Is There Anyone Else Not Taking Meds?

[illusionist]

I was once upon a time prescribed medication, took it for a couple of days, then took them back to the pharmacy to be binned....I hated the feeling of feeling spaced out. I never ever got them again, though very, very tempted many a time. I've occasionally given into taking prescribed sleeping tablets but insisted the doc only prescribed 4 tablets maximum....I I needed to find my ways of coping with my symptoms rather than swallowing pills and ending up depending on a pills to get me through the day.

.....that's not saying that many times I know I really should have been medicated.....but I got through.

 

[joeylittle]

On the days I'm having truly huge anxiety, I am grateful for my PRN prescription for ativan - it allows me to focus enough to do all the rest of the cognitive work to get it under control. I don't depend on it, I use it when I need to.

Medication is a tool. There are many different kinds. Whether or not you are up for the sometimes ridiculously difficult journey of getting ones that help you, that's another story. I don't think there is anything noble or even necessarily smart in just blockading all medications.

Two of the more useful meds for PTSD sufferers: prazosin and the benzo class - are not antidepressants.

 

[Saint Nik]

I don't think there is anything noble or even necessarily smart in just blockading all medications.

It is a personal choice. Your choice is to take meds and that is up to you. Either way. . .no matter how you look at it, medication doesn't stop or cure or end PTSD, anxiety or panic attacks, neither does not talking meds! We are all in it together, just trying to find our way through this. It isn't about being noble or even smart actually. It's about wanting to live again and not feel like it's all about surviving!

 

[illusionist]

I certainly wasn't noble or smart....I was just too chicken to take the chance with addictive medication....and at the time had two kids to look after and didn't think it would be possible to function in a zombie state.....that really scared me!

Obviously medication has moved forward since then.

 

[Saint Nik]

I am not against taking medication. Again, it comes down to personal choice. My choice isn't to take any because of side effects, not seeing any progression and just messing with my brain and body chemistry too! Not only having the worry to be weaned off them at a later date and having to deal with withdrawal symptoms. I want to progress in a natural way and that is my personal choice. I in no way disrespect anyone taking medication for a tool or coping mechanism. It's good to hear from others that medication has helped them to get through the day! I have been there too when things got so bad and I did need medication. . . but it was short term and it was when all the trauma was beginning for me and I didn't have a clue what was happening to me.
Now that I am on nothing, I only deal with PTSD physical symptoms and trying my best to understand what is happening in my body. . . some days I think I get it and understand it, other times I am completely crash into a setback and it always lasts for days - sometimes into a month (which before it was lasting for years!!!)
Like I said, I in now way disrespect anyone taking medication at all. I don't disrespect anyone that has different coping mechanisms to me at all. I was just interested in how people cope without medication, see if they had tips to cope in a more natural way!

 

[illusionist]

Saint Nik.....Joeylittle makes a very interesting point....Medication can be used to allow us to focus on coping skills....certainly something I would have appreciated in my early days, when it was extremely hard to focus to allow coping skills to work.

I had never thought of medication in that way.....interesting.

 

[Ronin]

I'm mostly off medication, spare for the time I need benzos to deal with anxiety & sleep pills when I really need to sleep, haven't for days, kind of thing.

Unhappy about all of the bickering I have to do with psychiatrists in regard to ADHD though. Proper diagnosis, long-term diagnosis, yet they apparently don't believe it could be a big deal in adults.

I think it's cultural so I'm really looking into other national health care again as a year long of frustration's starting to get on my nerves. Duh. Venting.

So yes, off medication. Raising hand and backing out, glad for the thread ;)

 

[Tinyflame]

I did not know that entirely (in that way, re Meds) about ADHD. :wideeyed:

I think I can say with almost 100% certainty that if I had been on SSRI'(s) during the worst S(Ideation) (past) I would have definitely (most definitely, likely) managed to kill myself. Simpy because, if anything had reduced my awareness or impulse control at all- 'fazed me out', so to speak, I would have done it (even spontaneously). If it (as they say) had given me enough energy.

