posted September 04, 2016 08:33 AM            

She said that I have this low grade depression, I forgot the term she used. Not this extreme sadness, where I can't function, but more of a background sadness. I work, go to school, have a house, etc. And I do have fun and laugh sometimes, but this sadness is always lurking in the back.

So she mentioned me getting on an anti-depressant. I told her at first that I want to avoid that as I see it like a band aid and an artificial happiness. But now I don't know. I'm tired of being sad often.

posted September 04, 2016 09:41 AM            

I take a medication that's really a "mood stabilizer". Rather than what most think of as anti-depressant. Now that said. I think that there's a lot of misconceptions.

- "they don't work".

No, they do. The trouble is finding one that works for you. It's not a perfect science that is 100% known but there's been success. I know that I went through a lot of misdiagnosis and wrong medications until I found the right one for me. So in a lot of cases I think people might "give one a try" thinking it's "one size fits all". Not so. Like I said, sometimes you have to remain open, communicate every last detail of how you feel with and without medication to a person that's in charge of helping you.

- "it's artificial happiness"

No. Also not true. I think a lot of people believe that these medications "dull" you or introduce some kind of robotic euphoria. Also not true. In my experience and the experience of some others close to me it has felt like the chains were cut loose. It feels like I can really enjoy myself, my life. I'm a better friend, a better spouse, a better coworker. It's about finding the right dose. If a doctor were to "load you up" with a lot then yes, you could experience a profound dullness or other such things. In my experience that's not the case. My doctor and many others take the side of caution. Prescribing the smallest dose that proves to be effective for you. I've had to make an adjustment for the summer months. (My most troubling time). Then come autumn I will return to the lower dose as it seems to do well. All because I communicated this to my doctor, earlier this summer.

- "all you need is exercise, meditation, reiki healing, etc"

posted September 04, 2016 10:10 AM            

I really actually don't know how mild it is. Sometimes it feels very strong. It just seems that I am more sad than happy and I'm over it.

I guess my biggest concern is it changing who I am. I hate being sad, but I don't want to be a different person, just happier.

posted September 04, 2016 10:38 AM            

If it is medicated, the root stays and simmers.

This is the same with traditional/allopathic (sp)medicine.

The cut off the symptom and pronounce a cure *sigh*

I could have been diagnosed with many things if I went to shrinks b/c that is what they DO.

To me, my problems( and most everyone's lol) are spiritual, at the root.

However, that being sad, don't let anyone make you feel badly about your self or your choices

These threads can turn into nasty mud throwing.

If they do, we can close them or you can ignore.

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posted September 04, 2016 10:59 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Ami Anne:
I feel depression is a CALL from you to you that something is wrong.

If it is medicated, the root stays and simmers.

This is the same with traditional/allopathic (sp)medicine.

The cut off the symptom and pronounce a cure *sigh*

I could have been diagnosed with many things if I went to shrinks b/c that is what they DO.

To me, my problems( and most everyone's lol) are spiritual, at the root.

However, that being sad, don't let anyone make you feel badly about your self or your choices

These threads can turn into nasty mud throwing.

If they do, we can close them or you can ignore.

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Where do I go for this? Who do I look for? I would like try other things before going the route of medicine.

posted September 04, 2016 11:15 AM            

You know my story.

I should be in a mental institution, not that I am not mental

You glorify God when you OVERCOME

You can email me and we can talk more.

Click on my e mail in any Forum I mod and put it in your own e mail as my address and send it.

That is what I do.

Would LOVE to hear from you, K!

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posted September 04, 2016 03:18 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by DopGang:
The last time this discussion came up it blew up into an ugly argument. The two others besides me are unregistered now. Not that another can't break out.

I take a medication that's really a "mood stabilizer". Rather than what most think of as anti-depressant. Now that said. I think that there's a lot of misconceptions.

- [b]"they don't work".

No, they do. The trouble is finding one that works for you. It's not a perfect science that is 100% known but there's been success. I know that I went through a lot of misdiagnosis and wrong medications until I found the right one for me. So in a lot of cases I think people might "give one a try" thinking it's "one size fits all". Not so. Like I said, sometimes you have to remain open, communicate every last detail of how you feel with and without medication to a person that's in charge of helping you.

