Medication has stopped working for me

HelenT2

Hi
Does anyone have any experience of having to take psychiatric meds as opposed to ones prescribed by their G.P? At the moment I am taking the full dose of Venlaflaxine for severe depression and I believe it has stopped working for me.I have resisted taking anything stronger, although I have talked this through with my GP, as I still want to function and not be knocked out all day.Any advice or experience of taking meds and still be able to keep going would be appreciated.Thanks

EmmaB

Dear @HelenT2

Most psychiatric drugs are prescribed by GPs. 

I call them drugs rather than meds because it's important to realise that psychiatric drugs don't actually don't 'fix' anything in particular in the same way that medication helps people with conditions like heart disease or diabetes.  The idea that psychiatric drugs 'fix' a biochemical imbalance is a myth.  They can be effective for some people [mainly when used short term] because of their sedating effect [eg this can help with poor sleep] and/or the placebo effect.  

However, long term what you might well find more effective is getting to the bottom of, really understanding, and processing the root cause of your feelings of depression and actively addressing them eg through specialist counselling [trauma counselling where appropriate], exercise [lots of evidence for this and any is better than none], mindfulness [tons of evidence for this being effective for depression but it takes practice], yoga, healthy diet, connecting with others etc. 

There's no quick fix for feeling depressed, but the good thing about these solutions is that none of them will knock you out in the way that drugs do and they don't have the nasty side effects or withdrawal issues either.

NB if at some point you decide you want to come off psychiatric drugs you need to do it under the supervision of your GP and slowly [this is called tapering] because many people experience withdrawal effects, which are also misinterpreted as the 'problem' [ie depression] coming back but which in actual fact are as a result of the brain/body trying to readjust to the drug being taken out of the system.

Your GP should be able to help with this but some are definitely better than others.  Those that just reach for the prescription pad [and resort to ever increasing doses of psychiatric drugs as is often the case] are doing their patients a disservice but unfortunately this is because they often don't have the time to really listen to what's going on for their patients...

I hope you can find some effective support either through your GP and/or through local groups in your area.

Best wishes.

Emma

janer1967

@HelenT2 Hello and welcome to the community, I just wanted to say Hi, I don't have any experience to answer your query but I am sure that other members may be able to give their experiences. Please note we are not able to give any medical advice on here though.

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @HelenT2 how are things at the moment?

HelenT2

Hi
OK,just taking  a day at a time.
Thanks for asking
Helen