If I am diagnosed with cyclothymia I am worried about the side affects of the prescription meds and would enjoy hearing other alternatives that effectively manage this mood disorder.
2006-08-07 10:21:19 · 4 answers · asked by sactofrog 1 in Health ➔ Mental Health
Many things can be done
2006-08-13 22:17:59 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Everyone would love to find a non-prescription alternative for any medical problem. And some do work a little, but many or even most do not work as well as prescription drugs. Therefore, there are two questions you need to answer.
1. Is your quality of life without any prescription medication satisfactory? Can you stand to keep on living this way? If the answer is yes, then stop here. Because if you decide not to take any prescription medication, you will almost certainly keep on living the way you have been. If you can handle that, great. If not:
(the best place to learn about side effects is the Physician's Desk Reference, which lists side effects and other facts)
2. Do you know how "side effects" are tabulated in the Physician's Desk Reference? (called the PDR by most doctors). You might want to reconsider some interesting facts IF you are not happy with how you are feeling.
PDR fact 1.-- A doctor is required to note ANY condition that a patient reports while on a prescription. If I call my doctor and say "Hey, that anti-depressant caused my ears to turn purple and my nose to turn green" do you know what happens? It is reported, and will be listed in the next year's PDR! And there is no way for the doctor to know if something else unrelated may have caused the problem. So a drug gets blamed for something it may not have caused!!
PDR fact 2.- The PDR does not record some very significant points in many cases. For instance, someone taking Lithium for bipolar/cyclothymia may report "problems." But what you are never told is that this person is 81 and in poor health!! If you are not 81 in poor health, the same dose of lithium will not bother you at all!!
I am not faulting the PDR for listing side effects; I am only pointing out that side effects are so poorly documented that they really do not tell you how the prescription could effect you. The only way to know is to try them. Remember, if a prescription DOES have serious side effects, the drug company will get sued!! Believe me, no one wants to get sued, and the problem drugs do not stay on the market!!
What am I saying??? In all honesty, I believe that you should realize that the information available about side effects can be very misleading. And the truth is that most prescriptions work much better than their alternatives for bipolar/cyclothymia. I do not work for a drug company, but I do take an anti-depressant because it makes my life a lot better.
2006-08-11 18:01:38 · answer #2 · answered by Don H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you been taking your meds as prescribed by your doctor? If you have not - it will not work. Your problem will remain the same.
All psych meds have some side effects that are supposed to go away during treatment. It may take up to a month for you to feel the full effects of psych medicine.[whether that be beneficial or non] After that point, I feel you should make some assessment on how you feel. Discuss this this with your doctor and go from there.
But you will not know if the medicine is helping you or not if you are not taking it as prescribed.
2006-08-14 13:49:18 · answer #3 · answered by justme 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hope for the best for you
2006-08-15 08:21:29 · answer #4 · answered by cyberfantoosh 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