Is medication-free really possible?

Questions and experiences with prescription medications
LyndaLu
Posts: 794
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:43 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by LyndaLu » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:10 pm

What are the exact names of some book titles and authors that would be good to read
about as far as this CBT and TEA forms are concerned. I am interested in what they have to
offer.

Lynda

WW
Posts: 200
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:59 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by WW » Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:37 pm

Kgirl wrote:I have GAD. In 1997 I woke up out of a sound sleep scared. I wasn't having a panic attack w/ racing heart and all, I just felt scared. I couldn't figure out why I woke up like that. I have always had a lot on my plate and have never really known anyway else. Maybe the "volcano" finally erupted. I was put on a low dosage of Effexor (75mg) and it was like the anxiety went 100% away. I was on it for 8 years and decided to go off of it. I had 3 anxiety free years and then WHAM, I woke up in the middle of the night with anxiety. I went back on the Effexor 75 mg and absolutely no anxiety.
I hear so many views on anxiety and that some feel it is a chemical imbalance and can only be relieved by medication. I would like to go off of it again because I do not want to be on any pharmacuetical drug for an extended time becuase of the side effects. Liver, kidneys etc...
Has anyone ever stayed off their medication and been fine?
God Bless,
Kate
Yes for years now and feeling better all the time. You need to learn coping skills first though!!! Join a CBT group or read the CBT book by Sam Obitz and start doing the TEA form exercise everyday. They really do work if you dedicate yourself to them and stay with them like I have even after you start feeling better.

WW
Posts: 200
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:59 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by WW » Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:39 pm

bakerwoman25 wrote:How did you deal with panic attacks when you went off your meds. I went off my meds last summer and was doing pretty good until this last month. I feel like I have hit rock bottom again with panic attacks and all that goes with them. How do you bring yourself back from the brink without meds???
I can't emphasize this enough: You have to learn coping skills before you go off your meds or the panic will likely always return.

WW
Posts: 200
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:59 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by WW » Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:41 pm

LyndaLu wrote:What are the exact names of some book titles and authors that would be good to read
about as far as this CBT and TEA forms are concerned. I am interested in what they have to
offer.

Lynda
The one I recommend is the same one Egriff linked on the previous page here "Been there, done that? DO This! by Sam Obitz and Michelle Craske. It's a really simple and encouraging book.

LyndaLu
Posts: 794
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:43 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by LyndaLu » Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:01 pm

Thank you for the title of this book and the author. I keep hearing about this book so I think that
I will buy it after I finish reading Lucinda's book FROM PANIC TO POWER.

Last year when I wrote on this website I was pushing the fact that yes, medication is
absolutely neccessary and now I feel the opposite. I want to be med free and
learn the skills to change my behavior so that I can cope without having to take
the medication "cocktail" that I take every day. Six prescriptions is more than I can
handle :shock:

I am not looking back, only forward :!:

L :)

WW
Posts: 200
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:59 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by WW » Wed Apr 04, 2012 4:16 pm

LyndaLu wrote:Thank you for the title of this book and the author. I keep hearing about this book so I think that
I will buy it after I finish reading Lucinda's book FROM PANIC TO POWER.

Last year when I wrote on this website I was pushing the fact that yes, medication is
absolutely neccessary and now I feel the opposite. I want to be med free and
learn the skills to change my behavior so that I can cope without having to take
the medication "cocktail" that I take every day. Six prescriptions is more than I can
handle :shock:

I am not looking back, only forward :!:

L :)
Awesome post Lynda!
I used to believe medication was a must too, funny how dramatically our beliefs can change isn't it? I have been med free for so long I am embarrassed that I used to go on message sites and argue about the need for meds. But I am grown up now and can admit I was wrong. Funny that one of the people I used to argue with was telling me to just try CBT and the TEA forms long before I ever broke down and used them. But like you said, no use looking back gotta keep moving forward! :D

ElectriciT
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 2:17 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by ElectriciT » Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:21 am

