To take drugs or not.
I was on Bipolar meds. for 14 years and decided to go off them 3 months ago as most of them were not working very well for me. I was okay for a couple of months but I'm now so depressed and anxious that it's difficult for me to just get through the day.
I'm seeing a new Psydoc on Monday and can't decide whether or not I should go back on meds. I've read some of what Dr. Peter Breggin has to say about drugs, and I've tried many alternative treatments such as acupunture, meditation, bio-feedback, cognitive behavioral threapy, vitamin and fish oil therapy, walking, eating right, but none of these alternative methods has helped any. So what to do next? I'm not sure, but I don't want to feel like this for the rest of my life.
Also, when I mentioned Peter Breggin and his point of view on taking drugs my doctor's reply was "Dr. Breggin is getting paid tons of money to testify in court for people that have been harmed by these drugs."
This may be true, and many people have been harmed by some of these drugs, but what about the people who have been saved by psy. drugs?
As mentioned before I've tried many of the things that Dr. Breggin suggests, but I'm still depressed, what does he do with patients that cannot get out of their depressed states by talk therapy etc. I could talk until I'm blue in the face and I would still be depressed.
Anyway, thanks for listening.
Thanks
there is no other way than meds as a first line defense, be very careful with these alternative methods, and supplements..if they were all so great your pdoc would gladly recommend this methods, but unfortunately as of yet there is just not enough solid evidence that proves this. stay on your meds, try things like meditating and relaxation techniques..but adherence to meds is , well for me anyway.. my first line of treatment and when i do go of my meds, i believe i am great, what i dont realize this is the sick me talking, not the well me, everyone is different, and copes with there disease in different ways..but i have never heard anything good coming out of stopping meds.
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Hi,
Thanks for your input, I have BipolarII and one of the problems with drugs for me anyway is that my doctor has never found a combination that works well for me.
Hopefully my new doctor will have some other ideas.
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I cannot imagine stopping meds - I did it once and was completely incapacitated. Having said that, I am still trying, after 11 years, to find the right combination of meds. Granted, I spent many of those years drinking, which certainly affected the efficacy of many of those combinations. Still, I agree that it is very hard to be a good judge of whether are not you are "fine" when you go off of your meds. Like I said, I just stopped functioning when I tried, but I do know that often, the best judge of a bipolar person's mental state is someone else.
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i think i may have bipolar,my symptoms are bipolar,however i do not have insurance and have no way to afford to even see a doctor,i am 53 and see no reason to keep fighting to live my life is miserable,i can hardly stand it anymore.i am so tired of fighting
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my wife just had a doctor to tell her she is bipolar. She is 33 yrs. old and had smoked pot since she was 16, but quit because of our daughter, she is 9. My wife quit when she started asking questions, and because of it being against the law. she is on seroquel but I don't like what it has done to her, she is just not herself,they should change the law to allow for this, it is the only drug that has made here level.
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