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Antidepressant prescriptions in Australia


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  • Moderator Emeritus
Posted

Here is a newspaper article raising issue with antidepressant prescribing in Australua

 

http://m.theage.com.au/national/health/how-my-brief-patch-of-insomnia-saw-me-labelled-with-depression-20141212-11hqsd.touch.html

Please note - I am not a medical practitioner and I do not give medical advice. I offer an opinion based on my own experiences, reading and discussion with others.On Effexor for 2 months at the start of 2005. Had extreme insomnia as an adverse reaction. Changed to mirtazapine. Have been trying to get off since mid 2008 with numerous failures including CTs and slow (but not slow enough tapers)Have slow tapered at 10 per cent or less for years. I have liquid mirtazapine made at a compounding chemist.

Was on 1.6 ml as at 19 March 2014.

Dropped to 1.5 ml 7 June 2014. Dropped to 1.4 in about September.

Dropped to 1.3 on 20 December 2014. Dropped to 1.2 in mid Jan 2015.

Dropped to 1 ml in late Feb 2015. I think my old medication had run out of puff so I tried 1ml when I got the new stuff and it seems to be going ok. Sleep has been good over the last week (as of 13/3/15).

Dropped to 1/2 ml 14/11/15 Fatigue still there as are memory and cognition problems. Sleep is patchy but liveable compared to what it has been in the past.

 

DRUG FREE - as at 1st May 2017

 

>My intro post is here - http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2250-dalsaan

Posted

Ah, the old blaming insomnia on depression trick.   Sheesh.

 

And you know, if you're going to prescribe an antidepressant to someone complaining about insomnia, at least presribe a sedating onr and not an SSRI like Prozac that the the doctor presribed that causes insomnia.   But these folks don't give a darn.

 

CS

Drug cocktail 1995 - 2010
Started taper of Adderall, Wellbutrin XL, Remeron, and Doxepin in 2006
Finished taper on June 10, 2010

Temazepam on a PRN basis approximately twice a month - 2014 to 2016

Beginning in 2017 - Consumption increased to about two times per week

April 2017 - Increased to taking it full time for insomnia

Posted

 

Yet, it seems that in the rush to destigmatise, we have lost our understanding of and tolerance for normal adversity.

Could not agree with this more.

 

Although insomnia is a symptom of depression, it is NOT the only one.  The woman in the article was just plain stressed.  Nothing more.  She did not need to be treated with an a/d.  Meditation would have been a far better option.

Personal history of GAD and 4 melancholic depressive episodes - two treated with Amityptline

Family history of Bipolar Disorder - goes back at least 3 generations

Adult son with autism, ADHD, intellectual disability and Bipolar II

Put on Aropax / Paxil in July 1997 for anther episode.  Decision to stay on it - worst decision of my life.

Began to poop out in late 2008. Switched to Lexapro March 2009.  Made me suicidal.  Tried Cymbalta for 19 days. Horrible w/d.

Found PP and RI'd Aropax at about the same time - August 2009.  Began slow taper in 2010. Crashed in 13-11mg range in mid 2013.  Switched to Citalopram 21 Oct 2013 in an attempt to stabilise.

 

There are things that are known, and things that are unknown; in between are doors - Anonymous

 

https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/longing-for-life/id958423649  My book about my unsuccessful journey through IVF

Posted

 

 

Yet, it seems that in the rush to destigmatise, we have lost our understanding of and tolerance for normal adversity.

Could not agree with this more.

 

Although insomnia is a symptom of depression, it is NOT the only one.  The woman in the article was just plain stressed.  Nothing more.  She did not need to be treated with an a/d.  Meditation would have been a far better option.

 

Hi Junior,

 

As an aside, depression can also be a symptom of insomnia which most doctors don't seem to understand.  

 

Totally agree that the woman was just stressed but unfortunately, doctors link every negative psychological symptom to depression.   That is why she got an AD.

 

The other issue I wonder about is many doctors have such a negative reaction to prescribing sleep meds which the woman asked for that they automatically link everything to depression so they can justify prescribing antidepressant which in their minds aren't as harmful which we all know is a bunch of BS.

 

I think I would literally die of shock if a doctor suggested meditation. :)  

 

CS

Drug cocktail 1995 - 2010
Started taper of Adderall, Wellbutrin XL, Remeron, and Doxepin in 2006
Finished taper on June 10, 2010

Temazepam on a PRN basis approximately twice a month - 2014 to 2016

Beginning in 2017 - Consumption increased to about two times per week

April 2017 - Increased to taking it full time for insomnia

  • Member
Posted

 

I think I would literally die of shock if a doctor suggested meditation. :)  

 

CS

 

 

Not if it was THIS one. (He has a great youtube vid of a talk he gave at google. Search for it)

What happened and how I arrived here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4243-cymbaltawithdrawal5600-introduction/#entry50878

 

July 2016 I have decided to leave my story here at SA unfinished. I have left my contact information in my profile for anyone who wishes to talk to me. I have a posting history spanning nearly 4 years and 3000+ posts all over the site.