----
Listen to your intuition. What does your gut tell you?
All I'm saying is this: I think it's unwise to close the door on any form of help. Keep an open mind to accept whatever help within reason. Follow your instinct.[/B]

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Exactly. Especially that there is no "one size fits all" solution. It has to be tailored to you. And you have to commit to monitoring its effects closely.

Went through this with my sort-of ex. After a long time of increasingly agonizing experiences, he went in for a consultation and got diagnosed with bipolar. That's just step zero. Getting a handle on it is a whole other thing. Took over a year and half to find the right combination of meds. I think Dop, I'd asked you way back about your meds & related experiences. That was when we were still trying to figure out what works. Now he is on a combination of anti-depressant + mood stabilizer that does work for him.

There's another situation I'm dealing with right now involving a friend. But that went way south so I don't think it'll help you.. Also don't feel like talking about it just yet.

posted September 04, 2016 04:52 PM            

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posted September 04, 2016 07:41 PM            

I'd say check your body, but even that might not work. I know a guy who went to a medical doctor to get his thyroid checked as his energy level and mood was low but the doctor simply peddled a psyche med (wonder what the doctor's cut was?). It made it worse, and had the proper blood tests been done then they'd have known it. And that was a medical doctor when the guy didn't even want a psyche med, but made the mistake of trusting his MD.

That's the USA for you, if you need it but can't afford it then you're screwed, but if you can afford it then they'll try to sell it to you whether you need it or not. Also, it's legal to peddle this stuff to you on the TV, whereas in most other nations it's not.

I've lost track of how many horror stories I've heard of people on these meds. As just one (of many!) examples, a friend of mine shared how when she was a kid that her mother shrieked at her to get away and locked herself in her room until an ambulance came to take her away. Later her mother said it was the new psyche med that she had started that was compelling her to kill her kids, and when she explained it to the 911 operator, she was asked if she started new psyche meds, and when she listed it she was told, "Yeah, sometimes that happens." (Naturally the one who prescribed it to her didn't mention it.)

More than once the psyche med industry has squashed reports, from school shooters to the woman who drowned her children one by one. All had problems, it's true, but once they started the psyche meds then they went downright psychotic. It would be mentioned in the news at first (though just in passing) and then suddenly it (that the person had just started psyche medications that were altering their brain chemistry) wasn't referenced at all. It happened so consistently that I stopped thinking it was a coincidence.

Someone else I know told me that she tried psyche meds to get through college, but it didn't really help her. She didn't feel as sad, but she didn't feel much of ANYTHING. Interesting enough, she'd cry and didn't even know why (she didn't feel bad at all when she did, in fact she felt nothing). It was also screwing up her schoolwork as she couldn't concentrate. She finally dropped the psyche meds and switched to cocaine (seriously!) and that actually worked! (And yes, she graduated that school and now getting advanced training with job opportunities, all years later. I didn't ask if she was still doing cocaine.)

I'm not saying that these will happen to you, but it's something to keep in mind. They're being prescribed irresponsibly without enough oversight. I'm sure they'd work much better if there was a lot more responsibility involved in the process than currently exists, and if they weren't treated as quick fixes.

posted September 05, 2016 06:04 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by mirage29:
Hi Koniucha, How old are you now? ...

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posted September 05, 2016 08:14 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
I hope this psychologist saw you awhile before she thought of peddling drugs to you, but it wouldn't surprise me if she did on the very first day.

I'd say check your body, but even that might not work. I know a guy who went to a medical doctor to get his thyroid checked as his energy level and mood was low but the doctor simply peddled a psyche med (wonder what the doctor's cut was?). It made it worse, and had the proper blood tests been done then they'd have known it. And that was a medical doctor when the guy didn't even want a psyche med, but made the mistake of trusting his MD.

That's the USA for you, if you need it but can't afford it then you're screwed, but if you can afford it then they'll try to sell it to you whether you need it or not. Also, it's legal to peddle this stuff to you on the TV, whereas in most other nations it's not.

