Which one of your medications has changed your life?

Just completed the medication survey...Venlafaxine 300mgs daily I have taken this med for at least 2/3 years now..for depressive disorder...but in the past have been preoccupied with reducing the dosage, in what I imagined to be a reasonably cautious fashion or at least so I thought...the result has in no way been a positive experience... One of the most dangerous influences are web sites that make a concerted effort to instill not only fear of anti depressants but also direct blame and venom towards those using them, this in combination with the ease it is possible to become alienated from mental health services and for some of us any support backdrop at all creates a serious vulnerability...At present there does appear to be a shift in mental health services but to take advantage of this you may well have to make a case for this support and be prepared to fight your corner...medication alone for depressive disorders is not adequate and it important to remember this at the point of discharge...often mental health is a revolving door situation and there is a very good reason for this which needs to be fully recognised by mental health services

This survey was not very well written.  Many questions I had to read several times, and change a word or two, to make sense so that I could give a reasoned answer !

I am on a great deal of medications to try to control the pain I have associated with spinal stenosis and a crumbling spine,/osteoarthritis including strong opiates, nerve pain treatments and benzodiazepines etc etc  In addition I have spinal cortisol injections by the pain management consultant anaesthetist and a cannabiloid synthetic drug Nabilone for my MS pain. With regard to pain management the MOST effective treatment I have ever had is a regular weekly deep tissue therapy massage which controls my crippling sciatic, this costs £27 a week which as I am disabled and on benefits I can,t afford, however the total cost of my weekly prescriptions to the NHS is less than this sum, however I cannot get any financial help to pay for my massage. I have been fighting my local authority adult social care services, my local CHC and QCC over this issue for over 2 years without success.  They admit that this massage treatment has better social, physical and mental health benefits for me and would have significant financial benefits to them, they also agree that the economic benefits to my NHS treatment both in the short and long term would improve with the massage treatment especially as I could reduce my other medications and treatments significantly.  However apparently there is no way that money can be found either from the NHS or the Social services or even through my GP through perhaps such special budgets e.g. an IFR, pib etc to pay for this treatment even though my local authority is willing to pay to take me and have someone accompany me to these massages that I can,t afford!!!!! (Other than through the generosity of family members gifts.)  The continuing healthcare system and (PIB) individual payments system is a mess and in my 2 and 1/2 years of fighting I haven,t found anyone who understands it properly including GP,s Care workers and employees of the QCC.

From a Confused, Frustrated, Stressed, & Unhappy Stonington Jacqui

Hi, I am new have had depression for years . The help and support is very limited . It is a very debilitating condition hate it . I know where your coming from David 1 .

I am amazed people think they need medication and Stannington! Welcome to the world we troops fight for and then wonder why since the first Iraq war till today more have committed suicide than died in the wars till today. Right here right now and yet we will carry on like nothing has happened and wonder why people get depressed? Unless of natural causes of course like death in the family and alike but hey that's normal i guess

Hence I refuse to take tablets and would rather we fix Society as that would fix so much more pain and people can't make money on it? 

Hey Lee..The only difficulty with that is the debilitating nature of some of these conditions..if you haven't experienced a major depressive disorder it is unlikely you would be able to understand...your entirely right about society..but unfortunately it isn't confined to a given society it applies to the entirety of humanity and the likelihood of the clouds lifting and bathing us all in wondrous sunlight is pretty remote.

Hi unregistered user

my name is Kitty 08 I am new to carenity.  I couldn't help but read ur post. I have fibromyalgia and an under active thyroid. I too had problems with pregablin and weight issues but I started to take the prebablin at night time as they gave me the munchies all the time. Since taking at night before going to bed,  it stopped all that. Being on thyroxine certain meds interact with them and thyroid. I can't have amitriptyline I  could not get out of bed. I have dyhydrocodiene slow release I take every morning. I have had depression for over 30 yrs it's harder to explain how you are feeling when you are feeling low to friends who don't have depression. Compared to someone who has got depression and do understand what you are going through. 

I found the servey a bit odd to do and the questions were odd to answer did other people find this or was it just me? Perhaps if it was really worded it might have been easier to answer 

@Stannington Jacqui, @David 1,@ kitty 08, LeeBee, @ tartface,@ cooperman, @ BAZWHEAT, @ Unregistered User, and all other posting members,  I have just done the survey ans I agree some of the questions did seem not quite right for me, but I did what I thought was about the right answer,,I don't think any survey can suit a lot of people, and then there will be ones who feel outside the scope.

Depression treatments are some fine tuned for the user, that a times I don't feel as though mine are still working, so I asked the doctor to increase the number of tablets I take, got told to try a CBT course? have never been and cannot see how it will help me,,,still have to make the call for the first appointment,,,

There are a lot of medications which have bad effects on the stomach, and I too take Omeprazole, first it was 1 then put on 2 due to ulcers in stomach and duodenum, treatment done and still not had follow up, discharge appointment,went onto medication site and found a warning about taking more that really needed, so I stopped 1 tablet, but nobody have taken any notice of what is going on.  Even though some of the medications say regular monitoring by gp is needed,,,,

Pain is a part of any condition that  is hard to describe, and people who have never felt really chronic protracted pain, cannot really understand how you feel, and cannot even come close to think of that level of pain, pain is so disabling and makes your whole body wish it could curl up and sleep,,,,,

@Stannington Jacqui,,,,,you mentioned about deep tissue massage,,,do you get dla, personal care? would that be of help?  and did you see that there has been nhs money spent on buying gazebo bought to cheer a person up, and games consul's for another and there have been others, so they cannot tell you there is no money,,,may be a foot on the jugular might help,,,and mentioning what has been reported in the press,,,,,after all nhs physio's dont use ultra sound anymore. 

Well my lower back and left hip are really aching, so off I will go, ttfn from Karen.

Hey Karen56 I understand what your saying about monitoring and the fact it doesn't take place but of course it should....I think the only way you can achieve this is to take it into your own hands and make appointments at regular intervals to discuss this with your Doctor...If you remain more or less invisible both the NHS and your Dr will be entirely content to ignore you...this is no reflection on your GP simply to much of an overburdened resource, which is no fault of yours....more a case of political decisions that affect people on the ground.

Keyword David own hands...