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Snakeadelic · 02-22-2017, 02:56 PM

I don't take SSRI drugs. Paxil damn near killed me--it ripped up my guts so badly I lost 12 pounds in 18 days. I called someone for medical help when I realized I'd been asleep on the couch, waking only to take meds and attend body functions, for three days waiting to feel better. Antidepressants do not do well for me because my major psych issue is anxiety, not depression. I know people for whom they have worked very well, and people for whom they are total poison, so I maintain no bias against them for anyone but me.

For the last 18 years, the only drug to successfully help with my anxiety has been Diazepam (generic for Valium). I am also in routine one-on-one therapy with a multiply-licensed counselor, who I am actually seeing tomorrow. The person who prescribes me Valium is a different provider (who I see next on 3-7 to explain my recent increased usage, but who refilled my 'scrip 5 weeks before that appointment on my word that it was needed). I am aware that my access to this drug is becoming a very rare case, and am passionately grateful that the prescriber I've worked with on that for like six or seven years now has taken the time to learn that I am not an abuse risk.

There are days when I become so anxious or situationally depressed that I feel I am a danger to myself when left with unfettered access to certain meds. On those days I hand those meds to someone I trust with my life. I do not ask where they are kept, but they are kept until I declare that I am once again trustworthy. All my providers know this, and I make no secret of it in ordinary conversations because the way to dispel myths about mental health is to speak honestly and openly about mental health.

When my therapist called earlier today with a reminder of my appointment tomorrow, I told her about the "after 9 years on SSI you must now prove you are still disabled" paperwork I recently received from Social Security. She burst out laughing at the thought of me being considered able to work, and asked me to bring the paperwork so she could put her professional opinion in writing. I am a VERY LUCKY person to have such support.

02-22-2017, 02:56 PM	#144
Snakeadelic Banned Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 660	I don't take SSRI drugs. Paxil damn near killed me--it ripped up my guts so badly I lost 12 pounds in 18 days. I called someone for medical help when I realized I'd been asleep on the couch, waking only to take meds and attend body functions, for three days waiting to feel better. Antidepressants do not do well for me because my major psych issue is anxiety, not depression. I know people for whom they have worked very well, and people for whom they are total poison, so I maintain no bias against them for anyone but me. For the last 18 years, the only drug to successfully help with my anxiety has been Diazepam (generic for Valium). I am also in routine one-on-one therapy with a multiply-licensed counselor, who I am actually seeing tomorrow. The person who prescribes me Valium is a different provider (who I see next on 3-7 to explain my recent increased usage, but who refilled my 'scrip 5 weeks before that appointment on my word that it was needed). I am aware that my access to this drug is becoming a very rare case, and am passionately grateful that the prescriber I've worked with on that for like six or seven years now has taken the time to learn that I am not an abuse risk. There are days when I become so anxious or situationally depressed that I feel I am a danger to myself when left with unfettered access to certain meds. On those days I hand those meds to someone I trust with my life. I do not ask where they are kept, but they are kept until I declare that I am once again trustworthy. All my providers know this, and I make no secret of it in ordinary conversations because the way to dispel myths about mental health is to speak honestly and openly about mental health. When my therapist called earlier today with a reminder of my appointment tomorrow, I told her about the "after 9 years on SSI you must now prove you are still disabled" paperwork I recently received from Social Security. She burst out laughing at the thought of me being considered able to work, and asked me to bring the paperwork so she could put her professional opinion in writing. I am a VERY LUCKY person to have such support.