41 posts shown.
Timothy Kim60 said:...
fadedbear92 said:Have you had a chance to chat with our guy Diego yet?
fadedbear92 said:What's your actual diagnosis?
Generally, most medications hit pretty quickly, except for antidepressants—those usually take a couple of weeks to start working, and if you don't feel anything by then, you switch to something else. It's just a shame that not all therapists follow that protocol.
fadedbear92 said:See, if you find a shrink who actually brings some real experience to the table and genuinely gives a damn about their patient, they'll keep grinding until they find the right combination for you. Have you stuck with the same doctor this whole time, or have you been switching them up? And how are things going with psychotherapy?
fadedbear92 said:Based on what you just shared, it sounds like your treatment hasn't quite hit the mark yet.🤔
fadedbear92 said:Exactly—looking back at everything, I remember my first panic attack happened during high school, but honestly, the anxiety and depression were already creeping in way before that...
bluetinker11 said:I don't think so.
I've definitely been through those phases—blaming myself for everything—thinking if I’d just acted differently or started sooner, things would be different. When you're on meds that just don't fit, you end up feeling exactly like this. I was a total zombie—taking 12 mg of Risperdal a day on my 45kg frame, mixed with 5mg Xanax, Aketon, and Seroxat—just completely numb. No emotions, no nothing. Just empty inside and a zombie on the outside.
And let me tell you, I was stuck in a whole different kind of hell until the right therapy finally clicked.
Now, I can actually feel the full spectrum of emotions again, though it hasn't been that way for a long time. When it first started coming back, it was... weird. Like, "Wait, I actually have feelings, interests, and desires—I'm not dead inside" 😲🤣.
Jeffrey Ramos4 said:That’s exactly what I told myself when I.... except my doctor didn't give me any "magic" solutions... and they weren't psych meds either. Coming back, though, my doctor basically said you have to, you don't have a choice. So here I am, on all sorts of psych meds, just picking through them. And a recovery? Maybe from psych meds, since I'm not taking Benzodiazepines or antipsychotics. It's been written down for years, Lorraine as needed. I've never actually used it. I hope there won't be a need. I might start using Lorazepam for my amphetamine cravings. I just lack energy 🤣 I'm being so silly, I should have spent all these years, every single month, putting money aside in a box to sell when things got tight with cash 🤣 Benzodiazepines are awful. You get hooked fast and easy. But I'll never forget those moments of bliss when they gave them to me to counteract the side effects of another drug. I’d just lie on my back, arms spread wide, grinning from ear to ear, staring at the ceiling, hearing nothing around me, just feeling so calm and realizing I didn't care about a single thing.
But seriously, the takeaway: don't mess around with medication 🙂
Which antiepileptic are you on and what's the dosage? Does your doctor switch it out and how often?
How are your highs and lows going, and how frequent are they? Have you noticed any specific triggers?
holy crap 😲
Harold Anderson3 said:I’m currently taking 20 mg of Seroquel and 10 mg of Zyprexa every day. Back when I was dealing with intense psychosis, that amount felt necessary just to stay afloat, but looking at it now, it feels like quite a lot... though maybe I’ll eventually be prescribed an antidepressant to help bring back a little bit of my spark...
Harold Anderson3 said:Well, you aren't obligated to, though I suppose you could certainly hurt your own interests if you don't. The only exception would be if you were hospitalized—in that case, you'd have no choice at all. 😁
Harold Anderson3 said:If you genuinely need the medication, there’s absolutely no reason to feel guilty about taking it—you just do what you have to do to feel better. On the flip side, if it isn't actually necessary, there's no guilt there either, since it's not some kind of addictive drug that leaves you hooked or unable to stop.
Maria Price3 said:A total void, just like you said. My best friend told me I was much more myself before I started the meds; she knows me better than anyone, so I trust her.
Every psychiatrist tells me—as if that’s supposed to be comforting—"once you stop taking them...", but it's never that simple because the medications just keep being swapped out and piling up.
They lift me up a little, then pull me down a little, and when they finally "stabilize" me (which is supposedly the whole point)—I'm just a walking bore, a flat line, a total void...
I'd love to just toss the whole lot in the trash, but I'm terrified because I know I don't have the strength left to fight whatever it was I was battling before I started messing with my chemistry; the drugs have essentially drained all my willpower and energy.
And then comes the "try a different medication" advice—great advice, really, except it's obvious I'll just be cycling through them for the rest of my life.
If someone could just tell me, or show me, or explain—how am I even supposed to feel?
ironrider11 said:If your "logic and feelings" have pushed you into a corner where you actually need antipsychotics just to function...
Then maybe being totally numb isn't such a bad thing... might even be the whole point of the therapy... right?
mistydrifter55 said:Then just switch up your meds.