[jefftele]

i have an intense dislike of medication i cannot tolerate them well ssris i cannot take -sickness ,effexor intense sweats tiredness now remeron- the walking dead ,i'm having a rant because i recently read that if the side effects for non psychiatric drugs were what they are for m/health ,there would be an outcry, people would not take them,yet are we somehow meant to be grateful for putting up with potential side effects?don't we suffer enough?i realise i am what they call treatment resistant,if i saw a psych they would only suggest combinations probably messing me up further,i know folk who will not take meds or like myself have horrid side effects,i have tried lots of therapies but my depression goes on.......i really want to beat this illness but it seems it aten me,anyone relate to this or have any ideas to improve my m/h?

[Rhapsody]

<font color="purple"> ((((((( HUGS ))))))) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ((((((( HUGS ))))))) </font>

While I understand your fears and concerns (for we all have them at times) I still have to say that over all the medicines are there to help you and that all medications have some kind side effects and most of them stay with in the mild side of it all and they tend to go away or lessen the longer you take the medicine.

I personally take mine for the concerns are greatly out weighed by the benefits they give me, my life and my family..... for with out my 6 meds I would be in a wheel chair or even worse 6 feet under - I CHOICE LIFE!!!!

I personally feel that we all are only given a certain number of days to live and to have here on earth and I want to enjoy the day I have left and not fret over the days I am actual living in.

[psisci]

One reason why their is the perception that psych meds have more side-effects is because they are a LOT harder to come by than other meds. All psych meds must be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, and this is not easy. If it were easy it would be called the blood-brain-highway or the like.
Their are definitely whole fields of medicine with major meds that have worse side-effects like neurology (same issue), oncology, internal medicine etc.

[jefftele]

might be wrong on this one but i think in the uk 25% of drugs prescribed are for m/h that's a lot of people and a lot of profit for the drug companies,if i complain then i'm seen as non compliant and i don't know what is good for me?!

[Perna]

The side effects for non-psychiatric drugs are sometimes that bad/worse (some of my meds have had side effect of "death" :-) I had problems with antibiotics in 2003 I'm still "paying" for healthwise and they "wrecked" stuff inside so it will never be right for me.

I think one has to weigh costs; I had to have the antibiotics or die. . . I'll put up with the additional physical problems now? But I hear you loud and clear, I hate them too and frustrate my doctors sometimes not taking some they'd like me to.

I don't take meds. I don't like them. They make me feel emotionally numb.

I am currently in therapy and instead of discouraging the feelings, encouraging them to see what's there.

I think you haven't found the right therapy and/or therapist.

Here's a site I like about therapy: www.guidetopsychology.com . I go there often and like it a lot.

find some of the info that is available on how SSRI's aren't much more effective than placebo and then tell them that given the side-effects and that fact that you aren't having a great placebo response (which is to say given your 'treatment resistence' to medication) it would seem that the harms are outweighing the benefits for you.

in my experience p-docs tend to feel frustrated because prescribing meds is (for the mostpart) what they do and they don't really know what to do if you don't want the meds.

sounds like therapy for the long haul to me. maybe... you haven't found a therapist you really clicked with yet?

[Hopefull]

I like my Lexapro but I know someone who can't seem to take a darn thing. He has allergies and asthma and his body overreacts to every drug on the market. He even reacts funny to over the counter medications. I am going to guess that your body and mind is like his.
I would say that it is easier to target drugs to something like cholesterol rather to a mental health issue or cancer. Chemotherapy involves killing cancer cells and some of your own cells. So, the drugs litterally make you sick. As for SSRI's, the drugs are supposed to only effect our serotonin levels but it slightly effects some of the other neurotransmitters too. Also serotonin is in the stomach. So, our serotonin levels increase in our brains and any where else that serotonin is. This is why it is hard to make a mental health drug without side-effects. We'd probably have to make it so that it effects the serotonin levels in one area of the brain and not somewhere else. I doubt that we can do that. I wish we could.
My dad started a diabetes medication that made him feel sick at first and made him go to the bathroom all the time. I think doctors downplay the side effects of the medications in an attempt to get us to take them too. I have a friend on Respirdol who complains that her focus is worse on it than when she was on Haldol. I suggested that she talk to her doctor but she said that she would just up her dose. I think it is harder to match the medication to the client's problem too.
I hope you can find the right medication/therapy to work for you.