Medication side effects

[JaneC]

I suspect this post will not prove entirely popular but I think this is a point worth making. I feel as if I have seen more and more people coming on NMP recently and saying they are suffering from severe side effects after starting medication (principally ADs).

I am currently reading a book by a well-respected CBT specialist Dr David Burns and came across a section that related to this last night. He told one of his patients that he was giving her some pills and she very quickly started to feel ill after taking them - dizziness, confusion, fatigue, headaches, could barely get out of bed and staggered when she tried to walk.

The problem is, what he had given her were placebos, they contained no active medication of any sort. I'm not saying ADs don't have side effects that are - or appear - very real ( I have experienced some myself) but I do think it's an interesting example of the power of the mind over the body and something that is worth bearing, well, in mind

[smb25]

Sorry.. what are placebos??

[JaneC]

Basically a dummy drug. As I said, containing no active form of medication

[KK77]

Good point JC. Fear of the unknown, especially amongst anxiety sufferers, causes all sorts of symptoms which manifest themselves physiologically. Eg, my auntie was put on citalopram for reasons other than anxiety/panic. She was started on 40mg! 20mg morning and 20mg at night. I was shocked and asked her if she had any side effects: she said apart from feeling a bit "calmer", none whatsoever! Now, had that been me I'd have probably been on planet Zog, dribbling like a mad dog lol.

The placebo effect certainly has a lot to answer for...