#antipsychotics

i'm avoiding trying them because i am terrified of the effects they might have on me.. i watched my dad be sedated and functionally lobotomized by them, and i've experienced a lot of psychiatric abuse. i take my antidepressants and anxiety meds but APs scare me.

obviously i don't expect you to answer this or post anything you don't wanna share, just curious as you're the first i've seen mention this idea at all.

I'm not gonna lie, bestie. I got lucky as shit. I don't know if other people actually can re-create what I did in the system as it exists today.

See. My psychiatrist was the one who suggested it, because low dose antipsychs are a known off-label adjunct to treatment resistant depression, and I have been hiding my psychosis from all medical professionals for the last 20 years.

I fell ass backwards into it, by being extremely, painfully honest about my mood symptoms and nothing else. I have never and will never tell a doctor that I experience delusions, hallucinations, psychotic breaks, or dissociative voices.

That said, if you live in the USA, you have (and this is rare to say) a leg up on people living in more reasonable medical systems, because we have ads for prescription medicine on TV.

My suggestion, if you have an unfriendly psychiatrist and you still want to try this (very risky).

My suggestion is, find an ad for the antipsych you want to try on youtube. Tell the psychiatrist your cousin with the same symptoms/disorder as you recommended it, but you aren't sure because meds are such a big decision, and show them the ad. This plays to their ego as being the great arbiter of what meds you are allowed to take, by presenting yourself as an ignorant fool beseeching them, and also gives them something "official" to look up. It also creates the impression that the medication is well tolerated in your family.

If you have a friendly psychiatrist who doesn't react with ego spasms the second you show an ounce of autonomy (much lower risk), then instead of a youtube ad, bring in a study for using that med in depression treatment. Your story is the same; your cousin with the same problems had good results. It's just that this time you have a study for them instead of a youtube ad that makes them look up the study themself.

Here's a study for you on Quetiapine (Seroquel) 150mg (1/4 dose), and here's one on Aripiprazole (Abilify) 2.5mg (1/10 dose). To find studies for other meds, use google scholar and search "<medicine name> low dose unipolar depression," to access abstracts. Find one you like, then use the DOI number in sci-hub to pull the full study.

Canadians affected by the use of a prescription antipsychotic drug, Rexulti, could cash in on a $4.75 million class-action lawsuit settlement. On Aug. 23, Toronto-based law firm Rochon Genova shared a public notice announcing that both parties had reached an agreement on the proposed settlement. The settlement is still pending approval from the Superior Court of Québec.

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Important seasonal reminder, if you're on meds for chronic or mental illnesses, they can cause you problems with the heat! Thanks to spoonfulofhan on Twitter for these! She also has tips for dealing with the heat:

let me spell out the scenario, where a minuscule change in the chemistry of your body sets out a chain of events. your body is struggling. muscle tremors down to your knees, your fingers being so rigid you can’t write or type, nausea every time you try to eat, taking hour long naps just to wake up and go to bed, swaying back and forth with dizziness and your entire body being sore without having moved.

and the mood swings are terrible, i woke up with my brain telling me terrible things, my hands are bruised from punching the walls and tables, i cancelled my 6 month anniversary date today because i cant be out in public. i was kicked out of class and sent to the nurse for spontaneous crying and i can’t form sentences because of the brain fog. today i had a meltdown because it was hard to wash my hair and it made me extremely angry.

it’s terrifying to experience a physical and mental health crisis, away from home, expected to function when your brain is exploding from the change in serotonin and dopamine, and everyone is witnessing it. not only that, but you feel your brain exploding and struggle to rationalize the circumstances.