 

Thank you to all who participated in my recovery. I'll miss talking to you but know that I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines, suffering and rejoicing with you in spirit, as you go on in your journey.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

I had no luck getting anything for sleep other than Seroquel. My last try with psychiatry was last year, and the guy was such a pharma patsy that the only sedation he would prescribe was Seroquel. A few Xanax, which Shipko eventually allowed me, was all I needed. I used up the ten MG Shipko prescribed, and have been getting better ever since. I needed a window, and I needed to catch up on sleep. I am not saying Xanax cured me, just that it was a merciful act by Shipko that diminished my despair, which at some times is 90% of the problem. Though I did not go back and ask for more, the idea that I could got me through some very rough times.

2009: Cancer hospital said I had adjustment disorder because I thought they were doing it wrong. Their headshrinker prescribed Effexor, and my life set on a new course. I didn't know what was ahead, like a passenger on Disneyland's Matterhorn, smiling and waving as it climbs...clink, clink, clink.

2010: Post surgical accidental Effexor discontinuation by nurses, masked by intravenous Dilaudid. (The car is balanced at the top of the track.) I get home, pop a Vicodin, and ...

Whooosh...down, down, down, down, down...goes the trajectory of my life, up goes my mood and tendency to think everything is a good idea.
2012: After the bipolar jig was up, now a walking bag of unrelated symptoms, I went crazy on Daytrana (the Ritalin skin patch by Noven), because ADHD was a perfect fit for a bag of unrelated symptoms. I was prescribed Effexor for the nervousness of it, and things got neurological. An EEG showed enough activity to warrant an epilepsy diagnosis rather than non-epileptic ("psychogenic") seizures.

:o 2013-2014: Quit everything and got worse. I probably went through DAWS: dopamine agonist withdrawal syndrome. I drank to not feel, but I felt a lot: dread, fear, regret, grief: an utter sense of total loss of everything worth breathing about, for almost two years.

I was not suicidal but I wanted to be dead, at least dead to the experience of my own brain and body.

2015: I  began to recover after adding virgin coconut oil and organic grass-fed fed butter to a cup of instant coffee in the morning.

I did it hoping for mental acuity and better memory. After ten days of that, I was much better, mood-wise. Approximately neutral.

And, I experienced drowsiness. I could sleep. Not exactly happy, I did 30 days on Wellbutrin, because it had done me no harm in the past. 

I don't have the DAWS mood or state of mind. It never feel like doing anything if it means standing up.

In fact, I don't especially like moving. I'm a brain with a beanbag body.   :unsure:

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Moderator Emeritus
Posted

Interesting thread , thanks dalsaan.   Certainly it's been my experience that AD's are handed out way too freely , by doctors who don't understand their effects

(not meaning to preach to the converted here).

I saw one G.P. for many years who assured me she could "manage" my "depression".  I'd already been on and off AD's for about 13 years when I first saw her.

She had me on Lexapro 40mg - that is double the maximum recommended by the manufacturers , for 6 years.   I find this astonishing !!

I've managed to  compile my surgery records (via freedom of information) which shows what she prescribed and on what dates.   I also have printouts from the pharmacies I used to have the scripts filled , again an independent record.

In the next few months I intend to submit a complaint about her to the Health Care Complaints Commission.     I hope this goes some way to having her (and even other doctors)  learn that irresponsible prescribing has consequences.   It sickens me to think how many other young women have come to her for help , and whose lives she is causing immeasurable damage to.

Wow , nice to have that off my chest   :)    Thanks for reading this.

1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg

2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg

Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta

Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months.

July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months.

Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg.

October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive.

March 2016 , 21mg

Posted

Thanks for the reminder. I have got to report some of my doctors. I have not been able to get my reactions from the clowns, however. One ignored my mailed request and two others don't have working addresses that I can find online.

2009: Cancer hospital said I had adjustment disorder because I thought they were doing it wrong. Their headshrinker prescribed Effexor, and my life set on a new course. I didn't know what was ahead, like a passenger on Disneyland's Matterhorn, smiling and waving as it climbs...clink, clink, clink.

2010: Post surgical accidental Effexor discontinuation by nurses, masked by intravenous Dilaudid. (The car is balanced at the top of the track.) I get home, pop a Vicodin, and ...

Whooosh...down, down, down, down, down...goes the trajectory of my life, up goes my mood and tendency to think everything is a good idea.
2012: After the bipolar jig was up, now a walking bag of unrelated symptoms, I went crazy on Daytrana (the Ritalin skin patch by Noven), because ADHD was a perfect fit for a bag of unrelated symptoms. I was prescribed Effexor for the nervousness of it, and things got neurological. An EEG showed enough activity to warrant an epilepsy diagnosis rather than non-epileptic ("psychogenic") seizures.

:o 2013-2014: Quit everything and got worse. I probably went through DAWS: dopamine agonist withdrawal syndrome. I drank to not feel, but I felt a lot: dread, fear, regret, grief: an utter sense of total loss of everything worth breathing about, for almost two years.

I was not suicidal but I wanted to be dead, at least dead to the experience of my own brain and body.

2015: I  began to recover after adding virgin coconut oil and organic grass-fed fed butter to a cup of instant coffee in the morning.

I did it hoping for mental acuity and better memory. After ten days of that, I was much better, mood-wise. Approximately neutral.

And, I experienced drowsiness. I could sleep. Not exactly happy, I did 30 days on Wellbutrin, because it had done me no harm in the past. 

I don't have the DAWS mood or state of mind. It never feel like doing anything if it means standing up.

In fact, I don't especially like moving. I'm a brain with a beanbag body.   :unsure:

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