Those of you on mood stablizers and anti-psychotics ...?!
Question: Does it bother you that all the med references basically say "we don't know how it works, but it does." I for one, want to know what's going on in my head, but all the research I do leads me to conclusions like, "The exact way ABILIFY (or any other medicine for Bipolar I Disorder) works is unknown." They have some ideas, but they don't actually know. Continual research and the like. It's just frustrating that "chemical imbalance" is as far as the explaination goes.
/rant
Answers: Does it bother you that all the med references basically say "we don't know how it works, but it does." I for one, want to know what's going on in my head, but all the research I do leads me to conclusions like, "The exact way ABILIFY (or any other medicine for Bipolar I Disorder) works is unknown." They have some ideas, but they don't actually know. Continual research and the like. It's just frustrating that "chemical imbalance" is as far as the explaination goes.
/rant
I have been treated for over 16 years and I have asked the same questions as you. I hate to tell you this but no one really knows why it works. I do not like the term chemical imbalance but it is all they got. Usually doctors are just guessing and hoping for the best. Mental illness is the most least understood illness there is and it does not look like that will change anytime soon. So in the meantime I am some what content in just not knowing. Actually a lot of life is that way when you really look at it.
i am afraid to try any of that stuff....because
a) like you said they don't knokw what its goign to do
b) i saw a commercail and there were WAY TO MANY side effects , including death....
c) i think new meds like that, when they are giving to people with out being properly researched, we are just guinnea pigs.... to test on....i dotn think they care if we fall off the face of the earth and die.
*** meds. i'll just be crazy on my own.
Yeah, that bugged the crap out of me when I researched Lamictal before I put that first pill in my mouth. I take comfort in knowing HOW it works.
This became especially true when I started having side effects and became completely devoid of a personality after a year and a half without knowing exactly how, and therefore, why.
-rant-
I know that that's a good one for some, but I'll stick with my Wellbutrin and it's very clear mechanisms.
Let me offer an explanation. Sometimes, docs are studying a medication's effect on something else - like a blood pressure medication. They find out that as a blood pressure product, the medication is ok or even pretty good, but they begin to notice things with their male test patients. They find out that all male test patients begin getting erections. All of a sudden, they come up with a second use for the medication - sexual dysfunction.
Now, after years of research into a blood pressure medication, the thing is a bit of a flop compared to existing pills on the market. Millions upon millions of dollars lost, HOWEVER, we do have a product that works for erectile dysfunction. HOW does it work? We have no idea, we did no research on this compound for this purpose, but it sure as heck works!
This is EXACTLY how Viagra was discovered. How does it work? Beats the heck out of us! Does it work? Yes.
Hi fiVe, I really like your answers for people here... so it's cool that you are asking a question, too.
As for me, I don't really care.
I was prescribed the medication in the hospital (Geodon) so I was too far gone to care about the details behind it. Now I'm not concerned with the mechanism. I know the medication works so that's good for me.
I'm more of a plug-and-play kind of person. I don't investigate how computers work or cars work or even my mind! Maybe I'm just lazy.. haha...
But I do respect that you have that curiosity and it's too bad that you can't get more information about your own body's reaction to medication.