Tag: antidepressants

Disallowing Depression Misconceptions

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Oct 31, 2011

I despise bad reporting and I don’t care if you write for a newspaper with a circulation of 3 people or the New York Times – there is no excuse to report badly on mental illness, there is quality information available everywhere.

Point in case is Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes by Danielle Faipler in West Virginia University’s student paper, The Daily Athenaeum.

Comments on Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes

This article contains some of the most widely-spread mistruths about depression and mental illness and is inexcusable. It doesn’t even pass a sanity check (even by an insane person).

Antidepressants are good for short-term treatment, but they do not facilitate with the long-term changes needed to treat the illness, and they add to the growing prescription drug abuse problem in the U.S.

That is absolutely false and I would enjoy seeing any research that indicates otherwise. As I have shown, depressed people who take antidepressants do better long-term and antidepressants are not addictive. Stating otherwise is ignorant or untruthful.

A side effect of antidepressants is hallucinations, and most of the time, different medication is prescribed to the patient.

If the number of people who experienced hallucinations from taking antidepressants alone were to get together for a party, they could fit in my freaking apartment. Yes, it can happen with some antidepressants, but it’s far from common.

Breaking Bipolar Articles You Should Read

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 20, 2011

Admit it – you haven’t kept up with your bipolar reading. Come on. I know it. I can barely keep up and I write the bipolar articles.

Luckily for you, I like you a lot, and I’m happy to give you a little cheat sheet on what’s been getting attention at Breaking Bipolar. We’ve got mental illness and higher education, mental illness and physical pain, how to tell if it’s a med side effect and oh so much more.

Articles Breaking Bipolar Over at HealthyPlace

Here is a sampling of recent articles written for Breaking Bipolar at HealthyPlace to which people have positively responded:

Is it a Med Side Effect? – What is a medication side effect and what isn’t a med side effect? How can you tell?
Temperature Dysregulation – Or Why I’m So Cold – Speaking of side effects – did you know psychiatric meds can change how your body temperature feels?
Yes, You Can Get a Higher Degree With Bipolar Disorder – So many people have written me to say how successful they have been in school. Read this for inspiration and hope. Some people have taken 10 years to get their degree – but they got it. Article includes tips on being successful at school.
Mental Illness Means Physical Pain Too – People think mental illness is “just” in your head. They would be wrong about that.
Is It Really Never the Psychiatrist’s Fault? – I’m tired of doctors acting like they never make a mistake.
Being Thankful Even When Anhedonic – Even when I can’t feel pleasure I can feel grateful for the things that go right in my life.
How to Keep Going When Medication Doesn’t Work – And for your final dose of hope and encouragement, here are some tips on continuing mental illness treatment even when everything is going wrong.

Some Antidepressants Are Hard to Get Off Of

Unfortunately, some antidepressants are not so easy to get off of no matter what you do. Some antidepressants:

Resist a taper strategy
Have intolerable withdrawal effects anyway *

People Have Trouble Withdrawing from these Antidepressants

Any antidepressant can feel impossible to withdraw from, but the antidepressants people have most trouble withdrawing from are:

Paroxetine (Paxil)
Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
Venlafaxine (Effexor, any version)
Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)

But by far, venlafaxine and desvenlafaxine (Effexor and Pristiq) are the ones I hear about. In my opinion, these two drugs are a nightmare to come off of for most people. ^ (I’m not saying everyone has trouble with these antidepressants, just that many do.)

Here are tips on how to get off of horrible~ drugs like venlafaxine (Effexor) and desvenlafaxine (Pristiq).

Antipsychotic Warning, Saffron for Depression, Polypharmacy – 3 New Things

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 8, 2011

It’s a bit of a short week what with the holiday and all, but still, there is time for three new things about mental health. Today’s three new things are:

A safety warning on the atypical antipsychotic drug asenapine maleate (Saphris)
Saffron and depression
Multi-drug (polypharmacy) treatment of mental illness

How to Stop Antidepressants While Minimizing Withdrawal

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 6, 2011

While antidepressants can absolutely be life-saving medications, sometimes antidepressants aren’t the right medication at the right time for you. Or sometimes, it’s just time to try to get off of antidepressants. (For simple depression, this is often done if you have been stable for 6-12 months.)

But the key to getting off antidepressants successfully is to minimize withdrawal symptoms because otherwise you may feel like you’re trapped on the antidepressants. Additionally, the withdrawal symptoms may get mistaken for returning illness symptoms, which you do have to watch for, but if possible, it’s best not to get withdrawal and returning symptoms confused.

