Shunning medication

[notlongnow]

Apologies if this thread is too intrusive and please delete if needed but I'm curious if any users here have openly declined medication from their quacks knowing It'll sway their negative headspace for the better?

I personally have said shove it. If I can't manifest my own happiness and healthy level of serotonin within my way of living, i refuse to 'exist' under false pretense with a potential lifetime habit of pill popping.

Forgive me but my negativity has hit new lows recently and I'd welcome some views on whether I'm being a wally & neglecting a potential avenue of long term positivity without the reliance of a prescription!

 

[Sick of it all]

My pill prescriber up and left so I'm stuck with a few refills but after that I will be pill free. The pills helped. I have been weaning myself off my meds since I know that the end of me getting scripts is near. The pills helped my mindset but I'm afraid it's just a band aid on a wide open wound. Deep down I don't want to be here, pills or no pills.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

If medication helped you feel truly better and enjoy and embrace more, then yes I do think you would be unreasonably stubborn to refuse it based on the principles you've outlined. Medications are just a tool like any other. Note all this is assuming that medication provides you a net beneft. They can be harmful or more likely ineffective, or not effective enough.

 

[notlongnow]

I don't want to come across as a stubborn wally but surely the thought process of what the underlying issues are creating the negativity cant be numbed forever?! A worrying existence in my eyes if so. Yes 'positive' living but false.

I should add i've never obliged in taking the meds.

My pill prescriber up and left so I'm stuck with a few refills but after that I will be pill free. The pills helped. I have been weaning myself off my meds since I know that the end of me getting scripts is near. The pills helped my mindset but I'm afraid it's just a band aid on a wide open wound. Deep down I don't want to be here, pills or no pills.

Back street E's or legit medical professional? Regardless, lord knows a good Amsterdam pill is good for ones mood every once in a while

 

[Sick of it all]

It was a professional. I went to fill my klonopin and they said her DEA number was no longer valid. I tried reaching her to no avail.

I'd love a good Amsterdam anything. Beats this life I'm kinda living.

 

[notlongnow]

It was a professional. I went to fill my klonopin and they said her DEA number was no longer valid. I tried reaching her to no avail.

I'd love a good Amsterdam anything. Beats this life I'm kinda living.

Sorry to hear that! Let's all road trip to the Dam

 

[theboy]

I take medication but I don't entirely agree. Medications do work but they don't warn you of side effects.
Remember that there are several types of depression. Clinical depression is chronic and the brain is not able to produce the necessary natural chemicals such as sertonin or oxytocin. The person needs a boost of these chemicals to stay as stable as possible. However, I know what it is to live in a "lie" since what you live is not real. You're just high.

 

[notlongnow]

Maybe I'm latching onto the fact i once never needed such mind alternating prescription. Times change, life too. Rollercoaster living. Maybe I'm being silly!

 

[eve2004]

I am non-compliant with anything I am prescribed for medical conditions other than mental health. I do take antidepressants but only because weaning off them would be worse hell.

 

[JealousOfTheElderly]

Yep! To be honest, I feel better off the meds and pain killers

 

[Smart No More]

I'm definitely in the same camp as you when it comes to having the real thing or nothing. Else what's the point right?!

That said, I feel like there's potentially a grey area. If you've been happy and had a healthy functioning mind then it seems there's either scientific cause that's damaged you (in which case meds might be needed) or life has just kicked your ass and your feelings are a very normal reaction to the things you're experiencing or the position your life has reached. In this case then it's seems incredibly unhealthy to choose your reality (by messing with naturally healthy and good brain chemistry) over fixing the issues causing your depression or learning how to live with them. Or, if the logical conclusion is to check out then fine but I'd say give yourself as much chance as you can before pulling the plug.

Nobody wants to get to the truth of things these days. It's all about the path of least resistance or most convenience. It's a path to disaster. Civilisations of the past have disappeared because of this sort of mentality. Some of them were so intelligent we still haven't worked out how they did certain things. But it seems with the gift of self awarwness comes a curse.

Give me real all day even if it sucks. I don't want a pretend life, face, body or brain chemistry!

 

[notlongnow]

Maybe I'm just latching onto the fact that I've never needed it before, yes I understand mental stability changes but perhaps I'm traumatized over my aunty saying she's been on them for 15 years.

I'm definitely in the same camp as you when it comes to having the real thing or nothing. Else what's the point right?!

