Changes when on pharmaceuticals

[turtledude23]

If you have ever used a psychiatric medication like an anti-depressant, anti-psychotic, or mood stabilizer have you noticed any changes in your personality or outlook on life?

Since I started taking antidepressants I've changed my outlook from "f*ck the system" to "the system is fine, leave it be", however, I don't know if this would have happened anyways even if I wasn't taking antidepressants.

[AnthroHeart]

I've noticed the psych meds have made me calmer, and taken away my delusions of grandeur. Before, I thought I was talking with God, when it wasn't really God. I'm also not nearly so defiant to others like my mother.

[Karl]

I put major positive changes but I was taking them to get high

[Spaced]

The only medication I've been prescribed is Adderall for my ADHD. All it did was make me antsy, gave me stomach pains, killed my appetite and my sexual drive and made it hard to sleep.

[AnthroHeart]

I put major positive changes but I was taking them to get high

I don't know how one can get high on psych meds. It makes one more docile. Unless you're referring to other types of meds. I'm taking Risperdal, and it helps to quench those voices in my head. Definitely not for getting high.

[turtledude23]

Gemini, were you diagnosed with schizophrenia? If so I'm interested to find out: does it have any positive spiritual/philosophical effects or is it entirely negative?

[Karl]

I probably need some anti-psychotics or something soon

[C-JEAN]

Hi, Spaced.

BEFORE taking medication for ADHD, have you tried to cut the sugar intakes ?

[[[ On a side note:
Also, everybody should notice how children become "overexcited"
after eating a chocolate bar !!! NO NEED for Ritalin here !! Just CUT the sugars !!!
I have seen it on my granddaughter !! A MAJOR difference in behavior !! ]]]

Blue skies.

[Ruth]

Hi, Spaced.

BEFORE taking medication for ADHD, have you tried to cut the sugar intakes ?

[[[ On a side note:
Also, everybody should notice how children become "overexcited"
after eating a chocolate bar !!! NO NEED for Ritalin here !! Just CUT the sugars !!!
I have seen it on my granddaughter !! A MAJOR difference in behavior !! ]]]

Blue skies.

I went through this with my son. We tried Ritalin (this was in the late 70s early 80s) and neither of us liked it. We were fairly successful with diet changes that included reduced/eliminated sugar intake, avoiding foods with dyes (especially red dyes), and adding a good vitamin/protein product.

We also learned that minimal intake of caffiene actually improved his ability to control himself, so we added weak tea and green tea drinks to his routine.

[turtledude23]

I probably need some anti-psychotics or something soon

You should ask for a referral to a psychiatrist from your family doctor soon, psychiatrists have long wait lists, or at least where I live. There's a short cut though, you can go to the emergency room of your local mental health hospital.

I'm on an anti-psychotic for my depression and it's made me calmer, I haven't noticed any negative side effects, but it's at a lower dose than would be prescribed to someone who's diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Hi, Spaced.

BEFORE taking medication for ADHD, have you tried to cut the sugar intakes ?

[[[ On a side note:
Also, everybody should notice how children become "overexcited"
after eating a chocolate bar !!! NO NEED for Ritalin here !! Just CUT the sugars !!!
I have seen it on my granddaughter !! A MAJOR difference in behavior !! ]]]

Blue skies.

I have ADHD and I eat very little sugar, some days I eat no sugar. There's no scientific evidence to support the theory that sugar causes ADHD. Where as taking a stimulant like Ritalin, Dexedrine or Adderall makes a big difference in the majority of people with ADHD, with few negative side effects.

I went through this with my son. We tried Ritalin (this was in the late 70s early 80s) and neither of us liked it. We were fairly successful with diet changes that included reduced/eliminated sugar intake, avoiding foods with dyes (especially red dyes), and adding a good vitamin/protein product.

We also learned that minimal intake of caffiene actually improved his ability to control himself, so we added weak tea and green tea drinks to his routine.

There's an alternative to Ritalin called Dexedrine (Adderall is 75% Dexedrine) your son could have tried. They're both stimulants like caffeine, just stronger.

[AnthroHeart]

I don't believe I have ADHD, but I eat sugar. I drink it with my tea.
Good to hear that those meds cause few negative side effects.

