Psychotropic medication discussion thread

I'm sitting here reading through the instructions for Seroxat—which, from what I can tell, is prescribed all the time for panic disorder and anxiety—and holy crap, there are like three whole pages just dedicated to side effects. The one that jumps out at me most is this:

It's not entirely clear how Seroxat and
other drugs in the SSRI class actually work,

I mean, personally, I don't think these antidepressants are exactly harmless. For me, at least, the actual panic attacks are pretty rare, so I'm gonna try to power through this therapy. Since my previous treatment actually worked for me, I figured I’d write this down, maybe it helps someone else...

- Always keep something in your pocket for calming down, just in case God forbid a panic attack hits you while you're out

- Don't go down the rabbit hole reading too much stuff online or on forums..

- Keep your brain busy

Personally, I feel like way too many people dealing with early-stage anxiety end up getting hooked on medication because they start obsessively researching everything and overanalyzing it. I know I do it myself.😁

@Kevin Hayes83 - look, listen to a psychiatrist... don't try to play doctor here, seriously, just go get help as soon as you can..
Just head over to the psychiatric ward at UCLA in Los Angeles... please don't try to wing this on your own, just grab a referral from your doctor and get to LA pronto.. here's the number: 013787188, give them a ring and let them guide you through the process.. at least call them, have a real conversation.. make an appointment..

I was talking about relaxation techniques earlier. I actually practice some of these regularly, some just every now and then, and some? Yeah, those are a massive struggle for me. Honestly, once you try out a few different methods, it gets way easier to piece together a routine that actually works for your specific vibe.

First off, the most important thing is that your bedroom should be for sleeping—period. You really shouldn't have a TV in there (unless you’re living in a tiny studio apartment in NYC). You also need to keep the room tidy; having piles of random junk everywhere just messes with your head. It helps if the colors are neutral and not too loud. If you have art on the walls, make sure it’s stuff that actually feels relaxing. Stick to cotton sheets—solid colors are best. Cotton pajamas, too. It’s also super helpful to have blackout curtains so you can shut out the world before bed. And please, check if your mattress is ancient and uncomfortable. Vacuuming and dusting regularly makes a huge difference, too. A clean space just calms the mind.

It’s also a good idea to hit the sack and wake up at the same time every single day, even on weekends. Personally, I’ve noticed that on the weekends, I can handle staying up or sleeping in by maybe an hour max. I think that consistency is key so your body actually learns when it’s time to shut down.

Ideally, you’d ditch the TV and stop scrolling through the internet about two hours before bed. Also, don't leave all the lights blazing in your apartment like it’s high noon; light levels definitely impact how alert you feel. Those two hours should be filled with chill activities instead. For me, this is the hardest part because I’m such an internet addict... I never quite nail it. But since the weather is getting nicer, it would be great to go for a little evening stroll—nothing too intense, and somewhere away from heavy traffic. If you’re into reading, maybe after your walk, spend an hour sitting in bed with a reading lamp and a book that isn't too gripping—and please, a physical book, not a phone screen. Or listen to the radio—maybe a cool music program. If you speak English, there are some great podcasts you can download from the BBC website. Having a cup of herbal tea (caffeine-free!) or some warm milk is also pretty nice. Then, when it’s finally bedtime, kill the lights and try one of those relaxation techniques.

I'm writing down the relaxation technique tonight, mostly because I accidentally deleted what I wrote earlier 😵

@Niks thanks for the tip, but I’m not trying to play doctor here since my primary care physician already prescribed this stuff. If things start going south, I’ll probably just go see a private psychiatrist—there's a clinic near me in Columbus that's pretty easy to get to..

Just asking you personally, based on all the symptoms I might expect from seeing a shrink, would they just swap my meds for something else? Look, no lies here, I'm not actually scared of psychiatrists, but I have a gut feeling they're gonna try to pull some medical stunt on me and leave me stuck on these damn pills for the next few years, and I really want to avoid that..

So, over the last two years, I've had maybe 5 or 6 panic attacks. I actually managed to power through 2 or 3 of them without any meds—they just kind of passed on their own. Most of them happened when I was out in public, like at a church or in a shopping mall..

Anyway, I feel pretty stable right now. I'm not dealing with dark thoughts or anything, and I'm getting my daily stuff done just fine, so honestly, I don't even feel like seeing a therapist..

