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Anti depressants
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Ok i have a good idea what your gonna say to this but wanna ask any way.
A few months ago i attempted to commit suicide and very nearly died.
After spending a month in a childerns mental hospital i was put on anti depressants called lustral and im on 50 mil.
I have secretly stopped taking the pill because i dont wanna have to depend on drugs to make me happy.
But if i told my parents or therapists they would watch me. No one listens to me any more so i dont have a say.
But since ive been off them my mood its better. I dont have as many mood swings as i did when i was on them.
But i have one problem. I think i came off them too quick because when they started to wear off i became very light headed and dizzy and felt almost drunk.
Now every day if i get a bit too warm or move too fast i get dizzy. But it feels like an invisable person is punching me in the face and ive fainted twice because of this.
The only person that knows is my boyfriend but i havent told him about the dizzynes.
I cant talk to any1 cause theyl put me back on them and i feel like i do better on my own.
Plus they make me sick and some times i get sick. I dont like them.
What should i do. Im only 14 but i cant really tell any one about it.
Thanks for reading.
xxxx
A few months ago i attempted to commit suicide and very nearly died.
After spending a month in a childerns mental hospital i was put on anti depressants called lustral and im on 50 mil.
I have secretly stopped taking the pill because i dont wanna have to depend on drugs to make me happy.
But if i told my parents or therapists they would watch me. No one listens to me any more so i dont have a say.
But since ive been off them my mood its better. I dont have as many mood swings as i did when i was on them.
But i have one problem. I think i came off them too quick because when they started to wear off i became very light headed and dizzy and felt almost drunk.
Now every day if i get a bit too warm or move too fast i get dizzy. But it feels like an invisable person is punching me in the face and ive fainted twice because of this.
The only person that knows is my boyfriend but i havent told him about the dizzynes.
I cant talk to any1 cause theyl put me back on them and i feel like i do better on my own.
Plus they make me sick and some times i get sick. I dont like them.
What should i do. Im only 14 but i cant really tell any one about it.
Thanks for reading.
xxxx
0
Comments
I didn't go quite as far to try and kill myself like u did, and i'm not saying that ur wrong, because your not,
But what ever you do, please, for ur sake talk to your thearapist about this, they know what their doing and talking about, its their job and their there for you, yes your young and it may seem like you have no choice but in reality, u do but i would advise that not taking ur medication may lead you to go back to where you were and i no i don't want that and i very much doubt you do too. so just talk to someone please, and ask your thearapist if u can stop taking it before you do if you go back on it
Hope this helps and good luck
I dont want to take them!
Fuck it.
One thing that pretty much everybody agrees on is though, is that coming off them so fast can be risky. The most important thing is to be honest with your therapist and parents. Explain that you don't want to take them and then maybe you can seek other form of treatment with their support.
You don't really want to be doing this alone.
They will not say ur a dumb kid, what ur going through is really hard, yes, u may be put back on them but thats a risk ur going to have to take, u need to talk to some about this. I'm not telling u how to live ur life but trust me, u really need to do this
tbh, doctors are usually reluctant to prescribe antidepressants to under 16s so they must think your illness is severe enough to need them. sometimes we have to accept the advice of those who know a bit more about it than we do, of course we know ourselves best but having an illness can cloud your judgement. the best thing you can do is speak to your doctor, if you really don't want medication then there are other forms of treatment available, but as you've found taking yourself off it without medical advice can make you poorly. and there's no reason why you can't take them for a few months to get you through a rough patch and then come off them when you are ready. it's not a life sentence.
Well there's many that would disagree with that statement.
I don't think any of us here should be encouraging OR discouraging the use of her medication. Coming off SSRI's, especially so quickly is risky but then the use of these drugs have their risks too.
The most important thing is that she gets the support from her parents and those close to her in what ever course of action she takes.
It makes me feel like a freak.
I'm doing better without them. I havent thought about suicide in two weeks and ive been off them about a week and a half.
And i havent done self harm or anything!
I think im passed the werse bit and i feel Super now!
I'm still feeling sick though. Is that the come down?
I'm so dizzy! Its really anoying. I dunno how many times ive fainted now. lol
But other than that i'm grand.
not to be insensitive but fainting countless times does not sound grand at all girl
most adults are willing to listen to kids if they've got something intelligent to say. explain to your doctor (maybe without your parents there if that helps) why you decided to stop taking it. maybe do some research on the drug before hand so you actually know what you're talking about.. I would give you the pros and cons myself but idk anything about any drug except weed.
Depression is not necessarily a chemical inbalance.
Just becuase she was suicidal once does not mean she might be again.
And she does may not need to keep taking them to continue to be stable.
To tell somebody that they're going to feel suicidal again and again, and that they must keep on taking meds to continue some sort of normaility is rather unhelpful and dangerous in my opinion.
Just to present a contrasting view with what has been stated above; I have experienced severe depression and anxiety and have been on Lustral (also known as Sertraline) for 3 years now. They have improved my life immensely compared to the almost Daily panic attacks and anxiety I used to have.
There is no 'magic bullet' for mental health; I have heard references to the 'chemical imbalance' theory of mental health, which has varying degrees of supporting evidence depending on the different conditions (bi-polar depression, for example, is one that appears to conform to this type). The axiom that most broadly appears to capture the situation is that brain states change thoughts and feelings (e.g: the chemical and physical composition of your brain at any one time, as it is constantly changing), and that thoughts and feelings change brain states. One hand washes the other.
Specifically in regard to your stopping the treatment in secret, be aware that this could be dangerous as Lustral (Sertraline) does give rise to withdrawal symptoms if it is stopped suddenly after a period of taking it. The effect of this withdrawal could make your mental health problems much worse, and could also make you feel physically unwell. You should discuss your concerns with your Doctor, and if you feel like you need advice in confidence without your parents being present, talk to the Mental Health Charity MIND www.mind.org.uk. You can call or email them in confidence and they are usually very good.
Take care and let us know how you get on,
MB
I just wanted to show you this article on TheSite.org which you may find interesting and offer you some advice about how to cope with coming off antidepressants. Even though you're under 16, your doctor still has to respect your confidentiality, unless they feel you are a danger to yourself - the rules are a bit blurred at this age but if you've got any concerns, you can ask them what the deal is when it comes to confidentiality before you disclose anything.
Understanding confidentiality
Ask your doctor (GP) if you can tell them something in confidence and whether or not they need to tell your parents - they have to be honest with you, otherwise this will be a breach of confidence. Then your doctor can help you come off them safely so you don't get as many side effects.
I'm just going to move this into the health and wellbeing section where you can find more help and information about antidepressants and mental health.
All the best,
Pearly
Then it must be true.
You know what they say about assumptions?
There really isn't any concrete evidence that a chemical inbalance is the cause of depression or that SSRI's are significantly more effective than placebo. Theres a wealth of information on the subject you can find online - I don't really want to turn this into a debate about anti depressants though - it's not really the place for it.
What is certain is that SSRI's have risks and are not for everybody and telling someboyd that drugs are the only way they can function normally is not good advice. Nobdoy here shoudld be encouraging or discouraging the use of such drugs.
If you'd like to start a new thread in the drugs forum where you can provide links prooving that depression is caused by a chemical inbalance then go ahead. This isn't really the place for debate.
I have had a few mood swings. But none that bad. I did end up hurting myself though. But it was only a scratch and when i realised what i was doing i snapped out of it and for me thats a huge step cause usually i cant stop.
I think I'm ok.
I still havent told any one though.
If so thats great.
Ok.
I admit.
I was stupid and wrong.
I stopped taking them and ended up back at square 1 after a month.