Hi.... this would be my first post since starting the program. I managed to make it to my computer after coming out of what I call my 'yearly break-down. I'm 42 and believe anxiety and depression began tugging at my feet (grabbing me at my roots) when I was 10. What a rollercoaster ride my life has been.
I began pinpointing the season (Spring - April) when I was around 28-30. It was because that's when my husband at the time had to work the weekend to do inventory. Which made my episodes all that much harder. I had been diagnosed with clinical depression for the first time after my 2nd child. Post Pardom, and had my first experience with depression meds. Although when I was 10 and my anxiety started, my mom and given me some tranquilizers, which began a hurricane of self-medicating.
I have lost everything, my family wont have anything to do with me, I have been on government assistance for the last 10 years. I don't just feel alone. I really am alone and have a very hard time trusting.
Anyway, I have not come to peace with any med cocktail, in fact it has just added to my horror. Yet I for the first time am free from any mood stabilizers, anti- depressants for 8 months. Yet I still take adavan and clonozapam, and am still prone to taking more than prescribed some-times. I've also relapsed to alcohol many times since being 'Mentally Ill', am seeking to exist in recovery from that as well.
I started the Program in Feb. and was very excited. But I got stuck. I jumped ahead without following the steps. I really like watching the video's. LOL!
So, here I am dusting myself off again from my yearly episode... however, some seeds have had to have been planted from what I did learn because it was a short fall, without any dire consequences OTHER than running out of my meds too soon. I see my PDoc this afternoon and will likely get them filled and be just fine. However, I KNOW I have to stick with this Program, seek Support, and maintain that alcohol free attitude. I smoke too... and my biggest struggle with this episode was putting myself down, beating myself up over my addictions. I was thinking I 'should' be able to do this med free. I know that I can't. But at least I do see that it is possible, which had never been an option. I know I am going to have to take this slow. Thank you for reading this, prayers appreciated as I clean myself (and my lil apt.) up from this last fall... and moving forward once again toward freedom. Cory

LyndaLu
Posts: 794
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:43 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by LyndaLu » Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:58 pm

dear Cory :Welcome to this "thread" :) .

I am so sorry to hear about your troubles.
I am 51 years old and single and had a bad mental breakdown on April 6, 2007.
I guess April is a bad month for me too :cry: .

During the past three years I have been living off of my severance pay ( gone now ),
my retirement money ( gone now ), and unemployment insurance benefits ( 3 more
months of benefits before this is gone too ). My health insurance just expired.
My sister is actually helping to support me financially at this time until
I can find a job or until I can qualify for social security disability.

I don't feel that my family supports me emotionally one bit. My sister would offer me money before she
would let me live with her and the same goes for my mom. No one really wants me
to live at their house.That makes me feel sad :cry: . If my dad were still alive I would always have
somewhere to call my home. I know he would let me live in his condo if he was still here.

My sister and mom just don't understand the severity of my situation, that I COULD become
homeless. :? Although my sister says that this won't happen, she just doesn't understand that I
could lose everything I have. My mom is retired and elderly and living on Social Security and
has a condo that she lives in. She has told me that I cannot live with her. Thanks for the support mom.

I am stuck in a tiny little apartment in a ghetto apartment complex.
I had a decent one bedroom place on the east end of town until I lost my job due to the economy.
If anyone tells you that there are more jobs out there and that the economy is improving, they are just
not telling the truth. It is still the toughest job market out there right now, ever :( .

Since I moved into my tiny apartment I have feared for my life because a year and a half
ago there was a murder ( a guy was gunned down, shot four times ) in the parking lot right
here near my apartment. I never heard sounds as loud as those four shots :shock: . When I mention
the murder to my sister she just keeps referring to a murder that took place in the house
next to hers. When I mention the murder to her I mention it as a way of me saying that:
"I am afraid to live here". I hate having to be afraid for my own life because I lost my job and
I couldn't afford to live in my decent, old neighborhood.

I am on the Clonazepam, along with other psyche drugs.
I am trying to wean myself off of the Clonazepam. I am already taking
a pretty low dose. Have you ever tried to go off of the Clonazepam? I heard it was difficult
to go off of. So, you take Ativan AND Clonazepam every day ? Anyhow, I am rambling on here
when I really wanted to tell you that in some ways I know how you feel.

Stay strong and keep in touch.

