Meds Experiences Thread!!

Also this. I was on trazodone for a while and it absolutely ruined my ability to concentrate on anything. And I mean anything. Like, ADHD but ramped up so that I could barely answer a question without crying because it was so hard to concentrate. It was awful.

I got valium for a panic attack in the hospital one time and I forgot most of that day and the day afterwards. I'm told I only roused for meals.

I don't remember a lot of the meds I've been on because I've done the meds dance for like... eight years but here are the ones that I remember not liking:
- Zoloft
- Prozac
- Lexapro
- Cymbalta (I took two doses and it did something really fucky, I don't remember what, but fucky enough I called my doctor and went off it after that second dose because I felt so bad)
- Paxil

I was on Concerta for ADHD as a kid and it helped a lot, but my parents stopped taking me to that doctor and figured I'd just deal. I've taken Adderall and I hate it so much. So much. I can concentrate but I'm tired and angry on it.

 

I'm in the depression/anxiety end of things, and so far I've tried:

- Sertraline (Zoloft) 50mg, last summer. I didn't experience any particular improvement, but did get obnoxiously prone to sweating. We tapered me off that.

- Something else??? I forget what, if anything.

- Escitalopram (Lexapro), first at 5mg to check for reactions, then 10mg, and currently 20mg. Some kind of tasks are easier, others remain difficult/insurmountable, but I feel more person lately.

The last two years, I went from driving too long to minimum wage job I was tired if and tired out by, then being laid off and feeling like shit, then therapy and medication attempts. I was very awkward all the time, anxiously posing in every action outside my room, out of dread that someone would ask what was wrong if I didn't look Right.

Two days ago I went in the living room and child with the dog on the couch, and I was relaxed. Not relaxed just for display, but so I could've been not constantly aware of everyone's locations and whether they could see me.

It was a really nice realization.

Not sure if I'll be able to stay on this, my pcp leaves the practice this month and I anticipate difficulty finding another one. But my current prescription lasts another two refills, so I have some time.

 

Anyone have any stuff that's basicalled labeled "this will either change your life for the good because Amazing or you will hate every second of it and be miserable, there is not middle ground"? I got that warning from the doc for my Paxil but they alluded to there being some other notorious ones that are like that. High miss rate but the hits being Very Very Good.

 

@TheMockingCrows I do not take anything like that and I hope I never have to because I have enough trouble with the ones with more moderate side effects. XD

 

Lamotrigine is like that - you're at a (very small) risk for getting a rash that may turn into a deadly skin condition, but the risk is highest in the first four weeks or when you have to adjust the dose, but when you're on it, it works.

 

-parks in this thread- hi i'm not on anything right now but i will be in.. 19 days? hopefully? psych I met once is sending recs to my gp who i havent met before.
I'm in for depression and executive function. Mild enough that I pass classes but that's about all I can manage (and I mean all- i dont make meals that take more than a few steps to make and I only clean non-food stuff once a term after classes are done). I started getting vague suicidal intrusive thoughts mid-term this fall which sorta kicked me into getting help.
so yeah!!! we'll see what i take and how it goes. my guess is baby doze of zoloft or the like, since my sister took zoloft and probably benefited from it

 

[pops into thread] hi
so i got that fun thing of Bipolar-Disorder-Not-Otherwise-Specified (yes really) and i'm currently on zoloft and lamitrin/lamotriginumwhatever you call it and the zoloft is okay but the lamitrin is a fuckin miracle worker. i love you store-bought emotional stability

i used to be on prozac before getting properly diagnosed and the only thing it did for me was give me seriously bizarre dreams that i couldn't tell from reality.

also not a brainmed but i get really bad headaches and these days the only thing that actually seems to work for longer than 2 minutes is goddamn ketobrofen. which is a post-op horse tranquilizer. amazing.

 

Sibling has the same "It works but AT WHAT COST" reaction to Adderall. (Of course, Sibling also has bad reactions to stimulants in general, even caffeine.)

 

Effexor was a mixed bag for me, and if your doctor wants to try Effexor first, I would recommend arguing. (I learned this too late.) On one hand, it did a great job of dragging me out of the executive dysfunction paralysis pit. I was so grateful to be able to move again that I put up with the side effects. On the other hand, for the entire time I was on it, I had constant chest tightness and jitters. I could function, but I never felt good and I couldn't ever relax. For two years. This did not improve my grad school experience. Knowing what I know now and having had more experience advocating for myself with doctors, I would have asked for a different med.

Please do not go cold turkey off Effexor. I did it due to a huge mix-up with prescriptions and insurance and changing doctors and it was hell. The brain zaps, eye pressure, and vertigo whenever I moved my head too fast persisted for almost three months after I was actually off the stuff.

