November 13, 2019 “Working on Us” Week #23 Mental Health Blogging Community-Mental Health Series, Topic: Medications

Help Break The Stigma Surrounding Mental Health

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Question Prompt:

1. When you first were diagnosed with your mental illness/disorder, did it take a while to get used to your medications that were prescribed to you?  If you answer the question, (YES), How did you feel initially?
2. Depending on how long you have been on medication, how many times do you think it has been adjusted to make you feel stable?
3. Have you ever had a bad reaction to medication?
4. Have you ever suffered withdrawals from a certain type of medication, and if so… What type was it?
5. Do you work closely with your doctor in regards to your medication intake?  (In other words, do you have a good relationship with your doctor?)
6. Since your diagnosis, have you ever tried to not take medication and see if you can handle your symptoms of mental illness/disorders on your own?  If so, how did that work out for you?
7. Tell us briefly how medication has affected your life?

My Answers:

1. When you first were diagnosed with your mental illness/disorder, did it take a while to get used to your medications that were prescribed to you?  If you answer the question, (YES), How did you feel initially? I started taking anti-depressants at 21 before I got the correct diagnosis of bipolar disorder at 25. Once I started taking the bipolar meds the side effects were nearly unbearable. Uncontrollable tremors from lithium, dry mouth, exhaustion to name just a few.
2. Depending on how long you have been on medication, how many times do you think it has been adjusted to make you feel stable? I’ve taken medication for 22+ years. The changes have been innumerable. I can’t even begin to list all of the meds I’ve taken over the years. At one point, I took 8 different medications daily for bipolar and at this point, I take only one. I’ve taken only Trileptal for many, many years now. I use Trazadone for sleep as needed.
3. Have you ever had a bad reaction to medication? YES!!! I’ve had dangerous rashes. I’ve been lithium toxic. Migraines, nausea to name a few. I’ve had bad reactions to nearly ALL of the anti-psychotic medications and most of the mood stabilizers. My body rejects nearly all psychotropic meds.
4. Have you ever suffered withdrawals from a certain type of medication, and if so… What type was it? Nope.
5. Do you work closely with your doctor in regards to your medication intake?  (In other words, do you have a good relationship with your doctor?) Not at this point. My meds are stable and have been unchanged for many moons. I don’t have a reason to work closely with her.. and I don’t like her all that well. We got off on a bad foot. Assumptions on her part!!!
6. Since your diagnosis, have you ever tried to not take medication and see if you can handle your symptoms of mental illness/disorders on your own?  If so, how did that work out for you? Unfortunately, yes. I went off meds a few years ago when I got pregnant unexpectedly. It didn’t take long for me to lose insight into my need for them and had a very hard time getting back on medications. I also had a new doctor who refused to listen to what worked in the past and tried repeatedly to over medicate me and give me meds which I’ve had bad reactions to in the past.
7. Tell us briefly how medication has affected your life? Simply put, taking meds has given me the ability to go to school, hold jobs, have relationships. They’re not perfect, but for me and the diagnosis I carry… they mean I can have a life.

Picture Prompt:

What do you see and how does it make you feel when you see this picture?

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Looking at this picture, I see all the varieties of meds. It strikes me emotionally as the push of big pharma to treat everything with a pill along the rules around name brand vs generic. Even all the pretty colors don’t give this picture a happy spin.

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Rules:

• Write your own post and create a pingback to the original post here.
• There are no right or wrong answers.  Write in any format you see fit.  (Answer’s, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, poem, short prose…anything, and/or narrative).
• You can do one or all prompts.
• You have from November 13th. through November 19th. to submit your entries.
• Please reblog the original post in order to spread more awareness.
• ( If you the blogger have a suggestion/question you want to ask in the future weeks, please submit them in the comment section of this post).
• Let’s see if we can get some men involved in this week’s prompts, your viewpoint/feelings are validated here too!
• Plus, as an added bonus, whoever responds to the following prompts will automatically be reblogged to promote your blog site and spread more awareness!

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