(I'm quite embarrassed to say that, actually, but for the greater (potential) good.. :bag: :sorry:).

 

[scout86]

@Junebug , I've wondered about that myself. It's one of the reasons I'm glad my T doesn't often recommend medication, and I'm glad I've been able to get by without it. I imagine some of this is very individual.

 

[joeylittle]

It's about wanting to live again and not feel like it's all about surviving!

I absolutely understand this. I think my only point, really, is that there are so many different kinds of medication that deal with so many different symptoms. And so when they are called 'medication', all in a lump, I just wonder what people are really thinking they all are - but I suspect most people think 'antidepressants', and that's really not necessarily the right approach (despite some doctors who don't know better, sigh).

I'm absolutely not saying you need to take medication. I will say, you should be looking along the lines of things that will interrupt the biochemical side of an anxiety surge. If you want to stay entirely away from anything ingestible, carrying cold packs (those ice packs you can shake and they activate) could be helpful - forcing your body temp. down, possibly along with doing something like corpse pose from yoga, only with your feet slightly elevated.

There's a pretty great breathing app called Breathe 2 Relax (B2R). You set it to coach you through metered inhales and exhales. Having some sort of tool for breathing really can help, so you don't have to do it all on your own.

Make sure you've eliminated all stimulants from your diet. Basically, caffeine and sugar. Only have whole fruit, not fruit juice.

And then do some DBT-ish emotional regulation in order to get your mind to dial back whatever it is that is setting off the anxiety.

Hope some of that helps...

 

[Chava]

I've tried all the major SSRI, SNRI, and NRIs, and also some anti-psychotic...they all made me more disconnected and dissociative. I was on quite a cocktail when insurance cut out and I had to quit everything cold. Hard for a few days, but then I started lightening up and realized a sense of humor had been buried under this cocktail of meds. I had a lot of struggles, but zombie was not helpful...a sense of humor does more than many meds can do. For me all those meds blunted all feelings, including the good ones I really needed in order to survive my life.

So many years not on meds and probably coping with too much starving and smoking. Now I'm doing body-focused trauma therapy (primarily Somatic Experiencing, but other approaches fit toward my needs). So I'm working on the issues of basic nervous system regulation...being in my body, finding safety, finding outlets for intense feelings. It's not all smooth going but I'm more present to it than I would be on meds, so it's a better long term option for me.

I am on some pain meds, minimal. Recently added gabapentin. That does tend to relax me a bit. Also, I take ambien for sleep frequently. But no specifically psych meds. My doctor wouldn't give me benzos because of my addictive nature, so I had to work through panic attacks without....the good news is I rarely have the panic attacks where I feel like I'm dying. Had I been given benzos, I'd probably still be having panic attacks, medicating them with benzos, and knowing me I'd be taking benzos for all levels of discomfort and not gaining a damn thing in terms of healing this stuff or personal development.

I'm not opposed to meds. With my pain meds, I take the least amount possible but also work on the pain in many non-med ways. And I think that would be the ideal if I were on psych meds too...even if one had worked, I'd need the therapy and working on the root of stuff.

 

[ground crew]

Doctors have been frustrated with my refusal of meds for years. I have been diabetic for 15 years or so and have been med free for that, but I am taking steps. Diet and exercise. I also refused meds for pain, long term healing from a full body sprain I am recovered from, so I am not on methadone or addicted to opiates. I find the exercise to be therapeutic for ptsd/depression/what ails you.

I think it is okay in many instances to be without meds, but I do not agree that one should refuse meds one despritly needs from a medical standpoint. If my numbers get out of wack, I will be on the meds for diabetes. If I am thwacked out of my freakin gourd, I hope to be able to calm down enough to take the pill orally. I understand they have other means.....

my point is, if the doctor gives you plan a, review it, consider it, explore it and look at less invasive or medicated alternatives. But if you refuse needed medication, you are taking the risk on yourself and you better have a plan. develop a full plan b, (support system, therapeutic activity, measurable goals, signs it ain't working) with a backup plan c that includes taking the pill(s).