Posted by allisonm on October 21, 2000, at 19:24:58
In reply to Are Meds the Answer?, posted by Athena on October 21, 2000, at 13:11:47
Dear Athena,
You are using a rather broad brush.
From what I understand, have experienced, and have read, if you have a doctor who knows what he/she is doing, you need not suffer withdrawal symptoms.
Is medication really the answer we need? For some of us it's one answer. Not the only one, but one. Sometimes it may be all a person might need, while another may need to do other work as well. How long were you on Prozac? Was this your first antidepressant?
Many on this board have suffered for years with and without medication and most are struggling to find the right combination because they haven't yet. I suspect that those who are happy with their lot and their medication(s) don't think to visit this board because they aren't having problems and are living what they consider to be normal lives. Who are we to decide what is right or define what feels normal for another human being?
Because we still are on meds does not mean that we have not faced our issues and it would be naive to think that mental fortitude will fix things. Sometimes the meds have brought us out of our depressions enough that we are finally able to talk about those issues with a professional. This seems to be one of the more effective ways -- meds and therapy going hand-in-hand.
I don't believe I'm wasting time taking meds. On the contrary, I would not be alive now to write to you were I not on meds. You do not know me. Please try not to make assumptions. Were I a diabetic, I would not cease taking insulin if I knew it was keeping me alive (assuming I wanted to be alive -- right now I do and I credit meds for this.) I have been suicidal without meds. I have gone on meds and stopped feeling suicidal. I have stopped meds and have gone back to feeling suicidal. I have ignored my illness, thinking that what I was feeling wasn't really real and would not show (mental fortitude). It does show. I never asked anyone what they thought of my behavior -- they volunteered it, often taking me aside and asking me how I was, whether I was all right. Likewise, when on meds, people have observed -- without my ever bringing up the subject and without them knowing that I'm on meds -- that I seem more alive. This also tells me something. I take these observations and hold them up as truths because my depression clouds my thinking so that I don't see what's happening.
When I first started taking medications, I too had the misconception that they were "happy pills."
They are not. They have never made me happy. I am the only one who can do that.I regret that you have had a bad experience with Prozac. If being off ADs is right for you, I'm glad for you. I would prefer not to have to take meds, but have proven to myself -- by getting off of them -- that I cannot function long or well without them. It took me several tries to find a drug that I could tolerate with few side effects. Nothing has worked completely -- my depression has lessened but not subsided, and I am aware of it every day of this life. What I am doing is right for me. If I have to take drugs for the rest of my life and if they lessen my time here, so be it. I would rather have less time but of a higher quality than suffer endlessly and needlessly in pure hell on earth for the rest of my days.
Best regards.
Allison
poster:allisonm
thread:5505
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001012/msgs/47028.html