Can anyone say that one particular medicine really made a difference?

#1
Hello everyone.....I know everyone is different and we all have different diagnoses, but can anyone say that any one particular medication made a difference in keeping them alive? And please know that I realize that there is no ‘magic’ pill. Thand you,
 

Angie

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#2
For me, its a combination of several pills. A "cocktail" of sorts. A common "cocktail" will have a mood stabilizer, an anti depressant, and an anti psychotic. A benzo is sometimes added for short periods of time, but benzos are a two edged sword that aren't for long time use.

The thing about psych meds though is sometimes they stop working and you gotta find a different one. This doesnt happen to everyone, but it is pretty common.

How are you doing on your medication? It seems you started a new one or two?
 
#3
For me, its a combination of several pills. A "cocktail" of sorts. A common "cocktail" will have a mood stabilizer, an anti depressant, and an anti psychotic. A benzo is sometimes added for short periods of time, but benzos are a two edged sword that aren't for long time use.

The thing about psych meds though is sometimes they stop working and you gotta find a different one. This doesnt happen to everyone, but it is pretty common.

How are you doing on your medication? It seems you started a new one or two?
Thanks for the reply. I am not doing as well as I had hoped. I think my cocktail needs to be adjusted. I see my dr on the 23rd so we will see. I have absolutely no motivation though I force myself to get up and out. I still live by the saying of ‘I want to live but not like this’ so I guess you could say that I am really not much better unfortunately,
 

Angie

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#4
The medication battle can be a long, uphill one, don't give up.

It also seems to me you were going to start therapy, thats the place where I've made the most strides in change and doing better. Because as you mentioned above, the medications don't magically fix things.
 
#5
The medication battle can be a long, uphill one, don't give up.

It also seems to me you were going to start therapy, thats the place where I've made the most strides in change and doing better. Because as you mentioned above, the medications don't magically fix things.
Yes...I start therapy on the 16th. I know I need to tell her that most days I don’t want to be here....not sure how she will react though I did tell the dr numerous times. She once asked me if I owned a weapon. I told her that it was a good thing that I don’t as the temptation to use it may be great sometimes. It was then that she said we may need to add a mood stabilizer to my cocktail. Have not done that yet. Not even sure how mood stabilizers work ??????.
 

Auri

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#6
Yes. Me. Venlafaxine. Actually, they all made "a" difference, just not always the one I wished for.
I don't have suicidal thoughts the same way with this med and my mood is always good enough, nothing compared to without it, which could actually be called magical. ^^
 
#7
Yes. Me. Venlafaxine. Actually, they all made "a" difference, just not always the one I wished for.
I don't have suicidal thoughts the same way with this med and my mood is always good enough, nothing compared to without it, which could actually be called magical. ^^
That sounds great...good for you! If I could get rid of the self harm thoughts I would consider it magical also. Glad you have found what works!
 
#8
Hello everyone.....I know everyone is different and we all have different diagnoses, but can anyone say that any one particular medication made a difference in keeping them alive? And please know that I realize that there is no ‘magic’ pill. Thand you,
hi, its the same for me that a combination of medications work better than others. took a long time to sort it as I don't think my psychiatrist took me serious enough to start with. anyway the medicine that really helps is the one I get the most side effects from- quetiapine. keeps me hanging in there just-weight gain is horrendous, but its the lesser of two evils for me. couldn't do without it now. its only 400mg which I don't think is high? but I also take lamotrigine and fluoxetine. You will get there :)
 

Auri

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#9
That sounds great...good for you! If I could get rid of the self harm thoughts I would consider it magical also. Glad you have found what works!
I tried different ones before that, it took quite some time and effort. Also, at first it worked a little and the effect was not easy to notice. You actually notice some symptoms being affected but it's hard to say if it's the med or not. After increasing the dose up to where I am now, a few months later, you can easily compare the before and after and see how much things have changed.
Make a list of the symptoms you have. Every now and then, update your feeling about each of them. It's easier to notice the effects that way I think than in general.
 

Ixtab

Well-Known Member
#14
I can never tell if it’s working but I can tell side effects. A relative told me I was doing well on Invega but I’m afraid of needles and it costs $1600 a month without insurance $600 a month with my crappy insurance. So I only had it once. Other meds I was on gave me nightmares, weight gain, elevated blood sugar, and prozac made it impossible to ejaculate.

Cannabis works but I live in the drug war zone. Without rx meds not enough thc makes me depressed but too much 25% or higher makes me psychotic.

Hard to regulate potency buying black market. And I’m traumatized from a lifetime of police.

I got my first psych appointment in years with a dr I had before but it’s not until the end of June.
 

Tana

Well-Known Member
#15
Yes. Antidepressants helped me a ton, especially with social anxiety. I used to have a severe case, now it's light/med.
I would defiantly recommend medication for those who need it. Take note though, that exposure helped me too. Pills help, but they're a cane, you still need to relearn how to walk.
 

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