Lucem is right, most of these places are terrible and you can practically see the apathy and contempt just dripping off the workers. Last time I was at my clinic, this very bipolar lady gave me the card for the psych nurse at her clinic; she said it was much, much better (and they even offer one on one therapy. Actual therapy) than the places in Baton Rouge so I may do that if/when they're open. It's 45 minutes away, however.
I wonder how my very erratic (I prefer the term whimsical) usage of Latuda might be affecting me. I'm prescribed 60mg, but because it causes bad restless legs I take only half a pill (which doesn't necessarily prevent it but it seems to lessen the chances of waking up with the need to thrash around), and I only take that half a pill every other day. I just hate the fact that a.) it must be taken with food-- at least 350 calories (I am trying to lose 15 lbs and I have guilt spirals when I feel I ate too much), and b.) I HAVE to take it right as I'm falling asleep or else the restlessness will keep me up. So this means I have to eat a meal while falling asleep and I haaaaate eating right before bed, because it makes me wake up groggy. So now it's been 5 days since I've taken any Latuda at all. (I feel fine though.) Can't really do anything about it until my clinic reopens. My doctor there-- although I like her personality-wise-- hardly listens to me anyway. (She doesn't want to put me on more than two medications even though I clearly need anti-anxiety meds and possibly some Lamictal or something, and yes, this was the case even back when I was taking the Latuda correctly as prescribed) I can, however call to get a Lexapro refill.
Spoiler for melodramatic whining about minor medication induced weight gain:
But the Lexapro contributed to the weight gain, so I don't know what to do.
And yes, I realize that many, many psych meds (especially antipsychotics) tend to cause weight gain, so even if I switch from Latuda to something else, there's no avoiding it. It's just so frustrating because I will apparently have to resort to something extreme (and miserable) like the keto diet in order to be in the weight range I prefer. (Intermittent fasting didn't work, exercise didn't work, and running just resulted in me immediately injuring myself, but I will try that again once our A/C is repaired) On the various crazy people forums I frequent, people like to point out that weight gain is worth it if it means you're sane and happy and functional, but it still drives me crazy, because my weight used to be the one thing I could control about my life/body and now I can't. I realize I am being over dramatic, but when I am over a certain weight, I develop puffy potato face syndrome which is very bad for my self-esteem since I already have the bone structure of a Bob's Burgers character.
Mainly I'm super terrified of developing permanent akathisia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raime
Has anyone here tried to ween themselves off of depression medication? I want to see what I'm like after the withdraw symptoms from Cymbalta have gone away, but I'm on day 5 of not taking it and I'm getting hit pretty hard today. I figured I'd block out as much negative **** as I can, so I deleted my social media accounts to help.
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All the time. I very recently stopped my Lexapro cold turkey, and it wasn't unbearable; my main withdrawal symptom was this constant head-swooshy (I'm sorry, that's the best I can describe it) feeling plus the occasional low-grade fever. But the time before that, I just started taking half a dose for a couple weeks, and then stopped completely and that seemed to work out okay. What all withdrawal symptoms are you getting?