Medications - what's your story?

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I'm on antidepressants for sleep deprivation, OCD, anxiety and depression which all comes as part of a "package deal" with the autism experience, according to my paediatrician.
Long before my diagnosis when I was thought to have ADHD instead of Asperger's I was on Endep from ages 9-11, then after I was diagnosed with Asperger's I was on Clomipramine to suppress my obsessive-compulsive tendencies which interfered with my sleep from ages 15-17. When I suffered depression during my final year of high school I was prescribed Escitalopram and was forced to make and abrupt switch from Clomipramine to the new medication (which both contain completely different chemicals). During the transition process my depression got worse, I was more aggressive, I slept more as I found it harder to get out of bed and my self-harming behaviors got worse.

After I finally dropped out of school I've been cutting down on my dosage during the holidays before I repeat my last year at school this year. I know it's not smart to tamper with prescribed drugs but when I take my medication I feel like a part of me has been stripped away. The part of me that can stay up until the early hours of the morning doing homework and still function the next day after only 3 hours of sleep. The part of me that was motivated to do my best out of pride and fear of failure. The part of me that always kept myself busy with a new idea or interest. What was the point in having Asperger's if all the defining traits of it that I had benefited from were lying dormant beneath twenty milligrams of Escitalopram?
I haven't taken my medication in a while now, not because I don't want to but because I keep forgetting that I even need it. I do not advocate going against your doctor's advice but for me a few days without my pills helps me get out of bed earlier and keeps me feeling less flat. The only downside is that after a few days without I suffer from shakiness and dizzy spells.
Should I keep cutting down or should I resume the prescribed dosage I was given by my doctor? I find that being put on drugs after only one session in the doctor's office without any prior attempts at therapy kind of unethical, almost as if pharmaceutical companies pay doctors to prescribe patients their drugs (now that's a conspiracy theory I might want to investigate). With some of the botched doctor's reports and treatments I've received in the past I think it's fair to say that even doctor's aren't always right, should I do what I think what is right for me or what my doctor thinks is right?

What about you?

I didn't take any kind of long-term medication until about six or seven months ago, when my anxiety finally started getting so frustratingly in the way that I talked to my doctor about it. He prescribed 50mg of sertraline daily, and it's helped a lot. I no longer get randomly anxious for no reason, and feel less nervous generally. The only way I remember to take it is by keeping it in a pill box right by my bed so it's the first thing I see in the morning.

I've gained a lot of weight on Paxil and Resperidone. I was an Austin Powers-like 165 lbs before I was put on that stuff. I have hope for the future, though. There will be a community centre/gym opening acrossed the street from where I live in March. I can't wait until March. Please open, now?

I was struggling with binge eating for over a year. I was 6'2" and 165 pounds before some really big stresses entered my life. It felt like eating excessively was the only way to cope, and I spent the next year between 178 and 211 pounds, at one extreme or the other every other month. Binge eating was something I cannot recall ever struggling with prior to this.

Not really relevant, but I am formerly morbidly obese and weighed in at 368 pounds a few years ago. I lost all of the excess weight in around a year and a half when I learned what to do about it.

I finally sought help for it and I was prescribed paroxetine (paxil). It didn't help at all and had irritating side effects like causing me to feel poorly rested on even 12 hours of sleep.

I finally saw a psychiatrist three weeks ago and part of that was to evaluate me for something that I had long suspected, Asperger Syndrome. She confirmed in no uncertain terms that I had it and prescribed Vyvanse for me for the stress eating. It was enormously effective and solved the problem right away. I discovered that the binge eating was a reaction to stress that was ultimately caused by sensory overload. I have always been very sensitive to certain sounds, but I did not realize that my noisy and chaotic work environment was draining me and leaving me with no energy left for home. When the home environment was also noisy and chaotic, it pushed me over the edge into meltdowns and binge eating.

I disclosed the diagnosis at work and have begun wearing earplugs and earmuffs to manage over-stimulation from the noisy environment. They have been very supportive.

I'll see the psychiatrist again tonight and I plan to ask about other medications as she mentioned other possibilities to manage AS symptoms the last time I saw her.

As an irrelevant side note, I find it vexing that the smilies at the bottom of the page are animated and constantly moving.

Currently zip and zero except for migraine and allergy.


My dad was anti medication for vague or nebulous reason and result. Had tirades about drug companies and no child being a guinea pig on his watch.


