Re: help dealing w family who pushes meds

[Guest guest]

thanks catherine. very helpful. i am a bit hesitant to leave, as i have a 6 year

old son. i do not want to keep going from place to place disrupting his life.

they have played w meds for two years. most recently, i was on 10mg a day of

abilify and .5 mg of clonazapam 3x daily for about 8 mo. (althought i have been

on abilify for 2 years, just changing the dose, trying it alone, w

anti-depressants, w anti depressenants and anti aniexty.)

i quit cold turkey. i am not sure how long withrawl takes. i believe i am ok for

the most part now. i have nothing physical to complain about. just 2 symptoms

really that i am wondering if are part of withdrawl:

-sleep disruption. prior to being on meds, i was a sound sleeper. i never woke

up in the night. when on meds, i took them at night and also slept all night.

even had a hard time waking in the morning unless i had slept about 10 hrs. now,

on the average night, i wake up 2-3 times, just because. i don't have to go to

the bathroom or get a drink or anything. i just waske up, lay restless for a

half hour or so and return to sleep.

-paraniod. before taking meds, i was never paranoid. on meds, i was paranoid all

the time. (one of the reasons i stopped the meds.)i was paranoid that people

would abandon me. people knew what i was thinking. i would get fired at work.

people from the past were looking for me. people might be following me. this has

improved, but hasn't gone away since discountinuing the meds.

>

>

>

> hi. new to group. i am in my 30s and living back home w my dad. both of my

> > parents, and sis (who is an rn) believe in physc meds. they push them on me.

> >

> > they beleive in that crap that if you are having a problem w meds, the

> > doctor should just keep changing them. well, this never worked in my

> > opinion. no matter what i try, i have symptoms which make life more

> > unpleasant and unmanagable than the bipolar d/o.

> >

> > they also believe in the school of thought that phscy patients feel like

> > they are doing better on meds and stop taking them. that is it a mistake and

> > w/o meds they are in trouble.

> >

> > i have also been accused of stopping meds just so i could drink in the

> > past. that doesn't even make sense. but that's what i'm up against.

> >

> > anyways, it is to the point that i still go to the physc. and get

> > prescriptions, fill them, throw away pills, and all just so my family

> > believes i am on meds.

> >

> > i have been off meds 2 months now and family (and physc, oddly enough)

> > think i'm doind great. they attribute it to meds.

> >

> > how do i get out of this mess? how can i get my family to stop

> > controlling/bullying me into taking meds? how can i be honest and say hey,

> > i'm in my 30s, i'm an adult, this is my choice, not yours? how can i educate

> > them more on the harmful side effects of drugs?

> >

> >

> >

>

> > ** Hi ,

>

>

> Welcome to the group. Please excuse my abrupt response but I can sit for

> a few min. right now. I'm having a health issue.

>

> Answer: . You can't control them but you can control yourself. You don't

> need them to stop. You just need to believe you are within your rights to

> do what you want.

>

> However, a person does not stand much of a chance of doing better

> mentally when living with the original family. All the problems began

> then. It's like a PTSD thing. The exposure to the family is a trigger.

>

> You need to be on your own ASAP. As long as they are contributing to

> their support they will believe they can tell you what to do. But again,

> remember, you don't have to do as they say and you owe them no explanation.

> Having said this though, it then makes you responsible for your actions and

> behavior. Work hard and get out of there ASAP. Either get a roommate or

> get just a room with kitchen privileges.

>

> You said you've been off the drugs for 2 months. I would have to think

> you're experiencing some withdrawal symptoms. What were you taking, how

> much, and how quickly did you discontinue it?

>

> --

> Regards,

>

>