PS: I am working the program for the second time and I am on Session Six and I just
read Luncinda's book FROM PANIC TO POWER.

Lynda :)

ElectriciT
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 2:17 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by ElectriciT » Fri Apr 06, 2012 6:56 am

Hi LyndaLu, nice to meet you.
Thanks so much for sharing. It helps to know there are others out there sharing very similar struggles. I have never gone off the diazepams, having been on them this long. It's been at least 5-6 years, using both - every day. Yesterday was so awful! My anxiety was so high, I had just been taking it moment by moment. I realized I wasn't just dealing with a typical April episode. I was in extreme withdaral, and had never experienced this before. Monday was my last dose of Clonozepam. I got to my PDoc's (and I am already really anxious when I visit him, afraid he will put me back on some physc med, or have me committed!) Haha! But I sat through the session, got my prescription and made it to the plaza near my apt. to get them filled and pick up some groceries. I had NOTHING, and was starving. My cat also needed his food and goodies. By the time I was in the drug store, I was already shaking, short of breath, but began sweating like never before. It was so embarrasing. Then the pharmacy told me they couldn't fill my Px because it was too early. I tried to argue with them - that I was just at my PDOC, that the script had today's date on it, but they said they needed an 'early release form'. So.... I took some deep breaths, and resounded to one more day, That I would call Pdoc in the am and all would be well. (He had already gone home for the day, with no Emergency contact when the pharmacy tried to call).
I managed to get home, calm down and took a couple Advil PM. I also baught some Malatonin, hoping that would help me sleep. Shortly after, I realized it was Easter Weekend, and PDoc would be unavailable until Tuesday! At this point I was wondering, how bad is this? Am I at medical risk here? So I called the pharmacy and made them aware of the severity of the situation. They stuck to thier guns and said I would have to go to the ER to get a doctor to give me a new script. That was out of the question, they would contact my mom, and we are not on speaking terms, her health is bad - she is also an alcoholic, and I would be giving her something else to shove in my face as being 'ir-responsible'. My grown daughters would then find out, and it would cause a deeper strain on our relationship. They hardly speak to me as it is. I havn't seen them in 1-2 years. So, I asked the pharmasist if I am at risk medically, because I would ride it out until Tuesday if I'm not. I told him I have no family or friends or any support whatsoever to help me. He gave in, and gave me a 4 day supply! :) So, I am doing much better. Slept great and am much more calm! My poor apt. is such a mess, so I have a lot to do. Which is kind of good because spending Easter weekend alone isn't really all that comforting. Mind you I am getting used to it, since I have not been included in holiday Events for many years now.
Hang in there, I am sure your Social Security will come, and hopefully when it does you can find a place in a better neighborhood. My area isn't too bad, but I still have had many problems over the years with neighbors that have, and do cause me to be very anxious. So, I can relate there to some degree. I was raped a few years ago in this apartment by a computer fix it guy. It was brutal! Already a sexual abuse Survivor it just triggered my PTSD into full throttle. Yet I got through it. I hope you at least get a family dinner or something this weekend. I am thinking to check out if the Community is offering free dinners to the needy. Ironic, because For years I served the needy myself in an out reach centre. Never would I have dreamed I would be in their shoes one day. Expressing gratitude for what I DO have helps. And I try to do it often.
Feel free to email me if you like eclecticsim@hotmail.com, and if you have FB we can be friends there. I post a lot of Inspirational and clean humor that others share. Would be nice to keep in touch here and privately :) Thanks again, and let's stay positive and work our Program at a pace that will benefit us to the Utmost!

LyndaLu
Posts: 794
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 4:43 pm

Re: Is medication-free really possible?

Post by LyndaLu » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:38 am

dear cory:

How brutal was your whole pharmacy episode! Wow! I know that the pharmacy has had to do that for me more
than once, just give me a few pills to hold me over until they could refill my entire prescription. I always stressed
to them that these were psyche meds and I couldn't miss a dose and that it was very important for me to have
just a few pills to get me by. I think Clonazepam is considered a "controlled substance" in Arizona and you need
to show the pharmacist your drivers lisence before you can pick up your Clonazpem. The same goes for my
Lunesta sleeping pills, they are considered a controlled substance because they are an addictive drug ?
I am only taking 0.5 per day of the Clonzepam.

