Posted by Racer on July 17, 2005, at 13:39:53
In reply to How did everyone get on so many meds?, posted by Deneb on July 17, 2005, at 12:39:47
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> There seems to be a medication to control every negative thought/feeling. Is it all really necessary?
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> I seem quite insane sometimes but I've never been on anything other than a simple SSRI. Negative emotions and strange thoughts are just a part of life right?
>Some negative emotions are part of life, as are some strange thoughts -- but sometimes the negative emotions or strange thoughts are beyond "part of life" and cross over into pathological. For instance, if my negative emotion is so strong that it overwhelms me to the point that I attempt suicide, that's pathology, not part of life. Similarly, thinking about covering one wall in velcro, so that I can stick the cat on it to keep her out of mischief -- that's part of my life, and "normal" for me. Thinking about, say, walking down the street topless to show off my surgical scars -- and then doing it, well, again, pathological.
So, no easy, cut and dried answer to that. There's a continuum, and it pretty much has to be taken on a case by case basis.
> I'm glad my p-doc and GP refused to give me anything other than an SSRI even though I really thought I needed something to prevent myself from dying.
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> My former p-doc said I didn't need anything else. My GP was afraid I would misuse meds to harm myself.
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> DenebThat's great, that you respond adequately to the SSRIs, so that you only have to take one med. That's true for some people, but some of us don't respond adequately to SSRIs -- and some of us don't respond to SSRIs at all.
In my case, I have one of two reactions to SSRIs: I feel stuck inside a shell, unable to communicate or experience emotions, on some of them -- Paxil, Lexapro come to mind -- or I go through a particularly awful agitation, where it feels as though I really, really need to jump out of my skin, often combined with involuntary muscle twitches bad enough to make me kick out my legs or lose control of my arms. Neither of those is acceptable to me, so SSRIs aren't a great solution for my depression.
On the other hand, a low dose of Prozac in combination with Effexor literally saved my life a number of years ago. The two drugs together were able to lift my depression, without overwhelming me with agitation and anxiety.
I guess what I'm trying to say, using my own experience as examples, is that we all react differently. If I were being treated by a single medication, I would not be in remission, and would probably have given up entirely long ago.
I'm happy for you that you have found a solution that works for you, and that your doctor is sensitive enough to recognize what you need without overmedicating you. Be well.
poster:Racer
thread:528999
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050713/msgs/529029.html