I had my diazpam untill my anti depressants kicked in. Then after a few mths I throw the diazpam away as I didn't need it. I just needed a kick start into changing my attitude and they helped. X

[hamble99b]

the way it was explained to me is that it's a chemical imbalance [just as diabetes is with insulin] and the anti- depressants restore that balance.

I take citlopran and it suits me well.

do whatever you feel right with, we are all different.

regards,

sandra.