#psychiatric meds are weird!

[chumpovodir]

oouugghh. just popping to say im not dead and things are fine, considering how uh. cryptic. that last post was. and how long its been

in fact, things are better now because i finally got psychiatric help by way of meds, so the urge to scroll and reblog impulsively was basically instakilled lmao

[kkoct-ik]

secondhand trauma is so fucked up because you have these horrible doom feelings and you dont even know why. youve been told the world is scary and you believed it and it was never something you made your own mind up about. its just part of life. and how do you argue with parts of life

[starblaster]

and why do people keep assuming that abolishing the psychiatric system would somehow take away their access to medications they take voluntarily?!

even in the highly unlikely event that psychiatry were completely abolished overnight, primary care physicians, family medicine practitioners, and doctors of internal medicine would keep you on the medications and dosages that work for you. if you were in the middle of adjusting your dosage or switching between medications, that same non-psychiatrist doctor would still help you figure it out. reputable doctors and surgeons continue researching and learning about treatment techniques to help their patients.

[transsexual-dandelions]

People who specifically identify Ian’s bipolar meds in fics I’m obsessed with you

[hauntedotherworld]

drugs are completley natural. they should of never been banned. the government just wants to keep us down,they don’t care about our suffering they like it,, they hide so much and im sick of it….

[p1xiemeat]

I'm coming to you with this question because you were a heroin addict so you know what its like to feel REAL withdrawal from hard drugs. I keep seeing posts from this girl who is withdrawing from 60mg of cymbalta that she apparently has been taking for 4 years. On twitter & every other social she has she's acting like she's suffering through extreme withdrawal. I just want to know if this is an exaggeration especially when she took such a low dose. She's been bitching for weeks and I'm skeptical

Okay so the thing with a dose like 60 mg being taken for even a few months, your body will eventually start to gain a tolerance to it. Thats why when doctors start you on a psych med they typically start at a dose that is barely even noticeable like 5mg and they increase it every couple weeks or so.

So if you've been taking 60mg for 4 YEARS your tolerance is so high its basically like taking nothing. Seriously. I've taken cymbalta myself for depression as a teenager and it didn't really do anything for me. As for side affects, I only really remember feeling more irritable and i had nightmares for a few days. But i didn't feel anything that truly bothered me. Everyone is different, but my dose was 120mg and I was on it for about a year.

If you experience any withdrawal from cymbalta the longest it last could be a month or maybe longer. and it would only last that long if you were on a high dose. 60 mg is not a strong enough dose for you to be feeling withdrawal symptoms for more than 2 weeks. and thats REALLY stretching it. i think with a dose that low you might feel weird for about a week or maybe a week and a half. but any time after 14 days your side affects would either be gone or less noticeable. if this person is still complaining like they are in agony then in my opinion they are definitely exaggerating.

also, a drug like cymbalta is not a controlled substance. you cannot get high from it. and not every person who takes it experiences withdrawal symptoms. i was on it for a year and i stopped taking it 1 day abruptly and it didn't make much of a difference other than the irritation and nightmares.

if i had to compare getting off cymbalta to severe withdrawal like heroin or suboxone, i'd say there is absolutely NO comparison. withdrawal from drugs like that is absolute hell to suffer through.

most psych meds, unless they are benzo's (like xanax, etc) or painkillers, don't really have any serious withdrawal symptoms. especially if your dose is 60mg or less.

if this person is still complaining in another week from now i would strongly believe they are full of shit if they aren't full of shit already.

i'm not a doctor, but i've had personal experiences with this substance and other substances that produce severe withdrawal, and i know a lot about psychiatric medication from being a healthcare worker and from being an addict.

every person is different, but severe withdrawal at a low dose of cymbalta that your body has become tolerant to for 2+ years, after stopping the medication for 2 weeks is EXTREMELY unlikely, even if you stop it abruptly.

[schizosupport]

hi glitch! no pressure about answering, but I don't have any other schizospec people I can talk to, and I need some support

recently I got diagnosed with Other Specified Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder/Psychotic Disorder, and I'm starting weekly therapy to get a specific diagnosis and treatment, and I have an evaluation with a psychiatrist to look at meds next week.

the thing is, I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. I've gone through my whole life up to this point trusting my sense of reality, and only had a brief period of time when I self diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder (never confirmed).