My sister, brother-in-law, niece, her husband and her two kids all live in Idaho. That is most of my family.
The only family I have here living in town is my elderly mother. Since I am unemployed I spend more time
with her than I did when I was employed and busy at work. I see her once a week and I spend Friday or
Saturday nights over at her house. We eat dinner at her house and play some cards and watch television.
No dinner or Easter eggs for me at Easter, how wierd! I just spent Saturday night at my mom's condo and
we had no fancy dinner and we did not exchange Easter cards and we did not eat any Easter candy ( I gave
up candy for the program anyhow ). It was a pretty interesting Easter holiday, just my mom and me doing
not much of anything. But my mom is elderly and almost a shut in and so she likes to have people visit her.
Getting together once a week helps the both of us from becoming lonely, I suppose.

I am so sorry to hear about your rape. I have never experienced such a trama. My heart cries for you.
You must be a very strong person to have survived that. I don't really go to church or anything but I can
pray for you from my apartment. I was raised a Lutheran.

I used to have two cats, but a while back I had to have one of them "put to sleep" because she was sick.
The other cat I had to give up when I moved out of my one bedroom place on the east side of town.
I unfortunately could not bring my surviving cat with me, it was the hardest decision to make when I
had to give up the cat to the Humane Society. She was under-socialized and probably not adoptable
because of her behavior and her age. She would not have been happy in my new apartment anyhow,
in my new neighborhood. It was best to give her up. I miss both of my "girls" very much. I no longer have
any pets of any kind to call my own, although I did do some fostering of pets for the Humane Society
for a while. I quit fostering the pets because I became too attached to the pets I was fostering and then
I had to give them back to the Humane Society so that the Humane Society could adopt them out.
I had a mama cat and three kittens for 7 weeks in my apartment for the Humane Society. That kept me
busy and kept me from being so lonely and it was quite an experience! Animals can really enrich our lives.

You said " Never would I have dreamed I would be in their shoes one day". This sums up the last three years
of my life since being layed off from my job due to the poor economy. I was a financially independent person
until three years ago. I had my job for 24 years. Yes, that is not a typo, I was at my last job for 24 years.
A few years ago I would have never thought I would be where I am today. The month of April does suck in
a way for me, April 6,2007 I had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized. April 8, 2009 I lost my job.
Yes, Easter day was the three year anniversary of the layoff from my job, not something I wanted to
celebrate, that is for sure. Anyhow, I never thought I would be where I am now, in this tiny apartment
on the west side of town, a total different environment from my old apartment. My cats are gone now.
My job is gone now. My money is almost gone now. I qualifty for "food stamps" and I am using them because
I really do need them. The day I had to go down to the Department of Economic Security to apply for
"food stamps" was the lowest day of my life. I was so embarrassed. I am working with an attorney/advocate
regarding the Social Security Disability claim and it is in the hearing process now. It could take 12 months before
I can get a hearing before the courts. They do video hearings or something now, so maybe I won't have to wait
a year before I get some sort of answer. I was already denied, then went through the appeals process, now
I am at the hearing process of the whole thing. I am handicapped/disabled physically and mentally and I
don't know how much longer I can wait for this whole process to end. I will be homeless before a decision
is made by the courts. My sister is trying to help me out financially right now but she can't help me out
for a year! I am lucky to have her to help me out or I would be homeless now.

I am going to work on my Session Six of the program tomorrow and try to get back on track because the
past week I have not felt that great mentally and I need a "pick me up" as far as my attitude and my
emotions.

God Bless and Keep In Touch.
PS: I don't do that FaceBook thing, but I will continue writing to you here on the website.
Do you know how to get to the Dear Diary on this website ? I write long posts on there all of the
time, it is sort of like a "journal" for me. Click on "General Comments/Inquiries", then scroll down
to "Dear Diary". A lot of nice people are posting on Dear Diary but they have all known each other
for a year now and I am new on that "thread". I will meet you there.
Lynda Lu

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