That said, I feel like there's potentially a grey area. If you've been happy and had a healthy functioning mind then it seems there's either scientific cause that's damaged you (in which case meds might be needed) or life has just kicked your ass and your feelings are a very normal reaction to the things you're experiencing or the position your life has reached. In this case then it's seems incredibly unhealthy to choose your reality (by messing with naturally healthy and good brain chemistry) over fixing the issues causing your depression or learning how to live with them. Or, if the logical conclusion is to check out then fine but I'd say give yourself as much chance as you can before pulling the plug.

Nobody wants to get to the truth of thingd these days. It's allvabout the path of least resistance or most convenience. It's a path to disaster. Civilisations of the past have disappeared because of this sort of mentality. Some of them were so intelligent we still haven't workwd out how they did certain things. But it seems with the gift of self awarwness comes a curse.

Give me real all day even if it sucks. I don't want a pretend life, face, body or brain chemistry!

Well put @Smart No More .. renamed 'Smart some more'

Truth being, as I've mentioned in a previous thread, addiction caught up with me and sent me south. Not just the dependency but also the mass disappointment. Properly buckled me! Made worse that I'm newly around my family who I obviously care for dearly. The tragedy of failing within their company and support manifested all sorts of other issues I've been bottling up but managed to hide.


Truthfully I think my previous relapse just really hit home and made me aware of the fact there was a lot more disappointment there than I wanted to admit!

 

[Smart No More]

Guess the plus side of a prescription is that you don't have to worry about sourcing yoye crutch illegally. It works for some but like you, I'm dubious of rwlying on meds having had addiction in my past. When you go through addiction you have it drummed into you that relying on drugs isn't healthy until you see a doc and they say lets get you off the drugs and onto ours. It's some double standard bullshit as far as I'm concerned. But again, it does work for some. But so so recreational drugs lol.

Everyrhing on individual merit is my 'mantra' for want of a better word.

 

[eve2004]

Guess the plus side of a prescription is that you don't have to worry about sourcing yoye crutch illegally. It works for some but like you, I'm dubious of rwlying on meds having had addiction in my past. When you go through addiction you have it drummed into you that relying on drugs isn't healthy until you see a doc and they say lets get you off the drugs and onto ours. It's some double standard bullshit as far as I'm concerned. But again, it does work for some. But so so recreational drugs lol.

Everyrhing on individual merit is my 'mantra' for want of a better word.

If I could illegally source any type of shit, I wouldn't be here... I wouldn't worry either, I'd just need to do it once.

 

[notlongnow]

Guess the plus side of a prescription is that you don't have to worry about sourcing yoye crutch illegally. It works for some but like you, I'm dubious of rwlying on meds having had addiction in my past. When you go through addiction you have it drummed into you that relying on drugs isn't healthy until you see a doc and they say lets get you off the drugs and onto ours. It's some double standard bullshit as far as I'm concerned. But again, it does work for some. But so so recreational drugs lol.

Everyrhing on individual merit is my 'mantra' for want of a better word.

I think its been quite apparent that in recent times, ive self medicated with under the counter paraphernalia. I could type here and jest over it but the real truth is its genuinely save me from very poor choices. I'm not dumb, I'm well aware its a short term benefit, but recently I'm bitter sweetly grateful
my struggle lies with alcohol. The devils juice! God forbid I only drink in the near future. Frightening! Uppers aid me hugely recently, im definitely not thinking straight though

 

[Fadeawaaaay]

I took antidepressants for about 25 years and they boosted my energy but Also gaslighted me into thinking things were going better than they were… I just stop taking them cold turkey about six months ago… I'm just treading water and don't really care about anything including my survival… Medication can't help me… Would probably just jack up my anxiety level…

 

[notocarpediem]

I went to the doctor with mild anxiety - short two week dose of benzos, no tapering - just a swap straight on to a high dose SNRI has given me a panic disorder. I think meds can be good in certain circumstances but you should do your own research on side effecte and consider the difficulty of withdrawal.

 

[Smart No More]

I went to the doctor with mild anxiety - short two week dose of benzos, no tapering - just a swap straight on to a high dose SNRI has given me a panic disorder. I think meds can be good in certain circumstances but you should do your own research on side effecte and consider the difficulty of withdrawal.

