How many prescriptions drugs do you take?

None

I am asking out of pure interest. I'm about to start another which makes me feel more an old lady than ever. I'm going to have to get a bigger box for them all. In their glory:

Lithium
Lamictal
Klonipin
Prozac
Advair
Albuterol
A special lady pill
birth control (my insurance will not cover an IUD, arggh!)
Allegra
soon to be a synthetic thyroid hormone

I think that's it. . .

Crikey!

I'm sure I'm not the only one on ILx who would benefit from a little M-F AM/PM pill holder.

i hate this thread

:( sorry!

Not something I'd really be so keen to be boasting about on an internet messageboard. 1 and holding.

Who's boasting?

One for me too.

Boasting would be an odd way to put it. I often like to know who takes similar meds to compare notes. Also that's why I said "if so inclined" b/c I'm sure others aren't as interested in sharing their experiences.

<i>(my insurance will not cover an IUD, arggh!)</i>

That sucks!! With my insurance the whole thing, device and insertion, was around 20 or 30 bucks.

As for my prescriptions, I only take 2.

Daily: Effexor
As needed: Ativan

I don't take any prescription pills. I do take Omnibionta (pronatal pill) and Biofer (iron suppliment). I also sometimes have some Dafalgan (for my migraines). Other than that, nothing. As soon as I have delivered and quit breastfeeding, I'll have the birth control pill which is obv a prescription pill.

Why should it be boasting? She's just being honest about it.

I told my doctor last week about some phobias ive developed since ive been in USA land, with the idea of getting a referral to a psychiatrist and maybe a little valium or xanax for the interim, but he kept pushing lexipro instead even though i said i didnt want to take an antidepressant because im not depressed and the anxiety is only in certain situations, not all the time. then he bullied me out of the office so fast he forgot to give me the prescription for the stupid drug i didnt even want to take. new doctor please.

so i stand at zero

Daily: Effexor

argh, that really messed with me. It was fantastic for lifting me out of a dark depression but the side effects killed me.

I probably should talk to my obgyn about it. maybe she can fight them for it. I hate ins. companies dictating what you can and can't do. I think it would be about $500 cash otherwise.

Lexapro was good as a mild anti-depressant for me but not sure how it did with anxiety. The SSRIs are good for anxiety but the side effects are horrible. I only take a minuscule amount of prozac for long-term anxiety now. no side effects with it, which is good. If you're not on an HMO, go see a different doctor.

i take GABA for anxiety
i dont suppose anyone's tried that/had any experiences with it?

Is that a prescription or a supplement?

Anxiety is still a big problem for me and we can't find a good solution for it. Buspar didn't work.

supplement
i was on paxil for 9 months many moons ago
hated hated HATED it
GABA's the best thing i've found
it works but its not overwhelming and personality-altering

a bit more info on GABA
some people i know only take it as needed
either during/after a panic attack or before they go to sleep
i take 750mg orally almost every day

Hmm, that's worth looking to. I'm always hesitant to add stuff like that in with all of my prescription mix, though. I'll mention it to my doctor though.

<i>Daily: Effexor

argh, that really messed with me. It was fantastic for lifting me out of a dark depression but the side effects killed me.</i>

It's strange how drugs effect everyone so differently. I haven't had a single side effect from Effexor (taken for anxiety, btw) which I've been on for the better part of the last five years.

I was on Paxil for about a month prior to starting Effexor and HATED it. I was um how you say . . . completely sexually numb. That was horrible!

stop it me forgetting how to format things!

I just wrote a long blah blah blah about how I got over my phobias w/out drugs, but obviously it ended up on some other thread. Hmmm. Maybe I have ADD.

xpost

That's what I hated about all the SSRIs. Which was unfortunate b/c Zolofot worked well for me. Effexor just gave those weird brain tremors even if I was a little bit late, which freaked me out. I've heard from a lot of people though that's all that it did for them.

Likewise I've heard from so many people that Lithium was nothing but hell for them but it's been fantastic for me.

Beth, sometimes with a poll you don't realize there's an xpost b/c it takes you to the top of the poll.

I told my doctor last week about some phobias ive developed since ive been in USA land, with the idea of getting a referral to a psychiatrist and maybe a little valium or xanax for the interim, but he kept pushing lexipro instead even though i said i didnt want to take an antidepressant because im not depressed and the anxiety is only in certain situations, not all the time. then he bullied me out of the office so fast he forgot to give me the prescription for the stupid drug i didnt even want to take. new doctor please.

