Posted by katekite on June 8, 2002, at 11:33:02
In reply to Re: p.s. » beardedlady, posted by wendy b. on June 8, 2002, at 9:22:47
Hi,
This is turning into a med or no med debate which has been done to death elsewhere. But of course having not done it myself I have to make my one little point.
Drugs have risks. I like drugs, they have occasionally pulled me up out of deep depressions that might have killed me. But they do have side effects, you can be allergic and you can die. A course of ssri statistically reduces the chance that you will get a second episode of major depression (after you stop it). What does that mean? That means, to me, that some very long term changes occur in the brain. That once it wears off its not really gone. I do wish I'd known that before I took them for years. I probably would have taken them anyways but I might not have. I don't like permanent changes.
I don't like allergies or serious adverse effects either. I had a heart attack from trazadone the first time I took it. The majority of drugs I've had no problems with. (how did that with get at the end of that sentence?). Anyhow, my point is that there are risks.
There is also a risk to remaining the way you are. What if you never change or slowly get more bitchy as the years pass? Is that what you want? You might not know just how nice prolonged happiness is until you try some particular drug.
Right now, I'm in a little pit of guarded waiting, my mood is not good, but not terrible. I am jumpy and have insomnia. But I have this wonderful memory of 5 weeks on neurontin last fall during which I felt young and carefree and competent and happy. There were no downsides. (then I got side effects and had to stop). I want that again and I'm willing to work hard for it. I know where I want to end up, which is necessary for creating a plan. Knowing that I should be able to achieve that again gave me the confidence to assail the medical profession with my worries this spring, and that's leading to CT scans and lots of hormone testing etc. I knew instinctively how I felt wasn't quite right, but it made a huge difference to experience how others felt. Both ritalin and neurontin do that for me.
So that's that. If you don't try drugs you won't know what they might do. Most drugs will fail, that's a certainty. A few might not. It takes a long time and is fraught with risk.
There is also a risk that the drug will work! What then... do you take it forever or not? What if it works for a while and poops out? Then what?
The risks may turn into nothing (leading to people who espouse drugs for every minor ailment) or they may be life-threatening (leading to the folks who buy only organic thereafter).
On PB we don't hear from anyone where it worked great the first time and they never saw a psychiatrist again, preferring to see their GP every six months for a prescription. That is one thing to keep in mind -- we may hear more about the risks than the benefits.
However, that all said, its still in individual decision. No amount of babble will make a difference.
Which doesn't seem to stop us from babbling and babbling.
kate
poster:katekite
thread:232
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20020516/msgs/255.html