Raiden: I was wondering what medication have you guys used, that has helped you?

There are basically four classes of medication that might be used to treat these kinds of experiences in people.

- Anti-psychotics (neuroleptics)

- Anti-Depressants

- Anti-Convulsants (Mood Stabilizers)

- Anti-Anxiety Agents

Anti-psychotics are typically the drug of choice offered when it comes to "schizophrenic episodes". Older medications like Haloperidol are often referred to as first generation drugs; newer drugs like Zyprexa, Geodon and Seroquel are often referred to as second generation or atypical medications.

Anti-psychotic medications are very powerful drugs that have the power to both help and to harm. Side effects for first generation drugs include neurological disorders such as tardive dyskinesia, dystonia, or Parkinson-like symptoms. The new medications were intitially believed to be far superior to the older drugs because they didn't seem to produce the same neurological dysfunction. We now know they have side effects that may be every bit as disabling, they're just different. Metabolic disorders and cardiac complications are some of the known side effects of the newer drugs.

In spite of these drawbacks, many people feel that medication has been helpful to them, even life-saving. Other people find medications to be harmful and may produce such significant side-effects, they become the bigger problem. My own observations have been that

- Some people function better with medications
- Some people function worse with medications
- Some people function better without medications
- Some people function worse without medications

There is no way of reliably predicting which camp a person might fall into.


It may be helpful to know that several years back a huge study was done (CATIE) that compared first generation medications with second generation medications. The CATIE study found no significant difference between the older and new medications in terms of effectiveness among large groups of people however, the difference could be very pronounced among individuals.

One of the potential benefits of using an older medication is that more is known about the short and long-term risks of the medication. They are also far less expensive. This can be an important factor if you have to pay for medications out of pocket or have a limited insurance program.

Naturally, any potential benefits have to be weighed against the potential risks. If you should decide you want to make use of medications as part of your treatment I would encourage you to research them first so you can make an informed choice. Also, be sure to tell your doctor about any personal or family history of stroke, seizures, diabetes, heart or kidney failure, manic episodes, etc.

As you can see, there's a lot to consider before making the choice to use medications. Some people are not comfortable making use of them because of the way they made them feel or the side-effects they experienced however, those same people might still feel comfortable making use of a medication from a different class of drugs, such as short term use of an anti-anxiety agent or an anti-depressant.

This link is a very good one for people who are using medications as part of their treatment: Reclaiming Your Power During Medication Visits With Your Psychiatrist

Here are two additional links that you can use to research medications in those different classes of drugs: Anti-psychotics; Anti-Depressants; Anti-Convulsants and Anti-Anxiety Agents.

- rxlist.com

- askapatient.com

If you do begin taking psychiatric medications it's important that you not come off them abruptly. This link provides some additional information in that regard: Matters to Consider When Reducing or Coming Off Drugs. It might be helpful to ask your medical caregiver what the withdrawal profile is for any drugs he/she might prescribe.

~ Namaste