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Mental health

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Original poster

oh god will i cope and what can i expect??

19 replies

blushingm · 31/01/2011 13:29

i have been on ADs since dd was born almost 5 years ago - tried loads of different ones plus added some antipsychotics.

Anyway went to see my consultant today and we were talking about medications etc and i have been feeling down again since before xmas. I've started getting the feeling i've been making a fuss about nothing. He was suggesting adding a 2nd AD to go with the current AD and antipsychotic and I said - 'what about if i didn't take anything?' and he said ok lets wean you off everything over the next 2 weeks and i will see you in 6 weeks.

I am scared that i will go down hill and feel really low but on the other hand i;m starting to feeling like i have wasted everyones time and theres nothing wrong with me

OP posts:

Memoo · 31/01/2011 13:38

It sounds like its not really a good idea for you to be coming off everything if you have been feeling down.

Please be careful, even if you are well suddenly stopping over such a short period can make you ill again.

Original poster

blushingm · 31/01/2011 13:46

what if i wasn't ill to begin with and i have just been making a fuss over normal life? Could I have been wasting peoples time for all this time?

What is it like coming of medications?

OP posts:

Memoo · 31/01/2011 14:23

Your doctor would not have prescribed ad's if you were not ill and they certainly wouldn't have given you anti-psychotics. Being depressed can make you feel the way you are describing. It's part of the illness and the fact that you feel like that makes me think that you are still ill.

Coming off the meds is fine if done carefully and with medical supervision. But if you stop taking them too quickly chances are you will end up right back where you have started. Plus the physical effects of coming off them too quickly are awful

orangeflutie · 31/01/2011 17:13

Don't come off your ADs if you don't feel ready. It might not be such a good idea.

Also you might need to see someone before six weeks as you may need more support.

madmouse · 31/01/2011 17:20

Thinking you've been making a fuss about nothing is classic depression thinking!

You kind of lose sight of what things are really like.

I'm also not sure you should stop meds. The doctor can't stop you stopping and may well hope that you come to your senses. Can you go back and talk again?

Original poster

blushingm · 31/01/2011 17:43

thanks for replying - had to do school and swimming run so just got back

i didn't ask what withdrawal would be like - i was too gob smacked that he agreed to coming off medication - what sort of physical effects did you mean??

It's just the impression he gives me in that if i change my job/life in some way it will all be better and medication won't do anything

OP posts:

Memoo · 31/01/2011 18:21

Its different for everyone and probably depends on what Meds you are on but the ones I have experience in the past are nausea, really bad restless legs and feeling so dizzy I couldn't function. But the worse side effect of coming off the meds too quickly is that you would probably start to feel very unwell and depressed again, you could even end up worse than you were before.

Making changes to you lifestyle will help your depression but that alone will not get rid of it. It needs to be a combination of medication and making positive life changes.

I'm not saying that you won't be able to stop the meds in the future but you just don't sound like you are in the right place yet.

Original poster

blushingm · 31/01/2011 18:28

thanks for coming back memoo

i am so confused - i have been thinking about this all afternoon - i am starting to even doubt i have been depressed and that maybe i like being on medication as it some how makes me feel special in some way - but then how have i been able to 'fool' all these professionals?

I have seen:
1 consultant
3 registrars
3 cpns
1 nurse therapist
3 gps
3 occupational therapists
2 health vistors

maybe am not feeling down at all and i am just doing it for attention

OP posts:

Original poster

blushingm · 31/01/2011 18:29

oh and i am on fluoxetine & quetiapine

OP posts:

MattsBatt · 31/01/2011 18:33

OK blushingm, I am not a doctor but I do have quite a lot of experience of this and I just want to say 2 things to you:

You are not doing this for attention

DO NOT COME OFF THE FLUOXETINE TOO QUICKLY. Sorry for shouting. But you need to do it gradually.