AND I've started to look into medication, and the one i'll probably be prescribed is Ablify, which seems to have a ton of scary side effects. I'm still in school, and while I'm almost certain I can get accommodations, I can't be sure, and adolescents can be cruel.

truth be told, I'm just scared. I see posts about the opportunities taken away from schizospec people, and I haven't been living under a rock, I know all the stigma that surrounds what I know now to be my community.

like I said, no pressure to answer, I just want some advice and support from a more experienced member of the community.

Hello there!

It's been a while since you sent this message. I hope you are feeling at least a bit more settled in the situation?

It's always wild to get a diagnosis that you didn't necessarily expect. For me, my initial "psychosis not otherwise specified" diagnosis also completely blindsided me, and so did the later schizophrenia diagnosis.

It's true that there's a lot of stigma and bullshit surrounding the schizo spec disorders, but I also want to highlight that schizo spec people are awesome, and we're strong and we got each other's backs. In my experience the psychotics and schizos are the underdogs of not only the psychiatric community but also the mental health community. But that also means that you get a unique opportunity to learn who's a true ally, and to practice your own understanding and acceptance of other marginalized experiences on the edges of life. In my experience our community is one of the most compassionate and accepting communities around, probably bc we know intimately what it's like to have weird experiences and be judged for it. Try to navigate towards a place in your head where you align yourself with other marginalized people and don't get caught up in bitterness about a uniquely fucked situation, but instead take it as a sign to be kind above all else and to think about who else in society might be in a similar position, to find your allies and take comfort in unity.

In terms of the stigma, I think something to keep in mind as a newly diagnosed person, is that to the extent that it's possible, you are the owner of the information about your mental health. And you don't owe anyone disclosure. I'm not saying to necessarily always try to be vague, there ARE safe places and safe people and there ARE situations where you might genuinely broaden someone's horizons by introducing them to the notion that "we are here. We're one of you". But there are also plenty of situations where you don't wanna share that information. You can let them assume, you can omit, you can even lie.

People frequently assume that I'm autistic, and I don't correct them. Maybe I'll respond with "something like that" if they ask. Especially in professional settings. Unless you want someone to know, it's none of their business what exactly is your deal.

In terms of medication, the important thing to keep in mind is that it helps some people, but it is also not (shouldn't be) mandatory to take meds because you're schizo spec. You can give it a try, but if it isn't doing anything helpful for you, you are not obligated to take it. The psych might act like you have to and like it would be completely irresponsible not to. Try to take it with a grain of salt. Think about your life so far, the symptoms that have led to this diagnosis. Can you live with that? Do the meds help with that? Are there side effects and are thet worth it?

I take a low dose of antipsychotics myself and I've tried without and with higher doses too. For me at this point in life, a low dose of antipsychotics are helpful to me.

I'm happy to hear that you've been offered therapy!! I hope that it's any good, and that it's been helpful. I definitely think that therapy (with a good therapist) can be instrumental in dealing with psychotic symptoms.

In the end I just wanna say.. it's gonna be ok. I know it's a big scary new thing, but it is also actually "just" a word that's descriptive of symptoms that you already had. This doesn't mean that you are bound to get worse. Try not to panic about looking for new symptoms or symptoms you might've missed. This can make you worse, as you start questioning all of your experiences and whether they are psychotic. It can be little things like questioning every little sensory input. Try to remember that hallucinations aren't inherently harmful and sometimes you don't have to know if it's real or not bc it literally doesn't matter.

It can often be tumultuous when you've just gotten this diagnosis, before you get used to the thought and reestablish your sense of identity and reality with this in mind. But there is a point of peace coming up. It does normally get easier, as you settle into this new understanding. And you can help yourself along by reminding yourself that the only thing that changed is that you were given a word to describe your existing experience.

I hope any of this is helpful. Best of luck, anon,, and welcome to (knowingly being a member of) the community!

