Psychotropic medication discussion thread

velvetsailor26 said:I mean, why would anyone even bother switching up their ADHD medication if the current stuff is actually doing its job?😵
Look, changing your meds is really only necessary when the ones you’re on stop working altogether.

Trust me, you wouldn't believe the types of people out there.😲
A friend of mine cycled through six different antidepressants for social anxiety, even though he felt an improvement from the very first dose. He turned every minor side effect—weight gain from one, weight loss from another, dry mouth from a third—into a massive ordeal, and his psychiatrist just kept accommodating every single request.
After four years, he’s still on various treatments and hasn't made any real progress.

Roger Rodriguez said:Trust me, you wouldn't believe the types of people out there.😲
A friend of mine cycled through six different antidepressants for social anxiety, even though he felt an improvement from the very first dose. He turned every minor side effect—weight gain from one, weight loss from another, dry mouth from a third—into a massive ordeal, and his psychiatrist just kept accommodating every single request.
After four years, he’s still on various treatments and hasn't made any real progress.

🙄😲

Honestly, people can be such absolute idiots.😲

I’ve gone through three different lives just trying to outrun them. Why? Because every single one of them felt like sinking a little deeper into the mud.

Roger Rodriguez said:Are you taking nothing else besides the Xanax?

Are you being serious?
I've been staring blankly at my screen for several minutes now, struggling to find the right words to say.🤣
Wait, did a psychiatrist actually diagnose you with that, or is it just your own conclusion?

there is no way she’s just on Lexapro, especially at such a tiny 0.25 mg dose, I just can't buy it🙂 maybe it's just a placebo effect, but I'm not going to waste my energy arguing about it.😁😁

Gary Thompson6 said:there is no way she’s just on Lexapro, especially at such a tiny 0.25 mg dose, I just can't buy it🙂 maybe it's just a placebo effect, but I'm not going to waste my energy arguing about it.😁😁

That sounds great, but please make sure you stop in time. Even with such a tiny dose, staying on it for more than a month might be pushing it.

Daniel Garcia8 said:Sorry, don't have time to read all this. Were you taking Elon Musk for depression or anxiety?
thanks

depression

Roger Rodriguez said:That sounds great, but please make sure you stop in time. Even with such a tiny dose, staying on it for more than a month might be pushing it.

Yeah, I get it. I have a checkup in a month, and they’ll probably cut me off since I'm feeling absolutely amazing right now—but honestly, I'm not going down that easy. I stay pretty active, hitting the gym and running every single day, even on those mornings when I really don't feel like moving.

fadedbear92 said:Have you dealt with something like that personally?🤷

Duh, that’s why I even brought it up! I’ve been trying for weeks to get my psychiatrist to listen—telling her that Alvin is basically nuking my brain functions—but nothing. Zero luck. I've been on these pills for three months now and man, the issues are unreal.

Right now, I’m just praying to God ☕ I'm sleeping anywhere from 17 to 24 hours a day! Plus, the dizzy spells and headaches... I feel like I’ve downed a whole liter of heavy red wine.

Usually, I don't act like meds are some kind of necessary evil, but this is different.

Oh boy, I slept for a whole three hours on Dormicum!
Do you think I actually need general anesthesia???!!!

My doctor added an antipsychotic to my antidepressant regimen to help manage anxiety... I’ve been taking Abilify 50mg twice a day... For two months, I felt incredible—all my anxiety symptoms had completely vanished. Then, three days ago, I decided to stop the Abilify on my own since I was planning on tapering off soon anyway... Now, it feels like the symptoms are creeping back, even though I’m still taking my Lexapro exactly as prescribed... I wouldn't say they're hitting me as hard as they did before I started medication, but I just feel... unstable. I felt something similar about a month ago when I cut out the Xanax from my routine... that went by much faster and easier—it only lasted two days. I can't tell if this feeling is because I lost that chemical safety net the medication provided, or if I simply need more time on it. I know that in low doses, certain antipsychotics can act as antidepressants, but I have no clue what those specific dosages look like, so if anyone could clarify that, I'd appreciate it... Honestly, now I'm starting to spiral and imagine the worst, even though none of the actual physical symptoms have returned yet. 😍

That’s hardly a brilliant move, taking matters into your own hands like that...