 

oh god, I remembered something. I was on Prozac before. and Zoloft. both when I was younger. Zoloft made me itch and gave me heart palpitations (we didn't know I was a POTSy back then) and.. Prozac worked a bit when I was wee? but then they tried me on it again and it was paranoia overload to the point where I was convinced they were trying to control me through my pills and my own spouse was in on trying to poison me with them. Never Again that was awful. ono (I think the zoloft made me more paranoid too..? I can't recall, but I remember feeling gross + still having all my brain troubles on top of it so. :shruggalo:))

 

It me, I have to be very very careful with even caffeine. I had a small seasonal latte yesterday and was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't shaky after. If your sibling is also sensitive to other meds (benadryl, opiates, and over the counter cough syrup being three common ones I can think of off the top of my head) they might want to look into CYP2D6 deficiency. I've got that and it means that, among other things, serotonin syndrome is much easier to get (I gave it to myself with a combo of cough syrup and being on an ssri before we knew about this).

 

ooooh concerta is basically the only thing that allows me to exist as a somewhat functional person. it has to be brand name and not generic, though, or else it just Does Not Work. i'm a Certified Disaster when i don't take my concerta

my sister and brother both take adderall!! my sister hates it and says she's hungry and tired all the time, but that it changes her brain dramatically enough that she would rather take it than not.

(my full morning handful o' pills is 20mg cipralex, 300mg wellbutrin (generic), and 54mg concerta. it mostly works (⋈óᴗò))

 

oh man, i see a lot of people have had bad experiences with Trazodone. not me! i love Trazodone, it's literally the only sleep aid that's ever worked consistently for my insomnia-- and i've had ambien before. Trazodone puts me to sleep within an hour of taking it, and then i get a solid 8-9 hours of good quality sleep. i'm sometimes a little woozy in the mornings after taking it, but overall it's great.

 

My favourite topamax side effect is the tingles.

Sort of like when your get pins and needles from your arms and legs falling asleep? I get them in my fingers/hands, mostly. Just for no reason. Randomly. Whenever. Sometimes. Sometimes not. The tingles.

They're weird and annoying and I will gods be damned accept and embrace them in exchange for something decreasing my chronic headache hell.

eta @TheMockingCrows I'm super paranoid but was like that before being put on any kind of medication, so in my case I don't think it's the prozac, just... me being me (and me possibly having ptsd yay)

 

@sirsparklepants - thanks for the info.

I did the **RI dance for awhile - started on sertraline (omg terrible for me - nausea that was unbearable and epic angry meltdowns and wow, hell), then went to effexor (more nausea, but manageable, and I think it did okay, but I still got really volatile at times), then I ended up with wellbutrin (which was helpful the first time I was on it, because sleeping and eating weren't things then ANYWAY but now sleeping and eating have stabilized so going back on wellbutrin the lack of appetite and insomnia was staggering and terrible) but wellbutrin did make me successfully quit smoking (for like, six weeks, then I started again oops).

The psychiatrist is now leaning towards comorbid PTSD + Bipolar II, and said mood stabilizers might be my next road to go down if I can't keep my shit together this time, but the thought of them TERRIFY me because I don't entirely know how they work and I don't know what the side effects are, if they're better/worse than **RI's or or or ...

I have a fear of medications / side effects / etc., in part because there's this little tiny part of me (or rather large part of me) that's like "this is all in your head, there's nothing wrong with you, just put on your big girl panties and do the thing" even though enough professional people in my life are telling me that I'm the strongest person they know AND it's not all in my head AND it's okay to have bad days ... but I'm wondering if mood stabilizers might do a thing for me. Bah.

*panicpanicpanic* =P

 

Huh! I'm on clonazepam and it's been pretty helpful for my anxiety. I didn't even know it could be prescribed for insomnia.

 

I was on clonazepam for sleep also - 0.5mg before bed and I'd be knocked out. 1mg if I was really anxious before bed, and one night I took the full 2mg and was SO freaking hungover the next day ... I actually liked the clonazepam for sleep. It made falling asleep easy.

 

i'm on prozac and i sleep a lot too.

i think i get that too. like, sometimes when i wake up from a dream, i take a while to realize it was one and have to use my logic instead of how the memory feels to clarify whether it was real or not. and then i angst about the dream for days 'cause i still sorta believe it happened and that my actions in the dream reflect upon my real life self. (okay, that last bit only happened once, but yeah...)

 

like i said the poor lady meant well but HOOOOO BOY

 

@Artemis THE TINGLES. DEAR GOD THE TINGLES

(mine aren't super bad usually, but when they are...)