My therapist just ignored my talks about anxiety attacks. When I said I was thinking about taking some pills, he flatly refused saying you just have to take more and more to suppress'em. I quit therapy soon after. I still have anxiety attacks. Not heavy though. Then again I can't really compare or measure the attacks. I do feel they should be addressed but how? I'm not sure.

I take Paxil and Avonex, an intra-muscular injection I give myself once a week. Tonight's the night for the needle, too.
I was taking a drug to lower my white blood cell count, too, something normally given to transplant recipients. It was making me puke, so I stopped. MS is really annoying and hard to treat. You end up taking all kinds of different stuff just to see what ends up helping. Luckily, I'm doing okay, so I've stayed with what I've been on since the beginning.

Effexor just gave those weird brain tremors even if I was a little bit late, which freaked me out. I've heard from a lot of people though that's all that it did for them.

Oh, I do get those if I don't take it regularly. I ran out of my supply a couple of month after I moved to England but before I'd registered with a GP and was forced to quit cold turkey. I won't lie - it sucked and I suffered really bad withdrawal symptoms for about a week. I was off for about two years and back on again earlier this year. Now I know better and if I decide to go off again in the future, it will definitely be under a doctor's supervision.

xxpost

Anxiety (and this is just for me, not generalizing for others) is the one thing I don't believe is truly biochemical. I do believe I can overcome it in time. We work on it alot in therapy and my psychiatrist's approach with the drugs is to allow me the mental clarity and emotional energy to let the therapy actually work.

It's kind of like I have a flesh memory of traumatic things and the slightest thing can trigger these memories, rendering me completely panicked, in fear, and helpless. The klonpin is short term to help me in these situations. The long term stuff (general fear of people and certain situations) so far hasn't be helped by medication. Still banging away at it in therapy though.

That still didn't come out right. I know GAD can be biochemical for some, I just don't think that is what gives me problems.

TripMaker, did you need to learn how to give an injection? I suppose so. Probably a dumb question.

Sam, you are probably right. But he never seemed to address how I could cope with it. So i basically quit therapy. :-(

Find a new one. Seriously, I think it takes a while to find one who fits you. Keep trying.

Okay, that came out silly. Injections are probably the least of your worries. :-(

not to be cynical, ms misery
but ive tried to 'solve' my anxiety for years
with logic and lateral thinking, etc
it led to me moving someplace in the middle of nowhere for a year, not telling anyone where i was, cutting off communication/access to anything
total isolation for the sake of trying to get rid of any and all anxiety
uh, it didnt work

anxiety is irrational by nature
you cant think it away
or, at least i cant

If it's in you, moving away won't help - you're just taking the problem with you. You need to find a coping mechanism.

xpost

it led to me moving someplace in the middle of nowhere for a year, not telling anyone where i was, cutting off communication/access to anything
total isolation for the sake of trying to get rid of any and all anxiety

I completely understand this. It's an impulse I fight constantly.

Maybe you are right and I will not be successful in trying to work it away. I'm not opposed to treating it medicinally I just feel most of it is tied to specific events in my life (think PTSD) and that maybe I can work through it.

Again, I'm just speaking for myself. I know everyone's experience is different.

Nathalie, a nurse did come to my apartment and show me how to self-inject the first time. It's really easy. Some people still can't do it, though. I think it's probably just needle-phobia. Sometimes I hit a nerve or a muscle and that hurts. Never for very long, though. What's worse is the fatigue the day after, usually.
I've been on Avonex for about three and a half years.

If you don't mind me asking, how would were you when you developed MS?

There's an inexpensive beta-blocker that helps PTSD tremendously; I wonder if it helps w/ anxiety. Mr Jaq knew the guy who was doing the research at the VA with it. I'll find out what it was and see what happened with it - he was having a tough time getting research funding because the drug was cheap and generic.

I feel fortunate to not be taking anything more than aspirin and a multivitamin just yet, it feels like it's only a matter of time though. Mr. Jaq takes plenty, and it seems there's more every year.

