Was just wondering if it bothered you that you may be on medication for the rest of your life?
I am 38 & have been on meds for 13 years. And am beginning to feel fatigued by all the meds I take which includes a fortnightly injection of anti psychotic.
But I know that there are many members younger than me & I just wondered how you feel? Or do you not think about it? Or do you believe that meds are just for a temporary period & you believe you will get fully well.
I hope you take this thread in the spirit it is meant. I am not being anti meds despite my own meds fatigue.
I am on a lot of meds currently and I know I will have to be on some of them forever probably, or at least a long time.
It doesn't bother me much at all, I have had side effects and its bugged me, but I know I would be so much worse off, without them, I've learnt to accept it and wouldnt mess with my meds. I'm 23 by the way.
I was on mine for 11 years, and only recently decided to stop them since i kept having health problems which the doctors thought were becuase of meds. They said to come off them and try something different. I thought screw it, lets try without. Apart from some bad sleeping, i've never felt better, everyone says i look more healthy, happy, more withit, my eyes are less black, reccurring dizzyness has stopped, my hands dont shake no more, my anxiety has reduced and i have way more energy.
I thought i'd be on meds for life. Over the years people kept saying to me i need to be on them, and the psychs and stuff, and eventually you start to believe you can't do without them, but unless you try you never know. I was worried, but it's the best thing i have ever done. I feel like a new me and i'm so much happier.
My advice is listen to yourself, its your body, your mind. Some people will relapse when they come off meds, others like myself and people i have spoke to, do better off them than when they we're on them.
I accepted that i AM this depressing person, i am this guy with mental health difficulties, but when i look back at it, although i did have some issues, i'm wondering if a lot of it was to do with being told i have x,y,z that you become that person more if that makes sense.
it bothers me a lot knowing that I will probably be on meds for the rest of my life. i take 2 antipsychotics and an antidepressant and i am very scared about the health complications this can cause in the long run. I have been on meds for 9 years now and i really want to try and come off at least one of them. I am not willing to be on meds for the rest of my life.
Den fuldkomne kærlighed,
Kan ikke eksistere blandt ufuldkomne
I've been on and off medication for 5 years. I've found a combination that help (clozapine and sertraline). I was told in 2009 that I'd have to be on meds for 7 more years, lol, I have absolutely no idea where on earth they got the random number from! haha. Anyway, after a relapse in 2010 i found the med combo that works for me, i tried coming off it and that was not helpful.
I'm under my in-patient consultant and she put down i'd be on them indefinitley, to be honest though, i don't mind. They keep me well, and I get glimmers of the old me back which is really nice. My mind is free now.
I was going to suggest maybe decreasing the dose of sedating meds you're on, but i've seen from your recent threads (i think) that you've been under a huge amount of stress recently so maybe it's not the right time.
Are you able to function whilst on the meds? To me, the fact that I'm getting my daily living skills back is an indicator that they really are important. It took a while to accept that I needed them and would be on them for quite some time, but my therapist has helped.
Sorry for the ramble!
sticks and stones may break your bones but words can tear your heart out.
Im 23 and have been on clozapine and citalopram for more than 6 years. There have been some added and taken away in that time too which I no longer need however I have been told I will probably be on these for the rest of my life. This doesnt bother me too much as I can now function quite well and dont get bad side effects.
And if your thoughts should turn to death, you gotta stub them out like a cigarette..
I find being on medication right now a hard thing to cope with. I really have to force myself to take them.
I hate being on them even though they dont cause that many side effects.
I can't think about any further than "take your meds today Kate".
I have been told I will need meds for life. I can't accept this so I just ignore the fact.
The average,
well-adjusted adult
gets up at 7.30am feeling just plain terrible.
Call me Kate.
I have dyslexia so please excuse my poor spelling and sometimes poor understanding.
I'm fine with the thought of being on medication for the rest of my life, since I've been on my recent ones I've been pretty 'stable' and not been hospital for over a month. I'd rather take my medication every day than be in some of the states I used to be in.
For me it's a small sacrifice for me to be able to function or cope.
'Coincidence...it's what the Universe does for...fun.'
The Doctor
I've been on meds for 4 years, alot of different ones and combinations becuase of finding something that worked. I kinda hope one day in the future i will be off all meds x
Do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in reality
Thanks so much for all of your responses. It's really interesting to hear your thoughts on meds.
I am concerned about the long term effects of being on an anti psychotic which is something I need to talk to my doc about. This is because I have a history of strokes on my fathers side of the family & I weigh 21 stone so it's a bit risky anyway.
Plus because I'm on lithium this has affected thyroid & am currently trying to get my levels of thyroxine right.
So on the one hand I would say meds have saved my life when I look back to where I was but it took A LOT of trial & error to get me on the right combo. But now I'm beginning to wonder about the long term side effects of them.
I've been on and off meds since I was 14 (am 25 now). I'm also currently on a depot antipsychotic. I tried a short time off it earlier in the year but unfortunately relapsed. The response from my psychiatrist and HTT was essentially that I could try again in early 2014 but if it didn't work out I might have to stay on it forever.
Like you, I'm really worried about long term effects. Late-onset diabetes runs in my family and I have noticed a fairly large weight gain too over the years (in me). Currently I'm attempting to improve my health via diet, exercise and quitting smoking (again!) but am concerned about my apparently raised prolactin levels.
However, I think my life would probably be a lot shorter without the medication, so, weighing things up I think I'll stay on it. Ideally, there would be a better social and occupational set-up for people with psychotic illness (or any mental illness) which has been proven in other countries to reduce the need for medication.
I've been on meds for about 15 years, and each time they've stopped working or I've not taken them properly, I've ended up in a mess in hospital. I've accepted now that I will be on them for the rest of my life; I take the minimum doses needed and take them responsibly. I don't like it, so I just take them and try not to think too hard about it. It's the lesser of 2 evils.
And the illusion of love is the only promise of defence, and even that will crumble.
i was first put on meds when i was 12, various cocktails of anti-p's, anti-d's and mood stabilizers. i was told i would be on them for the rest of my life, which did bother me.
i have been off them for almost 2 years, which no one thought i would be able to do.
i know some people need medication to be well, but just saying that whats true at the time may not always be the case.
like, 3 years ago, no one would have ever thought i would ever be off meds, but i am functioning without them (under supervision at first, obviously)
I'm fine! Totally fine. I don't know why it's coming out all loud and squeaky, 'cause really, I'm fine!
yeah i definitely worry about long term side effects of antipsychotics which is one of the reasons i am not happy about taking meds, well antipsychotics.
I personally don't like how the decision seems to be made for me. Surely it is my choice if I consent to medication but the fact doctors say you HAVE to, just leads to 'non-compliance'.
I am not particularly happy about taking venlafaxine long term either. I have heard of down regulation occurring of the serotonin to compensate for the SRI.
So, no, not antipsychotics.
