Mental Health & The NHS

p999j

caela wrote: »

Yeah I was worried about flushing the tablets as you shouldn't do it, but I had to get rid of them right there and then cos I was scared I take more and go through the same thing. I knew if I didn't do it then that I might forget how bad it was and it was kinda in the heat of the moment. It was that or throw them all in the bin which is even more dangerous as animals could eat it.

I haven't had any withdrawal I only took 2 in total so not expecting anything. I will book an appointment with my GP on Monday so she'll probably lecture me again. Oh well and my sleep is completely off now as well, I literally managed that for one night and last night I couldn't sleep cos I was so hyper from the meds so ended up sleeping all day.

However, I do feel a lot better today, back to my usual self, although the meds did still have me quite anxious throughout the day it has worn off now.

Very decisive of you. But sorry-a fast and short term. PLEASE don't flush medication, for the reasons states above but also becuse it can have devastating effects on aquatic life. You have a choice. Whatever has had it within it's source of oxygen has not. Any chemist takes back unused medication.

Unfortunately many weird and wonderful (and some not so wonderful) do have initial side effects,some quite unusual and disturbing. (Sleepiness, hunger, no desire to eat, headaches, etc) Most, if not all, start and fade, the rest just ocassionally remind you infrequently. My current drugs can actually give me an epileptic fit (having never had one before) if I came off them suddenly. (I'm on them-Gabapentin- to disconnect the pain messages from my intestines to my brain). THEY WORK. After trying aroun 15 types of drugs that didn't.

I weighed up a permanent risk (of stopping taking them) against having some sort of life for what could be the rest of my life (chose the latter) and am pleased, no, joyous about my decision.

Keep a diary to record your feelings and side effects. Use a pill dispenser so you can remember to take the right dose, and don't omit or duplicate.

Prepare, persevere. If one doesn't work, stick with it for at a reasonable time, because, any initial side effects can be minimal compared to the long term benefit you may get/help.

I have a life again, limited, and with side effects but it means I can live, communicate and be a contributing human being towards making things better for what is a challenging world. I do help where I can.

Firstly help yourself. Persevere. And remember, that maturity (OK-Ageing) is the review and absorbtion of reality into your beliefs.:)

recoverydust

Oh dear, poor you !
number of pragmatic suggestions that you can rationalise away, but everyone in here talking with you knows EXACTLY where you are and how you feel and how easy it is to stay negative, depressed and resistant to change. Well done you for keeping it up!
If you really do exhibit the characteristics you describe then maybe you have bipolar - the sleep pattern and bouts of hypermania and your style and content of writing suggest that you have a tendency to mood swings in both directions.
Should that be the case, and you can easily research online, there are good diagnostic quizzes, then that means you have a severe and enduring mental health issue - maybe present to your gp as grandiose, verbose and argumentative, having stayed up a long time and got into debt..... that should at least provoke an assessment.
Maybe you could take yourself to A and E in the same state, they could even section you if you play it right. You would then have no personal responsibility and rest assured they would medicate you on a whim. Average stay for assessment (section 2 in England and Wales) is 28 days, then if they find you do have a mental health disorder they can section you for up to 6 months. And there is no point in protesting whilst detained - thats a manifestation of your disorder.
still you would then be entitled to DLA and whatever the benefits were then, which is just as well because you would have to try and pick up your life maybe 7 months along the line.
ALTERNATIVELY:
You could ask about tri-cyclic anti depressants, they are older than SSRI's which is what citalopram is. They act differently on the brain and some people tolerate them better. They do take about a week to kick in, and you can get mild, very non life threatening, kind of make you feel weird side effects, but they go away and then your mood starts to lift.
well mine did
You could get a self help book, there are enough on depression
You could look at recovery sites
http://www.mentalhealthrecovery.com/about/
is a good starting point
you could set a small goal every day and post it here we can cheer you on
you could do somethign nice for yourself and tell us about it
you could take yourself and your life and your health seriously
you could start to recover
you could ask for help and accept it

peace be
nicky
xx

p999j

Thanks Nicky

Nice to see bipolar explained by an individual with personal knowledge. Let's hope that more people grow to feel more supportive and caring of others in similar situations instead of being too embarrassed or self-conscious to speak. (Why are we not embarrassed about a broken arm?)

Thanks Martin for the opportunity/Forum.

Let's try to pass on courage, from a great example?

caela_2

@speedfreak

Just re-read your post, very helpful- wanted to thank-you :beer:

caela_2

Nicky, I'm not bipolar sorry OCD, depression, PTSD, but not bipolar. The hypermania you described was a side-effect of the medication and one of the reasons it ended up down the toilet where it belongs.