For PTSD/Depression I was given Paxil in my 20s. The therapist was joint for my X and I. With him doing all the talking.
My Asperger's and medical history, current events or even drug allergies; wasn't even considered .
Made my X happy because I noticed NOTHING. I was zombie, then a fat zombie. Once trial was done I refused further meds and that one. He did try and get me on Zoloft later. Army docs hand em like candy to "trouble" spouses that have their needs making soldiers unhappy. lel.


I avoid any dulling meds after becoming a mother since no one else in house was responsible to children's needs (No really No One Else... my x left my 7 yr old in charge of 3 years old overnight while I was at work so he could slip off) In a pinch I have the upper tier of my migraine meds

http://www.drugs.com/news/certain-antid ... 59418.html

I used to take Fluxotine SSRI and Paroxetine too for a while. Alot of drugs here are only manufactured in the states or discontinued over here. Either way, I could have had earlier intervention but insteadI had to wait to get a better diagnostic and female g.p to help intervene.
Judging by this new study I've posted though, it looks like some harm may be derived by taking too many for long periods of time. People could argue that anti-biotics are known to have simliar side effects, whereby your immune system gets stressed and your body can shut down on auto, because you start being lethargic.

I don't take any pharmaceutical drugs unless absolutely necessary. I use herbs and in the past have used homeopathic remedies with very good results. In other words I prescribe for myself and make my own dosage adjustments as needed.

If I needed a prescription drug I would research it before taking it and see what other people say about it. I put more weight on user experience than what doctors say. Doctors are all too eager to prescribe these days without even doing a real examination or trying other alternatives first, and some frankly are just incompetent.

I know many people here rely on medication so I really try to stay off of my soapbox about it. But my personal philosophy is definitely "do what you think is right for you." Which means if people think that following a doctor's advice is right for them, so be it. But you know your own body in ways that no doctor ever will. It's your body and your life so you should do what is right for yourself.

Several years after I broke my Thoracic-10 vertebra, one of my many physicians suggested that I accept his prescription for an SSRI (anti-depressant) which research showed, he said, "helped with pain management." I accepted his offer. Several more years later, I learned about the damage that SSRIs do while also NOT doing what they promised to people who were prescribed them for depression. I titrated myself off the SSRIs over two-and-a-half months.

At about the same time that I accepted the SSRIs, I was also prescribed Tramadol for pain management. Now, because so many drug addicts enjoy Tramadol as a party drug [?!?] and end up dead, 40-percent of physicians no longer prescribe pain-management pharmaceuticals. Those physicians who do prescribe require opiate/opioid patient "agreements" which allow them to require random urine drug testing for larger amounts of the prescribed pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs. Noncompliance by the patient earns an immediate termination of all prescriptions.

In other words, patients with pain issues are kicked to the curb in the name of reducing the physicians' liability-insurance costs and that of their employers. How nice!

My "care team" members at the ASD-only medical clinic that I attended during the last four months required such an agreement. I refused, they kicked me to the curb. No problem, I returned to my previous physician within the same network who had never required anything of me (proving that the ASD-only medical clinic was unnecessarily vigilant). But, now I am expecting the same requirements to have transitioned into my previous physician's office, too. I have already made the decision to decline accepting any prescription which treats me like an unindicted criminal drug addict. So, I am likely to resort to mere aspirin and supplements to get by.

I have never accepted any ASD-related prescribed pharmaceuticals, and never will. With physicians and their employers acting like tiny little S.W.A.T. teams with their paying customers, I like the ability to call the shots when it comes to my own personal health care, even if that means declining treatments which have helped me.

I used to be on Metadate CD and something else for anxiety. The pills seemed to calm me down, but I suspect they were causing some bad side effects.

At the time I was on the pills, I was delusional and suffering from depression. At times I'd lie awake in bed, seeing shadows moving as if they were monsters. I'd hear footsteps and other things that weren't real. Worse of all, I had it in my head that I had psychic powers and plenty of other ridiculous things. There were also times I considered killing myself, but no-one knew about any of this.

Eventually realizing the pills were likely to blame, I tricked me psychiatrist into thinking I was over my ADHD. My mom didn't even question it(probably because I had mellowed a bit with age) and they took me off the pills.

I haven't had any delusions/hallucinations since, so I'm really wary of pills.

On a cocktail of psychiatric medications (SSRI + other), and it is a Catch-22. Have been on them for so long that Im dependent on them.

On the other hand, they horribly INTENSIFY my social awkwardness, as I can't feel any positive emotion.

It is just a horrible bind...

I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, I hope not