Its crazy, huh? Two weeks seems like very little time to many benzo addicts but even two weeks of use is enough to experience withdrawals. I've been there. I feel like it's understandable and okay for doctors not to know every nuance of every drug but what I can't make my peace with is the fact they will dismiss anyone claiming to experience anything other than the canned answers they're taught. If it's outside the boundaries of their current knowledge it cannot exist as far as they're concerned - in my experience. They're so ignorantly reckless that it's legitimately detrimental to patients wellbeing and the symptoms and side effects you experience and report to them often end up being misdiagnosed as some other ailment which gets even more drugs thrown at it until you end up a product of their malpractice but get treated like it's somehow you that's dwficient and if you would just make the effort you wouldn't be experiencing these things. It boils my blood thinking about it. All those vulnerable people that just get turned into a wreck at the worst possible time and it goes entirely unacknowledged. The unacknowledged element of that is so fucking tragic! And because they're in such a vulnerable place/state people are less inclined to listen when they attempt to shine a light on the injustice of it all. They're instinctively assumed a bit mad or delusional.

 

[notocarpediem]

Its crazy, huh? Two weeks seems like very little time to many benzo addicts but even two weeks of use is enough to experience withdrawals. I've been there. I feel like it's understandable and okay for doctors not to know every nuance of every drug but what I can't make my peace with is the fact they will dismiss anyone claiming ti experience anything other than the canned answers they're taught. If it's outside of the boundaries of their current knowledge it cannot exist as far as they're concerned in my experience. They're so ignorantly reckless that it's legitimately detrimental to patients wellbeing and the symptoms and side effects you experience and report to them often end up being misdiagnosed as some other ailment which gets even more drugs thrown at it until you end up a product of their malpractice but get treated like it's somehow you that's dwficient and if you would just make the effort you wouldn't be experiencing these things. I boils my blood thinking about it. All those vulnerable people that just get turned into a wreck at the worst possible time and it goes entirely unacknowledged. The unacknowledged element of that is so fucking tragic!

Absolutely. The first night I swapped from a short acting benzo to the SNRI I had brain zaps all night and for days after I had a heart palpitation every minute or so. I think it was the combo of coming off the benzo and straight onto a drug with noradrenaline..may have been different with a SSRI or a much lower dose SNRI. All I was told re side effects was possible weight gain from the SNRI…no mention of increased anxiety.

 

[Smart No More]

Absolutely. The first night I swapped from a short acting benzo to the SNRI I had brain zaps all night and for days after I had a heart palpitation every minute or so. I think it was the combo of coming off the benzo and straight onto a drug with noradrenaline..may have been different with a SSRI or a much lower dose SNRI. All I was told re side effects was possible weight gain from the SNRI…no mention of increased anxiety.

Yeah, coming off benzos (even without the full blown withdrawals) tends to come with some horrible bounce back anxiety. It's like all that relief yoy get from them is essentially on credit and you pay for it in full once you stop. Really horrible feeling! Are you doing better now?

 

[Hope:-)]

Medication ruined my life. Seriously... don't do it.

 

[Darkover]

Studies have shown that as many as 85% to 90% of the public believes that depression is caused by low serotonin levels or a chemical imbalance. Researchers have found no clear evidence that serotonin levels or activity cause depression, according to a review of prior research published in Molecular Psychiatry.28 Jul 2022

that depression is not likely caused by a chemical imbalance, and calls into question what antidepressants do. Most antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which were originally said to work by correcting abnormally low serotonin levels. There is no other accepted pharmacological mechanism by which antidepressants affect the symptoms of depression.

Many people take antidepressants because they have been led to believe their depression has a biochemical cause, but this new research suggests this belief is not grounded in evidence.

 

[IanUK]

Apologies if this thread is too intrusive and please delete if needed but I'm curious if any users here have openly declined medication from their quacks knowing It'll sway their negative headspace for the better?

I personally have said shove it. If I can't manifest my own happiness and healthy level of serotonin within my way of living, i refuse to 'exist' under false pretense with a potential lifetime habit of pill popping.

Forgive me but my negativity has hit new lows recently and I'd welcome some views on whether I'm being a wally & neglecting a potential avenue of long term positivity without the reliance of a prescription!

Hi there no problem at all good question. About 5 years I put together a document advising I was to receive no treatment if I am diagnosed with a life threatening illness plus if I am in an accident I am not to be treated. I've instructed all I want is painkillers but nothing else even if the treatment could or would save my life. I've had it witnessed. I carry it with me, a copy is lodged with my doctor and if I am taken to hospital will make sure they have the paper. It's my intention never to see a doctor or go to hospital if possible but I have prepared as much as possible. My attitude is that when my time comes I'm not going to stop anything. Hope this helps.

