To Medicate or not to medicate...

[Rose White]

None of the SSRI's helped my depression, probably because it's in the context of cptsd, rather than straight mood disorder.

SSRI’s never worked for me either. I was prescribed various ones when they thought my main diagnoses were OCD and depression. And the compulsions got worse with CBT, maybe for the same reason because at the time the csa was still hidden from my conscious mind. I thought my brain was treatment resistant. I still carry that thought distortion, but probably from the abuse more than the treatments. Anyway… this was helpful for my own self-reflection.

 

[Friday]

Medication can be an awesome tool… or it can be like trying to use a jackhammer to craft fine furniture, or an eyeglasses screwdriver to build a road.

I cannot take most psychotropic medication as I’m in the rough 20% of people that they either don’t work on, or have wildly different reactions than most people experience. To oversimplify a smidge? Stimulants are calming, antidepressants make me suicidal, antipsychotics bring on psychosis, mood stabilizers destabilize me, (And THAT is how you know I’m ADHD instead of bipolar!)

Now… some things DO work, even better than advertised. Benzos for example.

My rule of thumb is that I’m not willing to take anything that has to build up in my system to work, nor sloooooowly wear off. I can manage 8 hours of madness. 3 months? Pfft. Pass.

 

[Freddyt]

My rule of thumb is that I’m not willing to take anything that has to build up in my system to work, nor sloooooowly wear off. I can manage 8 hours of madness. 3 months? Pfft. Pass.

Yeah. Got a little cantankerous with my GP this week over that. I survived 45 years without drugs and without anybody noticing I had PTSD. I have lived with the no sleep, no eat, nightmares, and all the other crap for 45 years and I'm not depressed or suicidal or anything else bad. She was a little pissed at my attitude to sleep and I flat told her it is what it is. Sometimes good, sometimes bad and covering it up with medication is a no go.

Most of those long term meds just cover up a problem, they don't fix it. When you are covering up a problem? Sooner or later it comes back - usually worse because it hasn't been fixed, just left to fester. I see it here in this part of the forum all the time - from med to med to med, oh I was so good for a couple years and now I'm a mess again, what pill fixes this or that. TAKING MEDS SUPPRESSES SYMPTOMS -IT DOESN'T FIX THE PROBLEM.

So live with it when you can, take what you need to get through the tough spots and fix the fricking problems so you don't need to cover up the symptoms with meds.