meds,meds,meds

[Paz]

 I take lithium, geodon, klopnopin, lyrica, vicodin for pain, and a thyroid medication.  Sometimes, when I am counting out my pills, and putting them in my pill box, I hold the pill box in my hand and I look at them.  It is a lot of pills to take everyday.  I think to myself, this is the way that it has to be for the rest of my life if I want to try to function in normal society.

Anyone else ever do this, or feel this way?

PAZ

[Phyllis]

I feel ya! I LOATHE taking my pills. I'm currently on Wellbutrin XL, Abilify, Seroquel, Lamictal, Rozerem, and Ativan. I'm bad about not taking my meds some days because I just can't bare to swallow the damn things. But most of the time I think about my dad and all the pills he has to pop (he is diabetic and a heart patient), and that gets me through the times that I don't want to take my meds -- and I end up taking them. So, you are not alone. I hate opening up my medicine cabinet and looking at the pharmacy that is within. 

[jtokc]

I take paxil, topamax, respiradal, and ativan. I don't mind taking my pills at all because they keep me stable and on track. I remember what it was like to not have medication and how screwed up my life was. I love my meds and am grateful to have them.

Jane

[Paz]

I forgot to mention trazodone....part of my BP med cocktail.  Jane, I know you love your meds, and I do hope that someday i will be stable.
 Phyllis, sometimes I feel the way you do, not wanting to take my meds, but then I think about my family and I choke them all down.

[donna14]

Meds are very hard for me.  I take several and for the most part I am compliant but it is very hard some days.  Most days I hate feeling like my brain does not work anymore.  I hate lithium and it's side effects but without it I am out of control.  I realize that I really need the meds but some days...
I was diagnosed and put on meds 15 years ago.  I still struggle but I do understand how important meds are.  I just consider it my own little love/hate relationship.

Donna

[Phyllis]

Donna, that is a good way to put it... A love/hate relationship.

[minerva]

Hi - just joined today.  I was put on new meds Tuesday, but can't afford to buy them till Friday.  Wish me luck.  Prozac 40 mg, Neurontin 300 mg TID, plus Trazodone 100-200 mg (for sleep), Klonopin 1 mg PRN.  I have used the Traz & Klonopin before, so not a problem, but I'm afraid to try the new ones.  Everything I've used before have produced adverse reactions, so I'm constantly changing meds.  So far, most side affects have been reversable except for WEIGHT GAIN.  Yuck!  Nice to find your site for moral support.  I need it.

[ray38]

I am currently on Abilify and Lamictal for bp, Nexium for acid reflux, Imetrex and Topomax for migrane,and Cogentin for the shakes.It doesnt bother me to take my meds, its just part of my life now. I have to wear a CPAP machine when I sleep. I dont like that.

[Phyllis]

I have to wear a CPAP machine when I sleep. I dont like that.

My mom and my best friend both have to wear a CPAP when they sleep. I hear it is awful and uncomfortable.


P.S.

I didn't know there was a med you could take for the shakes! That is good to hear. I might have to ask my doc about that one.

[Lurker]

Hi guys, I just started using a cpap and I must admit I am much more awake during the day, it took awhile to get used to it. Medication have been a god send for me I started with tegrotol(800mg) and that worked for about a year, then we had to a seraquel so I could sleep (400mg)and gabapentin(3600mg) for anxiety a strange mixture but what the hell it works. When I think what my life was like for 48yrs and what it is like now, wow what a difference. I have had some rather sever ups and downs in the last three years but I now know how to handle them. I have been in the hospital 3 times in those last three years, but it is better then being dead. Yes, this is the way it has to be for me to function in society. Thank God for boards like this.
                                                    Fred

[Paz]

A word about weight gain.....Geodon has very little weight gain, I actually lost a couple of pounds.[I'm 118 lbs] It is not like other aytypical antipsychotics in this respect. I know someone who took seroquel, and gained weight, and then they switched her to abilify, and she still gained weight. I used to take seroquel, but I didn't like the rapid heartbeat after running around chasing my toddler. It also made me bloated. Not fat, just bloated like when you have gas in your tummy. yuck. I like Geodon a lot.

[clayton]

I take lithobid, risperdal, seroquel, and 1mg cogentin--in other words, lithium and an antipsychotic--works great. I feel a little "flat" sometimes, but it is better than being manic. Yesterday I had an argument with the nurse about cogentin--she wanted me to take more, and I said I was fine with it the way it is. I won. I am not much into taking drugs to counter the sideffects of other drugs, are you? I find, as a yogi, that we have more control over our minds than we think we do--the drugs are indispensible, but wwe can consciously help the drug and move our minds in the right direction--start, change, and stop (the anatomy of control).

Clayton

[Jennie]

i've taken lexapro, abilify, currently on cellexa and trileptol or something like that. ii pretty much feel the same taking these meds. ii dont really see a change. ii guess the only thing that has changed is im crying a bit less ii suppose. and when ii hit my lows ii dont really hit rock bottom anymore. Gosh when ii took serquel along time ago ii freakn hated it!!! ii mean ii loved the fact that i made me sleep in through the whole night. but, it made me just blah....ii basically looked stoned and acted like it too. ii was like a vegtable. And ii had an incident along time ago when ii was on the seroquel, my body started to get numb and it got to the point ii just couldn't take it anymore. so that's when ii cutt myself. i'm off the seroquel now and haven't cutt myself ever since.

[Gypsy]

I take Lithobid, Buspar, and Lamictal. I have tried Depakote, Seroquel, and Zyprexa, 5yrs ago. This time, I went through every med, I could to avoid gaining weight. I finally went back to Lithium. It is the only one that seems to work the best.
I wish they made Lithium, so it wouldn't cause weight gain. Yuck!! I was at 135lbs when, i started on meds, and have been gaining ever since. Has anyone avoided the weight gain, who is on Lithium?
I don't mind taking my meds. I tried to just be on Lamictal, but, my symptoms were pretty bad. It was mentally painful.


Gypsy

[Paz]

I take Lithium and Geodon and Valium and have not had any weight gain, but I have had weight loss! About a month ago I posted and I was 118lbs...now I am down to 115. I am happy with my weight. Lithium does make me hungry, but the Geodon seems to curb my appetite, and Valium doesn't affect my appetite. Maybe it's the Lithium combined with the other drugs that is the cause of your appetite increase?
 Paz.