[turtledude23]

I don't believe I have ADHD, but I eat sugar. I drink it with my tea.
Good to hear that those meds cause few negative side effects.

Side effects are different for everyone but in general stimulants are fairly safe because they're like caffeine. Something to keep in mind is the placebo effect: alot of people get better or worse just because they believe a drug will do something.

[AnthroHeart]

I know the placebo effect didn't work for me when I tried Omega 3 and Vitamin B for my schizophrenia. I still was having episodes. Though I believed it would work in lieu of my psych meds.

[turtledude23]

I know the placebo effect didn't work for me when I tried Omega 3 and Vitamin B for my schizophrenia. I still was having episodes. Though I believed it would work in lieu of my psych meds.

Unfortunately schizophrenia seems to be the only mental disorder which requires pharmaceutical treatment first before any other treatment can be effective.

I uploaded a book you might be interested in, it's a textbook for psychiatry students but it's written in a way normal people can understand. It takes a critical but fair view of pharmaceuticals while still explaining their function and need well. Here's the link: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?eazwrraybwkngxx

[Spaced]

I got diagnosed with ADHD when I was in my early 20s. My mom wanted to figure out why I had failed out of school twice despite being "the smartest person [she] has ever known" (you know how moms are) so she enrolled me in a study being done by McGill University to test previously undiagnosed adults for ADHD.

After around 4 hours of testing the verdict was in: I had the "Inattentive" sub-type of ADHD. In addition it was found that I scored through the roof on reading comprehension but that I had the math skills of a 5 year old. It was at that point that I was prescribed Adderall, but I only took it for maybe 4-6 months for the reasons stated above.

I participated in another study by McGill University a couple years later which was set up to test the hypothesis that ADHD was the result of an underactive dopamine system in the brain. The hypothesis was that people with ADHD aren't producing as much dopamine so they need constant stimulation to get the baseline amounts most others enjoy. For this study they took a PET scan and 2 MRIs of my brain. One MRI was of my brain in it's natural state, the other was of my brain hopped up on dextroamphetamines.

I'd like to see what the results were of that one.

These days I don't take any medication and I find that I am perfectly able to lead a normal life as long as I get plenty of free time and an open schedule. Also I have noticed that my focus has improved incredibly since I stopped eating so much junk food.

[turtledude23]

These days I don't take any medication and I find that I am perfectly able to lead a normal life as long as I get plenty of free time and an open schedule. Also I have noticed that my focus has improved incredibly since I stopped eating so much junk food.

Half of people who had ADHD as a child don't have it anymore as an adult so it seems sometimes it just goes away on it's own. I also noticed that eating junk food makes me more lethargic and less focused but that happens to everyone and doesn't cause ADHD.

[AnthroHeart]

As a kid I was afraid of getting schizophrenia, and now I have it. Oh the irony.

[turtledude23]

As a kid I was afraid of getting schizophrenia, and now I have it. Oh the irony.

I was afraid of getting it too, luckily I don't have it.

[AnthroHeart]

Yeah, it's an expensive disorder. Spent several thousand to mental hospitals, plus cost of therapist, and psychiatrist and the meds. Even though I have insurance, I haven't yet met my deductible.

[turtledude23]

Yeah, it's an expensive disorder. Spent several thousand to mental hospitals, plus cost of therapist, and psychiatrist and the meds. Even though I have insurance, I haven't yet met my deductible.

Move to Canada!

[Spaced]

Yeah, it's an expensive disorder. Spent several thousand to mental hospitals, plus cost of therapist, and psychiatrist and the meds. Even though I have insurance, I haven't yet met my deductible.

Move to Canada!

Prescription meds are still expensive here

[Jeremy]

I took Wellbutrin quite a few years ago when I was in a deep funk. It did absolutely nothing so I switched to Paxil which did nothing also. It wasn't until I took it upon myself to kick myself in the ass, walk through the proverbial door and get on with my life

I decided to quit them cold turkey which was a big mistake. I had kinds of electrical shocks in my head and sudden vertigo but I managed through it. I swore from then on to never take another medication like that again.

