Medication struggles

[DJG]

Hello,
I am new to this forum and not really sure where to start. I was diagnosed over a year ago and have just been put on Long term disability. I am currently taking Fluoxetine 20mg, Valproic acid 250mgx3 and Zoplicone 5 mg 3x. Along with lorazepam 1mg when needed. I was hoping that I would be much better by now such as able to get back to work, find myself again as I have felt pretty lost and alone.

[AJ]

Good morning DJG and welcome to the forum. Finding a medication or combination of medications that are helpful and well tolerated can be a challenge. It took quite a while for me to get that sorted out. I'm sure things will need to be tweaked down the road again. The process can be tedious and frustrating, but well worth the effort. While I was in that process I also started to pay attention to the non drug things that made my life better, and worse (so I could avoid or reduce those factors where possible).

Do you have a support? Family, friends, therapist, or perhaps a group you attend?

[paul m]

Hello and welcome DJG. I don't know how long that you have taking your current cocktail of meds, but when I was trying to get better, I only got better when I started to put limits on how long I took my meds before I would get better and if I didn't get better I wanted to try something new. My doc at the time was a prescribe and forget kind of guy , if I wasn't suicidal or manic he did not want to change my meds. It took a lot of changing meds before I started to feel better. Having said that I probably went 6+ yrs taking cocktails that helped but didn't back me better. I was a little slow in learning to argue with my doc. I can't say that I ever got truly well, but at least now I have mostly good days.

Please feel free to ask questions , answer other peoples or make comments. Once again welcome. Take Care. Paul M

[uni]

Welcome to the forum DJG

[nancyxia]

hi there, I took me about 4 years to find the right medication, the side effects of those wrong medication were so bad that I was severely depressed over it, especially Lithium. It sounds like you are on a lot of medication at the same time, when you said X3, does that mean you are taking them three times a day? That's really insane of how much dosage you are taking. I am now on two medications, Epival (500mg) and Seroquel (125mg), the dosage has been gradually lower to their minimal over the years. and I am feeling great right now. My condition was really severe that I committed suicide and I am actually in a wheelchair for life because of that. Needless to say, I am doing so well right now, thanks to the right meds and the right dosage.

I remember there was once when my pharmacy gave me my pills in different color, I didn't know that the dosage is different, and I was taking twice my normal dosage for about a month. during that month, I gained about 15lbs, and I didn't feel like doing exercise and I was hungry all the time, I was a different person. after discovering the mistake and going back to my normal dosage, I was myself again in 1 week. Therefore, the dosage is very important and taking too much can really affect your mood and mental health in another direction.

You need to work with your doctor to figure out the right meds and the right dosage, not every doctor is helpful, you might have to find a new doctor if the current one you have is not helping. Mental illness is different from other illness, other illnesses almost come with a manual on how to treat them, and there is blood test and urine test being done to monitor them. Mental illness is very subjective. Doctors varies on their knowledge and experience, a different doctor might give you a completely different treatment plan.