[neuroticboyfriend]

What are some little things that are slightly cool about a disability you have?

Hm.. I don't know if you'd call it cool (I would), but my experience with schizophrenia has given me a perspective on reality that sane people don't often have. TW for unreality? I think I've made a post about it a long time ago, but there isn't one singular reality that we all experience. Yeah, there's the collective existence of everything, but as human beings, we can only experience well.. what we experience. We're not omniscient.

This is to say, everyone has their own reality, and the closest thing we get to Reality (singular) is interacting with each other and the world around us. We share our thoughts, feelings, memories. We experience life at the same time, in the same place, and form similar yet different views on the existence of all of that. So, no one is ever really out of touch with reality... everything someone does, says, believes, makes sense within the context of their life - what they've been through, what they've been taught, what they feel and think.

The problem comes when we use our lives - our realities - to harm others. To remove their agency, invalidate their existence. That's something a lot of psychotic people go through. Even when our beliefs and experiences harm no one - not even ourselves - we're forced to change. And when we do experience disorder, we're not given an option to really cope and experience fulfillment as a psychotic person. We're just made to be sane.

I kind of miss being psychotic. It was harmless, when I was younger. Believing I was a deity or cat person or whatever, it made life more colorful. More interesting. The most distressing thing I dealt with was thinking there were microscopic cameras in my walls... and I feel like that could have been coped with. Unfortunately, once my psychosis became severe and life threatening (due to the trauma of antiplurality and psychiatric abuse) the safest option was to just get me on meds to make me sane.

So yeah. Reality is weird and I think psychotics are cool. Also fuck sanists and psychiatry.

[violetsandshrikes]

Are you anti-supplements as a whole?

That would be pretty hypocritical of me considering i do take a few that have been medically recommended lmao!

However anything I take is always either 1) recommended by a doctor or 2) run by a doctor (and if I ask, it’s because I read it in a peer-reviewed paper and not on a social media post) because bodies are ultimately weird as hell and the balance between helping and harming is razor thin

(Also, I am on supplements due to on-going health issues combined with childhood malnutrition complications!!! Consider your past, future and current circumstances as factors heavily)

Basically, if you really want to supplement, my key advice would be:

• talk to your doctor (if you take psychiatric meds, run past your psychiatrist, if you’re on hormones, check with your endo, etc etc)

• keeps little records (i keep either written or notes on my phone of what i take daily + anything i have noticed in my body whether that be nausea, breakouts, or positive things like high energy etc - this is good advice in general if you have heath issues)

• know about what you take (google scholar is your friend if you can’t find any other reputable scientifically sound sources)

• not mandatory, but knowing a little about common misinfo and scams around the health & wellness industry would probably help more people with being suckered into buying things + health anxiety (for example, i recommend looking into hair/skin/nail supplements which are popular with young women in particular, and how many of them have problematic levels of biotin)

also, i added it in the reblog of that supplement post, but basic knowledge that is helpful to have is basically that:

Water soluble vitamins (C & B complex) -> excreted via urine when in excess -> less chance of toxicity

Fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E & K) -> stored in the body -> greater chance of toxicity

[vreemd]

wish there was some room in online adhd spaces for people who don't want to or can't take medication. I so often see people acting like we're just stupid or self sabotaging.

I got stimulant medication prescribed to me. I had high blood pressure at the time (and always do; I have cptsd and suspected POTS, or something else) and no one at any point explained to me that this was an actual risk. like a life or death level kind of risk. I was just told to monitor my BP. at age 25 I wasn't really sure what my BP was even supposed to be like.

so one morning, a few months into taking ritalin, I woke up with an absolute fucker of a migraine, and just feeling very weird. like my entire body was making overtime, working too fast. my heart was beating out of my chest, I was out of breath, trembling more than normal. my skin felt too small and tight to contain all my blood and my body hurt all over.

I took my BP. it was 190/240. great, I thought, that's normal, right? I wasn't 100% sure so I sent a picture of the meter to my brother in law (he is an EMT). I was completely wrong; 90/140 is normal. my numbers were both 100 points too high.

