Dear Looney
( I really do not like calling you this as you are not Looney at all - you are just like all of us have been and currently suffering PNI)
I have to say I am quite shocked by what you have just said about what your doctor has said to you.
I am not a medical professional - but I am VERY knowledgeable about the medications women take with PNI, the way they work and why they work!
And I have to say that I have never heard such complete rubbish as to suggest that if you do not take them your 'brain' will be damaged!!!
I agree that taking an Anti d that suits you, will benefit you in that it will alleviate the symptoms - but to suggest that your brain will be damaged - is just not so
While I do think that the best course if you can tolerate them is to take medication for your PNI along side extra support and perhaps counselling
But you can indeed ‘Kick this thing by your self '
In fact myself and many women on this forum have got through very severe PNI for different reasons without any medication, and many PNI specialist believe that PNi is self limiting anyway - which means that it will go away in time whether you have treatment or not.
However I would not now recommend going it alone - this is the hardest option and effective medication ,support and therapy can really help, and there is really no need to ‘kick it on your own’.But back to your medication:
I am not medically trained but I do have a relative who is a qualified doctor an another GP who I can call upon to advise me on medication for this forum -
so I will check with one of them to confirm this is not so that your brain will be damaged by not taking medication - and get back to you!I can only assume that this was a misunderstanding and that your GP was trying to explain in simplified terms how the chemical messengers in the brain work.....
And in doing so unfortunately and accidentally gave you the impression that without the Anti Ds your brain will be damaged in some way???
It is true that the theory with clinical depression
( and this only a theory really and has never been proved conclusively - and PNI is different as it is less about depression and much more about anxiety and compulsive disorders, for many so it might apply less)
but the 'theory' simplified is that if you are depressed you make less of the 'happy' neurotransmitters - that is the chemicals that transmit different emotions from brain cell to brain cell-
and most of the medication prescribed for depression in some way works by increasing the levels of these neurotransmitters available in your brain.
The Ani D you are on 'Lexapro generic name escitalopram'
www.medicinenet.com/escitalopram/article.htm or
www.drugs.com/lexapro.htmlIs a SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
This does not help you make more of the 'happy ' chemicals as some older Anti Ds do
but stops the ones you do make being re-absorbed so the result is that you have more 'happy' chemicals in your brain and you therefore feel happier and hopefully less anxious.
But to say that not taking your medication will do any long term damage to your brain - is nonsense.
I will stand corrected if anyone knows of any research or information that points to this.
But as far as my knowledge goes not taking meds will just mean that you stay the same with no artificial chemical help, an dyou can still use counselling and support to get your through PNI
There is also an old theory that your brain can get used to producing too little 'happy chemicals like serotonin and this gets to be a habit for your brain and proper mendication can kick start the chemicals back into action.( usually the older Anti Ds -non SSRIs were said to do this)
but as Lexapro does not make your brain make more but merely makes what you do produce stick around longer - I fail to see how it would help you brain make more in the long term anyway and how not taking it could damage your brain in any way.
There are a number of SSRIs that basically work the same - they are all slightly different chemically and people tolerate some better than others and if you do not tolerate them at all you can always ask for an older - non - SSRI type to try..
Somew women on here have tried several before they found on that suited them!
I am sorry if my words are a bit emotive
But I can not let you go away thinking that if you do not take medication that you feel is not right for you or you are intolerant to and is making you ill- your brain will be permanently damaged!
And the last thing you need when feeling so awful with PNI is the complication of a medication that you do not tolerate and adds to your misery.
However all these Anti Ds have a ‘lead in’ time of about 3 -4 weeks before they kick in properly – so maybe your doctor is thinking that if you just get through the initial few weeks they will begin to work, so she was trying to encourage you to do this.
and that the new drug will be tollerated more - and it well might.
But only you can know how bad your side effects are and whether you can tolerate them.
After you have been on the new Luvox
Think about your side effects and weigh up the pros and cons and if they are just about bearable maybe it is worth trying them for up to 4 weeks to see if they help.
But if by 4 weeks maximum the side effects are still too much – then you are not on the right medication for you as the over all effect has to be to improve the quality of your life
Not make it worse.
If you think it will help you are welcome to print out what I have said , and and take it to your GP to read.
She may ask what right or qualifications I have to question what she said to you - but I am willing to risk this !!
However I think you will find that you have misunderstood what she was trying to explain as it is very complicated how these drugs work and difficult to explain to someone it is all new .
and I am certain your GP also would not want you to be left with a fear your brain will be damaged in some way if you do not take this medication – this just can nto be what she meant?
Luvox is also a SSRI but slightly different from Lexapro and recommended I beleve for more obsessive-compulsive disorders, (OCD) anxiety, rather than just depression symptoms only .
So this change may well be what you need and you will tollerate this better.But as I have said I am not medically trained
But I do urge you to check this all out - and I am aware that I may be confusing you and worrying you more - and I do not want to do this.
So I would recommended that you go back to your GP - perhaps having printed out this reply to you
And you can get a second opinion also or usually you can see a different GP in the same surgery ort even go somewhere else for medical advice.
Do you know if there are any perinatal specialists in your area you could be referred to??
All the best
Veritee