@First, I actually rearranged my bedroom. Got a new bed, a Tempur-Pedic mattress, a new pillow... I've been keeping my phone and the TV away from me before and during sleep, and I think I've actually felt some benefits from that..

Brandon Lopez6 said:The only difference I notice is that once I take it, the panic stops. I still feel fear, sure, but it never spirals out of control. I space my doses out by a few hours and I never really feel that "crash" you're talking about. Sometimes I even skip a dose and I don't feel any dip at all.
I end up taking it more often because I'm hooked, and honestly, the only thing that starts bothering me after a while are the withdrawal symptoms (after maybe 18 hours), but that's a whole other conversation. My body isn't asking for a higher dose; what I'm on right now is perfect. I was planning on getting off Helex, but with work being what it is, that would be way too much stress. Besides, I barely even take it at home—mostly just for work or while I'm actually at the office.

Seriously, I've never felt anything weird, not even at the start. No special buzz or anything, just—no panic. It doesn't numb me out, it doesn't make me sleepy (even back when some incompetent doctor had me on massive doses), and it doesn't kill my emotions... with this stuff, I guess I'm just the person I would've been if I didn't have panic attacks and phobias.

And
it doesn't mess with my appetite. Not one way or the other.

I definitely felt that crash because I only took one a day and skipped the second dose.
If you take it at regular intervals and stay consistent with the dosage and timing, everything stays smooth and fine—you won't get that drop, unless of course you start building up a tolerance. But since I don't need it constantly—I'm just mildly anxious without the full-blown panic attacks—that feeling after taking just one single pill is so miserable that I don't even bother taking that one. I just don't want to spend the next three days thinking about how much I'd love to take another one. I guess it depends on what you're dealing with. I have ADHD, and anxiety is just part of the package for me, so my brain is never quiet. Because of that, being on it feels like being on 🎉 I feel like I'm in paradise...
If I could take it all the time without developing a psychological dependency, I totally would. What scares me is that intense craving for more—because once the initial effect wears off, there's a chance I'll start bumping up the dose just to chase that same feeling. The first time I took it, it lasted four hours, and the very first thought I had after those four hours was, "Man, I want to keep feeling like this, I'd take more..." And then, when I don't take it, my body starts chasing that sweet spot again, probably trying to normalize the serotonin levels...
I know people who take it for years without any issues, staying on the exact same dose and schedule... and if someone can manage that, why shouldn't they? I think the deciding factor for me is the ADHD; my brain is just constantly hunting for dopamine...

Regarding Misar, man, it really does take the edge off. As far as addiction goes, I know a coworker who’s been on it for maybe 10 years now—just a tiny 0.25 dose once a day—and she hasn't had any real issues with it. She deals with blood pressure stuff, but honestly, I think it’s just her nerves driving her pressure up more than anything...

@silentmarlin76, look, nobody’s actually forcing your hand here... I mean, just start with a conversation first, and then you can figure out the rest of the details with your psychiatrist as you go... good luck with everything!

Seriously though, those meds can really mess with your blood pressure... a close friend of mine was dealing with this just four days ago where her BP finally leveled out from the medication, but then she just straight up passed out, thank god the paramedics got to her in time... so yeah, this isn't something you want to play around with.

silentmarlin76 said:@silentmarlin76, look, nobody’s actually forcing your hand here... I mean, just start with a conversation first, and then you can figure out the rest of the details with your psychiatrist as you go... good luck with everything!

Seriously though, those meds can really mess with your blood pressure... a close friend of mine was dealing with this just four days ago where her BP finally leveled out from the medication, but then she just straight up passed out, thank god the paramedics got to her in time... so yeah, this isn't something you want to play around with.

Fine, thanks..

Hey everyone, just wanted to say hi. I’m new to this group, and I figured I’d jump in and share my own journey with psych meds, different diagnoses, and everything else we deal with here...

It all kicked off a few years back when I started dealing with these intense night attacks—basically a cocktail of emetophobia and pure anxiety. I’m talking sweating, stomach issues, needing to run to the bathroom every thirty minutes, nausea, heart racing, insomnia, tremors... it usually hit me late at night, somewhere between 10 PM and 2 AM, mostly from August through the spring. Luckily, my mom had some Misar on hand, which helped me get through those early rough patches.
Eventually, I went to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with F45 and put me on Zoloft. That actually worked for a little while, but after a few months, things took a turn for the worse. The emetophobia came back even harder, along with nightmares, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, zero motivation, and I lost a ton of weight...

