Posted by yxibow on November 1, 2008, at 17:26:02
In reply to Re: Wanna dump meds just because, posted by always_doing_laundry on October 23, 2008, at 14:47:01
> Thank you everyone for responding. I know this recurring idea that I could be Ok without meds is part of having epilepsy and a mood disorder, and that it is me being a typical epilepsy patient, etc. I don't wanna be that patient, but I guess that's my problem -- I don't wanna be a patient, period.
Nobody wants to be a patient. I don't want to be the person I don't recognize, the one that I thought was much better in the past (rosy lenses maybe, but you can't bring the past back, you live in the Here and Now.)
That's why its important not to define one's identity as a patient, but by one's qualities and the things one accomplishes in life. NAMI uses the word "consumer" for a patient, and that is sort of perhaps an odd way of looking at it, but you pay, and you get help, you are just as a consumer as any other type.There is no evidence that anything has changed, but it would be so great if it had, and my brain thinks that I would never know without a no-meds trial.
This is always the case -- some people who come off of SSRIs wish they hadn't, but your case is more complicated and delicate -- you have an organic disorder and a psychiatric one, which is not uncommon.
Plus, I always think if I'm that screwed up body-wise going off of meds, I wonder what they're actually doing to me and if I would feel like a different or better person if I could get off of them.
Some people who are taking massive amounts of medicines might feel less "soaked to the gills", if I may use the term, but a healthy balance of necessary minimum medications may be a necessary part of someone's functional life.
> I think it might be mostly because my pdoc won't be taking my insurance anymore after Dec. 31, so I need to find a new one, and my neurologist already left his practice entirely a year ago.It's hard to start over with docs,
It is -- a relationship has been built over the years -- I would work with your psychiatrist because he sort of owes you referrals and a transition in a hippocratic way, just as your neurologist should have, if he did.
You shouldn't have epilepsy without an occasional neurological consultation -- the AEDs build up to a point where you must take them or you will have a seizure. I didn't want to scare you there and that goes against what I said about feeling like a patient, but its practicality.
and I think I just wanna be med-free so that I'm not dependent on either doctors or substances.As I said, wouldn't we all, my father and I I think tie for the amount of agents and he's on heart agents.
Of course, if I flip out or seize, then I'm gonna be seeing somebody one way or another
Exactly -- if you have a rider on your drivers license that you are epilepsy free, which some people do after an observation period of X years in Y state, you don't want to go there.
Same you would want that to happen in an unfortuitous location, like not on a carpet, if I'm really getting morose.
Use the time now with your pdoc to discuss your feelings and transition over to another recommendation -- maybe if he doesn't have a good one that you would want, he might be able to ask your GP.-- best wishes
Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:858943
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081027/msgs/860251.html