[hamed_online]

what happened to your voices after taking the meds? did they finally disappear completely ?
did it change your life or your personality?
i expect a lot from the med...
please tell me what meds your on and how long did it take for them to wok.
thanks a lot.

[newtus]

medication changes my personality.
i become an invalid. literally.
i go from having a healthy amount of energy but "bad thinking"
to...
...
.....someone who doesnt talk. i become physically slow. i drool.
seriously.
that is no joke.

[pjr1338]

Have taken many meds! have been bp for thirty years. when the meds took away my hypomania i was crushed, until i realized everyone else did not see me as thought they did (life of party...)

[fishsandwich]

My voices didn't disappear, they just became more faint (and angrier). I was on the drugs for uhm . . four or five years, I can't remember - they never worked for me.
I was really sedated though, so I didn't care if I was hearing voices. (I would hardly have cared or noticed if I was about to be hit by a bus, though, I was so sedated.)

But your mileage may vary, obviously. Everyone's does. It's so personal and uncertain, nobody can be sure if the drugs will help you or not (or if you'll want them) until you try them -- and you might have to try several. One public person (off the top of my head) who claims she was helped by her drugs is Elyn Sacks, author if The Centre Cannot Hold.

[fishsandwich]

Originally Posted by newtus

.....someone who doesnt talk. i become physically slow. i drool.
.

That's how I became! Eugh. So much drool. See also: urinary incontinence.

[newtus]

i drool as it is

8 pence

[Tsunamisurfer]

Originally Posted by hamed_online

what happened to your voices after taking the meds? did they finally disappear completely ?
did it change your life or your personality?
i expect a lot from the med...
please tell me what meds your on and how long did it take for them to wok.
thanks a lot.

Solian took a 6 weeks to calm a mixed episode, then left me emotionally flat and with horrible avolition.

My voices stopped completely as long as I was on neuroleptics, which usually took about 3 days to work for me.
I was on Zyprexa, Invega, and Seroquel at different times.
The clashing, crashing din of bewildering noises around me became tolerable and it took louder noises to startle me.
It changed me outwardly. I slowed down even more, and interacting with other people became more difficult. My body and mind felt lifeless. I experienced more dissociation symptoms than before. I felt like I was watching the world through an out of focus TV set - a kind of virtual reality experience. I felt trapped inside a body that wouldn't function. I became emotionally very flat. I put on weight rapidly. My cognitive functioning (attention span, ability to read, working memory) seemed to worsen, rather than improve.
The sense of arbitrary things around me having unfathomable psychic meaning seemed to lift.

Interestingly, the one drug that seemed to help with the psychic agony I was in (while in hospital) was Ativan, but because it is so addictive and has a short effective life before one develops tolerance to it, I chose not to continue taking it after the first day.

[hamed_online]

you people just disappointed me with the drugs...
so i shall say: we must go to hell! there is no cure!

[hamed_online]

but living with the voices is not easy...
what should i do?

[fishsandwich]

Originally Posted by hamed_online

but living with the voices is not easy...
what should i do?

Well, nobody can tell you want you should do, but they can tell you what you might try. You might try drugs to see if they work for you; or you might ask around here for ways other people have coped without drugs. Or you might go see mental health professionals and seek their advice.

[KUREHA]

That's why you shouldn't take meds

It starts 1:50

[newtus]

i know for a fact i dont remember 90% of stuff in the past 3 years.
BECAUSE of antipsychotics.
i literally slept my life away

[costello]

Originally Posted by hamed_online

you people just disappointed me with the drugs...
so i shall say: we must go to hell! there is no cure!

I'm sorry you're having a hard time, hamed. Medications do work for some people. Others find they can cope without them. Still others use a combination of medication and coping skills to manage.

I'm not sure what kinds of mental health services are available in Iran. Do you have talk therapy, or is it only medication?

[KUREHA]

It's why you have to stay clear.

Gerard (from the interview) that man is my hero and he knows what he is talking about.
I did have another hero - but she is no longer with us

[newtus]

that reminds me how i use to look up to an actress.
brittany murphy but then she died at 36 or something.
then her husband died 6 months later.
blew my mind. she died 2 days before christmas 2009.

she just was a mysterious actress...quiet..not like most..
think she had a drug problem..but she played a lot of
characters with mental illness in movies and i had watched
them since i was 13. i felt so sad...
i know its dumb right..

[newtus]

hey...i drew the picture in my avatar...
with a crayon..
from the hospital.

also wrote a lot of poems..

like..

fields of staples color my world
green pastures of noodles sacrifice my land
pastry green sulky flowers ruin my best interest
7 times over i pull over the skin of my neck
pail winter severes my brain
to see signals rule over and compromise my ability to think
i cant stand power plays to buy over brainwashing

[KUREHA]

I remember her and it's not dumb.

I like the pic

I can only creatively think with certain songs - I like poems that have a meaning - like songs as well - not just in it for the money and fame.

[newtus]

yea...as for my poem..
well i was in the hospital..so i have no idea what it means..
i didnt sleep for 3 days straight. barely ate.
then i wrote poems in my hospital room.

[KUREHA]

It's your ideas flowing - it will always relate to that specific time in your life.

I hate hospitals as well

[newtus]

HAHA
i hate them yea
but i mean. i came in with a psychosis from no sleep and no eating.

[hamed_online]

Originally Posted by costello

I'm sorry you're having a hard time, hamed. Medications do work for some people. Others find they can cope without them. Still others use a combination of medication and coping skills to manage.

I'm not sure what kinds of mental health services are available in Iran. Do you have talk therapy, or is it only medication?

yes there is a counselor i have sessions with. but its still difficult!!

[costello]

Originally Posted by hamed_online

yes there is a counselor i have sessions with. but its still difficult!!

It probably is going to be difficult. Difficult isn't the same as impossible, though. Just keep trying.