I ended up having to rush back to the doctor, and they gave me a new diagnosis, F29, and prescribed Quetiapine 25 mg, plus Misar 0.5 as needed.
After a couple of days on the new stuff, I started feeling better. Honestly, the Quetiapine was a total lifesaver. I’m still on it today, though I’ve moved up to 50 mg. These days, I feel full of life, happy, and actually motivated to do things... I still have that lingering sense of emetophobia, I guess, but I can handle it way better now. I eat normally, I sleep, and I can actually function like a regular person.
I just take the Misar every once in a while, maybe a few times a year if I start feeling particularly edgy or get a bad premonition or something...

swiftranger91 said:Hey everyone, just wanted to say hi. I’m new to this group, and I figured I’d jump in and share my own journey with psych meds, different diagnoses, and everything else we deal with here...

It all kicked off a few years back when I started dealing with these intense night attacks—basically a cocktail of emetophobia and pure anxiety. I’m talking sweating, stomach issues, needing to run to the bathroom every thirty minutes, nausea, heart racing, insomnia, tremors... it usually hit me late at night, somewhere between 10 PM and 2 AM, mostly from August through the spring. Luckily, my mom had some Misar on hand, which helped me get through those early rough patches.
Eventually, I went to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with F45 and put me on Zoloft. That actually worked for a little while, but after a few months, things took a turn for the worse. The emetophobia came back even harder, along with nightmares, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, zero motivation, and I lost a ton of weight...

I ended up having to rush back to the doctor, and they gave me a new diagnosis, F29, and prescribed Quetiapine 25 mg, plus Misar 0.5 as needed.
After a couple of days on the new stuff, I started feeling better. Honestly, the Quetiapine was a total lifesaver. I’m still on it today, though I’ve moved up to 50 mg. These days, I feel full of life, happy, and actually motivated to do things... I still have that lingering sense of emetophobia, I guess, but I can handle it way better now. I eat normally, I sleep, and I can actually function like a regular person.
I just take the Misar every once in a while, maybe a few times a year if I start feeling particularly edgy or get a bad premonition or something...

I truly appreciate you opening up about everything you’ve been going through... honestly, it’s such a relief to hear. And more than that, I am just so moved by how you’re finding a way to keep moving forward despite it all. How does one even find that kind of strength? It really is quite remarkable.
On one hand, you really struck gold when it comes to having a great doctor. Honestly, isn't that half the battle? Because you had such solid guidance from the start, you didn't have to waste time playing around with endless medication trials or those long, drawn-out therapy regimens that—let's be honest—seem pretty questionable for so many patients anyway. Why go through all that unnecessary trial and error if you don't have to?

To be perfectly honest, I have to say that Quetiapine 25 mg was also a total game-changer for me—that one magical, foundational ingredient really did the trick! Is it just me, or does it feel like finding that one specific piece of the puzzle? It truly helped.
Why? I honestly don't know. I mean, why does it even matter? I’m taking Quetiapine 25 mg myself, which is pretty much the exact same thing... isn't it?

Your diagnoses are just so incredibly rare, aren't they? It’s almost tragic! Doctors simply refuse to recognize them—they won't just check the box and give you an official F code. Instead, what do they do? They scribble down all this nonsense! And who suffers most from that lack of clarity? We do! It makes everything so much harder for us, doesn't it?
Is F45 not just a brilliant way to find a temporary escape from the fog of schizotypal disorders—which, let's be honest, are such a complex subgroup of schizophrenia? It feels like a distraction, doesn't it? But then again, once you sit down for those controlled clinical conversations and get a proper diagnostic insight, isn't it often revealed that we are actually dealing with F29 instead?
He is an absolutely stellar psychiatrist. Truly top-tier stuff. It would be quite wonderful, wouldn't it, if we actually knew his or her name?