Ask to see a different GP. This one sounds a bit cavalier, tbh. Ask for a structured programme to help wean you off the drugs BUT ONLY IF YOU'RE READY.

SOrry, that was 3 things and I got a but shouty. Please do go back and ask for a second GP's opinion though, before messing around with your meds.

Memoo · 31/01/2011 18:37

There is no way you could have 'fooled' all those people. You can't fake depression. You are giving yourself a hard time because that is what the illness does, it twists your thoughts and feeling until you don't even know your own mind anymore. It made me think my own baby wasn't mine, for a while I thought DH had brought somebody elses baby home with him! If it can do that it can certainly make you have all the doubts you are having.

Please don't stop your medication yet, you clearly aren't ready. I think you also need to think about what the doctor said to you about introducing another AD.

Original poster

blushingm · 31/01/2011 20:05

thanks MattsBatt - it was my consultant psychiatrist I saw today, surely he must know what he is doing -

i am so confused - i have tried explaining to dh but i can't get out what i really mean

i am scared too - what happens if i stop all the medication and it just spirals down back into the deep deep pit i started off in

OP posts:

orangeflutie · 31/01/2011 20:50

I would've thought your psych would know what he was doing but you're obviously scared and worried. I think I would be too.

Not sure his decision is right for you. Can you talk to him about your fears or see someone else?

I really don't think you're ready to come off meds and your fears are totally understandable.

littlemisslost · 31/01/2011 20:59

sorry if i repeats some other replies havent read them all.
Quetiapine will probably be easier to come off than fluoxetine, fluoxetine is in your system for lot longer so if youve been taking it for a long time it will take much longer to clear out of the system. Hopefully you won't notice too much if you are feeling better in mood and strong enough, whci I think your ndr must be of this opinion. Its normal to get a bit paniky when you think about stopping something you 'think' is holding you together but if you get too wrapped up in the idea of feeling terrible when you stop the meds then you will!
Think positive and a life without several tablets day is much much better for you long term.

Quetiapine, if you have been taking them for a long while will feel stranger to finish as its more significant drug.... and yes it is an antipsychotic but they also prescribe it for severe anxiety.
Hope this helps

Keziahhopes · 31/01/2011 22:55

Hi, gosh - tough call. Well it does seem as if you have seen every speciality of the mental health team apart from the social workers - but then the ot's/cpn's and sw's are all meant to do the same sort of thing I was told.

Do you have an actual diagnosis? does perhaps this diagnosis need updating - because if they get that right then perhaps dealing with medication and getting the right support off the CMHT might help? I saw 2 different cpn's without a diagnosis as such and really apart from seeing me there wasn't much they did, especially not the first.

Original poster

blushingm · 01/02/2011 10:53

hi keziah - i think my diagnosis is chronic depression or treatment resistant depression i am not sure

OP posts:

Keziahhopes · 01/02/2011 22:27

Well here are the NICE guidelines on depression: www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12329/45896/45896.pdf

not sure if link works, but you copy line into a search engine.

Quetiapaine is an antipschotic but apparently has recently been licensed to be used for depression at a low dose (my psychiatrist told me this, as an option for me recently). I hope you can sort a medication regime that helps you - I know on a high dose of venlaflaxine that I cannot function well day to day as on a slightly lower dose. I guess we are all different, so just adding more medicaiton is only one option.

KalokiMallow · 01/02/2011 22:30

What everyone else said, worrying that you are blowing things out of proportion and thinking that you don't deserve so much attention/help is classic depression.

Original poster

blushingm · 02/02/2011 19:39

i've cut down from 60mg to 40mg of fluoxetine and 350mg to 150mg of quetiapine................but i feel down today - i've been thinking and arguing with myself inside my head and feeling the old feelings of guilt and uselessness and the feeling that nothing will go right for me

am i imagining this because i know i have cut the medication or is it possible that the cut in medication could be having an effect already

everything is going round and round inside my head

OP posts:

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