meds for bipolar rapid cyclers/borderline personality

[chrysalis]

the more i research these meds and the more i talk w/ others online about meds like abilify or geodin (sp?), the more i want to just stay off the meds. i thought maybe i'd try going on abilify today when i go see my dr. but now i'm thinking of NOT. i so don't want to put these poisons in my body. what they can do is pretty frightening short and long-term. i think i may just try to hang in there and learn to cope w/ mindfulness skills, EMDR, DBT, my 12 step recovery, spiritually... this info on the meds is scary nuts!

[milk_maker]

I've been on several medications and they've all affected me differently.  Zyprexa was a wonder drug for me, but it made me binge eat (which then made me purge) so I had to stop taking it.  I was on geodon for almost two years and over time it increased my prolactin levels to the point that I stopped menstruating and started lactating.  My doctor had never heard of that happening with geodon.

Now I'm on Latuda and it seems to be working out for me.  It's one of the safest atypical antipsychotics on the market at the moment and is even being used for pregnant women.  I've had ZERO side effects.  None.  I always get side effects (abilify made my hair fall out in handfuls).

I hate how medication is looked at as if it's a toxin.  Sometimes they're necessary for survival.  Mental illness is a real disease and should be treated as such.  You wouldn't tell a diabetic to go off their insulin because it contains m-cresol and is considered "moderately" toxic.  When you post things like that you're shaming women who aren't as "strong" as you for relying on medications to treat their illness. 

[Mom31]

I take zoloft and abilify- the abilify is a weight gainer and i gained a ton of weight.

40lbs to be exact.  But it makes me metally stable... so I take the weight and plan to go to the gym.