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

[Guest guest]

Thank you, dear Ceep! This is so true. Before the anti-depressants

I was a danger to my own life. I could not have acted on those

thoughts, cause I just could not do that to my loving family, but

the thoughts were there none the less and getting stronger pre-meds

and pre-WLS. Still had those thoughts after WLS and lots of lbs

smaller until we corrected dosages. The meds keep me sane. For me

the meds were a God send...I didn't realize just how depressed I had

been most of my life.

Reba

> 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