Saturday, May 17, 2014

Worries About Going Off Medication

I'm still debating whether or not I should go off my anti-anxiety drugs and my birth control, but after doing some research, I'm a little terrified. My reasons for discontinuing them aren't clearly defined with causes even more hesitation. I guess I'm not convinced that it's good for me. Maybe I'm just some sort of hippie, but I'm curious as to why I need them. 

For example, the reason I went on birth control was to help with acne. It has but I wonder if that's a valid reason to add another $70 to my expenses every month. At the same time, I'm afraid of going off it and winding up with tons of acne especially as my first year of university approaches. 

The withdrawal symptoms of cymbalta scare the crap out of me! According to reviews, doctors aren't much help either and it can take months to successfully get off of it. Things like brain zaps, increased anxiety/depression, mood swings, etc. And those are the people who tapered off their dose, not the ones who quit cold turkey! 

Why the heck wasn't I informed of this, before I went on the drug. I feel like such an idiot for not researching alternative drugs for anxiety or what the effects of Cymbalta were. Doctors don't even bother to give you various options and I'm really doubting their ability to properly prescribe drugs, they just seem to do a quick computer search. I lost a lot of faith in them when I got sick in high school, and it just keeps dwindling. 

I'm not entirely sure of what my plan is, but I think I'll continue the drugs until my supply runs out, then go down to a lower dose of Cymbalta. I'm very worried about how the stress of going to university will effect my chances of successfully going off drugs. 

No comments:

Post a Comment