Psych drugs: So what is everybody taking?

CriminallyVulgar wrote:I self medicate a lot. I'm a pretty big druggie. My depression and AvPD are still a secret and I can't seem to bring myself to go to a doctor, though I desperatly want to, so I haven't ever had any legitimate psych drugs.

After a while the back alley pharmacy doesn't work like it used to, I dream about a pill that could make me normal. I know it's not that simple but I wish I wasn't scared to try.

I'm sorry to hear about your fears of trying a psychiatrist. They really can be very helpful and you deserve help. A therapist in addition can give you a great boost as well. Getting a life you can handle really is possibe. It takes time, but it is worth it.

I started out taking Effexor XR about a month ago (I'm at 225mg now, a hefty dose for Effexor). It is a drug that is prescribed for depression, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. It seems to have helped some with the depression and a lot with the anxiety, so I am rather happy with it, as I don't get any side effects from it. I just have to remember to take it everyday, because if I miss a day, the next morning I will be feeling the withdrawal. It goes away not too long after taking it again, at least.

The Effexor certainly had seemed to hit a stopping point, so my psychiatrist recently prescribed me Abilify in addition and that seems to be working very well, or something has changed in my life to make it different, I'm not sure which. I'm currently at 5mg. There are also no side effects for me with this drug.

Effexor is in a class of antidepressants called SNRIs, they work on serotonin, like SSRIs, but also norepinephrine, which is another neurotransmitter that plays a strong role in mood. Abilify is an antipsychotic, a.k.a. schizophrenia medication, but it is from a very new class of them that has much fewer side effects and in small dosages is starting to be shown to be very effective for things like bipolar disorder, depression, and anorexia.

CriminallyVulgar wrote:I self medicate a lot. I'm a pretty big druggie. My depression and AvPD are still a secret and I can't seem to bring myself to go to a doctor, though I desperatly want to, so I haven't ever had any legitimate psych drugs.

After a while the back alley pharmacy doesn't work like it used to, I dream about a pill that could make me normal. I know it's not that simple but I wish I wasn't scared to try.

I used to do this as well with marijuana. At first because it was for fun. Then I would smoke to work, to settle myself down, to become comfortable around people, to give me a reason to be around people, something to talk about, then to help sleep. Pretty soon I was smoking it all day every day and it went way down hill.

And your right, the "back alley pharmacy" (awesome name) doesn't seem so to work after a while.

Although weed didn't help with any of my problems, I actually had a few quite therapeutic psychedelic trips on shrooms and once on 4-Aco-DMT (gets metabolised into the same thing shrooms does: psilocin).

But other than that I'm not any meds. I went to a doctor in the spring for depression (even though I've always been depressed, but it had gotten worse) and they gave me the good old Prozac. Didn't really do anything for my depression but helped with my social anxiety, and oddly, it got rid of my intense discomfort I feel around people. I felt at ease just being in the presence of others which is something I'd never felt before. I could sit by someone in class without feeling terrible. After a few weeks I stopped taking it. It also gave me highs and a lot of somnolence.

Glad to hear your meds are working Tujjen, gives me a bit of hope that something can be done to fix me. Maybe someday I'll actually go see a doctor.

Thats the same way I started with marijuana, Iron Angel. When I was really young I did it because it was fun, as I got older and my AvPD developed more I did it because being sober sucked. It's pretty much at the point where I simply despise reality and any chemical induced stupor is awesome because my problems don't seem so bad when I'm too ###$ up to remember I have them.

Thanks, and I hope you do manage to find yourself something that works with a doctor too.