Post by downtimeheals on Feb 7, 2004 7:28:38 GMT -5
I believe that one of the most important things about using psychiatric drugs (especially antidepressants) is to ALWAYS TAPER both on to and off of a med whenever possible...give your system a chance to adjust to changes of dosage in either direction. Find a psychiatrist who uses this approach, or tell your doctor that this is the approach you're comfortable with.
When going on a new drug, the gradual upping of dosage not only gives your body a chance to adjust, it gives you a chance to pay close attention to how it's affecting you--things that are working as well as things that are bothering you. Such close attention to the action of the drug as it's starting to take hold can give you the best sense of how it affects you, as well as what different dosages feel like. Trust your instincts--give a new med a chance, but DON'T talk yourself into staying on a drug if you realize you don't like how it's affecting you, just because you think you should or are hoping it's working when deep down you know it's not.
Similarly, when going off most antidepressants and other meds as well, it's true--withdrawal can be really awful, especially if you mistakenly think that all the feelings you're experiencing are just how you are without the drug! This isn't the case...taper as slowly as you can so as to suffer as little withdrawal as possible; know what symptoms you might experience, and remember that this too will pass. Your body is detoxing--it takes time to get your equilibrium back.
One more thought: the first time I was prescribed an antidepressant, I was abruptly flipped out of deep clinical depression into acute mania. Whoops...turned out I was bipolar (manic depressive) not unipolar (depressive without the manic flip-side) and really CANNOT be on an antidepressant without a mood stabilizer (as in lithium, carbamazepine, depakote, etc.) to keep me from tripping out in the other direction. If you have a really "out there" reaction to an antidepressant, as in it seems to send your system skyrocketing to the other end of the spectrum from depression (albeit in a bad way) consider this scenario. Your temperament might have TWO poles, not one, that you need to guard against when considering meds--and antidepressants without mood stabilizers are potentially downright dangerous for you. Yet another reason to up dosages GRADUALLY, instead of jumpstarting your system with a new med.
Having said all this, if we each take responsibility for really tuning in to ourselves as we experiment with different meds and dosages, ideally we can become familiar enough with what feels better and worse such that we become expert witnesses on our own behalf, turning all that psychiatry has to offer into yet more resources at our disposal.
Psychiatric drugs today are indeed powerful--the trick is to get them to work FOR us instead of against us. Do your homework, make changes gradually over time, trust your instincts. And remember that it's always wise to have someone you trust give you feedback about how they think you're being affected by a new med, especially if you're not sure how you're feeling!
When going on a new drug, the gradual upping of dosage not only gives your body a chance to adjust, it gives you a chance to pay close attention to how it's affecting you--things that are working as well as things that are bothering you. Such close attention to the action of the drug as it's starting to take hold can give you the best sense of how it affects you, as well as what different dosages feel like. Trust your instincts--give a new med a chance, but DON'T talk yourself into staying on a drug if you realize you don't like how it's affecting you, just because you think you should or are hoping it's working when deep down you know it's not.
Similarly, when going off most antidepressants and other meds as well, it's true--withdrawal can be really awful, especially if you mistakenly think that all the feelings you're experiencing are just how you are without the drug! This isn't the case...taper as slowly as you can so as to suffer as little withdrawal as possible; know what symptoms you might experience, and remember that this too will pass. Your body is detoxing--it takes time to get your equilibrium back.
One more thought: the first time I was prescribed an antidepressant, I was abruptly flipped out of deep clinical depression into acute mania. Whoops...turned out I was bipolar (manic depressive) not unipolar (depressive without the manic flip-side) and really CANNOT be on an antidepressant without a mood stabilizer (as in lithium, carbamazepine, depakote, etc.) to keep me from tripping out in the other direction. If you have a really "out there" reaction to an antidepressant, as in it seems to send your system skyrocketing to the other end of the spectrum from depression (albeit in a bad way) consider this scenario. Your temperament might have TWO poles, not one, that you need to guard against when considering meds--and antidepressants without mood stabilizers are potentially downright dangerous for you. Yet another reason to up dosages GRADUALLY, instead of jumpstarting your system with a new med.
Having said all this, if we each take responsibility for really tuning in to ourselves as we experiment with different meds and dosages, ideally we can become familiar enough with what feels better and worse such that we become expert witnesses on our own behalf, turning all that psychiatry has to offer into yet more resources at our disposal.
Psychiatric drugs today are indeed powerful--the trick is to get them to work FOR us instead of against us. Do your homework, make changes gradually over time, trust your instincts. And remember that it's always wise to have someone you trust give you feedback about how they think you're being affected by a new med, especially if you're not sure how you're feeling!