It’s far too early to be worrying about withdrawal crises; you won't really start feeling the effects for at least another 48 hours.

mistycrane19 said:That’s hardly a brilliant move, taking matters into your own hands like that...

It’s far too early to be worrying about withdrawal crises; you won't really start feeling the effects for at least another 48 hours.

I saw my doctor nearly three weeks ago and decided right then to cut out the Xanax... we have a follow-up scheduled for this week where we were planning to taper off the antipsychotic, so I took the initiative to stop early just to see how I'd fare—plus, I wanted to actually have something meaningful to discuss at the appointment 😍... I didn't think it would be an issue. Interestingly enough, that "crisis" hit right within that 48-hour window. Today is Wednesday, and my last dose was Saturday night. Sunday went by without any trouble, but by Monday, things started feeling unstable, and that sensation has persisted through yesterday and today. I'm not entirely sure why... though I have been doing more research on these antipsychotics lately, which means I'm thinking about them more often. Maybe that's part of it—but then again, when you aren't dealing with problems, you don't spend your time dwelling on them. 😕

When you're finally weaning yourself off a medication, the most critical part is doing it gradually rather than all at once.

Did you just go cold turkey and crash, or did you taper off bit by bit?

velvetsailor26 said:When you're finally weaning yourself off a medication, the most critical part is doing it gradually rather than all at once.

Did you just go cold turkey and crash, or did you taper off bit by bit?

I stopped taking it all at once...

And you're really wondering why??
I mean, that's what doctors are actually there for, isn't it?

velvetsailor26 said:And you're really wondering why??
I mean, that's what doctors are actually there for, isn't it?

About three weeks ago, I had a follow-up appointment, and that’s when we decided to cut out the xanax... our next move was to taper off the antipsychotics, with the check-in scheduled for sometime this week. Well, I went ahead and did it a few days early just to see how I’d handle it—didn't think it would be an issue. Turns out, I was dead wrong.

mistycrane19 said:That’s hardly a brilliant move, taking matters into your own hands like that...

It’s far too early to be worrying about withdrawal crises; you won't really start feeling the effects for at least another 48 hours.

Do you happen to know more about withdrawal crises? I had no idea they wouldn't hit until 48 hours after stopping. What’s actually the worst-case scenario during a crisis—assuming you don't relapse but keep pushing through the taper? Is it possible to lose your mind?
(I know how that sounds, but I'm genuinely curious...)
Also, is there a reason why some people deal with intense psychological symptoms while others mostly feel it physically? For instance, I didn't feel any anxiety at all and my mental state was fine, but the physical symptoms were absolutely brutal.

I had my follow-up appointment with the doctor today. It’s been exactly three weeks since I started this treatment regimen. My physician decided to taper me off the xanax entirely today—I’d been taking it both morning and night—but I still have about a week left on the Alventra, followed by another ten days of Rivotril once that's finished. I suppose I'm just hoping I can manage the transition without too much trouble; I'll be heading back for another check-up in ten days...

Roger Rodriguez, listen, you might be looking at a withdrawal situation here that feels just like some junkie coming off the hard stuff—we're talking puking, insomnia, nausea, night sweats, all that good stuff...

If we're talking about clinical depression, those symptoms should eventually just fade away on their own. With anxiolytics, though, things get way messier because you've got to deal with that benzodiazepine withdrawal—it’s honestly like some junkie's detox, and it all really boils down to your specific dosage and how long you've been on them. Personally, I'm tapering off slowly under my doctor's watch; I'm dropping the Helix first over the course of a week, while I'll probably keep the Effexor and Lustral going for another six months just as a preventative measure.

I've been taking Helix since the very start of my treatment, starting out at 4 mg a day, and now I'm down to just 0.25. I've been on it for five months now, but don't get it twisted—I didn't get hooked on it, it's actually the exact opposite. I'm planning to be completely done with it in seven days, but look, at the end of the day, most of this stuff is in your head. You can't just sit there like a zombie waiting for a little pill to perform some kind of miracle; that's just not how it works!