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General health

Do I need Chemical help?

14 replies

Doineedthem · 26/06/2006 21:09

Been sent to docs by someone in the know as she says i need AD's I have been referred for some help following the birth of my baby and am quite pleased about it.Today ( and before i have seen the psychs) a health professional said she thought i needed ad's.I am coping quite well and my issues are all old ones...just the first time they have been outed.She said i will not respond well to various therapys until my range of moods is more middling less..low/high My mood is rarely high - i am very tearful/angry/resentful
I think that she thinks i am bi-polar which i am not Told dh i needed ad's he said ' you dont.you are not depressed'Appointment with gp is later this week i am worried about being railroaded into this and then being hooked

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CaptainCavemansMummy · 26/06/2006 21:14

I'm sure you'll get loads of different answers to this but basically we're all different and what works for some just wouldn't for others.

I've had ads before and am currently on them again, for me they work wonders. I'm also having counselling at the moment and I believe the ads help me to look at my issues and allow me to stay sane.
To be fair, I felt that I needed to go back to ads as I was having awful panic attacks and could hardly get through each day. Never looked back.

hth

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Doineedthem · 26/06/2006 21:20

thanks ccm the thing is - I am on apretty even keel but i am more worried about how nice it will be on them that i wont want to go back to normal. the minute i am on them i will be thinking about how awful it will be coming off.
i have had my problems all my adult life.
I have survived to this point. She told me i needed them.

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CaptainCavemansMummy · 26/06/2006 21:25

Who was the health pro you saw? Even if you walk out of the GPs with a prescription doesn't mean you have to take them.
Would it be worth waiting til you've seen the psychs and see if they suggest you need something? I got referred to our motherhood and mental health team who were the bees knees.
Lucky for me, our GP had also suffered during pregnancy and been to see them herself!
Have you ever had any help/counselling etc before?

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Doineedthem · 26/06/2006 21:27

No but thanks for talking to me.

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Doineedthem · 26/06/2006 21:28

they have referred me to a 'team' as they said i am outside their counsellors 'remit' I do think i should wait

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CaptainCavemansMummy · 26/06/2006 21:35

If it helps....
I've posted on mn before about this and don't mind sharing it again. I was abused by my brother for 8 years and then became bulimic for 9 years before I told anyone. Had lots of counselling and thought i was ok, until my sister went to the police whilst I was out of the country on holiday! Then phoned me up to tell me the police wanted to see me when I got home. (yes, I nearly crapped myself!)
This started off a whole new chapter of things I'd forgotten and now I'm happy, the meds work and I have the best counsellor ever.
Times are sometimes still very tough but when I look back at where I was before I got help...I shudder to think whether I'd still be alive.
If you and dp think you're ok to wait til you see the team, talk to your gp about it?

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CaptainCavemansMummy · 26/06/2006 21:38

btw, ads are not addictive

I believe some sedatives are but would not swear to this.

Not that this gives me any credence but I am a nurse so have a 'little' knowledge other than personal experience

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thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat · 26/06/2006 21:40

might be a bit out of date, but I had ads about 6 years ago, they enabled me to make very good use of counselling. It was certainly the counselling and not the ads that got me out of the hole I was in, but the ads were - for me - necessary in order to cope with the counselling. I was on prozac, quite a mild dose - and they didn't give me any miracle cure or lift, or make me think everything was ok as long as I kept popping the pills, they just lifted me enough to cope with counselling. And when I had worked a few things through I was able to come off them no problems

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Doineedthem · 26/06/2006 21:42

iT DOES help me thankyou for sharing that with me.
I am scared because they have all siad counselling will not be enough for me psychologists/psychiatrists??? I have lived a long time with my torture i am maybe jsut suffering now because its post natal. I dont really get why it all spews out now - not even first baby

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CaptainCavemansMummy · 26/06/2006 21:48

What I have learned to accept is that the brain is an amazing organ which will do anything to protect us from things we find too traumatic.

For example - one could be sexually abused then walk out of the room with NO memory of what happened. You may or may not recover that memory. For me, some memories appeared 20 years after the incidents and with no clarity!
No rhyme or reason, you just have to trust your instincts (after all, that's why we're survivors) and know what's right for you.
As TWWTSWAH says, tablets have helped me get through counselling, I feel certain when the times right I will come off them no probs.

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CaptainCavemansMummy · 26/06/2006 21:51

DINT - am just going to log off. Please feel free to CAT me if you want to chat? Otherwise i will endeavour to log on tomorrow after ds goes to bed.
CCM x

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Doineedthem · 26/06/2006 21:55

thanks for being there tonight

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claireh11 · 27/06/2006 10:15

DINT - I have another take on this as I was suffering rlly badly from depression after break up with dp, miscarriage etc all got on top of me.

I was signed off work by my gp and luckily for me had BUPA cover from work so was referred to the Priory clinic in Chelmsford, Essex. Saw a psych there first to establish all my probs and discuss treatment.

I was adament that I didt want AD's and stuck to my guns. I had a wonderful counseelor and attended many group sessions too, the ones I found most useful were Cognitive Therapy (changes the way you percieve things) and Art Therapy (lets you express yourself and problems through artwork/masks etc without even knowing you're doing it) and I found them to be truly great.

I got to the point once when I thought I couldnt cope and was ready to be admitted as an in-patient but couldnt go through with it.

I did however have a relapse a couple of years later and end up on AD's. Worse thing Ive ever done as it turned out I was allergic to them (fluoxetine) and ended up in a-shock with them and nearly died (quite ironic when you're trying to stop being suicidal!!)

You can learn to cope quite well without them, i think that AD's work for some people but not all people need them. I feel that some GP's dish them out to save resources for counselling. It just seems like the easier option for them in a lot of cases. Take for istance my DP was attacked by group of kids and sprayed in eyes with Mace. he went to GP and discussed it with her and got ointment for his eyes, as he said it had unnerved him she prescribed him AD's. I was astounded that she would do this and he obv has never taken them but she doesn't know that and has NEVER followed it up with another visit to see how he is.

Sorry to rant on a bit just wanted to give another perspective. xxx

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CaptainCavemansMummy · 27/06/2006 20:26

I think you're dead right claireh11, horses for courses as they say!
Really pleased for you that you got the help you needed - I also had a horrid reaction to Prozac (although not immediately life threatening), as they made my panic attacks 1000 times worse to the point I was almost catatonic with fear.
How are you today DINT?

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