[Spaced]

I took Wellbutrin quite a few years ago when I was in a deep funk. It did absolutely nothing so I switched to Paxil which did nothing also. It wasn't until I took it upon myself to kick myself in the ass, walk through the proverbial door and get on with my life

I decided to quit them cold turkey which was a big mistake. I had kinds of electrical shocks in my head and sudden vertigo but I managed through it. I swore from then on to never take another medication like that again.

I had a friend who took Wellbutrin and she said it gave her weird electrical shock sensations in her head too.

[turtledude23]

I took Wellbutrin quite a few years ago when I was in a deep funk. It did absolutely nothing so I switched to Paxil which did nothing also. It wasn't until I took it upon myself to kick myself in the ass, walk through the proverbial door and get on with my life

I decided to quit them cold turkey which was a big mistake. I had kinds of electrical shocks in my head and sudden vertigo but I managed through it. I swore from then on to never take another medication like that again.

You should have slowly weaned off it. I'm weaning off Cipralex right now, I'm also on Wellbutrin and I don't know if it's doing anything but I did read a theory that being on Wellbutrin (an NDRI) or a stimulant while weaning off an SSRI will reduce the withdrawal symptoms.

[spero]

Curiously i decided i would stop taking cipralex about two weeks ago now. I go through phases and sometimes it just feels right to give the antidepressants a break and see if my outlook on the world is fine without them. I've noticed a spike in paranoia and anxiety and crazy vivid dreams. Its good to tell people who you might interact with frequently that your going off the meds for a while as i notice personality changes in myself and so do the people around me, usually related to paranoia or fear. A proviso to this is that i generally just discontinue rather than wean off which probably makes all the difference in the intensity of the withdrawal symptoms. i just prefer to be hit with strong withdrawal symptoms which i can attribute directly to withdrawal, versus subtle symptoms that i have to debate over in my mind. When ever i go back on the meds after a period of abstinence i notice an ease up of anxiety and an initial few days of nausea. Sometimes get strong feelings of love and a sense of rightness to the world that can build up and last for weeks. In those times i compare it to being on mdma, which is perhaps not surprising given the mechanism of action of antidepressants. Its tough to predict what the effect of antidepressants will be. Some people get no instant mood altering effect and for them the antidepressant and anxiety relieving effects require long term use to kick in. For me i happen to notice a lot of immediate benefits which fade over 6 months at which point i usually decide to discontinue for a bit. Maybe my brain is wired opposite lol.

[Zachary]

I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar when I was 14 (now almost 21). They told me it runs in the family (my dad is labeled skitzophrenic and bi-polar and demonstrates pretty 'psychotic' behavior) They put me on Depakote first mixed with a few others I don't remember the names of... I finally settled with Seroquel as it seemed to be most effective at the time as it brought about the most noticeable changes.

In my experience, it made the world feel more dreamlike, more cloudy, I felt less passionate and more passive. The most obvious effect it had on me was it knocked me out like a light. I took my dose before bed (had to) and within 30 mins to an hour I would be fast asleep...I felt like it was impossible to resist, it just takes over you so strongly. I did notice positive changes in my mood behavior, yet I feel like it just kind of numbed my emotions to a degree.

The next day up awakening the tiredness stays, I found on this medication I could sleep in for as long as I wanted without feeling that urge you get when you know its a good time to wake up. The tiredness would taper slowly throughout the day but its like it never fully goes away.

After discovering all this material that helped wake me up to what I like to call 'the bigger picture' I decided I wanted to get off of the medication as I had found my 'rock'. So I ever so slowly eased myself off the Seroquel as it is highly addictive and when missing a dose one experiences physical withdrawal symptoms one of many being insomnia. It took around 2 1/2 months to ease off of a dose of, I believe it was, 600mg which is a lot.

I found that the not so desirable effects of this 'medicine' became more noticeable once off of it. I was way less drowsy, more clearheaded and passionate about life. The rest is history.

First off I would like to say based off of MY EXPERIENCE and understanding of this medication I feel that it is not necessary and there are other, more effect ways to help TREAT (not suppress) depression and 'bi-polar'.

I will say, though, if you plan to stop taking you medication don't do it suddenly. Gradually reduce the dose over a good period of time, don't rush..trust me, it makes all the difference.