Re: anti-depressants/ anti-anxiety drugs, medicine for bi-polar

[Guest guest]

Right on the money....a million dollars worth...not 2 cents! I think I am

probably on a minimal dose, because within a couple of weeks, I was

deteriorating. But had to give it the old college try. After two months....I

was ready

to re-enter the special rubber room in the funny farm. Circling the

drain...definitely. So...back to them...and onward and upward. Some of us NEED

chemicals to function as decent human beings. Sad, but true. We take care of

our

other physical needs, what's so different about this need? Guess for too long

there has been a stigma attached to mental illness, and we just don't want to

ever think that would be us. Well, the majority of us have suffered from

Morbid Obesity, another stigmatic disorder, and what did we do? Let it kill us?

NO! We did what we had to do. Depression can be just as deadly, IMNSHO!

Thanks ceep for your sage comments~

Regards~

Jacque

Distal RNY, 5/30/00

Drs. Fox and Oh

310~126

Beginning BMI 50.0

Current BMI 20.3

<A

HREF= " http://obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bandafter.phtml?Member_ID=94748\

3760 " >My B4 & After Pics</A>

> two cent's worth

>

> Going off various anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs needs to be given

> a

> many months long trial to see how a person does. One cannot evaluate such

> accurately after a few weeks. The drugs have what is called a half-life,

> they

> remain in the system for a long time after they are stopped--some say up to

> six

> months. We do not evaluate how a person is doing without medicine until

> about

> that many months after cessation.

>

> For some persons who have " stopped " they may feel better because they are

> finally on the proper dosage ( a much lower quantity of the drug is still

> leaching through their system). Other persons, especially persons suffering

> from

> bipolar disorder and other disorders that have manias attached often feel

> better

> without the medication that has been evening their moods out because... they

>

> prefer the more 'zingy feeling " as it is sometimes described, than the

> slightly subdued feeling they have when on the medicine.

>

> This is why going off one's meds is considered to be something to watch

> very

> carefully especially at the critical six months and the 1 year mark.

>

>

> For many, medications have been a mercy that meant the difference between

> being on earth and being under it. It takes an extremely careful and

> knowledgeable clinician to work with a patient to get the KIND of medicine

> and the

> fluctuating dosages needs just right. It is for most well worth it.

>

> I admire those who have been able to find their way to more health in this

> area, especially in a culture that likes to sometimes pretend that all

> bodies

> work alike, that what is true for one is true for all, that suffering in

> these

> kinds of ways is a person's own fault-- it ISN'T-- and that those whose body

>

> chemistry does not work well for them ought to somehow be able to do without

>

> assistance. It is a heroic accomplishment for the many who have found their

> way

> through this morass to life that gives them a chance to have choices about

> how

> to respond to life's many situations, rather than only one choice-- to feel

> angry, manic, panicked, or sad.

>

> all best,

> ceep

>

>