I'm a much more later likable person on medications than I was before them. I was more productive for most of the years before taking meds, but I attribute that to my illness being less severe back then. The course of my illness worsened. How I was functioning just before medications was frightening and on a path to total destruction. I'm not on that path anymore.

I, too, have always been the same me, but of course the experiences and lessons I've learned over the course of my life have been highly valuable.