Meds for (X) issue or not to med, that is the question..

Post Reply New Topic

So, I seem to be fortunate enough to exist, without any medication/drugZ at all. This means currently that I have not drunk tea or coffee even for 10 days. They never really affected me anyway.

I wish I could treat the following issues.
Apathy
Avolition
Anxiety
Social phobia
Phone phobia
General Avoidance, like avoidant personality
over reaction to negative events
Procrastination
Self conscious/over-aware
Getting ahead of conversation/jumping to conclusions.
Excessive reponsive to criticism
Getting animated whilst trying to make a point in conversation
Easily frustrated

Also, looking at being in the ASD with ADD as a side order.

So, I look at the drugs available and I think hmmm all controversial, some nasty side effects, and always at least some side effects, maybe even some permanent negative effects.

I wonder if I should continue to avoid all drugs and just exist like I do, not that it's very satisfying or productive, whilst trying to fit somewhere in employment and life.


Any thoughts please?

Personally, I believe it best to keep things that way. Medications can mask or suppress symptoms, but they do not really treat any underlying problem. So, I just keep doing my best to move on along in life and deal with things as best I can whenever they become more troublesome than usual.

Self therapy. I've made my AS and how it affects me one of my new obsessions. I think about it all the time and can't stop, and surprisingly it helps. When I encounter uncomfortable situations I remind myself that not everything is my fault because I have AS. I except the limitations I'm presented with and I've made it a goal to eliminate some of them for not just myself but other Aspies. Now I have friends and family who can't function without pills and I respect that. I myself have been on meds too but I stopped taking them because it wasn't for me. My grandfather has BP and is suspected of AS too. He had psychosis start in his 30s and depression all his life. He's 60 now and just 10 years ago he found something that worked for him and he's been med free ever since. My grandfather is strongly against meds and pdocs, now. I'm personally not very fond of them either. When I was dealing with sever depression I did a lot of research and I stumbled across these videos, they seemed to be really helpful pertaining to things I'd been dealing with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCFEDiwG ... re=related
Now please note that what's in this video might not be useful to everyone our neurology is still something that we have yet to fully understand. Something wrong with one persons brain might produce similar symptoms to someone with an entirely different condition. Aside from that this guy has some great videos.

Maybe, you ought to try meditating, and learning Mindfulness. It's free, and there isn't any negative side effects. I just started learning about it, and I am feeling better than I have in years. Meds never did much for me. Changing the way my mind deals with emotions, and breaking old patterns is proving to be useful.

This site: http://www.wildmind.org/ has a lot of good info on meditating, and Mindfulness.

Ideally medication is a discussion to have with your doctor. Your doctor can discuss the likely pros and cons of particular drug therapies, and help you to monitor your response to see if the therapy is effective.

Unfortunately, a lot of people do not have a family doctor and rely on clnics where they do not develop an ongoing relationship with their primary physician. Many patients simply present themselves, say, "I need a prescription for xxx," and then expect the doctor to hand it over. And unfortunately a lot of doctors are too quick to reach for "the pad."

(This is one of the reasons that I don't practice family medicine!)

Oh boy, hasn't this been on my mind lately! I've been on Celexa for quite some time to help with depression and anxiety. Throughout the decades I've been given various other notions and potions to help with the same issues, especially depression. While I am grateful that they have helped enough that I've been able to keep working (sometimes just by the skin of my teeth), I do wonder at times if an earlier dx might have helped more; I've only just found out about my AS in the last few months.

If I had my druthers, I'd be without the meds. At this point I don't know if the anger, depression and anxiety are the problem or, as I'm starting to believe, the result of the problem. Am I treating or masking? Temple Grandin mentioned that autistics may not need the same high dosage of these types of drugs as NTs; I've cut my pills in half over the last two weeks, so far so good. Feeling somewhat more vital, but no difference in mood one way or the other.

Psych meds have helped many people, I can't deny that. There are those who need them to just stay alive and out of institutions and jails...but there is a heavy price to pay. I've been through a gaggle of psychiatrists over the years and it slowly dawned on me that they are very much at the start of the learning curve when it comes to dealing with the mind and all the variations and potential problems!

Best advice you're likely to get. Rely on yourself, not Frankenstein Pharma. Once you start letting a drug solve a problem for you, you'll never learn to handle it yourself.

I think every situation is different. Not everybody has the same side effects from the available medications. Medications can be a wonderful thing for some people, but they should never be treated as a quick fix to avoid dealing with other issues. For people with crippling anxiety medication for anxiety can make the difference between a functional life or profound disability.

In our family we all have AD(H)D. My husband took meds as a child but now prefers not to. He has developed many coping strategies that work very well for him. He can still be a bit impusive or forgetful but it's not ruining his life. I find that Concerta works very well with no noticable side effects. I would not willingly stop taking it because my quality of life is far better with it than without it. I feel I'm more myself with the meds than without. My eldest son does much better with Focalin, as far as ADD symptoms go, but he can't take it because it aggravates other medical conditions he has. It's quite disabling for him. Middle Son is like me and wouldn't willingly be parted from his Adderal. He's able to focus on what he wants to focus on and accomplish what he wants to accomplish with it. Youngest son feels it inhibits his creativity and is trying to learn to cope without Concerta. If he can get certain behaviors under control we'll allow him to stay off it. Just within one family the meds that work well without side effects vary quite a bit, and the reasons we take or don't take them vary.

Only you can decide what's the best for you. If you try, say, Prozac, to help with some of the anxiety, and feel it's very helpful without bothersome side effects, you might decide that it's a good choice for you. Prozac won't give you social skills but it can relieve anxiety enough that you can work on them (if anxiety is keeping you from doing that). That's just an example not a suggestion.

Whatever you choose, I hope you have a long healthy and happy life.