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Old Dec 17, 2013, 03:17 AM
nanrob nanrob is offline
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Member Since: Dec 2013
Location: Kent, Wa
Posts: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimi... View Post
Before I found the med I'm on now I tried several and they made me sicker so I decided not to take meds for a long while. I got absolutely no understanding from the depression community. Either people said it was so GOOD I could manage without meds and they were envious (I didn't manage, I didn't eat and I never went outside and I had no idea what day it was), or they said meds do help and I just needed to try harder (I usually gave meds a few months unless the side effects were dangerous, but they still didn't help and made me sicker), when I said I can't stand BOTH mental illness AND side effects and no relief from illness people were like HUH??

Unfortunately people with ASD are often ridiculously sensitive to meds. I know I am. Docs seem not to understand this yet.
Unfortunately, meds for depression take quite awhile before you begin to have relief from depressive thoughts/behaviors. You do NOT need to try harder. Trying does not mean doing. I was on and off antidepressants for 30 years before a very good and insightful psychiatrist that I trusted said the antidepressants weren't doing me any good. Subsequently, I went through a sleep study and was diagnosed with sleep apnea (who would have thought my inability to fall asleep and stay asleep wasn't related to depression?). He recommended I have my vit. D level checked (you'll need to ask your doc for this as it is not usually tested). The "normal" range is between 20-30. Mine was at 8. I'm now taking 6000 mg vit D daily. And, he (we) tried several different mood stabilizers before he (we) found the one that gave me relief from my symptoms. We are not just our mental state. We are a whole body. Our entire body needs to be assessed in order to make the right diagnosis and prescribe the correct meds. If your MD/psychiatrist has not taken a complete medical/mental history I suggest you insist they do. Last month I met with my GP to go over all my meds to ensure one wasn't having an adverse reaction due to another one. Prior to meeting with him I signed an authorization for my psychiatrist and him to share information. Both need professional information in order to prescribe the proper meds for you. They cannot and should not prescribe meds based on just the info you tell them. As much as we believe we are honest in what we tell our docs, they read between what we tell them and what clinical tests reveal. My best wishes for you. Been there, done that for over 30 yrs. So thankful to my doc and psychiatrist.