Side Effects Of Medication< How Do You Cope With Them?

[Sterre]

I am taking antidepressants now for almost 15 years, with a short break of 2 months last year.
As most people on this forum I’ve tried a lot of different meds. All of them had different side effects, and I’m getting to the point where I feel more and more angry and frustrated about those side effects.

Almost all of the medication I took, made me very tired. I sleep more than average and my energy is always low.
Almost all of the medication I took turned me in to a sexless woman. It decreased/erased my sexual desires and my sexual functions, and the ability to reach an orgasm.
Most of them give me sore muscles and joints, and they mess with my bowels, skin, and theet.
All of this I accepted in order of the profit I had taking these pills.

But now, I come across a side effect I no longer can accept. As shallow as it may seem, I just cannot accept the fact that my weight is gaining and gaining. At this point I look like I’m four months pregnant, although I am keeping myself on a strict diet, exercise regularly , I don’t loose any weight, I just keep gaining.
I feel desperate because of it. The fact that it seems that I have no control over my weight and feel powerless to change it, makes me anxious and sad.

At this point I am decrease my dosage from 100 mg to 50 mg, but I feel very scared for the outcome of my lower dosage. My T doesn’t agree with me on lowering the dosage and we had an argument about it, so I don’t share my thoughts or feelings with her on this subject anymore. The only thing she can get up with is another med, or another, or another…sigh.
She does not believe me when I say that my eating pattern hasn’t changed, neither she believes me when I say that I don’t loose weight even on a diet and regular exercise.
I feel so frustrated…

I’m just bloating rapidly, on the same medication I took for 12 years prior, that at that time just gave me weight gain of two or three kilo’s, which was fine by me. I’m puzzled.

Now that my weight is gaining, the whole sexual dysfunction starts to bother me even more. How on earth am I ever going to find a life partner when I don’t have a sexual appetite and on top of that, feel unattractive and insecure about my body.
I’ve noticed that I avoid invitations and contacts because of my weight gain and the way I feel about my body. I find it hard to allow myself to feel bad about it, without judging myself on the fact that I am feeling bad about such a superficial thing as appearance and sexuality.

Sorry for this is a rant, but it holds a question…how did you cope with the side effects?

 

[Antiquity]

My doc has put me on several anti-d's over the years, but I couldn't tolerate the side-effects of any of them. I ended up deciding that the benefits of not being on them far outweighed the side effects....for me, they just weren't worthed.

But not every person reacts the sam. Meds might adversely interact with the other meds that you are on, and sometimes it just a case of finding the right combination, until you finally find one that agrees with you!

I was studying at the time, and I just couldnt function. I also tried them two years ago, and I started on a very low dosage. Like before they had the usual effects. Level of consciousness decreased +++, I still couldn't sleep despite the fact I was also on a hypnotic. I was completely lethargic and my apetite increased +++ which then had the knock on effect on my weight and for me that was the complete breaking point. I decided myself that I was going to come off them, so I went to my GP and discussed it (basically told her that I was coming off them), and I came off them by gradually reducing the dosage!

But the odd thing was while it was on that very low dose, to the point of being a sub-therapeutic dosage, they completely numbed my feelings and the flashbacks. They did give me some weird insight into my thoughts and general perceptions though!. I realised that in some way, my flashbacks had become part of my identity.....weird as it sounds....it was like a sense of loss!

Maybe other people have similar feelings or reactions. Is it normal, whatever normal is in this world?

 

[AngelaMarie]

I cut out all meds except for one I still take for sleep. I still take that medication also because the side effect of going off is so bad. I have cut down to less than 50mg. on that one also. I hope someday to be free of all of it.

I know that some people benefit from medication. I didn't. I felt alot like you, Sterre. I had all the side affects you are talking about. Any Dr. I saw just pushed more medication at me. The side effects just got worse and worse. (We live in the same country, so I understand).

I guess you have to look at the good and bad and see what is best for you. Just make sure whatever you decide is healthy, and is best for you.

Wishing you the best. (((Hug)))

 

[Kb3]

Hi I have taken psychiatric drugs for about 11 years, in many different combinations and at high doses. The side effects, particularly weight gain, absolutely suck and are why I am working towards coming off of the last one I am on.

It is seroquel, which is an atypical antipsychotic and it is notorious for weight gain. This is what I do to counteract it. 1) take 3000mgs of metformin which offsets the appetite increase that Seroquel causes and 2) use a hypnosis tape to reprogram my attitudes toward food. I ate a lot of junk, especially between meals, and that did not allow me actually lose weight once I had stopped gaining, if you get my meaning. Since starting the hypnosis tape I have lost close to five lbs.

It is not a perfect system and I am still roughly 15lbs overweight, but the way I look at it is that I could still be gaining weight. I am putting my heart and soul into my therapy and am hoping that I can reach a point of equilibrium that will allow me to come off of the meds and still be able to sleep, and not plummet back into depression. I am going very slowly, respecting how powerful this drug is, and will look at any reduction as progress.

The one thing that I could recommend you doing if you haven't already, is have your thyroid function checked because antidepressants can interfere with it.

Good luck with this issue, I know exactly how frustrating and depressing(!) it is. I hope that you are able to find a good solution for you:).

 

[Heather]

My hair looks like crap - All stringy and dried out and have had to cut it shorter than I normally would. And it still looks like sh*t, plus it's getting thinned out.

The one anti-psychotic med. has made me gain 13 pounds and I am Sooooo not happy about that! Plus, I'm still having hallucinations:mad:.

I have dry mouth. So, I'm constantly thirsty and if I forget to bring a water bottle with me I'm really screwed.

So, how am I dealing with side effects of medications: 2 thumbs down and a PLLLLLEEEWWWW!!!!!!

End Rant.

 

[Kb3]

Hi Heather, sorry to read of the side effects you're having. I had dry mouth as a side effect for a long time and hard candy helped when I didn't feel like drinking anything. Maybe it might help a bit?

I have read that there is a vitamin supplement that can help with the hair thinning that certain anti epileptics cause (sorry if that's not what's causing yours).I think it's Centrum, but I'm not a 100% positive about that. I'm sure that a google search would find it.

Good luck, I hope that you can find something that helps you.