Anyone else not on meds?

Just wondering if I'm alone in this. I tried Paxil and made me feel stoned and weird. I take so many other meds for health problems that my drs are afraid to give me psych meds. I seriously doubt the meds would help since I don't react to meds the same way a normal person does. Let me clarify I have TBI (traumatic brain injury) and I've read when someone has that they don't metabolise meds correctly anymore. My pain specialist has given me meds that were suppose to help pain but instead makes me hurt worse and anxiety meds like Valium make me hyper!

I'm just worried not being on meds and only having CBT for PTSD might hurt my chances of being granted SSDI. Does anyone know?

I'm so sorry, this must all be very difficult and perplexing. I do not have an answer to your question but wanted you to know that I have heard you and i care. CBT should be helpful, so i'm glad you that, at least. Perhaps someone lese here will be able to be more helpful. I hope so. I also have PTSD and the meds i take (ativan and clonazepam) or only for sleep. However, my PTSD is not acute right now. I am bipolar also and am treatment resistant so i understand what it feels like to not have medication to help at least take the edge off. This is where therapy is so very important. I hope your T is kind and helpful.

To be honest I don't want meds either. I told my dr whatever you think is best I will do so if there's some psych med you want me to take. He didn't prescribe any after I said that though. I'm scared of the side effects like weight gain because I'm obese already. And then I take pain meds and don't react well to them so how on Earth can you safely mix narcotics and SSRI's or Adderall? Years ago I was put on Welbutrin and had seizures. Little did I know that shouldn't be given to someone with a history of seizures and I had grand mals as a kid. Elavil also made me having trouble breathing and go numb around the mouth and couldn't move and that was at the lowest dose made! Yet I'm terrified all that may be held against me since I'm not on psych meds but applied for SSDI for both mental and physical probs. Like are they going to say I didn't try to get rid of PTSD because I'm not on meds? I do go to therapy weekly though, was twice weekly. I don't even understand why they are sending me for a consultative exam for mental when I see my T weekly unless its so they can harass me over not being on meds.

TW,
Jmo, but with a documented history of problems related to the medications it should not be a factor re your PTSD. It's quite possible it would work in your favor.
SS usually has their own professional do the exam/evaluation on most applicants. It assesses your current state of mind and other mental functions.
This isn't the same thing as being in therapy, but being in therapy will help with your claim.
Don't be surprised if the person doing it seems aloof...they usually are! They are there to do the evaluation and leave, and you may be the first applicant or the third they have seen that day...
My evaluation took a few hours as they are very thorough.

Catherine

Catherine yours took HOURS? Geez I'd read online they took 10-15 minutes for a mental exam. Honestly I don't understand why they are doing it. I've been in therapy over 18 months for PTSD. I have been going weekly or even twice a week at first for over 6 months. The first therapist made my PTSD worse even though she claimed in my notes that I was doing better. I've had 3 neuropsych evals in past 2 years done by two different neuropsychs. So it seems redundant they are sending me to a CE to clarify anything as it seems to me like beating a dead horse. I had read CE's are generally only for people who don't go 60 days or more between treatments and that obviously ain't the case for me. I've had all 3 neuropsych evals say cognitive dysfunction due to TBI and learning disorders plus PTSD. I've lost two jobs in past year for being a "slow learner" and lost another job after I took the medical exam and they won't give me the exact reasoning behind recending that job offer. So I've got 2-3 failed job attempts on jobs I desperately tried to keep. Seems like they should just approve it. How much more proof of disability could they need? Yeah the person they are sending me to for the CE does only exams for SS, DDD, Medicaid, etc. That's all she does. My T knows her though and says she's a pretty ok person though. I'm still scared. I have trouble talking to people anyways. I'm scared to death of my SS caseworker.

Mine started at 9 am, break for lunch, stopped around 2 pm.
'Course with our histories being different...they may have more info on you than what they did with me.

It sounds like everything will go in your favor, TW.
I was fortunate and was approved the first time; I hope your claim is also.

Catherine

Catherine, can I ask were you out of work a long time before you applied? How long did it take before they made a decision? I've got serious medical problems too to the point it does almost look ridiculous once I listed them al. But its all interrelated as in autoimmune illness causes arthritis, difficulty walking, breathing problems. Then there's the head injury which causes cognitive probs, but I was apparently born with learning/developmental disabilities on top of that. So it looks like malingering or somatoform except I've had testing recently that the neuropsych ruled out both and that I'm truly sick. Plus I have x-rays that show arthritis and blood test that prove the autoimmunity. The particular autoimmunity I have is suppose to be on something called fast track that is suppose to get automatically approved so why haven't they then. What also surprised me was how they haven't scheduled a medical CE but instead a mental one though I have had more consistent mental health care. The medical is sporatic because there is no treatment for the autoimmune other than pain management ie: just make the patient comfortable till the disease kills them. My case is so complicated I fear they might think I was making it up. Except my drs do indicate I have serious medical problems. I just feel like I am under the gun cause I don't want to end up on the streets. My family thousands of miles away seem to not think anything is wrong with me though I can barely even walk up the stairs last time I saw them and they had to carry my luggage and roll me in wheelchair or else I used a cane. But my dad just treats me like dirt that I should just pull myself up by the bootstraps because he's so old and still working so he thinks I should. He's not acting even the least bit concerned now that they think I might have thyroid cancer and am going in for a RAI-U test this week. Sorry I'm rambling. Just got a lot on my mind.