I was prescribed beta-blockers on the run-up to my wedding to relieve anxiety, they really did help me as I was really fractious and panicky about a whole bunch of stuff around that time (especially flying post-9/11).

wow, this is actually a really good thread. i'm not on any medications, but i probably would be if my doctor had her way. i get minor anxiety attacks on a semi-regular basis (although much less in recent months), but i have certain behavioural tricks for managing them. twice in the last couple of years i've had a massive attack which has lasted for 3 days. the physical symptoms are really awful for me, and only compound the mental fucked-uppedness. during the first one i went to an emergency doctor and got a 3 day script for valium, which helped a little. but i didn't want to deal with the bigger problem so never went to my gp till the second time, about a year ago.

i fought my way out of the last attack basically through an overwhelming sense of anger at the person who had contributed to the circumstances which fed the attack. but afterwards i went to speak to my gp. the first thing she did was try to get me on a daily anti-anxiety medication, even though i told her that i was ok on a daily basis and it was only the very rare big ones i was concerned about. and that pretty much ended the conversation. she recommended i go see 'someone' but didn't really offer anything less vague than that.

it's comforting, in a weird way, to know other ppl have gone thru/are going thru something similar. and also really helpful reading about the effects, both good and bad, of certain meds.

I'm on 3 if you count Nasonex which is a prescription nasal spray which I have to take all year round cos of pesky perennial rhinitis.

I kind of want to get off Prozac but fear the withdrawal. If I run out for a week I start to get really depressed so I can imagine it not being much fun at least for a few weeks.

Ruby, if you feel the anxiety is negatively affecting your quality of life, then I would agree you should try and see a psychiatrist. Otherwise it sounds like you understand what's going on and control it to a certain extent. Although I don't think trips to the ER support this too well (if they happen more than once).

There's too many people in the world on anti-depressants

I'm high on life

There's too many people suffering from depression.

Hmmmmmm

I think anti-depressants are a useful way of being able to cope with the harder parts of depression alongside other methods of being able to try and deal with the underlying illness. I don't think they should be a life-long solution in a lot of cases, but I see little harm in using them as as you would a painkiller or a splint to aid the recovery process.

My old doctor told me I might as well stay on them for the rest of my life, which I didn't like very much. Now I've moved though so will get a new doctor soon.

i've been on SSRIs for over a decade :/

Some people have to be. But not as many as are.

i. take anti-shyness drug
ii. meet future partner who is outgoing
iii. make feelings known
iv. hook up forever <3 <3 <3
v. come off drug and leave social interactivity largely to partner

win-win

<3 <3 <3 = major lifestyle change (plus biochemical)

vi. partner gets a bit 'ech' with set-up.

none

used to take one for acne in my teens, think it made me more miserable. and took ventolin capsulers for asthma. i could've done with some of these back in may but it hasn't been a problem for 10 years or so really.

thought about trying st johns wort a few times more recently ("oh go on then i'll have a half")

vii. but puts up with it bcz hey <3 <3 <3

I predict poll results will be 3-4.

St Johns Wort did absolutely nothing for me, but YMMV obv.

Echinacea anyone?

A friend takes it fairly regularly but he still gets coffs'n'sneezes (spreadin' diseases) and I started going to the gym and haven't been ill for ages so er there you go.

I want to start taking multi-vits but I am just k-rub at remembering.

Sorry to get off topic!

0.

Had an ex that was over-prescribed Prozac during her teens (back during the heroic doses era of early anti-depressants), and despite her valiant frequent attempts to get off it, she couldn't. Scared the hell out of me.

If you feel on the fence about taking meds for social anxiety, then it's possible that you might get some improvement from cognitive-behavioral therapy. I'd only start trying SSRIs when you have anxiety (social or otherwise) that is debilitating and/or intrusive, as Ms Misery says. Also, just because you had a bad reaction to Paxil doesn't mean that you will have a bad reaction to every SSRI. People respond to each of them differently which is one reason there are so many on the market--that and big pharma companies like to make money on drugs similar to what their competitors offers. Lastly, esp. in the case of anxiety disorders, those drugs can increase your anxiety for a few days or weeks before you notice improvement.

rrobyn could you tell me where you got the diet for rosacea from or what it consists of? I am taking antibiotics for it (only side effect: farting like a trooper. Nice!) early days yet, but if I could make lifestyle changes such as diet will be better overall I reckon. Cheers!

I predict poll results will be 3-4.

What about those of us who ticked none and then happily left the thread, having nothing to contribute?