I had to go to the ER, got BP medication and had to stop the adhd meds immediately. I also had to take my prescription of benzodiazepine medication regularly to keep my BP down while the meds left my system.

I had had a hypertensive crisis. this could've been a lot worse had I not questioned my BP numbers. I could've very well had a heart attack had I taken the adhd medication again.

you might think "but you didn't have a heart attack so, crisis averted, right?" my endurance after having that hypertensive crisis had dropped to zero. I had to build my walking endurance back up. to the mailbox, a bit past it, etc. I remained out of breath for so long. I couldn't do any strenuous activity, I couldn't read out loud of talk for more than a minute without being completely out of breath. this took months, if not an entire year, to reach some kind of normalcy again.

my blood pressure, while it was always high and I have one or more conditions that make it so, has stayed higher after that than it was before. I'm on more blood pressure medication now, and on a higher dose. I didn't do anything in my life that caused high BP to begin with, and now I have to watch what I eat, have to exercise regularly and avoid caffeine, which is fun when you have chronic fatigue.

so no, I don't want medication. I'd maybe try a non-stimulant one, but that isn't very common in my country and I haven't found any doctors yet who'd be on board with trying. some people genuinely CANNOT take stimulant adhd meds, others don't want to for health or other reasons.

the fact that the entire online (and offline) experience of finding other people with adhd is just "oh I was a lazy dysfunctional POS until I started taking meth!" is so alienating. like I genuinely truly believe that there is a lot of work you can do to function easier with adhd, and I think the psychiatric system is just lazy and unwilling to try to do anything other than giving anyone and their mom a prescription for extremely heavy medication with potential deadly side effects. I don't think that's normal.

I do also think that if you do take the medication and it works for you that's great, but that's not my point here.

[roguetelepaths]

"depression is ALWAYS a PHYSICAL PROBLEM IN THE BRAIN and if you had bad side effects from SSRIs it just means you were on the wrong one" okay how about you eat my entire ass lol

Every single SSRI I've ever tried has either done nothing for me, made me dangerously unstable, or turned me into a literal zombie. Every. Single. Fucking. One. They are not a class of medication that works well for me. Neither are any of the other psychiatric medications I've been put on. Because the vast majority of my specific problems stem from the long-term effects of continuous trauma and poverty, and there isn't yet a chemical that can give me a non-abusive childhood and a thriving wage.

(5-HTP— serotonin's chemical precursor— works much better for me, which leads me to believe that if there is a structural neurochemical thing going on with me, it's that my brain isn't making enough of the good shit in the first place, not that it's sucking it back up too fast. Which kind of makes sense to me as an adaptation of a brain that's been in survival mode since birth, but I'm not a neuroscientist, I'm just some dirtbag with a blog.)

Do I think that SSRIs do that to everyone? No. Emphatically, absolutely not. I know several people including my partner who I love dearly for whom they're life-saving. I can't feel anything on Prozac, but my partner can't feel anything without it. Brains are weird and they work differently from one another and scientific models of neuropsychology aren't nearly as universal as they pretend to be.

People with bad psychiatric experiences need to be listened to and welcomed as part of the greater community of psychiatrically disabled people. We DO NOT need comic sans powerpoints telling us to try different medications and saying shit like "u made the meds sad by spreading misinfo :(". If someone is saying their bad psychiatric experiences are universal, then yeah, absolutely call that shit out. But like, your GOOD experiences aren't any more universal. Informed consent requires both perspectives.

In conclusion maybe don't take medical advice from fucking comic sans powerpoints. I mean, don't take it from me either. I'm just some asshole on the internet, as we've established. But I'm also not out here trying to GIVE medical advice. There's a world of fucking difference between "here's what these drugs do to me every time I try to take them" and "well you just need to keep trying new drugs, sweaty :)"

[fragmentating]

Sometimes I think too much about how my relationship to psych medication / drugs could have been if it had been one free of coercion, force, control and unethical experimentation and way too high doses for a minor. And then I lose myself a little in that rage and despair.

