I don’t remember the exact age I started taking psychiatric medication, though I’m almost positive it was at age 9. I started with one, and then the doctor I was seeing at the time added two more. I didn’t have many side effects; I basically just felt very tired and slept a lot. I do remember walking outside with my friends and thinking, “life is beautiful.”
The history of mental illness medication is long and confusing. People have been over-prescribed, prescribed when they don’t need it, and given the wrong type of medication for decades. Unfortunately, this is still the case.
There’s an odd imbalance now, with people who are on medication but don’t need it, and people who need medication but aren’t on it—mostly due to the unfortunate, strange circumstances of how mental health is viewed in society. (I could go on about this.)
Psychiatric medication is not something to joke about or take lightly. The progress made inside the psychiatric world is incredibly slow in basically all aspects, but especially medication and alternative treatments. Of course, ultimately it’s up to the individual and their doctor to decide if that person should go on medication, but in my opinion, it should be a last resort.
I’ve been on dozens of medications, and this has given me the opportunity to learn about different categories of medications, risks, side effects, and more. If I went through every medication and the side effects I had, it would be extremely boring, so instead, I’ll just tell you about some of the side effects I experienced.
A few years ago, I wrote about my Paxil experience (that post is still up if you’re interested in reading it), as it was the most challenging medicine to both start and stop. Throughout the years, from the medications I’ve been on, some side effects I dealt with were: stomachaches, headaches, fatigue, excessive sleeping, exhaustion, loss of appetite, dizziness, “brain fog,” nightmares, tremors, heat/cold sensitivity, sweating, dehydration, dry mouth, taste sensitivity, “zoning out,” short-term memory loss, body aches, heightened stress, and motion sickness.
These, unfortunately, are all very common. A side effect can also happen at any point and can be anything. Often, they go away after a few weeks, but handling them can be extremely challenging.
There were two occasions I can think of specifically when I was very concerned: once when I was 13, I had a migraine that would not go away, and half of my face slightly swelled. I ended up going to the emergency room, but they didn’t really know what to do. Another time, when I was 22, after about two weeks on a medication, while I was experiencing memory loss and stomach aches, I completely blacked out. I was ready to go to sleep for the night but instead woke up my parents because I felt so ill. I don’t remember anything that happened, but I was awake the whole night and sick. I called my doctor in the morning, who advised me to stop taking it immediately.
Oftentimes, people will fall victim to “a medication for a medication.” Usually, from psychiatrists who are pill pushers rather than doctors, when a medication causes a side effect, they’ll prescribe another to counteract that. (Cue “Doctor Blind” by Emily Haines). When I was nervous to speak up for myself, this happened to me, and I can see how easy it is for it to happen to others who are simply looking for answers.
If you need medication, do what’s right for you. But from my personal experience, it’s really beneficial to try other things first. Psychiatric medications can be terrifying for a multitude of reasons. I wish more people would acknowledge this and also be more understanding of those who need them and have to deal with the physical and emotional stress surrounding them.
Talya's life 