Anyone feel better off medication?

[Kobayashi]

I'm just curious if anyone thinks that medication can hold you back from recovery? I'm in the middle of another med change and I feel awful. I'm going from Luvox to Zoloft. My GP has me on a merry go round because nothing seems to work, and I can't get in to see a real psychiatrist (8 month waiting lists...not taking new patients etc).

I'm tired of all these meds and to be honest don't think they are helping to any great degree. The only one that provided some relief was cipralex and that lasted only 6 months.

Part of my OCD is that I obsess about meds...researching them to death on the internet etc. I know more about psycho pharmacology than my GP - thats for sure.

Anyway - Just curious to know if anyone has felt better without ssris etc in their system. I need a MEDICATION VACATION!!

 

[forgetmenot]

I understand what your feeling i too have tried meds and had them fail then found one that worked only to be allergic to it
No i do not feel better off the medication but i really don't want to fight the side effects of a new medication as they do make me ill to
I think a medication vacation is good in that you system gets cleared of all the other meds and also it brings one to the reality that yes medication is needed because eventually one just does not cope without them.
Hope i made sense take care

 

[Retired]

I need a MEDICATION VACATION!!

Your doctor will confirm there is no recognized scientific research to support the proposition that a medication vacation in the treatment of psychiatric disorders improves outcome.

On the contrary, removal of some medications at an inappropriate time might, in fact result in a relapse and/or worsening of symptoms.

The medications you listed, which are in the class of meds known as SSRI's (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors) are thought to act on very specific neurotransmitters, namely serotonin, and with time reset brain chemistry to levels that might relieve symptoms and perhaps with time largely eliminate symptoms, depending on the disorder and the history of the person being treated.

The interesting fact about modern SSRI's is there is no "one size fits all" dosage or compound, so the selection of the compound and dosage combination needs to be tailored for each and every individual.

My GP has me on a merry go round because nothing seems to work

It may seem that way, but in fact your doctor is likely following a protocol established by his/her own clinical experience or a protocol found to be effective in consultation with his/her peers and consultants.

Doctors rarely work in a vacuum, but rather regularly meet with their colleagues and specialist consultants in continuing learning rounds where they share their clinical knowledge and talk about therapies that work best for their patients.

It is out of these discussions and from clinical research with SSRI's we know the process of finding the compound and dose combination just right for you requires patience and compliance on your part while your doctor prescribes a given medication, monitors its effectiveness and the way you tolerate it, the modifies either the dose or changes the compound to fine tune the desired response.

The goal is to find the medication that relieves your symptoms with minimal side effects; but to achieve that goal, in this type of treatment may take months and sometimes years.

Sometimes a compound that was ineffective at one point, when tried another time later, surprisingly is effective.

Your treatment protocol is not at all unusual, and is the state of the art at this time given the medications we have available.

For most people the perseverance pays off with symptom relief where there are more good days than bad days...and yes, in many people there comes a day, sometimes many years after treatment, your doctors may try withdrawing the medications to see if your brain neurochemistry has been reset.

If you find your symptoms do not return at that time, there is a good chance you can live a reasonable length of time without a relapse requiring medication again. It should be noted there is a portion of the population whose symptoms may relapse and would require return to medication, but that has to be dealt with pretty far down the line.

The bottom line, Kobayashi, is to persist with the treatments being prescribed by your doctor, comply with the instructions and be patient. The symptoms are probably treatable, but may take a bit of time to find the "just right" combination of compound and dose for your particular brain and body chemistry.