One day I accidentally took my boyfriend's digitalis and everything had spooky halos all day.

What about those of us who ticked none and then happily left the thread, having nothing to contribute?

I still predict the top vote getter will be 3-4.

xpost - it's the SCD diet - http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/ - there are other sites too if you google it - oh hey! i actually do have one prescription! the topical metronidazole (noritate) cream which i use once every two days - it sorta works but minorly - the diet and trying not to be a stressball works much better

I still predict the top vote getter will be 3-4.

-- Ms Misery, Wednesday, August 15, 2007 6:50 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

....is this because you assume the average person, and thus the average ILXor, is on about 3--4? or because the average ILXor (and not the average person) is on 3--4 (because of rampant mentalism)?

That's just my prediction! And will probably be wrong.

Lots of people have allergies/asthma/migranes/contraception/anti-depressants etc and those add up. I think that's a fairly normal number. The amount of meds you are prescribed certainly does not equal "mentalism". See some of the people on this thread who said 0-1 for example.

just joeks about mentalism!

I actually wasn't joking.

What about those of us who ticked none and then happily left the thread, having nothing to contribute?

why not go for a fucking walk in the park

WHILE THE REST OF US ARE DOWN HERE IN THE SEWER

One day I accidentally took my boyfriend's digitalis and everything had spooky halos all day.

My mom once took her dog's heartworm pill.

none

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Does this sound like a jump-rope rhyme to anybody else?

You're depressed and your back aches,
How many prescription drugs do you take?
1...2...3...4...5...6...7...etc.

no

Yeah, jump-ropin' girl gangs need rhymes, but I'm not the one to write them.

xycntn ftp

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Okay—you two who take more than 20 drugs—I want a list!

This is epic number of votes here. EPIC.

Well, it gives me faith in the pharmeceutical industry again that we aren't too over prescribed around here.

More than 20? Cripes. I feel for you guys.

I was kinda hoping that anyone who answered "over 20" was joking, but then realised that my friend who has MS probably takes about that many different medications. Eep. I'll never complain again.

my amnesiac, 93-year-old grandmother only takes about four (inc prozac), hells if i could even keep track of 20! with the timing and whatnot.

I think they are liars. Bald-faced, even.

Who knows, if Rogaine is one of those 20 meds, they might not be *bald* faced liars!

i think they should share, if they have anything good.

But not the Rogaine. I have enough of a grooming problem as it is, with the foot-long pubes sprouting out of my neck, etc.

But I bet if you take enough Adderall you become a very thorough plucker.

See—one drug leads to another.

my # of drugs is up 1 since i voted! just maintenance antibiotics, nothing fun :(

I've known a handful of people in the 20+ category. Generally about 10 were maintenance meds, and the others were if one condition or another was giving them trouble.

Whoa! my prediction way off the mark. I wonder how many of that zero are b/c they don't have ins./can't afford them?

this is the most popular poll I've ever seen on ILX

I'm on zero meds because I've never found anything that's worked (for anxiety/depression)

That's a bummer. I hope you've tried some alternative therapies.

ooh, i missed this one. i'd be in the 1-2 category thanks to my best friend Concerta. I'd love something for the accompanying anxiety but I haven't bothered to ask my doctor yet.

I'm curious about the reactions to the results of this poll. I'm trying not to have the typical "Bad Science" reaction of "well, it's quite typical of the layman non-scientist to react to experimental data in this way - rather than change one's preconceptions to fit the data, looking to change or invalidate the data to fit one's preconceptions.

What leads someone to believe that the average (mean? median? mode?) number of medications an ILX0r takes is as high as 4? The default state of a human being is actually 0 medications, so why estimate so high, even with a sample subset?

I mean, I've had my preconceptions challenged, that I always believed that medications were overprescribed, but with an overwhelming median and mode of 0, that preconception might be challenged. Even the mean, (based on the first of the two numbers) seems to be only 1.327.

Sorry for this geekery, I do this kind of mathematical analysis for a living - it's always as interesting to see how people *interpret* the data as much as what the data actually is.

number of medications an ILX0r takes is as high as 4?

I was not interpreting any data (as if any reliable data could be obtained from an internet messageboard.) I was merely subjectively projecting based on the number of posts I read on allergies, asthma, migranes, depression and other fairly common ailments.