Posted by bob on May 10, 2000, at 0:30:28
In reply to Re: should i go back on meds????help!, posted by AndrewB on May 9, 2000, at 23:06:44
Hi Bonnie,
Pardon me for taking this tone (but I take it with anybody, whatever age or lack of such info, in this situation), but don't EVER stop your meds cold turkey without consulting your doctor!
You probably didn't know what a world of hurt that can bring down on your head. Ask people here about their withdrawal experiences, ask me about my own, then you'll know.
Yes, it's frustrating. Yes, you want relief now. We all have been there -- are there right now even. But this stuff literally messes with your mind. It's supposed to do that in a good way, but you gotta live by the Babble watchwords: Your Mileage May Vary. We all react differently to these meds, and nothing is guaranteed (happy Paxil TV commercials notwithstanding).
That really sucks, but that simply is the way it is.
[sorry about the overprotective tone ... I'm a Cancer, I can't help myself]
You can look at the discussion threads recently on the "6-8 week rule" and even read all the posts, if you have the patience for us ;^), but I'm one who generally falls on the "give it a good trial" side of the argument. Four meds from three different "classes" in eight months is a bit frightening to me -- not only do I generally go in for the 6-8 week trial for a new med (barring disasters -- which for me means wellbutrin) but then giving it at least another month once a med settles into its "therapeutic effect" for the effect to have a chance to build into anything assessible. I guess I'm not all that surprised by how you feel -- I can't say that any one of those meds was given a good chance to work.
Don't take that as criticism, okay? It was your doctor's job to make those decisions (until you get yourself better educated about medications and can make INFORMED decisions ... again, that's for anybody, not just because you're a teen -- making medical decisions on whims isn't a good practice). Are you getting the meds from a family doctor (GP) or a psychiatrist (pdoc)? GPs can be wonderful for a lot of things, but my GP (as much as I respect and love the man for ALL that he's done for me over the years -- he's the best doctor I've ever had by far) simply didn't know enough about psychopharmacology and I paid a price for his understandable lack of knowledge -- even the specialists don't understand this stuff half as much as we all would like them to! Anyway, if you ARE getting your meds from your GP, you may want to discuss with her and your parents going to see a specialist. Some people (like my brother, the rotten b*st*rd!) respond marvelously to the first meds their GPs give them -- others, like me and maybe you, don't have such luck. But a pdoc may recognize things a GP wouldn't, and would have a much better understanding of what meds to try based on your reactions to what you've taken. A pdoc would also know what combinations of meds might work for you ... lots of us here are on cocktails -- I'm on three (desipramine, klonopin, and ritalin), others are on more, some just (hah! "just") two.
Whatever my two cents is worth, that's what I almost always have to offer in these sorts of situations. Get thee to a pdoc. If you're not seeing a talk therapist, do that, too. Milk your parents' insurance plans for all they're worth while you can, if you can.
Bonnie, one thing "adults" dream of doing is sparing their "kids" the pains they endured. From what I remember, it was just too hard from the other end of the conversation to believe a word of those stories. But here in Babbleland, you get to see our stories as they are unfolding. I imagine that you're hearing some things that sound pretty familiar ... without any idea of how old the storyteller is (ain't e-anonymity great?). But I'll chime in as another who sees "I'm 15" and hopes you can take this all to heart right here, right now. It's not fair at all that you have to deal with this so early in your life. My depression kicked into overdrive when I was 8. Nearly 25 years passed before I got serious about getting help. Almost 30 gone, now, and I'm finally feeling some relief. Not only do people in my position have to deal with our disorder, we have to deal with all the anger, guilt, and sorrow that comes with the realization that we lost what should have been the best years of our lives to our disease and there's no way of ever getting them back. If I had started meds and therapy at 8 or 15 or 21, I doubt I'd be "cured" by now ... but I think I'd have arrived where I am right now a long time ago, and maybe I could have enjoyed those years more and hurt much less.
You're frustrated and hurting right now, but don't let it get the best of you. Take a look about you, see what support you have (including all of us here!), and USE that support to get well. You don't have to be alone in this.
cheers,
bob
poster:bob
thread:32960
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000508/msgs/32996.html