Medication or not???

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I am just curious, how many other aspies take meds?? I know I don't want to, I think the positives or AS outweigh the negatives, the creativity and the intelligence. I am concerned that meds would take that away.

Hey Scott, what kind of meds are you talking about? I take a pill for high cholesterol and it doesn't affect my intelligence or creativity at all, LOL.

I have to take medication because I am bipolar and I think eventually me or someone else would be dead if I were off meds, j/k but yeah...

I have ADHD so I take a drug called Manorex and it does help me stay a little bit organized, just had the dosage adjusted today and hopefully it will help even more.

I used to self medicate to handle my anxietie disorders,
but I had to quit that, and its been hell.

I was talking about stuff like SSRI's, prozac, that sort of thing.

I was put on a "cocktail".....diavaloproex, celexa, and seroquel....

and I slept 24/7
when I did manage to stay awake for a while.....my marks in computer class plummeted.....

but...
that was just me.

they thought I was bipolar - the p-doc diagnosed me "immediately".....on the first office visit.....he had just met me......the p-doc did not give my diagnosis much thought....or should I say "any" thought.


So I weaned myself off the drugs.....I had only taken them for 3months and it took me 8months to get off of them.

I feel much better. And then I discovered that I'm an aspie.


I guess people who are actually "bi-polar" and it is the correct diagnosis....then the meds work for them....

I guess my point is: make sure that the p-doc - gets to know you......and does not misdiagnose before you try meds...

I took Lexapro (SSRI) for about 4 years for depression. I think that it helped for the first 1 1/2 years only. It did help with anxiety and it helped a lot with sleeping for the whole time. Beware of side effects though; spacey, sleepy all the time, decreased libido and sexual performance, general flattening of emotions.

I felt a whole lot better after I stopped taking the Lexapro. Oh, and you don't just stop taking these drugs suddenly. You have to taper down slowly over a few months or you will get weird electric pulse and other nerve effects. You can read about this at Wikipedia - SSRI discontinuation syndrome.

Wood.

I'd second that. After having depression on and off for many years, it's funny that the day they diagnosed AS, the only help they offered was anti-depressants. I can't deny that the depression lifted, after a couple of weeks of hell. I'm now anti-meds, if at all possible, because I feel they just stole my life while I was on them.

I was in a kind of fuzzy couldn't-care-less frame of mind. But most importantly, nothing changed. I now see depression as a symptom of something wrong in your everyday life. But when on meds, you'll just put up with it rather than attempt to change or fix it.

When, after 18 months, I stopped meds (unintentionally, as I ran out over a holiday weekend), it's like I woke up to the malaise they'd held me in. Withdrawal was horrible, but bearable. Right now I have a goal of never going on meds again. Stopping depression at the cost of stopping being truly alive is too high a price too pay.

I take pills for ADHD (Strattera), OCD(Luvox), Tourettes(Haldol), as well as Risperdal (commonly given to auties) and Neurontin to help me with a little problem that impedes my driving-I tend to "freeze" if something unexpected happens, and slide right into the car in front. I then take two sleeping pills because I'm so wired. I also take pills for high blood pressure, but am working on losing weight so they're not necessary.

I took SSRI's for a long time, but now no longer do. I find that with the other stuff under control I'm not as depressed. I also try to stay away from judgmental NT's so I don't get griped at. It seems that most docs just hand out happy pills no matter what the diagnosis-my first real psych did exactly that, and when they started to make me sick, he sent me on wild goose chases looking at other causes. I know a professional psychic-a real one-who says that happy pills usually make the situation worse instead of better by blunting emotions and sexuality.

Most depression is because of ongoing states of being in one's social life, such as rejection at work or school. Usually removing the root problem removes the depression, although it's easier said than done. Also, another problem may be causing it, like OCD (obsessives are so all-consumed by their obsessions that life seems worthless) or Tourettes, which is another thing that can cause social rejection, and which is common among auties. Another misconception is that happy pills make you happy. I personally cried at the drop of a hat while on many of them. Other people become emotional zombies.

Doctors seem too willing to just hand out mood altering pills and say call me in the morning. The person is unhappy, so give him something that makes him happy, or something that makes him have no emotion at all, and tell him to be positive. Doctors don't want to dig any deeper. I finally got a psych who dug deeper. My regimen is complicated and makes me wired, but it's better than being obsessed, ticcing, and so hyper that I'm climbing the walls.

I've tried SSRI's and mood stabilizers (depakote, lithium) over the years. I hated them - felt fake. I'm the most comfortable on Klonopin. It mitigates the anxiety of things feeling out of control, the stress of work and grocery shopping. I take more at night so that I can help my brain to disengage a bit and get some sleep. I get little visual zingers through the day that can creep me out and the Klonopin disrupts that.

Over the years I've been put on just about everything with little or only temporary effect. I'm currently on prosac and abilify, a lovely cocktail, that eases the depression and anxiety. I was taken off it a while back, and went into an almost catatonic state, depression, anxiety, barely able to function. Now I'm back on my mix, and things are looking up. My creative side is a bit down though, but my therapist reckons that's more to do with my negativity than the tablets. I'm looking forward to getting on top of all this and eventually kicking the drugs. Loss of inspiration is a real concern - I kind of flatten out, and my obsessions with painting and drawing have gone.

I've lived life on and off meds.

It's good that they are there when you need them, but I wouldn't wnt to take them all the time. Twice in my life I have been on a downward slide that I haven't been able to shake on my own; Zoloft and Lexapro helped.

When I couldn't sleep for days at a time, Ambien helped.

But I don't like the idea of being dependent, so usually as soon as I feel genuinely stable, I taper off.

My medication of choice right now is a glass of pinot noir or cabernet in the evening to lift off the day's troubles and perseverations. It refreshes and makes the world stop going around in my head before I go to sleep. I'm not certain I would recommend that to everyone, but if you can handle something like that in moderation, trust me, it helps.

I used to be on Zoloft for 2 years and it was bliss. well, almost.
I would go back on it in no time if it didn't involve having to go to a shrink. I had some bad experiences with those guys.

I take a Lorazapam (ativan) when I have an anxiety attack or when my anxiety gets too high for me to stimm away. I like it because it is something that I only take when I need it (not an every day pill) .....I guess I like the fact that I am more in control of its use. It does not make me sleepy or feel drugged it just takes the edge off my anxiety and helps me to calm down.

I started taking an anti-depressant for depression 6 months ago. It helped with that but to my surprise, it also reduced my anxiety to a normal level and my obsession with my special interests has become more manageable. For me it was a good move. I'm still quite Aspie lol but the parts that interfere with my ability to live a fuller life are a bit more under control.