This is by no means meant to be an anti-med thread, I know firsthand how life changing and wonderful meds can be. I’m just interested in what other people’s worst experiences have been and with what meds. I think it’s fascinating how some meds can work really well and you get no bad side effects at all and then others (sometimes even ones in the same class!) can totally wreck you. I’ll share mine.
Antidepressants
-Lexapro: TERRIBLE anxiety, restless at night and complete inability to sleep, panic attacks, stiff jaw, gagging sensation. That was after 1 DOSE. My therapist halved my dose immediately and still on the 2nd day I was experiencing this to a slightly lesser extent. My body just had an immediate powerful negative response to it. I dropped this med before the week was out.
Antipsychotics
-Abilify: Strong akesthesia and anxiety to the point where I was having mental breakdowns everyday and scaring my friends, constant hunger to point of starvation (which I managed w vitamins), destroyed my attention span and made me very impatient, twitching in hands and mouth, drained me of motivation to do anything
I stayed on it so long because my therapist said it would improve over time and it did not, instead it got worse and worse as we increased dosage. Abilify withdrawal threw me into one of my most serious depressive episodes where I actually harmed myself and had to participate in a full day hospitalization outpatient program (I would have been inpatient but I refused), and causes me to sweat insane amounts every night. I still get the hunger side effect from it too even though I quit several weeks back so I have to keep taking my vitamins. Lovely.
Constant relapses and hospitalisations to the point people thought I was faking it. Eventually went bananas on it and nearly died. I’m just here today because of good luck. Thanks seroquel.
Prozac. Constant rage. I was fantasizing about pushing people down stone staircases. It’s like all the energy and emotion used up in depression was still there but could only be channelled into anger.
I read later about some of the homicides that occurred while teenagers were reporting the same effects on Prozac and am so grateful my mom listened to me and insisted my doctor take me off of it. My doctor thought maybe I just needed more.
Risperdal for me. Felt in a mental and physical hell for a few months and the withdrawl was awful too had to taper off of it slowly for a month or two.
Fluvoxamine made me think my body was so covered with germs that I could only stand straight up with my arms out and my fingers splayed for hours on end. They put me in the padded room for that one.
Depakote made me completely depressed. I wasn’t exactly suicidal, but I kept wishing someone or something would kill me so I didn’t have to exist anymore. Every time I got worse, they would increase the dosage. I couldn’t remember what was happening from day to day and I kept passing out. Eventually, I wound up in New Hampshire, but I thought I was in India and I was speaking “another language.” I lit a trash can on fire because I was cold. I know this because an ex friend was there to witness the whole thing. I don’t blame her for keeping her distance after that.
the worst for me was fanapt. it caused stomach problems from both ends and severe cramps I didn’t figure out it was the med until I skipped four days of it at the hospital
It depends on how your body responds to it. Plus if the medication is new the honest truth is that there’s a 99% chance they have no idea what the long term effects are remaining on the medication.
There’s no such thing as a magic pill I say if something is working for you without bad side effects, stick with it!
Haldol was the worst for me. When they put me on 40 mg a day I never felt so bad. It totally sucked. Moban was bad before that. Prolixin was bad. In fact, all the typical ap’s I’ve taken just plane sucked. Thank God for Geodon and Seroquel.
See this is what I’m talking about it’s so weird to see all the nasty experiences with Risperidone when it doesn’t give me any notable side effects whatsoever. It really goes to show the need for personalized medicine and how everyone’s body is different.
And Ativan has been a wonder drug from me, I’ve been on it several months now and it never gave me negative side effects either.
I say if something is working for you without bad side effects, stick with it!
in any case it sucked hard.