I hate everything about that system, but I still like the concept of being able to say. I like the way this substance makes me feel. I feel like this positively changed my life. Give it to me legally. I want legalized drugs and I dont view my psych meds as anything other than already legalized drugs locked behind a weird system. But I have yet found a psychiatrist who actually let's me be in control. Who lets me say, I need something else, this isnt cutting it, no, not another drug from the same fucking group, something completely different. Who let's me say, I dont like these side effects no matter if they seem minor to you, let's change this. Who let's me say this is the schedule I need my meds on for them to actually have much of an impact. Who let's me say hey I had this stuff years ago and it was the only thing that really helped me, it seems aggressive but can we just fucking try it again because this is supposed to be about helping me. Who let's me say this dose is too fucking high and the negatives are taking over.

Fuck I haven't even found a psych in over 4 years who has actually given a fuck about my physical health and hasn't just taken me off meds cold turkey when discharging me or switching things around, who has actually ordered blood panels to see if the levels are okay, who ordered EKGs or whatever they need to monitor that this shit isnt negatively affecting my body. They cant even fucking do the bare minimum for safety. They dont know the common side effects to what they're prescribing. A 50 year old doctor who mainly pushes anti psychotics did not believe me that I had tardive dyskenesia as a side effect because HE DID NOT KNOW IT WAS EVEN A THING THAT COULD HAPPEN. He opened google and begrudgingly said "hm well okay. I guess that might happen". He had to google the side effects to something he had been cheerfully writing me scripts for for over a fucking year. Not even because he forgot them but because he never fucking knew in the first place.

I'm dreaming of being able to control what I get and how and when. Meanwhile reality is a living nightmare and the only way to truly escape it is to completely refuse psychiatric medication and either self medicate in one way or the other or abstain from what actually could be fucking helping me. What the fuck is wrong here

[yoshspace]

it's really weird and crazy how I can never get an appointment with my gender clinic and my prescription HRT meds never get refilled in time, but people will literally shove psychiatric meds down my throat if I decide I don't want to take them. that's so crazy I bet I'm just unlucky haha

[losingfayth]

today is the one year anniversary of me becoming a new woman.

last year before this time i was in shambles. i lost one of my parents the previous summer and it was still causing me so much grief. i had gained a bunch of weight, i had no friends, my relationship with my family was on the rocks. it wasn't just this one loss, see. i watched my mother be reduced to a shell of herself as she fought cancer just a year or so before, i lost two grandparents earlier the year my parent passed, and then, come the summer, the slow, vicious disease that had been whittling him away day by day for so many, many months now won.

he was skin and bones by the end.

i was erratic in my emotions and moreso with my behavior. i couldn't wake up before two p.m. to save my life. i had withdrawn from school, i couldn't work, i couldn't focus, i couldn't think. i struggled to even watch tv.

i entered an intensive outpatient psychiatric/psychotherapy program. i flipped out on my last day. i entered another. my psychiatrist was trying me on med after med after med to see if anything, anything could help.

it looked bleak.

and then i made some friends in the program. and then spring came and the days got longer and warmer. and then (and this is the kicker) i started a new med.

to all my chronically depressed peeps out there, do you think about what life would be like if you just woke up one day and suddenly weren't depressed anymore? if that burden you carried for, in my case, fifteen excruciating years just... left?

it's indescribable.

that's not to say it's all sunshine and roses now or has been this past year. i still have a lot to manage and to work through. i still get depressed, but now depression is an occasional dinner guest rather than a live-in nuisance. but that's certainly an upgrade, right?

i could read again, i could write again, i could draw and take pictures again and when i was in them i was smiling! i started playing video games regularly for the first time since i was in high school. i was making friends. i was making progress on my issues in therapy instead of just... treading water. if i even was treading water...

my anxiety lessened dramatically, my outbursts and anger, too. i was kinder, gentler, more understanding.

it was fucking bonkers.

it was then i felt like a new woman. i was someone i didn't really recognize but really wanted to get to know. i needed something to mark this.

what better than a name?

i had been going by my middle name since the depression started kicking my ass in middle school. it was a tad basic, a bit boring, a very, very safe option for not getting people to pay you any attention. that's exactly what i wanted. i also felt like it fit me perfectly: mundane enough to be proper, but i could define my darkest parts by it. it was my little depression receptacle. people would look at me, all mopey and weird and depressed, and think my name fit. "fayth" is far too chipper, too bright, too hopeful. it wasn't me. it just wasn't.

and then it was.

today is the one year anniversary of me finally being fayth, like i was always meant to be. who i hope i'll always be. who i am.

happy fayth-iversary to me!