I've lost track of how many horror stories I've heard of people on these meds. As just one (of many!) examples, a friend of mine shared how when she was a kid that her mother shrieked at her to get away and locked herself in her room until an ambulance came to take her away. Later her mother said it was the new psyche med that she had started that was compelling her to kill her kids, and when she explained it to the 911 operator, she was asked if she started new psyche meds, and when she listed it she was told, "Yeah, sometimes that happens." (Naturally the one who prescribed it to her didn't mention it.)

More than once the psyche med industry has squashed reports, from school shooters to the woman who drowned her children one by one. All had problems, it's true, but once they started the psyche meds then they went downright psychotic. It would be mentioned in the news at first (though just in passing) and then suddenly it (that the person had just started psyche medications that were altering their brain chemistry) wasn't referenced at all. It happened so consistently that I stopped thinking it was a coincidence.

Someone else I know told me that she tried psyche meds to get through college, but it didn't really help her. She didn't feel as sad, but she didn't feel much of ANYTHING. Interesting enough, she'd cry and didn't even know why (she didn't feel bad at all when she did, in fact she felt nothing). It was also screwing up her schoolwork as she couldn't concentrate. She finally dropped the psyche meds and switched to cocaine (seriously!) and that actually worked! (And yes, she graduated that school and now getting advanced training with job opportunities, all years later. I didn't ask if she was still doing cocaine.)

I'm not saying that these will happen to you, but it's something to keep in mind. They're being prescribed irresponsibly without enough oversight. I'm sure they'd work much better if there was a lot more responsibility involved in the process than currently exists, and if they weren't treated as quick fixes.

That aside, look up side effects on most psyche meds, and then compare them to the list of symptoms for depression. I did that (because the side effects sounded like what they were supposed to stop) and getting those meds makes as much sense to me as getting antihistamines meant to help combat allergies that warns of running noses as possible side effects.

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posted September 05, 2016 08:16 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
Sorry about your low grade sadness. Lots of people have that. There are plenty of reasons for everybody to have it, but that's another topic.

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I'd like to know more about this. I can be happy too and have fun. I just sometimes think that being more sad than others is just who I am.

posted September 05, 2016 09:09 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:

That aside, look up side effects on most psyche meds, and then compare them to the list of symptoms for depression. I did that (because the side effects sounded like what they were supposed to stop) and getting those meds makes as much sense to me as getting antihistamines meant to help combat allergies that warns of running noses as possible side effects.

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^^ Yeah, this. I read "suicidal thoughts" as a possible side effect on one of 'em and I was like..wait.. isn't that what you're here for?

posted September 05, 2016 09:28 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Elysia:
^^ Yeah, this. I read "suicidal thoughts" as a possible side effect on one of 'em and I was like..wait.. isn't that what you're here for?

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posted September 05, 2016 09:29 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Elysia:
^^ Yeah, this. I read "suicidal thoughts" as a possible side effect on one of 'em and I was like..wait.. isn't that what you're here for?

Koniucha,
Find a doctor you can trust - some will give you a dozen pills (not kidding) and the wrongs ones, or even too many of the good ones can seriously mess with you. Bottomline is, being cautious with whatever you try.

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Thank you, I will.

I think I will just do the natural route for now. The St. Johns Wort (which I forgot this morning!), exercising, meditation. I also read that acupuncture can help too.

posted September 05, 2016 10:25 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by DopGang:
That's normal. Mine say the same thing but it's not the case with me.
I tried another once and it did make things a lot worse because it turned out to be the wrong medication.
It's all about communication with the prescribing person and it's also why there are regular "medication monitoring" visits. The wrong ones can be worse, the right ones work.
This is why there is a bad reputation. It seems to be human nature that negative experience or stories of them seem to stick. Look in this thread. What stuck as the topic of discussion? It's not my positive experience, it's the negative experiences or potential of it. It's not that the medication can work, it's about what can go wrong. Mine has others that would run a lot of people off.
Everything has a risk.

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Yeah, I get that.. Sorry, didn't mean to feed into that side of things. Just seems that Koniucha doesn't know about these treatments, so just giving a fully rounded view.

posted September 05, 2016 03:40 PM            

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posted September 05, 2016 04:05 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Ami Anne:
Want to stick up your chart, K, and try to see where the depression may be coming from?

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Sure.