Catherine, can I ask were you out of work a long time before you applied? How long did it take before they made a decision?
TW, I was out on private disability for nearly a year then was approved...the income from the disability ins had to be repaid once my retro payment from the SSA was paid.
From the time I made my initial claim to it being approved was about nine months.
I was thoroughly prepared, too.
I've got serious medical problems too to the point it does almost look ridiculous once I listed them al. But its all interrelated as in autoimmune illness causes arthritis, difficulty walking, breathing problems. Then there's the head injury which causes cognitive probs, but I was apparently born with learning/developmental disabilities on top of that. So it looks like malingering or somatoform except I've had testing recently that the neuropsych ruled out both and that I'm truly sick.
((TW)) if hugs are all right
No it does not look like you are malingering. Period.
You've made every attempt to work, and you cannot. There is no shame to this happening...you've no control over it.
BTW, when I was going through the process, I documented everything I could not do. I was honest about what I had tried, what didn't work...but especially what didn't work.
Like you, my CBIs and the TIAs limited me in many ways
Plus I have x-rays that show arthritis and blood test that prove the autoimmunity. The particular autoimmunity I have is suppose to be on something called fast track that is suppose to get automatically approved so why haven't they then. What also surprised me was how they haven't scheduled a medical CE but instead a mental one though I have had more consistent mental health care. The medical is sporatic because there is no treatment for the autoimmune other than pain management ie: just make the patient comfortable till the disease kills them. My case is so complicated I fear they might think I was making it up. Except my drs do indicate I have serious medical problems.
If they already have copies of your medical records and tests, but not sufficient mental ones it gives them more reason to investigate it. It's gives them a better picture of your condition.
TW, they don't do it to be crappy...it's done in order to weed out people who are working the system, or trying to. Even at that, there are people who do slip past them.
I just feel like I am under the gun cause I don't want to end up on the streets. My family thousands of miles away seem to not think anything is wrong with me though I can barely even walk up the stairs last time I saw them and they had to carry my luggage and roll me in wheelchair or else I used a cane.
Jmo, and I offer my apology if I offend you.
Screw them. You know your body, your mental health, your limitations...don't second guess yourself based on their ignorance. They do not see the daily struggle that is your life.
But my dad just treats me like dirt that I should just pull myself up by the bootstraps because he's so old and still working so he thinks I should.
Don't let him live in your head rent free, TW.
His situation and yours is entirely different. What health problems, in what combination and with what meds, is he taking or has taken--nothing like yours, right?
I know it hurts when he cannot...or will not accept your situation...it is no reflection on your worth, TW. Please separate those two things.
No one should be defined by anyone else, and no one should be defined by their disabilities. We are made up of many wonderful things.
Don't cheat yourself. You are a good person, doing the best you can, if others cannot accept that then let them go...
He's not acting even the least bit concerned now that they think I might have thyroid cancer and am going in for a RAI-U test this week.
Well, you have my concern and the concern of others here at PC. We can't take the place of "blood family" but we are still a family.
You have our support and we do care...so keep us posted, ok?
My niece had something similar and her endocrinologist is monitoring her, but they do not think it is cancer.
My best wishes for it to be negative...
Sorry I'm rambling. Just got a lot on my mind.
Ramble away...it's what I do when I've a lot on my mind.
It's part of being human, I think.

Catherine

Thanks Catherine. I really appreciate your kind words and reassurance. I would give you a hug in person if that was ok. I like hugs to from friendly people. I think I'm just in anxiety overload mode living alone with fear of how to pay rent, etc. I know SSA has to weed out the phoneys. Geez I honestly kinda wonder myself about some of the people I know who are on it yet are so freakin active physically, they work out multiple times a week, do volunteer work and have such a busy social calendar they are too busy to speak on the phone 5 minutes with me but want to meet me for dinner if they can find an opening in their calendar. Geez! I get worn out after 15 minutes of grocery shopping and pay for it for several days afterwards for even walking that much. So I think I am maybe overly sensitive because I think it should be readily apparent to SSA that I truly am severely disabled. I talked about this to my neuropsych about the whole somatizing (sp?) thing and he said "Good Lord it was apparent to me when you walked in that you can barely even walk with a cane".

Hello TrespassersWill

Me? I also have TBI as well as PTSD and MPD as well as a few other issues. But to answer you question. My doctors took me off of everything because i was getting sicker on them then without them. So i do art and music and work out for the most part. I am watched 24/7 so i do have support if i get triggered or something like that. For the most part i am in my studio or my art room. I am mostly by myself. So if something happens i am on video and both rooms have been miked to make sure my wife and friends know if i am having a flashback or not. I have very good folks alround me and ALL my band mates are abuse survivors themselves. So we look out for each other. I found that allowing folks into your life that has some of the same issues was God send. You can read alittle bet of my storie in my photo album. I posted a new paper article as will as a few med records to prove what i am saying. You'll also notice that i have TBI because i was shot in the head 2 times. The 2nd one blew a piece of my brains out so i had to relearn everything so i know what your going through. No meds then try working out more and start taking vitamins. get your vitamins b's into you and when you get kind of nerve. Try a cup of super strong coffee. Black. No suger or cream. Just black. The stonger the coffee the better i say. It works for me. I am not telling you anything that i don't do myself. I get my b.s and c's and alot of greens and i feel that it helps. So NO your not along in this battle my friend. All the best to you and i hope that you become well soon. have a great 24