Hi Guys.
I'm not new to mental health issues, I started having panic attacks as a teen, had tics and OCD as early as 6 years old, havebeen battling anxiety and panic for decades. You would THINK that by now I would accept that it's part of me and that I need meds to help me be functional, but I can NOT seem to get over the stigma of being on mind-altering drugs.
For many years it was Xanax 3 times a day until I finally gave into my doctors urging to try Prozac. I have been on 20 mg. for 30 years now and for the most part it has helped a lot. I still needed the occasional tranquilizer but not daily.
A few months ago when I mentioned to my doc that I didn't think the same dosage of Prozac that I'd been taking for 30 years was doing much anymore so I said I either needed to get off of it, or perhaps increase the dosage. She didn't like either idea but instead urged me to try adding Gabapentin (a mood stabilizer). So now I take three of those a day in addition to the Prozac. Yes, I do see a big difference in the way I handle daily stresses, but thanks to constantly fluctuating thyroid levels, I still have lots of bad anxiety days. So she urges me to take my tranquilizers.
I feel so "broken" and crazy needing to have THREE different psych drugs in my arsenal! When I was very young my mother would threaten to lock me in a nuthouse if I didn't stop my facial tics and the stigma and shame has obviously never left me.
Can others share what "cocktails" of drugs work for them that they take daily? Maybe I will feel like less of a freak and a failure if I hear of others experiences, because no one I know or work with ever talks about being on any psych drugs. My doc says "you'd be surprised!" but still.... if I don't hear about it I feel like the oddball.
Thanks for listening.
Sue