[mortimer]

So far my introduction to trying psychiatric meds over the course of this year have been:

- Does nothing

- Does nothing

- Made me say a bunch of weird mean shit

- Does nothing

- Made me so dizzy I couldn't walk

- Does nothing

- Made me exactly as neurotic, anxious, and mean as before, but faster

-Does nothing

[schizopositivity]

(hey, this is a sort of vent/ask, so before i start talking i want to put trigger warnings in case anything i say below may make you uncomfortable)

(this ask deals with depressive talk, slight mentions of suicide and self-injury, doctors, medications, brief mention of a psychiatric hospital, and possible ableism [the ableism is not true, it is me asking if something is ableist]. if any of this makes you uncomfortable, please don’t read this, and im sorry for bothering you)

hello :] i hope that you’re doing well

this is a weird thing for me to talk about but i feel it would be best for me to talk about it with someone who has been diagnosed and get your input on it (if this conversation makes you uncomfortable please do not feel obligated to answer, and im so sorry if anything i say is offensive or disrespectful; this is never my intent, but i mess up a lot and don’t realize it’s offensive and im so sorry if i offend you in any way)

a few days ago i went to a monthly meeting with my new psychiatrist (for mdd, adhd, gad, self injury). she had asked me how i have been, and i told her that i feel incredibly low and suicidal thoughts are nearly consistent thoughts, as well as having a recent relapse in self injury that was over a month clean (which is good for me). i was also on adhd meds at the time and my focus declined horribly.

she (my psychiatrist) took me off of the adhd meds, so now im just on the antidepressant

yet, she recommended to my parents that, due to my intrusive thoughts becoming too loud and me fighting back the urge to harm constantly, i should continue my antidepressant, yet add to that a small dosage of an antipsychotic

i have never been diagnosed with any form of schizophrenia, psychosis, or something else that would fall under the umbrella for what an antipsychotic is used for.

i know that she is a psychiatrist and has proper training, and i know that she understands cases like mine (a few months back i was admitted to a psychiatric unit, voluntarily, and she has worked in that exact unit before). yet, i feel ableist in a way, if that makes any sense. as if im profiting off of a medication that used for diagnoses much stronger than those of my own, and that, as my psychiatrist has said, is to help “take the edge off”.

i have no say in this, and due to the recent relapse and also another mental incident, the medication has officially been prescribed and will be at my house either today or tomorrow; yet, am i ableist for taking an antipsychotic when i have never been diagnosed with anything related to psychosis, schizophrenia, or other delusion-affecting conditions?

(idk if this will help with anything, but the medication is risperidal)

this is really messy since im just really on edge yet i just wanna say again that if anything in this upsets you i am so sorry

if you read this far, thank you for listening to me. wishing you all the best

No need to apologize! I like genuine questions :)

It is not ableist at all to take a medication that's prescribed to you. They want you to take it because they think it will benefit you. You aren't doing anything wrong or offensive. You are just treating your symptoms with medication prescribed to you, you deserve to take it as much as anyone else.

Plus lots of nonpsychotic people take antipsychotics for reasons other than psychosis. It's been shown to be effective in people with bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and dementia. (I would link more info but all I can find are very lengthy and difficult to read medical essays, if you are interested you can search up "antipsychotics for anxiety" and they will pop up).

Part of my goal for this blog is to destigmatize anything to do with schizo-spec disorders, psychosis, and treatments for those things. So normalizing the use of antipsychotics in nonpsychotic people is part of that. It's likely that a lot more people than you think take antipsychotics for its various uses, and all of that is normal and should be talked about openly and free of stigma.

Also if you want follow up advice on how antipsychotics might impact you and the side effects and stuff you can reach out to me in DM or another ask and I can do my best to help (since I have been on that exact med before).