I am truly heartened to hear that someone has actually found success with their treatment, especially given how incredibly difficult everything has been lately. Isn't it just a small mercy when things finally start to click? Truly, in times like these, such progress feels like nothing short of a miracle.🙂

Luckily, my psychiatrist caught on pretty quickly after I started the Zoloft and realized I needed a change. She switched me over to Kvelapin right away, and honestly, I started feeling a bit better after just a week.
I have to say, the Zoloft was making me feel absolutely terrible—just constant anxiety, restlessness, fear, zero sleep, heart palpitations, and I couldn't even eat... I basically had no choice but to stop taking it.

Hey, Kevin Nguyen3, if you don't mind me asking, what’s your diagnosis? And how much Quetiapine 25 mg are you on now? How is your body handling it, and how long have you been on it?

I can send you my doctor's name via DM, though I'd rather not post it publicly here.🙂

F32, F60... though I suppose those numbers shift as the years roll by.
The core issue... PTSD.

I take 200 mg of Quetiapine 25 mg at night.
And now, how does it actually work? Hmm.
I sleep well, even if I tend to wake up quite early—but I’ve grown used to that rhythm, so it doesn't really bother me.
I've been on it for about six years now.

These are heavy-duty medications for the body, aren't they? It isn't unusual to expect some side effects; the real question is just how many there will be, and to what extent they might interfere with one's ability to live a normal life.
I certainly have side effects, but nothing catastrophic.

Mind you, that is purely my own subjective experience, because I am also taking Effexor, Calixt, and Lamal on top of it. That is quite the cocktail of pills, isn't it? One can't truly say how such a combination will act, or even begin to guess.

Man, 200 mg is a pretty hefty dose, I guess....
The main thing is just feeling okay and being able to actually function.. everything else is secondary, I suppose..

Personally, I haven't had any side effects from Kvelapin. I handle it really well and usually get a solid 7 or 8 hours of sleep.

Guys, I need some help 😢

So, I was on 25 mg of Zoloft for three weeks, then bumped it up to 50 mg, which I've been doing for about 17 days now. Things were actually looking up for a bit—my appetite came back, those massive panic attacks finally chilled out, and even my OCD settled down a little. Then, out of nowhere yesterday morning, I got hit with such a brutal panic attack that I literally couldn't move. It was paralyzing. I barely made it through the day, and now it’s happening again tonight...

How is this even possible?! Is there any chance it's because I haven't had my Zoloft since I started taking Halel, which I only picked up three days ago?!

I feel like I'm poisoning myself and my kid, and the panic is just right back where it started...

@Kimberly Morris, seriously, you need to get that old formula back ASAP!! It drives me absolutely nuts when these big pharma types try to push their "new and improved" junk on us... there's definitely something in that ingredient list that just isn't sitting right. You should really tell your GP to just switch you back to the original stuff!!

Anyway, I'm honestly so relieved to hear it finally arrived... I told you it would! Ugh, well, fingers crossed for you, and please let me know how it goes 😘

So, things were actually looking up for a second—I finally had an appetite again and those massive panic attacks finally chilled out. I’m still anxious as hell and definitely not feeling 100%, but I thought I was finally seeing some progress. Then, boom. Right back to square one. I honestly have no clue what to do anymore...

Hey everyone, anyone here actually used Wellbutrin before? Does it make you super irritable or totally wreck your sleep schedule?

ironpuma13 I mean, I don't know, maybe this might actually be useful to you:
http://www.drugs.com/wellbutrin.html
And hey, if you don't mind me being a little too nosy, what's actually going on with you lately? Like, how are you really feeling?

Kimberly Morris, seriously, just get them to switch you back to your old prescription right away... there’s gotta be some ingredient in this new stuff that’s totally messing with you, I'm sure of it. Just give your doctor a call and tell her, "Look, I need my old meds back, this new one is giving me all sorts of side effects." She'll just type it into her computer and whip up a new order for you in no time. Just go for it, seriously.

ironpuma13 said:Hey everyone, anyone here actually used Wellbutrin before? Does it make you super irritable or totally wreck your sleep schedule?

I was on it for a little while, but honestly, I didn't feel any effect at all, no matter how you look at it.🤔

fadedbear92 said:I was on it for a little while, but honestly, I didn't feel any effect at all, no matter how you look at it.🤔

thanks Joe, reading your posts makes me wonder if you're secretly a psychiatrist or something... you pick up on every little detail. 😉