 

[KuriGohan&Kamehameha]

Modern serotonergic psychiatric medications barely work better than a placebo. Then you have antipsychotics, which zombify individuals by depleting their dopamine. So you can nullify hallucinations, delusions, etc, technically "curing" a patient, yet leaving feeling quite hollow in the process.

Sure, newer gen APs have less side effects, but they aren't perfect or a magic bullet by any means and are becoming as over prescribed as SSRIs (anyone seen those recent American commercials for Abilify where they advertise it as a great adjuvant for SSRIs, boasting that this combo will treat depression?)

The most effacious psychiatric drugs like MAOIs and benzodiazepines rarely get prescribed any more due to their side effects and in the case of benzos, addictive potential. Illicit substances which have the potential to help many people are still either outright banned/clinical trials only or luxuries for the wealthy which are highly controlled- see the expensive Ketamine IV clinics popping up seemingly overnight.

All of this medication discourse is like an elephant in the room to the scientific community. I've gotten the impression that many of the neuroscientists who've taught me at university are critical of psychiatry or psychology, but can't outright say this. Even the royal college of psychiatrists pushed back HARD when the recent molecular psychiatry article pushing back against the serotonin hypothesis was published, fearing people would quit taking SSRIs en masse.

If you have to treat something like a magic religious talisman in order for people to believe something works, it doesn't actually work. A medication either has a biochemical effect or it doesn't.

 

[AnonymousS]

Apologies if this thread is too intrusive and please delete if needed but I'm curious if any users here have openly declined medication from their quacks knowing It'll sway their negative headspace for the better?

I personally have said shove it. If I can't manifest my own happiness and healthy level of serotonin within my way of living, i refuse to 'exist' under false pretense with a potential lifetime habit of pill popping.

Forgive me but my negativity has hit new lows recently and I'd welcome some views on whether I'm being a wally & neglecting a potential avenue of long term positivity without the reliance of a prescription!

I don't really understand your point of view, antidepressants are complex medications, not happy pills. I understand not everyone responds to them, or other medications. However if you have a bad heart, you wouldn't think twice about taking medicine for it. So what if you have to take them for life, millions of people are on all sorts of drugs for life. Just my opinion.

 

[notocarpediem]

Yeah, coming off benzos (even without the full blown withdrawals) twnds to come with some horrible bounce back anxiety. It's like all that relief yoy get from them is essentially on credit and you pay for it in full once you stop. Really horrible feeling! Are you doing better now

Yeah, coming off benzos (even without the full blown withdrawals) twnds to come with some horrible bounce back anxiety. It's like all that relief yoy get from them is essentially on credit and you pay for it in full once you stop. Really horrible feeli

Yeah, coming off benzos (even without the full blown withdrawals) twnds to come with some horrible bounce back anxiety. It's like all that relief yoy get from them is essentially on credit and you pay for it in full once you stop. Really horrible feeling! Are you doing better now?

Ended up on another longer acting benzo to come off sleeping tablets that I ended up needing - so still tapering. Changed to an SSRI...so not really at the end point of my medication journey yet. That's what doctors don't mention - any benefit you get from say a sleeping tablet..if you try to come off you may be in a worse position!

 

[ForbiddenSiren]

Meds are tricky. The last ones I was on drove me to the brink of insanity. Not on any now, just a fuck load of alcohol haha. But I have I seen other people that have seriously benifited from being on meds, I think it just depends on the person and if their brain agrees with the medication, whether it will help or not.

 

[notlongnow]

Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate it.

I'm still quite torn. Much to consider

 

[BandAddict]

I keep stopping my medications time and time again. Part of it is like you say, I don't want to be "brainwashed" by the medication and if my natural state wants me to die, then so be it. In the past it's also been because of unpleasant side-effects or the meds just not helping much.

I was put on a new combination last year I think which has been the best so far. But again, I just stop taking them. Maybe I want to feel bad, or need to, or just think I should. It's a self-harm thing, but I also stopped because I know without them I have almost zero appetite and I'm relapsing (ED) so hard atm. I think I'm scared to feel better and would rather drive myself off the edge or just continue suffering.

 

[notocarpediem]

I wouldn't shun all medication for mental health if there's a chance it could help. Just make sure you look into side effects etc.