I've gone back and forth so many times over this topic but I cannot make up my mind whether to commit to going down the medication route. I did take fluoxetine for 2 months and I think it was helping a little but my GP took me off it due to some of the thoughts I was having.
They did prescribe an alternative but I never started taking them.
I'm just suck and tired of going around in circles. I'm really struggling with fatigue and low mood, feeling as though life is pointless.
I wonder if medication may be the answer?
Does anyone have any experience with this? Good and bad?
No I have never wanted to take them forever which is why I have been reluctant to take them. I've always viewed them as a temporary fix/cover up and not as a means to addressing the real issues. Personal choice, but not for me. However, I've already wasted several years of my life going between a very short lived okish place to an anxious, irritable or incredibly fatigued and depressive state. This isn't life.
Perhaps I'm just clutching at straws. I want to stabilise my mood and existence, and not just below the 'okish' boundary either. I just want to feel alive.
Thank you for your advice. I feel like I could benefit from seeing my Dr but I worry that I annoy her because I'm inconsistent with what I want.
Do you think it ever gets better? In that you won't have to keep swinging between the two?
I've been taking medication it's helped a lot to the point I do not not panic I felt like a failer to take take it but my kids need there mum go to ur docs explain even if u have to write it all down before how ur feeling little steps
I think it's great that you are taking he decision into your own hands and doing what you feel you need to do. I have tried making an appointment but they don't have anything until next week which is another 10 days away.
Good for you Micky14. We all do what we have to do. We are all different. I chose to take meds, for various things. Mess, if a diabetic has to take medicine to live, a normal life, or to live at all for that matter. Do we tell them not to take it? Or a person who has Asthma, we don't judge them because they have to use an inhaler. With Mental health though it's completely different in my view. We are judged more harshly, or should I say differently? There are so many antidepressants out there, don't give up, if you don't like, it move on to a different one. You have to be proactive in your health care. Whether it's a mental or physical, you know how you feel, don't go into it blindly. Do the research on the meds be aware of the side effects. What works for one doesn't' work for another. I have been on some that you couldn't pay me to take again. Some are hard to get off of, some are easier to. Don't be too hard on yourself if you need a little extra help to get you through life. Just remember there is a reason there are so many meds to choose from. You may not need them for life, and if you do, so what. If it works for you, at least you will have a life. Hope that doesn't' sound too cras. I know a lot will disagree. But that's ok. It would be a really boring place if we all thought the same way.
I really love your outlook on this. You are right, the stigma around taking medication for a mental rather than physical health concern is probably a factor here for me.
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I was sneered at back an abusive ex partner when he found out I was on medication (Fluoxetine). He saw it as a weakness because I could not fix myself. Grumpya is so right. We don't ridicule people for curing a headache with aspirin. We don't tell them to pull themselves together and live with it.
Now I am Sertraline which has recently been increased. I know it helps because when I feel guilty about taking medication I stop and goodness me my poor hubby and my anxieties are so grim. Bad enough anyway without Sertraline I truly do want to die. But that is just me right now in my bad place. You have to do what is right for you.
I take 2 meds every day, with a 3rd "emergency happy pill" in reserve for special times of stress. I started on meds several years ago, and have had to change meds at times because of side effects of ineffective after a while. My 'cocktail" of meds is working very well for me now. It's not a perfect solution, but it is a solution to allow me to begin to take baby steps to reclaim my life. I'm not able to go the therapy route, so this is what is working for me.
Most of the meds are designed to treat seizure disorders, so commonly slow the brain down. Depending on your reaction to the med will depend on how slow your brain gets. I've had meds in the past that caused me to sleep 18-20 hrs a day, took away short term memory, along with other issues. I've changed meds to handle some of those, so now I sleep relatively normal hours, although not normally at night - part of my PTSD. Sleeping at night brings restlessness and nightmares. I get a few hours, but still have to lay down during the day to rest, and hopefully get a couple hours sleep!
My short term memory has improved since the change in meds, too. The only other real problem that seems to come because of the meds is weight gain. I've doubled my weight in the last 13 years since PTSD came into my life, and lack of energy or interest in exercising isn't helping. I'm working on that... baby steps!
If you decide to try the medicinal route, realize that it may take time to find the right combination for you. And, realize that many of them may lose their potency for you after a period of time - generally a year or more. It's a constant thing, working with my doctor to handle the symptoms that can cause so much trouble, and finding the right ones to do the job. I told my doctor, when I was sleeping most of my life away, that there were two things I desperately wanted to change - sleeping all the time and my weight. He said he'd be happy with one of the two - we'd deal with the weight after we got the right combination of meds for me. I still want to lose weight, but if I can live a life without triggering constantly, without sleeping all the time, and occasionally getting out of the house and enjoying life, I'm content with it.
My meds have left me rather numb... I feel the fear and panic, and sadness when "that time of year" comes around, but basically I just kinda float. I had wanted to get back to "normal" emotions, but then I spent weeks crying non-stop. I decided floating was better than the constant tears.
I just don't know what's best for me but yes, I can see that if you are struggling with tears a lot then numb is a better alternative. Hope you are having a good day
I am on Wellbutrin right now, and that is the only thing im taking. I have to say it is working better than any medication that I have ever been on, in the last 30 years. I have been on other anti depressants in the past and have gotten off of them for a variety of different reasons. But I agree with what you said about a temporary fix or a cover up. What my therapist told me, (and I totally agree) Is that if your taking medication, and not going to counseling or therapy, then it is like putting a band aid on a wound that needs major surgery. Your just keeping the wound from bleeding all over but doing nothing about getting it better or healing it. I have been on and off meds, for many years, and with the right one, ( Unfortunately its always a matter of the process of elimination, or trial and error to find out what works for you) it can and does work for many. There probably however are those that it doesn't work for at all. Its really up to you, and what's right for you at this time in your life. Maybe they didn't work before but this time they might. Good luck to you <3
That's a good way of looking at it. I have been having therapy for 18 months but it's hard to see any progress. I am probably becoming more aware of myself and my problems which in theory is probably a good thing for longer term development but at the moment is hard to deal with, let alone see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I'm glad things are working out for you now that you've found the right combination of medication and therapy. Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post, it means a lot x
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Military Service related PTSD....Does it ever get manageable?
The day my world came crashing down.
