Trial, Meet Error: The Story of a Pharmacy Regular
“Why isn’t this medication working?” me in 2002.
“Why isn’t this medication working?” me in 2018.
When the university nurse first prodded me to consider medication, I hesitated before eventually relenting. My reasoning: While this little white pill may not be my salvation, it surely can’t hurt.
Or can it?
Over the past 16 years, my medication history is longer than a typical Catholic wedding. A is for Abilify, B is for Buspar, C is for Clonazepam…and, well, you get the idea.
Medication, I naively hoped, would be a cure-all — a foolproof remedy for intrusive, tormenting thoughts. And while medication has, at times, lowered the volume on my depressive radio, it has come with its own set of challenges.
Speaking from firsthand experience — now 16 years and counting, medications have potent and, at times, debilitating side effects. From complaining about grogginess to bouts of irritability to general apathy, my panicked emails to my dedicated health care team bear this out. Pinpointing the right medication is trial and error — in my case, a 16-year trial replete with lots of errors (and lethargy and grogginess and irritability).
When I first accepted the shiny white pill, at the university nurse’s gentle insistence, I had no idea I had just signed up for a 16-year medication joyride. In my naïveté, there was an implicit assumption — “just give the medication six weeks and life will suddenly become unicorns, rainbow...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Matthew Loeb Tags: Antidepressant Anxiety and Panic Depression Medications Personal Source Type: blogs
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