According to my GP and with the help of a vague depression inventory freely supplied by pill manufacturer 'Pfizer', I was diagnosed as 'severely depressed'. However, I designed a better depression inventory during my University studies and I bet should I take their test an hour later, the result would be different. You might also think when I ticked 'nearly every day' for the thoughts of hurting or killing myself, she might have delved a little deeper. Maybe she thought it would be a good idea if I just went away and has no sympathy for what she believes to be a negative person (despite that being symptomatic of severe depression).

Any way, since this was a new GP who didn't know my medical history or much more about my psychological state than five minutes of vaguely ignoring what I was saying, I don't have much faith in her ability to prescribe mind altering medication. Especially when I have a history of heart palpitations and this was one of the side-effects which I soon suffered with. Also, the ringing in my ears went away very soon after the pills were out of my system. I've heard it can be permanent.

I'd rather the GP just heard what I wanted from them. I don't want to see a shrink or take pills- I just want them to be aware of my situation if it gets worse so that I can say I don't feel safe. I want them to be able to fill in reports for things to make my life easier. I don't want them to try to help me in other ways, because I've tried that for over a decade and it simply doesn't work- if anything it makes me worse. I know what I'm like and whereas a small bad event can have a massive negative effect on my life, likewise a small positive one can propel me in the right direction with just as much force. Maybe then can I think of more permanent solutions to my problems.

For now, I'm in no state to make decisions about therapy or medication. Oh and I don't think that's true about being sectioned- for a start it's VERY difficult to get sectioned and after my friend's brother tried to kill himself, he was released from hospital the following day. 28 days is most definitely a rare thing!

caela_2

I'm rambling now guys I do appreciate all your comments but I think I'll just get on with what I'm doing. It's been really helpful to hear the other options out there so thanks everyone for their opinions

sparkycat2

zkellerman wrote: »

side effects usually only last a couple of days with anti-depressants and permanent side effects are almost unheard of and in those cases it's almost always going to be with people whom have been taking these medications for years and years on high or maximum dosages

I think some anti-depressents can trigger the onset of mania or psychotic illness if the person is genetically pre-disposed.
I think some anti-depressents especially if taken for a long period can cause permanent side effects like involuntary muscle twitches spasm in the neck and legs.
Any adverse side effects I would report to the doctor.

caela_2

Hi guys,

Thought it was worth reporting back just in case someone else finds themselves in a similar situation to me and starts lacking the perseverance necessary to get the help they need.

I only recently (today actually) spoke to a GP who finally seemed to understand what I was talking about and left the practice more elated than any medication could have mimicked. It was just so refreshing to finally be heard and she advised, without me even saying, that she wouldn't be prescribing medications as she believes they are truly a last resort when all else has failed. God bless her logic lol because nothing else has been offered to me until I saw this lady and finally, she seems to understand that until something relatively easy and safe is given a chance to work first, there is no point in endangering someone's health and mental well-being with prescription pills. It should not be the go-to option when nothing else has been explored first! Even the guidelines someone linked before say that other treatments should be offered, if not before, then in conjunction with medication. A lot of people I know have simply been fobbed off with pills as other resources are more lacking. This simply needs to change.

Any way, I thank-you all again for you advice and I will keep you all posted. I think it's important to find what's right for you and what you feel positive about- for me, this is it and not medication. However, we're all different as we've seen here with our variety of opinions. If anyone is like me, just keep trying and keep explaining your situation to a GP and if you fail with them don't waste your time- try another one! You have access to other GPs in the same practice and then have the choice to change surgeries. I went through 4 before finding any potential hope in this one and even then, the first Dr I saw there was pretty naive in my opinion.

Even if this is just a positive outcome for now, it's been a breath of fresh air!

minnty

caela wrote: »

Even if this is just a positive outcome for now, it's been a breath of fresh air!

Good for you for finding a GP who has such an outlook. It's shovcking how many patients are fobbed off with some pretty heavy medication before other options have been explored. I'm not saying medication should be seen as a last resort, but it certaibly shouldn't be seen as the first. Managing mental health problems takes a bit more work than a prescription, and it's a well known fact that more funding is needed to provide a useful service to all areas of the UK.

recoverydust

I was not suggesting you are bipolar, i am not a clinician, but your stream of diagnoses does not surprise me one little bit. With all those issues,you would share many characteristics and behaviour patterns as someone bipolar, like me. Not identical everyones pathology is different and unique to them.

That was obviously not evident from my post, and believe me - once you have a track record with a mental health team of not moving forwards - or taking their drugs, it is very very b****y easy to get sectioned for anything other than a suicide attempt.

It is actually very difficult to be admitted suicidal, hence the rise of "crisis houses" in the non statutory sector

The rest of my post was not at all tongue in cheek, and doubtless you have ignored all of it.
Perhaps you should consider why you are so immune to good advice from everyone who has taken the time to post

perhaps you would care to take a look at my diary on here

xx