So, here are some tips on the best way to get off antidepressants while minimizing withdrawal.

New Antipsychiatry Discussion, L-Theanine, Rapid Cycling Markets – 3 New Things

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 1, 2011

This week’s three new things include:

A new supplement that may help brain health and mental illness: l-theanine
A poor comparison between rapid cycling bipolar disorder and the financial markets
A new discussion of antipsychiatry

Bipolar Disorder – When to Get Off Antidepressants

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Aug 31, 2011

I try not to give medical advice here because I am not a doctor. But so many people ask me about this I felt I had to address getting off antidepressants without withdrawal. So many people with bipolar disorder (depression and others) need information about getting off psych meds and they are not getting it from their doctors.

This is the first in a three-part series:

When to Stop Antidepressants in Bipolar Disorder
How to Stop Antidepressants in Bipolar Disorder While Minimizing Withdrawal
How to Stop Taking venlafaxine (Effexor) and Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) – as they are particularly nasty to get off

Antidepressants and Addiction, Dependence – Talkback

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 12, 2011

I recently received a couple of comments on the antidepressants and dependence / addiction post from Tabby. My response to her second comment ended up being so long I decided to put it in it’s own post.

Here is an excerpt from Tabby’s comments (edited for length). If you would like to read them in their entirety, please see here and here. (Symbol […] indicates removed text. Other ellipses are from the original text.)

Comment on Are Antidepressants Addictive?

I know of people who cannot go not 1 day without their medication and the medication not be a life saving med like a blood thinner but be a Anti-depressant. They become all anxiety ridden and panic filled because they just know that if they miss that 1 dose or those 2 doses for that 1 day […]

They can’t sleep and they get agitated and they get quite vile until they get that dose or doses. They resort to sobbing, they resort to melodrama of threatening suicide…

[…] I’m talking a cymbalta, or a lexapro. I work in a MH agency and we have patients call cause they’ve gone 1 day without their prescription. […]

I am also one with Bipolar and when your entire day, or entire life, is solely dependent on whether you took your pill or pills that 1 day… I dare to say, you have a dependence.

Now… you have blood clots and you miss 1 day of your blood thinner.. then we may have a major issue. You miss 1 day of your Seroquel, or your Cymbalta, or your Depakote… seriously, it will be okay… if not, use your psychotherapy techniques. Oh, that’s right… not too many actually do psychotherapy… it’s all the meds baby.

[…] I am well aware of the benefits of medication compared to no medication for those with Mental Illness. My point was – too many people seek out the comfort of the medication to handle their daily life’s issues […] than to try and work on figuring why they are having the problem in the first place.

Folks do not wake up, naturally, anxious. Something has to have occurred to trigger that emotion and anxiety is an emotion that triggers a physical response. Yet, too many run to the cabinet and down pills to “calm” the anxiety rather than try to do something else non-medicated that […] The first reaction is to kill the emotion/feeling… not to try and figure why it’s happening.

No therapy doesn’t work in all settings or all situations but if you never try, then it will certainly never work. In that your blogs are predominately med supporting… I could say that you mock those who try to use more psychotherapy than meds.

Seroquel and Depakote are not equivalent to Warfarin or some of the other medications needed for literal body functioning. Yet, if you have been on a med for a long period of time, for example Seroquel to put you to sleep every night.. and then suddenly you miss a dose or 2… YOU WILL HAVE SYMPTOMS. That’s med dependence and you’ll have a psychological dependence because you’ll become frantic wanting your med.

[…] Many folks suffer with their Bipolar symptoms, or any MI symptom, long before they ever take the 1st pill. So, the life-saving aspect is only a “feeling”.

I know the meds help but have they literally saved me? No. They take away the uncomfortable and the frightening… but they don’t keep me from dying. If they were the sole and only reason, then I’m a walking med cabinet.

Even folks that take a plethora of meds, every single day and swear on a stack of their most revered book… still kill themselves […]

Thanks Tabby for your response. I think your thoughts on the issue represent a perspective of many.

Are Psych Meds Addictive? – Antidepressants (Part 1)

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jun 6, 2011

Before I started taking psych meds, one of the major concerns I had was addiction.

I didn’t want to be an addict of any sort as I’m quite familiar with the horrors of addiction, having addicts in the family.[push]Will I get addicted to antidepressants?[/push]

And I knew people often took antidepressants for long periods of time, sometimes forever.

So weren’t these people addicted to antidepressants?